Skycorp classes never felt more like opportunities to sleep. Calysta sipped on some coffee and tried to sit through most of the classes with her eyes open. Illya had the same ambitions as she did, but he kept drifting off through the instructor’s droning start to Kaereal Cultural Studies. They had an instructor from the University on Kinte conducting the class again.
“The 99 Continents War,” the teacher said, “Is often called The Great War or the War of Madness, though there have been several Great Wars depending on which continent's history you are reading. So, we will be referring to this war as the 99 Continents War. The major battles happened close to 500 years ago but the events leading up to the greatest war in planetary history are important and have left deep cultural impacts. Normally, this war alone would be taught as an entire course at university, but as this class is a condensed version specifically made for entering cadets for Skycorp, we will be watching a hologram, which goes over the seeds of the Great War, its course, and the aftermath. I suggest you take notes, as much of this information will be included in the final exam.”
The teacher leaned over to pick up his pad and at the touch of his finger, the lights dimmed, pitching the room in near blackness before the hologram points flared to life. A heavy thud and a small snort came from beside her and she felt more than saw Illya jolt awake. Someone had kicked the bottom of his chair, forcing him to wake up for the hologram. Calysta winced and leaned over slightly, sliding her hand into her husband’s while it was dark in the room.
A hologram blared to life in the middle of the room showing the green and white swirling orb that was Kaereal from an approaching space view. A narrator began to set the time and scene while the hologram zoomed in slowly toward the planet, focusing on a space near the equator. “A mere 50 years after the First Flight of Gyl the explorer, extended travel between the 99 continents became a reality. The first to achieve this was Lyr, son of Hyden of the Markot Clan and Warrior Emperor of Rey.”
The hologram had zoomed into a map-like structure showing what the topography of old Rey had once looked like. It was one of the largest continents, spanning over 100 miles and with deep valleys where large Cryn- falcons- made their homes among the warrior clans. There were forests deep in the pits and the pink Goddess’ Ore ran in thick veins in the crevices.
“It was Hyden who had first united the constantly warring clans on Rey through conquest after the visitation of Gyl and his great flying machine. It was Lyr who set his sights on expanding that kingdom further into the sky. He put the clans together for the common goal of making his claims to the lands Gyl had come from.”
A tan faced man with golden blonde hair and a war scythe bathed in glistening blood appeared, standing in the room above. He wore a red Cryn feather in his cap and his brown eyes were dark as he looked down upon the kneeling chieftains of the other warrior clans. The tall, almost dashing figure of Lyr leered out into the crowd of chieftains at his feet and raised his bloodied war scythe. “By the sweat of our brows and the breaking of our backs we will rise to the sky and the world will be ours. Those who oppose will fall at their feet and become ours to command.” The words were met with war cries and scythes lifted upward from the bowing chieftains.
The hologram faded out Lyr and the chieftains and replaced it by drawings and 3D rendered images of boat-like ancient flyers. “A united Rey was a dangerous juggernaut,” the narrator continued, “Using the floating Goddess’ Ore from the valley’s of their home continent, the clans under Lyr’s rule built better and more dangerous flying mechanisms. These flyers could house over a 100 men at once along with their cryn mounts, store food for weeks, and had battlements prepared for ranged attacks.” A beastly looking contraption with hot coal burners under balloon like sails and lined with pink metal sailed into the skies.
“When the airborne men of Lyr made their first landfall, it was on Hycia. As the people were farmers, there was no warning and no way to stop the attack by Lyr’s men as they dominated the skies with their flying machines and trained falcons. Within a day, the people of Hycia were under the dominion of Lyr, having surrendered in the display of his power.”
The hologram showed flyers looming over farms, their great shadows hiding the incoming falcon riding warriors as they mowed down farmers in their fields. “The men of Hycia were bound into harvesting raw materials for more flyers while the women were made to produce food and other goods. Children were brought aboard the flyers to serve the warriors and to learn the ways of Rey warriorship. When Hycia was firmly under control, Lyr left a working chieftain in charge of the continent and again set out for more land.”
