Elder Cultivator

The aura of a Domination cultivator pressed down on the Scarlet Alliance cultivators. Koronis of the Creeping Fire Sect spread her flames to coil throughout the system, bolstering their enemies.

Could they defeat a Domination cultivator with what they had? No. Not without grievous losses… and a plan that Catarina didn’t have. Nor did she expect any of the others to have anything better than her temporary formation.

Reigo cackled- the first time they had heard him make any real vocalization. “You’re all done for!”

The sect head of the Silver Fang hefted his spear, stabbing forward. Flames wrapped around him and-

“I said… this quarrel ends now.” His arm was captured, negating his momentum- even as she barely remained on the edge of the system, approaching the planet Tros. “It was foolish and should never have happened.”

Catarina risked a manipulation of energy to have a quick discussion among their leadership. Creating something like a simple sound concealing formation didn’t require her to set up a physical structure, especially her numerous formations flags placed around. They were supposed to be the death of Reigo, but she didn’t want to try to push.

“We won’t leave without our people,” Timothy made the declaration- because if the Domination cultivator chose to attack merely for speaking up, he was the most likely to survive. If they merely gave up without even an attempt to negotiate, they would look too weak.

“I don’t care,” Koronis said. “Take them. But you won’t be causing any further damage. Oh, and send a message to the rest of your fleets. If they’re still within the Trigold Cluster’s territory in three days… you know what will happen.”

“Those on the other planets-” Timothy began.

Catarina wouldn’t have let Timothy push things further, though he stopped himself before she had to. Prasad she could spare- he could be replaced. But the sect head didn’t seem interested in putting himself out there.

What else could they do but give the command to their fleets? Though Catarina was quite pleased that those within her immediate senses were clearly paying attention. They were rapidly packing in as many enslaved people as they could. In fact, they’d never really stopped, except where they were restricted from actually battling.

If Koronis had chosen to actually suppress them and let the Silver Fang fight… it would be a massacre. Though Catarina had momentarily been prepared to execute forbidden formation techniques. The sorts of things that even Everheart didn’t do because it was too risky. If they were going to die anyway, what was there to lose?

But not. Koronis was stopping the battle- and they had to believe she also meant the war. Retreating in peace was actually quite good for them, though it was a shame they hadn’t been able to finish things.

It soon became clear that Koronis wasn’t going to have much patience for them, so they packed up within a minute- some people hanging onto the outside of the ships. The strongest cultivators took those positions, packing inside as many others as they could- far beyond normal ship capacity. Even so, some were probably left behind- they hadn’t exactly been able to scour the whole planet, and people would be in individual homes.

A bitter end to the war. If only they could have predicted Koronis’ arrival. But they hadn’t even known she was a Domination cultivator, which was another issue. There should have only been a handful amongst the Trigold Cluster and she was not among them.

Then again, such a surprise could have come at the annihilation of all of them… so this was the best result.

They withdrew, passing along the message to the rest of the fleets. But they weren’t planning to go any further than the official borders. There was no telling if they could trust the Silver Fang to not immediately cause trouble again.

-----

“Too bad I wasn’t there,” Durff said. “They would have had a lot more broken stuff.”

“... is that all?” Velvet asked.

He shrugged. “Maybe their sect head would be dead. Maybe not. I can only be certain things would have broken. But I was breaking other things, and saving other people. And unfortunately, I can only be in one place. I’m not good enough at techniques to be in two.”

“Do you… know of a technique to be in two places?” Velvet asked.

Durff stroked his chin. “Nope. But it seems like there should be one, you know? It can’t be that hard.”

Velvet thought that it very much could be. But that was not a point that needed to be belabored. “Our spy network missed that she was even heading towards advancement.”

“Obviously,” Durff said. “She would have been hiding that from even her own elders, most likely. Some other jerks would have tried to stop her otherwise. Koronis is pretty nice, though. Well, that's what my aunt said. Not precisely like that but… maybe… ‘She lacks the foulness of many other sect heads.’” Durff shrugged. “Or something.”

“Your aunt said that?”

“That’s right. Aunt Eka.”

“You mean Ratna?”

Durff furrowed his brow. “Isn’t that the Domination cultivator that leads her sect?”

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“I have it on good authority that Ratna is your Aunt Eka.”

“Oh. Cool,” Durff said. “Too bad I wasn’t any good at Veiled Brilliance stuff or I could have been pretty high ranking.”

“... is that it?”

“Well, Ratna is the sect head so I wouldn’t have gotten that position, obviously.”

Velvet chuckled. “I meant about your reaction. Nothing else to say about your aunt secretly being a Domination cultivator?”

“Nope. It makes sense. I already knew she was pretty strong. It fits, since I just said they like to keep secrets. All those fancy high ranking cultivators, I mean.”

“You’re kind of one of them,” Velvet pointed out. “Not a Domination cultivator, but Augmentation isn’t something to ignore.”

He nodded. “Unless it’s someone using your techniques. Then you get ignored on purpose.”

