Vanguard: Awakening

Awakening: Chapter Six

Cedric had spent about a week onboard the Hwain Gus already, time moved quickly. Faring never pressed Cedric after the night he took his leave. They didn't spend time together for casual conversation either, with her priorities on the command bridge. She did however, take time every morning to teach him the Korellei language, both high and low variants a few hours after breakfast. This was the time they'd engage in small talk, and Cedric used it as an opportunity to learn more about the world around him. The United Empire was ruled by House Von Strauss, and the empress's family line could be traced back several generations. The houses were allowed to act independently of the main house, they even would get involved in conflicts with one another. If too many alliances were agitated and the seeds of a global war began to plant, that's when House Von Strauss would step in to end it before it had a chance to catch ground. United, the houses could easily obliterate House Von Strauss. Common sense, alliances, and a respect for peace and authority prevented such an action. Most rebellions were sparked by the outer colonies, being so far removed from the core systems they'd often fail to identify just how much stronger the houses were than their shabby colonies. Rebellions often started as small, hushed plans in dark shadows. In these shadows were House Von Strauss's elite espionage units. All houses had specialties - Von Strauss's was espionage and spycraft. Allegedly, their house rose to power without a single shot fired, or any war declared. A popular rumor was that the higher echelons of Von Strauss were vampires, draining the living of their blood to expand their life spans. It was nothing more than a colony rumor, however - encouraged not by the harsh treatment of the Empire as one would expect - but rather the lack of any treatment at all. Colonies on the border rarely, if ever, encountered imperial forces in their day to day lives - their position on the border of the galaxy making communication and direct rule not only horrifically ineffcient, but a grand net loss that impacted their logistics network as a whole. It is this difficulty that has prevented the Empire from expanding any more than it already had. From what he learned so far, the UE was actually rather small unlike the popular media he was used to consuming. Part of the Houses' jobs was policing their territory, but there were only so many houses that had the extra resources needed to dedicate to such an effort.

Cedric took the time to learn as much of their language as possible in their short time in space, hoping to at least memorize some basic conversational words before they landed at Saint Amelion. Normally this would be difficult for a regular person was learning a new language, but being surrounded by people who spoke the language he was now learning made it significantly easier to retain as he was constantly hearing words he had learned repeated every day, similar to how a child learns their primary language by not only being taught at a young age, but also being constantly exposed to the words they had learned- in graining the information into their minds via repetition. Aside from his current task, he often spent time in his cabin with his own thoughts. He felt a lot better emotionally after letting out all his stress in his grand cry, he was still emotionally distraught at his current situation, but at least it was tolerable unlike before. Cedric checked the clock near his bed, not unlike the digital clocks he was used to. Most likely another 'magitech' discovery from the Korellei that saw widespread use in the UE. Its time frame was also similar to what he was used to, splitting wake and sleep times into twelve hour time slices. He had tried to use the computer a few times, but his lack of understanding in the language and ineptitude with their keyboards forced him to give up. Maybe he'd ask Faring about getting it to work sometime. It was almost dinner time, Faring often dropped food off for him at the door - to discourage him from leaving his cabin and getting lost, terrorizing the regular crew. He hoped at least one of them would try and visit him, or at least make him do something. He was a slave, after all. Either at Faring's behest, or a want to not associate with him, nobody did. Even if they had, he supposed, it's not like they'd be able to say anything to each other. A familiar rasp on the door pulled Cedric from his musings. He got off his comfortable bed, that somehow was able to support his ridiculous weight, and opened the door. Why she didn't use his doorbell he wasn't sure.