A map zoomed outward, showing the conquest of the surrounding continents in quick succession. “ Without the advantage of air attacks and no intercontinental communication as of yet, the surrounding skies quickly fell under the heel of Lyr. Juya, Uria, Pyrta, Lyon all tumbled within a galactic year. Lyr set up new governments and viceroys at each continent. He used the continent's raw materials and its people to make more warriors, more flyers, and better equipment.”
Lyr returned to the screen, smiling and eyes glinting over the land from the seat of his flyer. “I will make the world mine and it will be the mightiest of all the worlds. My name will be greater than those of my father before me and their fathers before them. I will own the sky, and one day, the stars.”
The map returned, showing Lyr’s conquests in red, slowly bleeding across the planet surface. “Lyr continued to invest in building his clan with the blood of the people he conquered, putting them to service for the empire. He continued investing in inventions as well. Better weapons were made, better flyer designs, and the first true map of Kaereal was constructed under Lyr’s instruction. Those warriors and slaves who proved themselves loyal, brave and true were rewarded handsomely. Those who resisted lost everything. It wasn’t until falling upon Aerikta that Lyr met any kind of resistance. Staunch purists, Aeriktans refused to surrender and be taken captive. Their women killed themselves by leaping off the edge, for fear of being taken as wives to the invaders. They took their children with them when the line of Aeriktan men failed. Those that could be captured and put into service resisted by a variety of means, including poisoning their new rulers and sabotage. A famed group of women hijacked a flyer and flew to Ewen, where they crashed. After some language difficulties, the Ewenians were warned and mounted a defense before Lyr could arrive.”
The hologram swapped to a small Aeriktan woman with filed teeth sabotaging lumber and food supplies meant bound for a sleek looking Rey flyer, then waving a group of women onward to take the ship. The ship crashed and the first ever meeting of Aeriktan’s and Ewenian’s was displayed. A delicate looking Ewenian woman offered a hand to the Aeriktans.
“In exchange for the knowledge of the flyers and the Rey empire, the Ewenians let the Aeriktan rogues stay and help mount a defense. When Lyr arrived, he found crude fliers to meet him led by the famous Ewenian warrior Watasyosi who had crafted spear pointed harpoons at the Rey fleet, taking down several of the ships. The battle that ensued was bloody but Lyr won thanks to superior weapons, warriors, and equipment.”
“Watasyosi was a bright leader however. Before the arrival of Lyr, he used the Aeriktan knowledge of the flyers and sent an envoy to the north, south, east and west to find other continents. To serve as a warning and the hope that others might come to their aid or defend their home lands. The western envoy was never found, but the eastern, southern, and northern groups landed on Byrna, Daterayn and what is now the islands of Kinte.”
“Meanwhile, trouble began brewing with Lyr. Like the Aeriktans the Ewenians were highly purist but rather than refusing, they allowed themselves to be taken in by the Reys. They learned the secrets of their medicine, their ships, and their navigation. They set up the Aeriktans with better poisons and flight patterns. Ewenian children forced into warriorship learned the trade and returned their blades upon their masters. After several thwarted and successful sabotage attempts as well as no less than 12 assassination attempts, Lyr grew angry. The last straw was the death of his wife by the hands of her adopted Ewenian child.”
The man’s face returned but the glint in his eye was gone, replaced by a cold rage. He spoke over his chieftains on the open deck of a flyer. “I promised you the world and the stars, but I see now neither can be made ours without stamping out the line of resistance entirely. Those who oppose us will be given no mercy. We are the superior blood and the world is our birthright.”
Lyr’s face faded away to the image of a burning fire which had once been a village. Then the pits of a mine, smoking in ruins. Forests smoldered and war waged as more continents were over taken. “Even with the warning of Watasyosi, the rest of the continents fell. By the time Lyr was in his 70’s, he had taken every continent save for 10, those at the most southern hemisphere, and those at the most northern hemisphere. The cold weather protected these areas from true attacks from Lyr.”
