[center][h2]The Resurgent Mandate[/h2][/center]

Corruption. Malformation. Decay. Wherever Ovrosthal's eyeless gaze turned, there was no respite from the foul sight of nature ravaged by alien hands, if hands they could be called. Where lush, emerald forests of curious trees and prismatic, tenderly scented flowers had once stood, now stretched a hideous sea of lurid, twisted things bearing only a passing resemblance to plants, their branches akin to the writhing arms of abyssal dwellers, with tumorous excrescences upon them exhaling an acrid and lethal mist. Where crystal lakelets had lain, fed by streams cheerfully gurgling in the undergrowth, were now rank, stagnant marshes, whose surface was only stirred by the sluggish movements of some creature best unseen. Where had once ceaselessly resounded the calls of exotic beasts of curious hues and shapes, there now hung only a mournful silence, occasionally broken by the ponderous shuffling of some monstrous chitin-encased behemoth.

Yet there was nothing in this scene which struck the High Purifier as unpleasant. Indeed, nothing could conceivably have aroused his displeasure, for his ability to harbour any such unruly, [i]imperfect[/i] stimuli had long been gone. As he surveyed the expanse of diseased trees from one of the topmost observatory windows of the First Central, the greatest of the Mandate's strongholds on Osserion, if not in the entire galaxy, the only reaction to what he saw to form in his metal-bound consciousness was a sort of dispassionate appreciation of the tactical advantage such an environment would provide in the event of a ground assault. The thick vegetation and marshy terrain would halt the advance of any vehicles and considerably slow and disorganise infantry, which would likewise have to contend with the mutated fauna. Had he even been capable of perceiving anything which was not a piece of input or the conclusion of a calculation, he would most likely have been satisfied with what lay below him. For this ecosystem was perfectly suited for its purpose, and they, the Golgotha, had made it such. As it should - as it would be with all things.

A low, humming sound came from behind - if there was any behind for an entirely symmetrical shape - Ovrosthal, interrupting his evaluative contemplation. Those with whom he was to meet were ready to receive him. Without visibly turning, yet internally shifting the focus of his senses in the direction opposite to their prior position, the High Purifier detached himself from the window, and crossed the narrow corridor which divided the transparent outer surface from one of the citadel's layers of inner walls. As he approached, a section of this wall, devoid of any outward markings, slid to one side, enabling him to pass through where a robust barrier had stood mere moments before; the one beyond it likewise retreated, as did another and another yet, until the entire floor seemed to have become a single vast chamber, half exposed to the sight of Osserion's rust-coloured sky, and half covered in smooth, aseptically uniform light-grey surfaces.

The beings who occupied it, now facing Ovrosthal as he advanced towards them, were perhaps even more sinister in their appearance than the warped jungles outside. Prime Executor Rethliros was, as befitted his rank, modified extensively even for an adherent of the Mandate. His body, standing twice as tall as those of his peers and supported by two supplementary limbs beside the usual six, was a dire amalgamation of metal and pseudo-organic flesh, seemingly chaotic yet, as was visible upon closer inspection, thoroughly and intricately balanced in every aspect. His companion, on the other hand, was at once both comparatively unremarkable and visibly jarring with his surroundings, going as far as to rest upon an implement exceedingly mundane yet unique among the hexapodal New Golgotha - namely, a chair. Though Archon Mandragis embraced the Mandate's ideology as fervently as any of his compatriots, he had declined to undergo the standard endoskeleton replacement procedure on the grounds that the "cerebral upgrade" it entailed would deprive him, and consequently the Mandate, of such potentially valuable traits as his "intuition" and "flexibility of thought". The Prime Executor had recognised his objection as valid, and alterations upon his person had been limited; however, as his three fingers per hand and the triangular steel mask covering what had once been his features attested, he was nonetheless something far from what even the closest of his forebears had been.

Once the High Purifier had taken his place before his colleagues, Rethliros, slightly shifting the weight of his central body upon his appendages, spoke. [b]"You are probably aware of the motive of this convocation, High Purifier Ovrosthal."[/b] The Prime Executor's voice, generated by the vibrations of an endostructural laminal system nearly twice as large and thick as that of other Golgothans, rumbled tonelessly like a reverberating clap of metallic thunder. [b]"A transport convoy carrying mineral elements headed from Tarsil Four to Sevara was intercepted and destroyed by unidentified agents, presumed Palathyn, seven point thirty-two axial cycles ago. This raises the frequency of hostile incursions into our territory by presumed Palathyn units to an average of two point sixty-seven per lesser orbital cycle. Such a value exceeds secure-class state parameters. You are responsible for defensive and preventive fleet operations. Justify your failure to optimally fulfil your functions."[/b]

"Prime Executor Rethliros." Ovrosthal began. Someone not deprived of an emotional spectrum would, at the very least, have been unsettled by such a harangue; but to the High Purifier, it was merely a string of factual statements followed by a prompt for a response, and, indeed, Rethliros could not have intended it otherwise. Vague and inaccurate meta-textual nuances had been supplanted by efficient, if somewhat unnatural, conciseness and precision in word-choice among the followers of the Mandate's vision of perfection. "The fleet at my disposal does not currently comprise a quantity of escort craft sufficient for flawless performance. Additionally, the coordinates of Palathyn are unknown. This renders preventive action against the most probable perpetrators of disruptive incursions impossible."

"Not to mention a direct attack would be undesirable even if it were feasible." Mandragis interjected. His voice, though distorted by a metallic resonance, was nowhere as inflectionless as those of the other two speakers, and his speech was noticeably more fluid than their almost mechanical intonations. "Yes, it is improbable the Order would be in a condition to provide any resistance worthy of this name in a direct confrontation, and, yes, it is, to our knowledge, not officially affiliated with the Unity Accords. However, even excluding the possibility of a covert agreement, the destruction of Palathyn would alert the Galactic Council of our continued offensive capabilities. In such an event, I would not deem an assault by its combined forces unlikely, and their military superiority is undeniable. Velian's guidance would likewise give them an advantage not to be overlooked..." At the mention of the Concordance leader's name, the Archon's voice betrayed a shade of intense loathing, the word being almost spit out as his constitution would allow. "But I dread I am focusing upon only one facet of the situation, and the teachings of the Mandate instruct us to seek completeness in all. With your permission, I have elaborated the outline of a course of action which may enable us to exploit these circumstances at best, and seen to giving certain preliminary instructions to our research departments." Here he paused, awaiting, as protocol dictated, the response of those present at the meeting.

Rethliros began to emit a low, droning sound, which, among the New Golgotha, amounted to a brief affirmative response. He was soon joined in this by Ovrosthal; thereupon both fell silent again, and the Prime Executor answered. [b]"Permission granted, Archon Mandragis. State your counsel."[/b]