Morning all. I hope you had a fabulous weekend. Mine was filled with garden chores. After a winter of sloth I now ache in places I would rather not name. I think I also did more squats as I transplanted seedlings to their beds than I would ever consider doing in a gym. Which accounts for a lot of the soreness. But onward we go. Fifteen minutes on the timer please and into the prompt.
It took me a while to figure this one out, but I like the thought of dealing with a far colony as the empire it belongs to is failing. I think the readjustment of thinking, production and living is going to be an interesting thing to play with. I will be poking around with this idea over lunch. (And in case anyone is wondering I did just finish a book on the Ottoman Empire so I’m pretty sure that is the inspiration).
Monday, March 9th: He peered through the growing darkness.
He peered through the growing darkness. Shadows were swallowing the edges of the world now. The far distance was lost in a world of grays and blacks. The range of saturation becoming deeper the further he looked. He could still see clearly the back fence but beyond that thee were only a few shapes, gray outlines on a sheet of inky black. Soon he knew the world beyond the fence would feel erased as though it never existed. The lights from the house would keep the yard in view.
On nights like this he liked to think that the fence along the back of the yard was an actual barrier, keeping the night out. The illusion only lasted as long as the power remained and with the grid fluctuating so much in recent months it was wearing away the illusion.
Life in the last few months wore away many of his illusions.
Tonight there was no expected power outage. The city had no scheduled repairs. There were no electrical storms brewing. No storms of any kind as far as anyone could tell. For the moment life in the Secaras Quadrant was quiet and peaceful. It was a rare moment of relief.
Once The Secaras Quadrant was a part of the vast Helpertan Empire. It stretched across the stars and it was more common to find someone located in the Empire than it was outside of it, at least in this and the neighboring galaxies. Then there were no black outs, there were no shortages. They provided raw materials to the Empire and in return transport ships dropped off goods of every description.
They were an important part of the supply chain and never found themselves at a loss for long. Even on the rare occasions when their goods didn’t fetch top coin at the market, they were a trading hub, a place where other sectors brought their wares so the giant transports could consolidate their supply runs.
Life was never a paradise. There were always problems. Looking back now, with even just a few months distance. They felt like the halcyon days. The empire was crumbling. It had probably been crumbling for a long time, but here on the outer rim of the transport route they simply hadn’t realized it.
In the town square there was talk of setbacks and disruptions. No one wanted to think about the empire failing. Yet it was. He knew it was. Even those who talked of disruptions knew it.
Empires fell all the time in history books. They all read the lessons, were tested on them, wrote essays on them. But no one ever thought they would live through such a thing. The Empire was too large, to important, to set in place to fail.
Yet it was failing. Taking a swan dive into history. The thing that he found disturbing, when he began looking into the details, pouring over old news articles and records trying to piece together events. It didn’t happen with war. It started when the newly crowned Emperor decided it was more important to have people who agreed with him running things rather than those who were actually qualified for the position. That in his opinion was the beginning of the end.
Ten til Midnight 