“Still, the message of Emperor Lyr went far and wide. No longer were conquered peoples given mercy. Resisters were responded to by beheading or mass “flights” of victims forced off the edge of the continents into the Wilds below. Men were chained, women were forced into labor and childbirth to spread the blood of Rey. Children were taken into the army to train as warriors. People whose children were discovered too old to train as loyal subjects were dropped into the wilds.” The Edge appeared in the hologram and showed feather capped men pushing crowds off the side at scythe point. People dropped off like water brimming over a cup, but their screams were swallowed by the wind.
Lyr appeared again, this time looking old but still solidly built and strong. His face was wrinkled and his blond hair had turned to silver. He stood over 4 men kneeling in front of him, scythe in hand. “After the death of his first and most beloved wife, Lyr had three other wives, all who met their ends in war except for the last. After so many attempts on his life, Lyr grew paranoid and harsh. His empathy had all but vanished for those under his rule or his family. He had conquered the world, but the stars still eluded him even with all his power. Lyr’s last wife, Kyra, was murdered by his own hands when she was thought to have conspired to put her own son as the one to inherit the empire. Lyr had known the time would come when he would have to pick a successor and he had spent years learning who was loyal to his 4 sons and whom they had bedded. At a great feast on the home continent of Rey, Lyr invited his sons asking them to bring their offspring. Those with the best trained and strongest offspring would inherit the empire.”
“Daktan, Tikan, Henaniah, Fyrnat,” the narrator continued, “Came with their own spies and informants. Their own local supporters and their offspring. Lyr watched them take competitions to prove which was the best offspring while they feasted and partied for 7 days. With his 4 sons and many grandsons kneeling at his feet, he announced that his son Tikan would take the Empire. At the moment of his announcement, soldiers surrounded the remaining sons and they were beheaded along with all their offspring.”
The hologram showed the shadows of war scythes swinging, but didn’t depict the bodies falling or the screams. Calysta squeezed Illya’s hand more out of instinct than anything else and looked away from the hologram until the scene changed to a dark haired man rising up to meet Lyr.
“All of the viceroys and agencies who did not swear fealty to Tikan and his son were dropped off the edges of the continents and replaced by those eager to earn the new emperor's favor. Lyr gave the empire to Tikan claiming that ‘Out of your brothers, you have remained true and chosen a Rey woman for your wife. Your blood is not diluted and you have the strongest offspring. You will be my successor and your brothers lines have been burned from the world root and stem so there will no doubt who is superior.’ Lyr later died in battle to the north attempting to cross the Frost Lines.”
Under Tikan, the lives of slaves were hungry and painful, bent to the whim of their Rey masters. It would take another 4 generations before true resistance began again, this time with more modern weapons of war and the stars as a playing field. The Alliance began in the most northern and southern continents, the ones never conquered by Lyr himself and grew through underground networks.” The hologram showed more modern flyers taking to the skies and real flight combats taking shape with fiery, atmospheric explosions. Green began to spread across the continents little by little. “Continents under Rey rule for centuries found their liberation, but the Rey strongholds were deeply entrenched after generations of rule.”
“Once the fire of rebellion sparked and became an ember, the underground Alliance grew in size and scope, however. Those who had left the planet when space flight became viable, returned bringing the knowledge they had gathered to build better weapons and communication. The Reys had also put their centuries of superior funds to work, eventing the first space traveling flyers and attempting to expand into the stars. The 99 Continent War began with flight battles over continents, destroying crops and towns and breaking the Reys from the infrastructure down. It was at this point, the Reys began to understand that drastic measures must be taken to end the battle. A weapon so severe that it would shock the planet. The 4th son removed from Lyr, Riulta brought the Veyra Bomb from a design, to a working weapon of war in a little under six galactic months. So named Veyra for the silver moon, the Goddess of Death, the bomb was devastating enough to pulverise a continent out of the sky.”