Somehow, Durff once more provided answers to questions she hadn’t even been trying to resolve- and as usual, with those answers came more questions. He didn’t actually know anything she didn’t know, but he somehow continued to bring up useful points. Too bad the only way she knew to get answers would be… risky.

Not something to consider in the near future, while they were still at war. Or… just after the end of a war. The Scarlet Alliance was willing to accept the end if necessary, but they hadn’t accomplished all of their goals.

-----

Getting people settled was quite a tough job. Returning people to the planets they came from was one thing- but not everyone was willing to go back to the same place. They wanted the safety of the main Scarlet Alliance- and that couldn’t be offered for those border systems, not just yet. Then there were the others… those who weren’t even from the Scarlet Midfields to begin with.

The Scarlet Alliance hadn’t exactly been discerning with what slaves they freed. They wanted all of them… and nobody except perhaps the Silver Fang was complaining. But settling a large number of people was a great exercise in administration.

Fortunately, there were people for that. Furthermore, with at minimum a ceasefire they could take advantage of what time they had to shuttle people more safely. Then they’d find everyone somewhere they could fit in.

A few hundred years prior, even after the Scarlet Alliance had been founded, that might have seemed like a dream. But as more and more time passed, they truly became more efficient in every way. They weren’t just a bunch of cultivators living on the same planets. They weren’t even a sect that pushed to develop their own members- or often just the best members.

No, they were more than that. Knowledge shared between realms, treating every person as a significant part of a greater whole. It was a secondary benefit that said people happened to provide more devotion as they grew stronger.

-----

“I’d fight her,” Tauno commented.

“Really?” Prospero raised an eyebrow. “I mean, I’m not surprised at you fighting. But what would it be about Koronis in particular? She’s very… human. And she doesn’t seem to be a personal scale combatant, either.”

“Something makes those flames,” Tauno commented. “Something inhuman. It might be the basis of the Creeping Fire Sect… or just her. I don’t know. But I’d fight her, to get to whatever that is.”

“If we could have had everyone there, I would have fought with you,” Prospero said. “An established Domination cultivator like Zaur is one thing. A newer one… I believe we have a solid chance. But I would prefer not to push into enemy territory to do it.”

Hoyt shook his head. He had been idly playing around with patterns of flame. “I hadn’t thought about a beast. I wonder what kind. Not a phoenix, certainly. Some sort of dragon, you think?”

“Not one I’m familiar with,” Prospero said.

Tauno seemed to have been inspired by that suggestion, however. “Yes. That… or something much like it. A twining world serpent, covering many realms.” He nodded. “I wonder how something like that would be hidden within the Creeping Fire Sect’s territory.”

“Perhaps between systems?” Prospero asked. “Though I’d wonder if you’re certain.”

“The something much like it covers my only uncertainty. Perhaps it is small. Or… a spirit. Or a distortion beast. Though… the latter is quite unlikely considering their often distinctive auras.”

-----

Chidi was going over the recordings of Koronis’ arrival over and over. He’d been doing that since they met up days before, and Catarina was worried for her son.

“You couldn’t have known she would show up. And even if you did somehow, the rest of us weren’t ready. “

He had been going over the same recordings for days, now. Different ones, from different ships in the fleets, but all of the same event with no particularly relevant changes, as far as Catarina could tell. But Chidi…

“I could kill her,” Chidi declared. “Sixty… no, sixty-five percent confidence.”

Catarina frowned. “The recordings don’t even have her fighting.”

“That was because she couldn’t fight,” Chidi said.

Timothy grimaced. “What do you mean? Was it all a ruse?”

“I am not saying it was unwise to retreat,” Chidi assured him. “But, if she had actually acted with her full power… she would have revealed that she is not quite what she appears. You can read the screens. Tell me, is there a regular flicker in the power signature?”

Catarina pulled up the display. “It’s not a simple image. I can have some people run tests, though. A flicker, you said?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “She should be… not quite a complete Domination cultivator. Though perhaps my own senses are faulty, or there are errors with the recordings.”

“I thought she was a new Domination cultivator,” Catarina agreed. “It’s not crazy that she would be on the other side of that divide.”

“Better to not antagonize her,” Chidi declared. “Because otherwise we have a thirty-five percent of being annihilated when she does advance. If I understand successfully, she will be successful. But I wouldn’t announce anything until you can back up my words through other forms of verification.”

Timothy pondered for a few moments. “Do you think she can complete this process within another two or three weeks? We could gather all of our forces for an assault. If you alone have that chance of success-”

Chidi shook his head. “She is likely to be fully effective across the whole battlefield until the moment of her death. And I don’t think we could get the resources to make a trap that would sway things one way or the other. I always prefer to take chances where possible but… we simply didn’t have the footing.”

Catarina couldn’t get people started a moment too soon. If it was a complex pattern they might need the computers back on Xankeshan. Even if they weren’t intending to try to take down Koronis… it would be good to know that she actually had a weakness, at least for a moment. If nothing else, recordings of someone about to break through to Domination could help them in the future, in more ways than one. Catarina wondered if any devotion sensors had been active. Unlikely, in a combat scenario, but possible.

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