Pride, honor, cunning, wisdom, and patience. This was what the Cyclitharans took pride in religiously.
These species, rather than building their empire solely out of bloodshed, spent hundreds of generations of their bloodlines conjuring peace talks, treaties, allegiances, and alliances to produce the eutopia they call home.
The hard work their ancestors put in over the generations paid of and now, the new generation lived in peace and luxury, having harbored an environment so controlled and organized that they didn’t have any need to get their hands dirty anymore.
’An impressive feat if you ask me.’
Through manipulating, scheming, and secretly governing the masses, the Cyclitharans built their empire with little to more bloodshed whatsoever.
’A truly impressive feat.’
Now because of this, the Granians, Ethisians, and almost of other well-informed species in the Galaxy made sure to keep tabs on the Cyclitharans. It wasn’t normal or conventional that they, of all creatures, managed to live at peace with their enslaved species and didn’t have to use brute force or slaughter half to make the other half compliant.
They did all of this peacefully and when one thought of it, it became very unsettling and morbid to even think about it for too long.
Nothing in Akrina ever came without hardwork, sweat, and blood.
While this didn’t rub the other species well, the Cyclitharans benefited greatly from their efforts. The first benefit was a wide pool and monopoly over a comprehensive stock of minerals, resources, materials, labor and so much more.
The second benefit was allies and species that were inclined to fight for the Cyclitharans, not because they felt indebted to but because they lived amongst them. This was a cleverly orchestrated plan; make your colonized species live amongst you so they’ll have no choice but to defend their "homes".
"I’ll ask this question again, Lord Gravax," the Grand Duke of the Cyclitharan empire, after stating all the benefits he and his people enjoyed, looked at the Granians dead in their eyes and continued to brag about their empire’s strength. "What do you have that we could possibly want?
"We’re one of the biggest monopolizers in the trade industry. We own hundreds of colonies that are rich in minerals, resources, rare plant and animal species, tourism sites and so many other things.
"In terms of protection, we have over sixty thousand species under our rule who are well trained to raid any place at any given time. Aside from that, our own species are powerful, both physically and mentally, which makes our army one of the largest and strongest in the Galaxy."
To put the icing on his "showing off" cake, the Grand Duke inched forward and said, "What do you, the Granians, have to give us?"
In all honesty, Lord Grim and the Crimson Knight felt backed up into a wall. The Cyclitharan was right in all he said and the two, using logic, had failed to point out what they, as a species, could offer the Cyclitharans who had all they needed to sustain, protect, and provide for themselves.
Even though Cherry felt the shift in the air intensify, the two Granians weren’t going to let those questions stop them from getting what they needed.
It was hard to state what they could provide so the two thought long and hard while the Grand Duke patiently awaited their response.
Grim, with great confidence, stepped forward, his tone polite but firm. "We offer technology—biomechanical enhancements that could further strengthen your armies. We used said enhancements on many planets and have reported astounding cases of beasts exhibiting powerful, genetic mutations."
Grim clapped twice and in a few minutes, twenty Granians, all piloting Mechs, dragged a large elk-like beast across the Chamber’s halls.
The beast was large, powerful, and radiated with violent strength and ferocity. Once more, it’s physique was unlike what the Cyclitharans had seen, given that it had four legs, a crown of horns on its head, and a pulsating crystal on its head.
’Perhaps this might draw them in.’
"This beast’s original form is no larger than a simple house pet but as you can see, it is larger than any of us are in this room. Now, this creature can be used for lots of things. Labor, given its strength, hunting for game or sport, food, although its meat is quite tough and stringy.
"However, here’s the most important bit of it. The energy core in its chest."
Grim pointed at the beast’s crystal and watched as the Cyclitharans marveled at it’s pulsating energy. The crystal was large, jagged, and irregularly shaped with sharp edges, a rough surface, and a bright center releasing a bright pink color.
Around the crystal were thousands of veins and blood vessels transporting energy throughout its body, giving the beast an immense power boost. Googlᴇ search 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⚑𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚑𝙣𝙚𝙩
"This energy core," Grim continued, "is powerful enough to power a small shelter, a Tier One weapon, a ship’s power system or anything else that requires a decent amount of energy. Imagine what our biomechanical advancements can do to the Leviathans in your planets. You’ll be able to harvest cores powerful enough to run ecosystems for even decades, depending on their size...."
"Thank you, Lord Grim, but that is not anything that I or my people will be interested in," the Grand Duke interrupted, his face smeared with boredom and a complete lack of interest at the Granians’presentation.
To add salt to the injury, the Grand Duke mocked the Granians by saying, "I do not know how you savages deal with matters in your planets but we Cyclitharans do not kill our beasts without a good enough reason. You may raise them for their hides, claws, or energy claws but we do not savagely mistreat the forms of life in our colonies.
"I’m very disappointed, Grim and Gravax. I expected more from you and not some lousy presentation of a mutated, lab grown beast. I’m afraid to say this but you’ve wasted too much time and have lost my interest. Good day...."
While still blabbering, Grim signaled the Crimson Knight to be on standby while the Granians in the Mechs released the beast’s, poked it with sharp, electric rods and let it run free to the Grand Duke who was seated cockily, arrogantly and most importantly, vulnerable and open to attack.