This time, the holograph changed to an older image. It wasn’t some dramatic rendering that used Lyr’s written accounts for his speech. These were real images of the event as it happened. “The bomb was placed deep in the caverns on Hycia and used a rare ore found only on the moons to create a volatile reaction within the continent.”
A view of a war scoured continent came onto the scene. Pillars of smoke billowed up as flyers and buzzed around like flies compared to the size of the land mass. Suddenly, there was a great flash and a cloud of smoke hurled outward in every direction from a central point. Calysta winced a little from the light and squeezed Illya’s hand tighter with her tiny fingers. A thunderous boom followed almost 15 seconds after and echoed through the room.
Bits of crumbling contient fell and flew in every direction, smashing into flyers on both sides. The narrator continued his story as they watched the continent fall. “There were over a million men, women and children living on the largest continent of Hycia. None of them survived and nearly all traces of the civilization before the Rey conquest were lost. This happened twice more, taking a total of 3.6 million more lives, including those on the continents of Rey. These homesteads now lay in the wilds as tombs.”
“When Rey fell into the Wilds, the backs of the Rey power were broken. The remaining, now homeless children of Rey were rounded up and brought en masse to Kinte. There were those in the Allied forces who wanted the remainder of the Reys and Lyr’s bloodline to be dropped off the edges to prevent another war with them and any remaining loyalists. However, after a vote, it would believe that the Rey should be sent to make a home across the stars with the chance that they may be able to rejoin the new Alliance, given time and proven merit.”
“Ships of Reys settled on Reylia, New Rey, and began anew under the leadership of Ayris, 15 year old descendant of Riulta and Lyr. After 200 years, the new Reylian people were given full citizenship into the Alliance and now their warriors serve as ground troops and protectors to all the peoples of the Alliance.”
An image of Chief Tikan appeared, this one taken when he had both eyes. He bore a striking resemblance to Lyr with tanned-olive skin and dark brown eyes along with a strong jaw and high cheekbones. The only thing that differed was the fact Tikan had dark, black hair and wore an amicable smile.
Calysta jumped a little when another thundering sound began suddenly through the room. Only this time, it wasn’t the hologram. The Chippeqouti Elite were slamming their fists into their desk in high praise to the current ruler of Reylia. A few of the other Kaerelean and all of the Terrans hadn’t expected such a sound and all jumped with the roaring sound.
Part of the narrator’s voice was drowned out by the men cheering, until they quieted down again. “....the 99 Continent War shaped many of the policies and cultures prevalent in the Alliance today. While exploration is an interest, slavery and indentured servitude is outlawed in all Alliance memberships. Open trade with all and the preservation of land and culture is encouraged among all the peoples of Kaereal and beyond.”
When the hologram ended, the instructor raised the level of the lights and looked at his students. “The hologram was very comprehensive and we know as much about Emperor Lyr as we do, because he left written records that followed his conquests. These entries grow very disoriented and do not make sense toward the end of his life. We do know he enacted in the tradition that all subsequent Emperors chosen among his progeny must kill any brothers and sisters blood line completely. We also know that he died on the icy barrier called the Frost Lines, trying to expand the territory for his son and grandson to entirely solidify his empire once and for all. Though he was advised not to attempt the battle, as it would cost thousands of warriors their lives to take the ice cliffs if the weather turned, he could focus only on the the last lines of resistance. He wrote in his journal that he would keep warm by ‘bathing in the blood of his men and his enemies alike before he gave it up.’ By this point, he was sending men into battle to slaughter against the guerrilla’s of the Frost Line. A historian’s account of the battle states that he was caught in a snow drift covered in the blood of his dying warriors and went down ‘screaming at the stars.’”
