The War of Pawns (The Human Chronicles -- Book Three) Read Online Free Page A
Author: T.R. Harris
lived.
But like most things in life, Arolus’ plan produced some unintended consequences…
During the 500 years that The Mass acquired more and more territory, the day-to-day task of governing over 6,000 worlds began to take its toll on the Juireans.
Since the purpose behind The Mass had been to instill pride and power in the Juirean race, they saw fit never to delegate too much of their authority to the natives of the conquered planets. Therefore, each of these conquered worlds required thousands, if not tens of thousands of Juirean administrators to govern, and all backed up by a massive military juggernaut requiring millions of additional native Juireans to man.
Out of sheer necessity, Juirean females began to be segregated from societal responsibilities and dedicated exclusively to the act of procreation. Traditional mating pairs were eliminated, replaced with government-run training facilities whose sole purpose was to get fresh Juirean officials out into the field as soon as possible.
In addition, the security involved in tightly controlling such a vast number of worlds was proving to be an impossible task. Even though the Juireans controlled the technology, along with the largest military force in the galaxy, wars still broke out, which called for even more native Juireans to be called into action.
As the centuries passed, it was obvious that the system was on the verge of collapse.
And then the most remarkable thing happened.
The Juireans retreated.
Almost overnight, they abandoned their most-distant outposts on thousands of planets and pulled back to the core worlds of the initial Mass, a coalition of some 240 worlds, including the massive production facilities near the Core.
The effect on the Empire was immediate and dramatic. Planet after planet soon began to fall back to their pre-contact levels, with many reverting to an almost iron-age existence. While some planets still retained a fair amount of scientific expertise, the Juireans had never fully divulged all the tricks of the trade. Eventually, as engineered systems began to fail and refined materials run out, even the most sophisticated of these worlds began to suffer from the absence of the Juireans.
For several hundred years after the retreat, many of the planetary systems began to engage in bloody wars, either as a consequence of the quest for Juirean technology and raw materials, or as a result of colonial ambitions now set free by the absence of the Juireans. No less than a dozen tiny stellar ‘empires’ sprang up, each trying to emulate the success of the Juireans. Some of these neophyte coalitions actually managed to bring about a certain degree of peace and prosperity to their regions. However, most did not. And when the envious neighboring worlds began to invade the territories of these more-successful unions, even bloodier wars began to explode throughout the galaxy.
It’s often been debated whether or not the Juireans had this result in mind when they retreated. During the time of The Mass, many worlds grumbled about the Juireans, some even to the point of outright revolt. However, none of these revolts resulted in any real change in the geopolitical arrangement of the galaxy. But now, without the stabilizing influence of the Juireans, many of these same revolting worlds began to cry out for a return to the ‘good old days’ when the Juireans ran the show.
If the Juireans did indeed plan for such an outcome, it was an act of genius, as well as incredible foresight.
The Juireans remained sequestered from the bulk of the galaxy for four hundred years, before they eventually ventured back out, and when they did, they came with a completely different approach to governing.
Since the Juireans now realized that ruling something the size of a galaxy by a single race was impractical, they decided to allow local worlds, and coalitions of worlds, to join them in a mutually-beneficial alliance, such as the original Seven World
But like most things in life, Arolus’ plan produced some unintended consequences…
During the 500 years that The Mass acquired more and more territory, the day-to-day task of governing over 6,000 worlds began to take its toll on the Juireans.
Since the purpose behind The Mass had been to instill pride and power in the Juirean race, they saw fit never to delegate too much of their authority to the natives of the conquered planets. Therefore, each of these conquered worlds required thousands, if not tens of thousands of Juirean administrators to govern, and all backed up by a massive military juggernaut requiring millions of additional native Juireans to man.
Out of sheer necessity, Juirean females began to be segregated from societal responsibilities and dedicated exclusively to the act of procreation. Traditional mating pairs were eliminated, replaced with government-run training facilities whose sole purpose was to get fresh Juirean officials out into the field as soon as possible.
In addition, the security involved in tightly controlling such a vast number of worlds was proving to be an impossible task. Even though the Juireans controlled the technology, along with the largest military force in the galaxy, wars still broke out, which called for even more native Juireans to be called into action.
As the centuries passed, it was obvious that the system was on the verge of collapse.
And then the most remarkable thing happened.
The Juireans retreated.
Almost overnight, they abandoned their most-distant outposts on thousands of planets and pulled back to the core worlds of the initial Mass, a coalition of some 240 worlds, including the massive production facilities near the Core.
The effect on the Empire was immediate and dramatic. Planet after planet soon began to fall back to their pre-contact levels, with many reverting to an almost iron-age existence. While some planets still retained a fair amount of scientific expertise, the Juireans had never fully divulged all the tricks of the trade. Eventually, as engineered systems began to fail and refined materials run out, even the most sophisticated of these worlds began to suffer from the absence of the Juireans.
For several hundred years after the retreat, many of the planetary systems began to engage in bloody wars, either as a consequence of the quest for Juirean technology and raw materials, or as a result of colonial ambitions now set free by the absence of the Juireans. No less than a dozen tiny stellar ‘empires’ sprang up, each trying to emulate the success of the Juireans. Some of these neophyte coalitions actually managed to bring about a certain degree of peace and prosperity to their regions. However, most did not. And when the envious neighboring worlds began to invade the territories of these more-successful unions, even bloodier wars began to explode throughout the galaxy.
It’s often been debated whether or not the Juireans had this result in mind when they retreated. During the time of The Mass, many worlds grumbled about the Juireans, some even to the point of outright revolt. However, none of these revolts resulted in any real change in the geopolitical arrangement of the galaxy. But now, without the stabilizing influence of the Juireans, many of these same revolting worlds began to cry out for a return to the ‘good old days’ when the Juireans ran the show.
If the Juireans did indeed plan for such an outcome, it was an act of genius, as well as incredible foresight.
The Juireans remained sequestered from the bulk of the galaxy for four hundred years, before they eventually ventured back out, and when they did, they came with a completely different approach to governing.
Since the Juireans now realized that ruling something the size of a galaxy by a single race was impractical, they decided to allow local worlds, and coalitions of worlds, to join them in a mutually-beneficial alliance, such as the original Seven World
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