2015.02.08 - This is the Galaxy We Have to Guard

An hour after their return from the canteen, the meeting room of the Guardians HQ is still empty but for Adam, who seems to be speed-reading reports on the holo-terminal. He switches screens when Rachel and Jennifer return. Not Thara, though. Apparently Kryptonians aren’t immune to getting very sick after drinking in excess. Shocking. Rocket would have a field day with that. Unfortunately the gun-toting raccoon is not answering the passport calls. Not a big deal, since this is not an emergency meeting, but still unfortunate.

Adam invites the women to sit down and types another command. A holographic display of the Milky Way fills half of the room, and the lights dim so the galactic core becomes the main source of light in the chamber. "How much do you know on the politics of your own galaxy?" He asks.

Jenny enters the room all cleaned up, complete with an entirely 'new' costume thanks to Rachel. She had no idea that the drink Thara had could make the girl that drunk, sadly, otherwise Jen would have been more careful in introducing Thara to the joys (and woes) of alcohol. Poor Kid. Settling into a chair, Jenny's gaze flickers towards Adam, listening to him with quiet attention. As the Milky Way Galaxy springs to life and the question is asked, Jen's the first to pipe up with a quiet, "I know a little." She begins, brows furrowing together, trying to remember all the different etiquettes and woes that beseech the galaxy she calls home. "There are a lot of internal conflicts between many of the different races, for as many different reasons as there are just silly feuds." The Kree and Skrulls and Shi'Ar pop into Jenny's mind as she speaks that, one hand lifting upwards to rub the back of her neck. "The Guardians - well, not us but the blue smurfs, try to keep out of politics as best they can, especially when deciding another Lantern, so I'm uncertain the full extent of those wars and feuds and dislikes."

Rachel couldn't just dump the drunk Thara somewhere to sleep off her intoxication. Not after the manifestation she just witnessed, or the unfortunately combustible results thereof. Rachel only left the young Kryptonian once she'd satisfied herself that she wasn't going to have to deal with a drunk Flamebird... and that there were no traces of another firebird lingering in the back of her own mind. Not wanting to think about that too closely, Rachel was only too pleased to run into Jenny on the way back to the Guardians' HQ, and demonstrate one of her favourite uses of her telekinetic gifts. At least she skimmed Jenny's mind for what the other woman would like to replace her ruined outfit, rather than applying her own fashion sense to her...

Rachel enters the meeting room right behind Jenny, her own outfit once more the sleeveless green top and skinny jeans she was wearing before the unfortunate bar fight. She might look out of place on Knowhere, but she can't wear her uniform ALL the time. Finding a chair of her own, Rachel lets her eyes be drawn to Adam's hologram, but then snorts in amusement. "I barely know which party our President is from." Rachel admits it easily and honestly. Even before the Guardians, she didn't pay much attention to Earthbound politics, let alone the intergalactic version. "Sounds like a good idea." Rachel offers, when Jenny's finished, then looks toward Adam with a slightly crooked grin. "Let me guess, whatever's up, keeping out of the political side isn't an option?"

Adam nods. Of course, it would be pretty good if the Guardians of the Galaxy could also stand over the politics of the galaxy. So far they have. It is still interesting to know. "Very well. The Milky Way lacks a dominant interstellar government, the Kree..." some dots of green appear in the furthest side of one of the spiral arms. "Have outposts and protectorates in the outer rim of the Cygnis arm. Their main territory are the Magellanic Clouds. Those Milky Way planets tend to be razed when their wars with the Skrulls flare up. For tens of thousands of years they have failed to make major inroads into the galaxy. They are still the most powerful civilization in the local galaxy cluster. They have remarkable technology and an immense army. The Kree love war, and engage on them often. With the Skrull Empire split in warring kingdoms after the Annihilation Wave, the Kree might have some time to expand. But this is something we might see only in the next few decades."

Frowning, ever so slightly, Jenny idly wonders if she should be taking notes, and if so, should she ask about pulling out a pen and paper, or a digital recorder? Forcing back the grin that threatens to cross over her features at her own internal thought, Jennifer continues to rub the back of her neck, head turned down to avoid any would-be sniggering of a smile that creeps there. Just long enough to compose herself, before the emerald skinned woman turns her neutral and calm pose back onto Adam.

"The Skrulls and Kree have been at it for ages, from all I know." Jenny states, a shake of her head given. "I don't mean to be a bit of a downer about this, but the political structure of each race, whether Kree, Skrull, Shi'Ar, Tamaraneans, Zaons, or whatever else is out there - seems a bit too complex for any one group to handle. So I'm assuming there's something else going on here, other than which president we shouldn't vote for?"

Rachel leans forward in her chair, resting her elbows on the table, and tries to at least look like she's paying attention to Adam's political run-down. She knows it's important, she knows it's something she doesn't know and that she NEEDS to know it... but after a few hours of dancing, drinking and fighting, not to mention whatever's going on with Thara... it's hard for Rachel to keep her attention on politics. It's not helped by the amusement that she can feel radiating from Jenny. If she hadn't had all the alcohol burned out of her bloodstream, she wouldn't be able to keep a straight face.

Aware she's not going to be terribly much use, at least until she's brought up to speed, Rachel latches on to just one thing that Adam says. "On top of all that, a few /decades/? Adam, you know humans don't live THAT long, right?" Rachel allows herself to smirk a bit. "I might not still be around when we get to that problem."

"I was going in order," notes Adam. "We can't talk about the Milky Way civilizations without talking about the Kree, hmm? Their influence and reach is all-encompassing. In many ways they have the role the Unite States have in Earth politics. Except they are an imperialistic fascism society directed by an organic computer." So dwell on that for a minute.