The instructor concluded his comments and then stepped back to survey the classroom. “You may ask any questions you would like there is 15 minutes left before the change over. If I am unable to get to your question before the bell rings, you are welcome to see me after class.”
****************************************
“The 99 Continents War,” the teacher said, “Is often called The Great War or the War of Madness, though there have been several Great Wars depending on which continent's history you are reading. So, we will be referring to this war as the 99 Continents War. The major battles happened close to 500 years ago but the events leading up to the greatest war in planetary history are important and have left deep cultural impacts. Normally, this war alone would be taught as an entire course at university, but as this class is a condensed version specifically made for entering cadets for Skycorp, we will be watching a hologram, which goes over the seeds of the Great War, its course, and the aftermath. I suggest you take notes, as much of this information will be included in the final exam.”
The teacher leaned over to pick up his pad and at the touch of his finger, the lights dimmed, pitching the room in near blackness before the hologram points flared to life. A heavy thud and a small snort came from beside her and she felt more than saw Illya jolt awake. Someone had kicked the bottom of his chair, forcing him to wake up for the hologram. Calysta winced and leaned over slightly, sliding her hand into her husband’s while it was dark in the room.
A hologram blared to life in the middle of the room showing the green and white swirling orb that was Kaereal from an approaching space view. A narrator began to set the time and scene while the hologram zoomed in slowly toward the planet, focusing on a space near the equator. “A mere 50 years after the First Flight of Gyl the explorer, extended travel between the 99 continents became a reality. The first to achieve this was Lyr, son of Hyden of the Markot Clan and Warrior Emperor of Rey.”
The hologram had zoomed into a map-like structure showing what the topography of old Rey had once looked like. It was one of the largest continents, spanning over 100 miles and with deep valleys where large Cryn- falcons- made their homes among the warrior clans. There were forests deep in the pits and the pink Goddess’ Ore ran in thick veins in the crevices.
“It was Hyden who had first united the constantly warring clans on Rey through conquest after the visitation of Gyl and his great flying machine. It was Lyr who set his sights on expanding that kingdom further into the sky. He put the clans together for the common goal of making his claims to the lands Gyl had come from.”
A tan faced man with golden blonde hair and a war scythe bathed in glistening blood appeared, standing in the room above. He wore a red Cryn feather in his cap and his brown eyes were dark as he looked down upon the kneeling chieftains of the other warrior clans. The tall, almost dashing figure of Lyr leered out into the crowd of chieftains at his feet and raised his bloodied war scythe. “By the sweat of our brows and the breaking of our backs we will rise to the sky and the world will be ours. Those who oppose will fall at their feet and become ours to command.” The words were met with war cries and scythes lifted upward from the bowing chieftains.
The hologram faded out Lyr and the chieftains and replaced it by drawings and 3D rendered images of boat-like ancient flyers. “A united Rey was a dangerous juggernaut,” the narrator continued, “Using the floating Goddess’ Ore from the valley’s of their home continent, the clans under Lyr’s rule built better and more dangerous flying mechanisms. These flyers could house over a 100 men at once along with their cryn mounts, store food for weeks, and had battlements prepared for ranged attacks.” A beastly looking contraption with hot coal burners under balloon like sails and lined with pink metal sailed into the skies.
“When the airborne men of Lyr made their first landfall, it was on Hycia. As the people were farmers, there was no warning and no way to stop the attack by Lyr’s men as they dominated the skies with their flying machines and trained falcons. Within a day, the people of Hycia were under the dominion of Lyr, having surrendered in the display of his power.”
The hologram showed flyers looming over farms, their great shadows hiding the incoming falcon riding warriors as they mowed down farmers in their fields. “The men of Hycia were bound into harvesting raw materials for more flyers while the women were made to produce food and other goods. Children were brought aboard the flyers to serve the warriors and to learn the ways of Rey warriorship. When Hycia was firmly under control, Lyr left a working chieftain in charge of the continent and again set out for more land.”
