No Peace Without Order

No Peace Without Order


“I walk the path of tranquility. There is no peace without out order, no harmony without balance.”

It had been twenty one days since the Velcrux Coalition dropped from space and ripped into our planet. History told them we wouldn’t fight, that we were pacifists.

Founded by just a few Wardens millennia ago, we’d maintained a protected sanctuary, an oasis of neutrality in a galaxy ceaselessly on the verge of war. Across the eons, conflicts had come and gone, always with the same theme: those on a quest for power against the fighters who dared resist. Still, for every war, we successfully remained nonaligned, the trusted final arbiter in the negotiations for armistice. While it often took centuries, the struggle for freedom had always prevailed. Good had always triumphed over evil in the end.

This new war was different, however. Absent any honor and placing no value on life, the Velcrux decimated the galaxy. They cared nothing for power and I suppose in that singular way we were ironically alike. But while we looked for the harmony in all things, they saw only disorder, were interested only in destruction and chaos…complete anarchy. Mercilessly, their kind spread throughout space like a plague, razing whole planets before anyone could oppose them. So through the culling of worlds, we became the final bastion of civilization.

Our shields failed and the door to our monastery groaned with each impact, the desperate assault to breach our compound. A final shudder and the barricaded imploded, showering us with dust and debris. Through the smoky haze, a solitary figure emerged. Stepping proudly in, their leader was clad in heavy Technophile armor and peered down at us with disgust, spitting his tobacco. He spotted me right away. “You’re the last,” the man sneered.

“We know,” I replied calmly.

“Every civilization from the core to the rim has fallen and what has their order gotten them? What have they gained from their treaties? Destruction!”

“So, what will you do when we’re gone?”

“Ha! That’s when the real fun begins! I’ll turn the guns on my own men. Hopefully, they’ll put up more of a fight than the rest of you pathetic commoners.” He grit his teeth.

“Then this is where your story comes to an end.”

“This is where my story begins!” he corrected.

“With no one left to tell it.”

The man mocked a bow. “I only mean to fulfill the will of the universe, a reality plagued with entropy. No certainty, only chaos. Our Coalition feeds the natural order.”

“Fool,” I defied. “The universe isn’t chaotic at all. It’s governed by physical laws and mathematical precision. Planets orbit suns in a predictable fashion. Gravity attracts in a measurable way. The universe works like a finely tuned ancient watch.”

“Yet worlds all around the galaxy are burning! Did you predict that?”

“Yes. Though you’ve succeeded more than most, there are always men like you.”

He took me by the throat, hoisting me into the air before slamming me down onto the stone floor. “And I suppose you predicted that too?”

“Of course,” I managed, and his fury was unmistakable. He pulled his fiber-blade and hefted it high into the air, then tightened up immediately, his eyes wide in surprise. I pulled my own dagger from his flank and he staggered back. “That’s the problem with chaos...unpredictability.”

“But you’re a pacifist!” His blood streamed onto the tile.

“Are we? True, I walk the path of tranquility. There is no peace without out order, no harmony without balance. And balance is a vital law.”

“Hahaha!” He coughed up blood and fell to one knee. “You’ll never defeat the chaos! You’re completely defenseless!”

I stood over him now. “We’ve been the arbiters for countless wars over millennia, have overseen hundreds of treaties and always ensured the conceding force surrender their arms. Of course, they turn them over to us, a neutral faction. So, you can imagine we’ve stockpiled quite an armory…enough to easily destroy your fleet.”

“And what could a handful of you possibly do?”

“Restore balance, naturally. You see, this entire planet is a fortress, filled to the brim with singularity cannons, starcruisers, and billions of dormant synth-warriors. We’ve waited until the bitter end to use them. Even as the galaxy died, we patiently hoped for fate to intervene. It seems fate has left the future to us. In the end, there will be order.” I turned to one of my brothers who’d activated our offensive systems. “Destroy them.”


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