"Here is Sol," small blue arrow about two thirds from the galactic core to the outer rim. "The Dominators," big yellow blot containing thousands of stars, not too far from Earth. "The Khund Empire," this is a red blob, which borders the yellow and it is only a bit smaller. "And the Rigelian Colonizers Commonwealth." Orange blob, smaller but very close to Earth. Adam adds a few other arrows there, close to Earth. Vega. Thangar. Daxam. Krymelia. Khera. Other names that might mean nothing to Rachel and Jade.

Jenny might say that many feel the United States fits the Kree bill exactly, but she refrains, Earth politics are, after all, Earth politics. Still, quiet and paying attention, her gaze flickers to the many different planets and races that exist so very close to her own home world. It's mind boggling, then again, it should be, given there are thousands of Lanterns for thousands of sectors, the Earth is but a tiny spec in the huge scope of life that exists around it. Casting her eyes away from the hologram and onto Adam, Jenny has this strange sinking feeling that something really bad is going to be said next, and she needs to mentally prepare herself for this inevitable - BAD THING. .

"I guess not." Rachel says, very quietly, after Adam mentions the need to talk about the Kree. Really, Rachel feels like she didn't do the required reading for this lecture. At least she's on slightly firmer ground when he compares the Kree to the United States. She's not THAT ignorant of America's place in the world. Something flickers in her eyes as her brain makes an unwelcome connection. Fascist computers running everything? It's not totally dissimilar to the world she came from. "Now I hope I /am/ dead before they get to Earth." Rachel mutters dourly. "That's not a form of government /anyone/ is going to like."

While she's been thinking dark thoughts, Adam's been revealing that the Kree are only one of a dozen civilizations, many of which seem to have chosen rather ominous names... and half of which she fears she's already forgotten. She's in silent agreement with Jenny, though - there's no way Adam is building up to a pleasant revelation.

"The large interstellar nations are, in general, unfriendly to aliens," explains Adam. "The Dominators are particularly xenophobic and cruel to conquered races. The Khunds are brutal, but indifferent overlords. The Rigelians are more civilized, but implacable. If they want a planet they will force natives to leave or confine them to ‘reserves’. Lesser galactic powers like Thangar and Khera have also a history of expansionism and abuse, with some more helpful altruistic stages in-between." Krypton would also qualify, but since it is gone and Thara is not here, Adam skips that part.

"There are also the Badoon... and no one knows how strong they are," explains Adam. "They have taken a few scattered planets and enslaved populations to extract the local resources, and they are all over the spiral arm. But the bulk of the race live in space stations orbiting planet-less stars, and their ships are always cloaked. As almost all other races hate them there is very little peaceful interaction. Kree intelligence considers them a major threat if they ever make a concerted bid for galactic domination."

Oh, and the bad news. Adam touches the holo-keyboard a last time. About half the galaxy turns pale purple. That nation occupies most of the further spiral arm from Earth and a good chunk of the core! “This is the territory of the Universal Church of Truth... in our galaxy. They are present in a score other galaxies. But they began here.”

She just knows she's never going to remember all of this, never, ever ever. Hopefully there will be some cliff notes provided afterwards, or Jenny will have to ask for the information for each to be read and digested at her leisure. With a slight scowl to her features, Jennifer's head tilts to one side, eyes moving from Adam to the different points on the hologram, then back to Adam. Sooo many warring races, so close to Earth, but surely that has been going on for generations, not something new, so what /is/ new, what is the reason? That comes with a startling look - and a name that Jenny has never heard before. "Who or what are they?" She intones, almost breathlessly, her eyes unable to tear away from the display. "I have never heard of them." And considering their influence - that is probably not a good thing.

Jenny's eyes narrow to slits, and for once she's lost some of her good humor, this entire revelation just feels - bad, really really bad.

So the upshot of all of this is... the universe is a nasty place, inhabited by nasty people. Rachel wishes she were more surprised. Sitting back from the table, Rachel slumps in her seat and folds her arms, stretching out her legs under the table and crossing them at the ankle as well. Her eyes remain on the hologram, but now it's less with forced attention and more with a kind of low-level animosity. Has she really - have they all, really - signed up for a lifetime of keeping these warring races from blowing up the universe? It seems less of an adventure when she looks at the big picture. In the depths of her brooding, however, she finds an inevitable spark of stubbornness. If it IS the job she signed up for, then she's not going to back out.

Rachel looks away from the hologram as Adam mentions the latest group on his apparently never-ending list. She can't put her finger on it, but something about this latest group makes her more uneasy than all the bloodthirsty rest. "Me neither, which isn't a surprise." Rachel puts in. "Let me guess, though: Their 'truth' isn't good news for everyone else?"

"Correct," murmurs Adam. "A few weeks ago a fleet of about a hundred Cathedral Ships crossed through the Sol stargate while cloaked. Remember we talked with Starfire about it?" He stands up. "The Universal Church of Truth is a theocratic pan-galactic society; they rule over a vast number of races, often from the shadows, others very openly. It began five thousand years ago, in a world now called Sanctum. Outwardly a benevolent life-worshipping religion, it is actually a tyrannical empire that among other unsavory elements promulgates the extermination of all non-humanoid intelligent species. They run whole planets as indoctrination camps where selected individuals are elected for their ‘fonts of faith’, which turn belief into reality-warping power for their templars, cardinals and battleships. The very people that could become sorcerers or even Green Lanterns, become living batteries for the church most fanatical warriors.”

Bad enough? He has just started. “The Universal Church of Truth was founded and led by a... prophet... an insane, time-travelling and cosmically empowered sorcerer that was still alive recently. His name is Magus. Adam Magus.”

(To be continued)