A map zoomed outward, showing the conquest of the surrounding continents in quick succession. “ Without the advantage of air attacks and no intercontinental communication as of yet, the surrounding skies quickly fell under the heel of Lyr. Juya, Uria, Pyrta, Lyon all tumbled within a galactic year. Lyr set up new governments and viceroys at each continent. He used the continent's raw materials and its people to make more warriors, more flyers, and better equipment.”
Lyr returned to the screen, smiling and eyes glinting over the land from the seat of his flyer. “I will make the world mine and it will be the mightiest of all the worlds. My name will be greater than those of my father before me and their fathers before them. I will own the sky, and one day, the stars.”
The map returned, showing Lyr’s conquests in red, slowly bleeding across the planet surface. “Lyr continued to invest in building his clan with the blood of the people he conquered, putting them to service for the empire. He continued investing in inventions as well. Better weapons were made, better flyer designs, and the first true map of Kaereal was constructed under Lyr’s instruction. Those warriors and slaves who proved themselves loyal, brave and true were rewarded handsomely. Those who resisted lost everything. It wasn’t until falling upon Aerikta that Lyr met any kind of resistance. Staunch purists, Aeriktans refused to surrender and be taken captive. Their women killed themselves by leaping off the edge, for fear of being taken as wives to the invaders. They took their children with them when the line of Aeriktan men failed. Those that could be captured and put into service resisted by a variety of means, including poisoning their new rulers and sabotage. A famed group of women hijacked a flyer and flew to Ewen, where they crashed. After some language difficulties, the Ewenians were warned and mounted a defense before Lyr could arrive.”
The hologram swapped to a small Aeriktan woman with filed teeth sabotaging lumber and food supplies meant bound for a sleek looking Rey flyer, then waving a group of women onward to take the ship. The ship crashed and the first ever meeting of Aeriktan’s and Ewenian’s was displayed. A delicate looking Ewenian woman offered a hand to the Aeriktans.
“In exchange for the knowledge of the flyers and the Rey empire, the Ewenians let the Aeriktan rogues stay and help mount a defense. When Lyr arrived, he found crude fliers to meet him led by the famous Ewenian warrior Watasyosi who had crafted spear pointed harpoons at the Rey fleet, taking down several of the ships. The battle that ensued was bloody but Lyr won thanks to superior weapons, warriors, and equipment.”
“Watasyosi was a bright leader however. Before the arrival of Lyr, he used the Aeriktan knowledge of the flyers and sent an envoy to the north, south, east and west to find other continents. To serve as a warning and the hope that others might come to their aid or defend their home lands. The western envoy was never found, but the eastern, southern, and northern groups landed on Byrna, Daterayn and what is now the islands of Kinte.”
“Meanwhile, trouble began brewing with Lyr. Like the Aeriktans the Ewenians were highly purist but rather than refusing, they allowed themselves to be taken in by the Reys. They learned the secrets of their medicine, their ships, and their navigation. They set up the Aeriktans with better poisons and flight patterns. Ewenian children forced into warriorship learned the trade and returned their blades upon their masters. After several thwarted and successful sabotage attempts as well as no less than 12 assassination attempts, Lyr grew angry. The last straw was the death of his wife by the hands of her adopted Ewenian child.”
The man’s face returned but the glint in his eye was gone, replaced by a cold rage. He spoke over his chieftains on the open deck of a flyer. “I promised you the world and the stars, but I see now neither can be made ours without stamping out the line of resistance entirely. Those who oppose us will be given no mercy. We are the superior blood and the world is our birthright.”
Lyr’s face faded away to the image of a burning fire which had once been a village. Then the pits of a mine, smoking in ruins. Forests smoldered and war waged as more continents were over taken. “Even with the warning of Watasyosi, the rest of the continents fell. By the time Lyr was in his 70’s, he had taken every continent save for 10, those at the most southern hemisphere, and those at the most northern hemisphere. The cold weather protected these areas from true attacks from Lyr.”
