Star Force: Bahamut (SF86) (Star Force Origin Series) Read Online Free

purpose, this
civilization in a containment cell will unravel, and I first among it. I have
known this was coming but forestalled acknowledgement of that fact because I
did not know the truth of the templars. What knowledge they possess is critical
in how I am to proceed…but the fact is I do not think I will know of them in
time. I have to work, else I will self-destruct. This is not something I have
encountered before, but it is a very real doom I am seeing on the horizon .”
    “ There is an old
saying from my homeworld. A tiny, but powerful empire once said that it must
expand or die, for all it knew was to conquer and grow. It could not maintain .”
    “ I am not
designed to maintain save for that function in relation to a greater purpose .”
    “ Nor am I. We are
constantly training and growing more powerful. Individually as well as an
empire. ”
    “ Could you
handle not improving? ”
    “ No, I couldn’t.
Setbacks that I could fight against are one thing, but stagnation is an enemy
that I will not allow to exist. I am entirely incompatible with it .”
    “ And what fate
would you have us see? ” the mastermind asked, and Paul could feel him
almost pleading.
    He didn’t answer for several seconds, looking him over
visually and mentally. “ I’ve never told
anyone this before, but the stronger I grow, the wiser I become, the less I
feel like I belong in this galaxy. Or rather, there’s nothing wrong with the
galaxy itself, but the people in it become less recognizable. I am so far
beyond most of them that it is like my success is ostracizing me. I have to
become better than them in order to protect them, but it leaves me alone with a
very short list of peers…and as others rise to that peer group I am leaving it
behind at the same or faster rate. Unless I stop advancing I will never be one
of them. ”
    “ That’s just
part of the job ,” Paul continued. “ And
for you it’s similar. You have billions of your kin with you on this planet,
but they are all beneath you in terms of skill and knowledge. There are no
other masterminds here, and you’ve even said that you never interacted without
exceptional need. The only peers you came in contact with were the templars…but
you didn’t see them as peers, you saw them as superiors. They gave you a
purpose. A place. I have no superiors within Star Force, unfortunately, so I
have to chart my own course. ”
    “ And now that I
have none, I must chart my own as well? ”
    Paul spread his arms wide, gesturing to the planet
around them. “ You control one of the most
densely populated planets in this region of the galaxy. There is so much here
to do that most people would be overwhelmed. You’re so good at it that it
almost bores you, and that gives you time to look around and ask yourself…what
is the point of all of this? In the past, following the orders of the templars
was your point. It was your purpose. You didn’t have to think beyond that and
you consumed yourself in carrying out those orders. You were a facilitator, not
a leader. Not a trailblazer, anyway. There’s a significant difference between
the two. ”
    “ I was not
designed for that .”
    “ No, but you are
intelligent enough to become one. You already have in some respects .”
    “ I have no wish
to be one. And what changes you have seen are me identifying weaknesses and
addressing them. They are inefficiencies and therefore must be eliminated. That
does nothing for me with regards to setting goals, only in achieving them .”
    “ I didn’t always
know my purpose. At least I never understood it in the beginning. I’d get bits
and pieces of meaning out of various things, but it wasn’t until I was past 300
years that it truly dawned on me why I exist. It’s not something I decided, or
swore an oath to. And it’s not genetically encoded, I can assure you of that.
It’s what happens when I see something bad happen. An injustice. When I observe
one something inside of me snaps. I