“Still, the message of Emperor Lyr went far and wide. No longer were conquered peoples given mercy. Resisters were responded to by beheading or mass “flights” of victims forced off the edge of the continents into the Wilds below. Men were chained, women were forced into labor and childbirth to spread the blood of Rey. Children were taken into the army to train as warriors. People whose children were discovered too old to train as loyal subjects were dropped into the wilds.” The Edge appeared in the hologram and showed feather capped men pushing crowds off the side at scythe point. People dropped off like water brimming over a cup, but their screams were swallowed by the wind.
Lyr appeared again, this time looking old but still solidly built and strong. His face was wrinkled and his blond hair had turned to silver. He stood over 4 men kneeling in front of him, scythe in hand. “After the death of his first and most beloved wife, Lyr had three other wives, all who met their ends in war except for the last. After so many attempts on his life, Lyr grew paranoid and harsh. His empathy had all but vanished for those under his rule or his family. He had conquered the world, but the stars still eluded him even with all his power. Lyr’s last wife, Kyra, was murdered by his own hands when she was thought to have conspired to put her own son as the one to inherit the empire. Lyr had known the time would come when he would have to pick a successor and he had spent years learning who was loyal to his 4 sons and whom they had bedded. At a great feast on the home continent of Rey, Lyr invited his sons asking them to bring their offspring. Those with the best trained and strongest offspring would inherit the empire.”
“Daktan, Tikan, Henaniah, Fyrnat,” the narrator continued, “Came with their own spies and informants. Their own local supporters and their offspring. Lyr watched them take competitions to prove which was the best offspring while they feasted and partied for 7 days. With his 4 sons and many grandsons kneeling at his feet, he announced that his son Tikan would take the Empire. At the moment of his announcement, soldiers surrounded the remaining sons and they were beheaded along with all their offspring.”
The hologram showed the shadows of war scythes swinging, but didn’t depict the bodies falling or the screams. Calysta squeezed Illya’s hand more out of instinct than anything else and looked away from the hologram until the scene changed to a dark haired man rising up to meet Lyr.
“All of the viceroys and agencies who did not swear fealty to Tikan and his son were dropped off the edges of the continents and replaced by those eager to earn the new emperor's favor. Lyr gave the empire to Tikan claiming that ‘Out of your brothers, you have remained true and chosen a Rey woman for your wife. Your blood is not diluted and you have the strongest offspring. You will be my successor and your brothers lines have been burned from the world root and stem so there will no doubt who is superior.’ Lyr later died in battle to the north attempting to cross the Frost Lines.”
Under Tikan, the lives of slaves were hungry and painful, bent to the whim of their Rey masters. It would take another 4 generations before true resistance began again, this time with more modern weapons of war and the stars as a playing field. The Alliance began in the most northern and southern continents, the ones never conquered by Lyr himself and grew through underground networks.” The hologram showed more modern flyers taking to the skies and real flight combats taking shape with fiery, atmospheric explosions. Green began to spread across the continents little by little. “Continents under Rey rule for centuries found their liberation, but the Rey strongholds were deeply entrenched after generations of rule.”
“Once the fire of rebellion sparked and became an ember, the underground Alliance grew in size and scope, however. Those who had left the planet when space flight became viable, returned bringing the knowledge they had gathered to build better weapons and communication. The Reys had also put their centuries of superior funds to work, eventing the first space traveling flyers and attempting to expand into the stars. The 99 Continent War began with flight battles over continents, destroying crops and towns and breaking the Reys from the infrastructure down. It was at this point, the Reys began to understand that drastic measures must be taken to end the battle. A weapon so severe that it would shock the planet. The 4th son removed from Lyr, Riulta brought the Veyra Bomb from a design, to a working weapon of war in a little under six galactic months. So named Veyra for the silver moon, the Goddess of Death, the bomb was devastating enough to pulverise a continent out of the sky.”
This time, the holograph changed to an older image. It wasn’t some dramatic rendering that used Lyr’s written accounts for his speech. These were real images of the event as it happened. “The bomb was placed deep in the caverns on Hycia and used a rare ore found only on the moons to create a volatile reaction within the continent.”
A view of a war scoured continent came onto the scene. Pillars of smoke billowed up as flyers and buzzed around like flies compared to the size of the land mass. Suddenly, there was a great flash and a cloud of smoke hurled outward in every direction from a central point. Calysta winced a little from the light and squeezed Illya’s hand tighter with her tiny fingers. A thunderous boom followed almost 15 seconds after and echoed through the room.
Bits of crumbling contient fell and flew in every direction, smashing into flyers on both sides. The narrator continued his story as they watched the continent fall. “There were over a million men, women and children living on the largest continent of Hycia. None of them survived and nearly all traces of the civilization before the Rey conquest were lost. This happened twice more, taking a total of 3.6 million more lives, including those on the continents of Rey. These homesteads now lay in the wilds as tombs.”
“When Rey fell into the Wilds, the backs of the Rey power were broken. The remaining, now homeless children of Rey were rounded up and brought en masse to Kinte. There were those in the Allied forces who wanted the remainder of the Reys and Lyr’s bloodline to be dropped off the edges to prevent another war with them and any remaining loyalists. However, after a vote, it would believe that the Rey should be sent to make a home across the stars with the chance that they may be able to rejoin the new Alliance, given time and proven merit.”
“Ships of Reys settled on Reylia, New Rey, and began anew under the leadership of Ayris, 15 year old descendant of Riulta and Lyr. After 200 years, the new Reylian people were given full citizenship into the Alliance and now their warriors serve as ground troops and protectors to all the peoples of the Alliance.”
An image of Chief Tikan appeared, this one taken when he had both eyes. He bore a striking resemblance to Lyr with tanned-olive skin and dark brown eyes along with a strong jaw and high cheekbones. The only thing that differed was the fact Tikan had dark, black hair and wore an amicable smile.
Calysta jumped a little when another thundering sound began suddenly through the room. Only this time, it wasn’t the hologram. The Chippeqouti Elite were slamming their fists into their desk in high praise to the current ruler of Reylia. A few of the other Kaerelean and all of the Terrans hadn’t expected such a sound and all jumped with the roaring sound.
Part of the narrator’s voice was drowned out by the men cheering, until they quieted down again. “....the 99 Continent War shaped many of the policies and cultures prevalent in the Alliance today. While exploration is an interest, slavery and indentured servitude is outlawed in all Alliance memberships. Open trade with all and the preservation of land and culture is encouraged among all the peoples of Kaereal and beyond.”
When the hologram ended, the instructor raised the level of the lights and looked at his students. “The hologram was very comprehensive and we know as much about Emperor Lyr as we do, because he left written records that followed his conquests. These entries grow very disoriented and do not make sense toward the end of his life. We do know he enacted in the tradition that all subsequent Emperors chosen among his progeny must kill any brothers and sisters blood line completely. We also know that he died on the icy barrier called the Frost Lines, trying to expand the territory for his son and grandson to entirely solidify his empire once and for all. Though he was advised not to attempt the battle, as it would cost thousands of warriors their lives to take the ice cliffs if the weather turned, he could focus only on the the last lines of resistance. He wrote in his journal that he would keep warm by ‘bathing in the blood of his men and his enemies alike before he gave it up.’ By this point, he was sending men into battle to slaughter against the guerrilla’s of the Frost Line. A historian’s account of the battle states that he was caught in a snow drift covered in the blood of his dying warriors and went down ‘screaming at the stars.’”
The instructor concluded his comments and then stepped back to survey the classroom. “You may ask any questions you would like there is 15 minutes left before the change over. If I am unable to get to your question before the bell rings, you are welcome to see me after class.”
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