The Man Who Has It All

[Alric Kuhn]

The woman smiled, or what passed as a smile for her face.​

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"Haven't you figured it out yet, Mr Kuhn?"​

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His head slowly shook. Titan was the most likely culprit, Titan run by Tsavong Kraal. The company had gone under not too long ago, or rather had become stagnant within the galaxy and had simply been producing old products. He doubted that it effected things much now, and a plan like this...well it certainly wouldn't benefit the corporation in any way. So why then? Who then? It was really the only question that remained unanswered for him, the only thing that really mattered now.​

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"We're you."​

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His eyebrow rose.​

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That wasn't really much of an answer, and the woman laughed, knowing that.​

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"We are Vanir Technologies."​

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Oh that sent a chill down his spine, not unlike how he had felt when Silara died.​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

"No you're not."​

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That was his only answer, that was his only answer. There was no way they were associated with Vanir, no way that his company was behind this. He'd watched things closely this time, he'd made sure things were ethical, he knew that his company wouldn't be behind this, why would they be? It didn't make any sense. Everything was golden with the company, everything had gone so well this time around. His heart began to sink, and despite himself his hand slipped away from his ribs and to his side.​

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"Yes. I'm afraid we are."​

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He felt a strange constriction in his chest.​

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"Or were, anyway."​

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His injured hand clamped down for a moment, his fingers tightening as the woman kept speaking.​

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"Four ships. Four self contained ships. Foundries, factories, smelters, everything that one needed to construct a galactic communications network. Everything one needed to leave a mark on the galaxy. Rather brilliant of you, really. Minimal effort on your companies part. You set things up, created protocols, and as long as the thousands of workers on those ships and their captains ensure that everything went according to those protocols absolutely nothing could go wrong!"​

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It dawned on him the instant she mentioned the seedships.​

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He knew what must have happened.​

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"Well, Mr Kuhn. Something went wrong."​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He stared at her in disbelief. Something went wrong? What?​

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The ships weren't flawless of course, but they were mostly automated. The foundries, smelting facilities, even the factory itself were all mostly run and processed by droids or other machines. There were workers, but they shouldn't have ever gone near something dangerous, not something dangerous enough to cause whatever was wrong with these people. He frowned slightly, his head shaking in disbelief.​

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"Vanir Technologies Seedship Number 3."​

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Alric nodded slightly, trying to show that he was listening that he was paying attention.​

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"That was our ship."​

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"It was well crafted, well built, I'll be the first to admit that. Yet it wasn't enough. Nearly a year in traveling the galaxy. Jumping in and our of hyperspace, encountering asteroid fields, fighting occasional pirate raids, stumbling on entire fleets. It creates wear on a ship, causes damage, damage that needs to be fixed. It was fine for a while, it worked well, but then one of the smelters broke."​

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His eyes narrowed. Droids should have done that.​

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"The captain didn't want to damage any of the repair droids, too precious he said."​

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Oh no.​

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"So he sent us, one hundred and fifty engineers to fix the smelters. They were well designed, but do you know how some of the components in Asteroids are melted down? How its done? I expect not, but suffice it to say its a nasty process, lots of chemicals that are heated to unimaginable degrees."​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

"We fixed it. I don't know how, but we managed to fix it. The entire arm of the ship came back online in an instant. It was magical almost, seeing all of that work...but then...then the realization hit us. He hadn't waited. That karking bastard hadn't waited. We could have made it out, we could have made it back, but no, he had a schedule to keep. He had a quota to make!"​

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Her guttural voice broke into a scream, and suddenly Alric understood. They were his workers, they were men and women that he had hired, that he had payed to work on those seedships. They had been betrayed by a man that he had chosen, by a man who valued production over people. They felt like they had been tossed away, like they had been used. The constriction in his chest tightened, and slowly the color drained away from his face.​

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"So there we were."​

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"The air sizzled. The gases came pouring in."​

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He shifted, drawing himself up slightly.​

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"It was hell. A literal showing of what I imagine hell to be. Our skin was seared off, our eyes went white...pain...so much pain you couldn't even imagine it. We only made it because we knew our way around by then, we knew where to hide. Not all of us made it, not all of us survived. Just some."​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Alric understood now.​

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He could probably guess the rest, but he didn't interrupt, he didn't want to. A part of him needed to hear it.​

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Needed to understand the story.​

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"We made it off the ship, though you probably heard about that. The 'mutiny'."​

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He hadn't.​

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"We managed to steal a few weapons from some guards, make it to the escape pods. We drifted in our agony, escaping to a nearby world. We heard later from some people who left the ship that they had called it a mutiny, spread it among the crew that we had tried to take the ship and turn it over for profit. A lie of course."​

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She sneered at Alric.​

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"Eventually our pods landed on a planet. Luckily the people that found us were friendly. They took us in, cared for us in our shambling state."​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

"I was never told."​

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He doubted that she would believe him, that it would matter, but he had to say it. The strain in his voice was clear, the constriction in his chest still tightening.​

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"I didn't know. About the ship. The Accident. The mutiny, all of it. I never knew."​

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The woman seemed to sneer again, as if angered that he would dare interrupt her with such unimportant details. Her eyes wandered down towards him, then over towards the Machine which lay only a couple of meters away now. The Old man had managed to get quite close, surprisingly so in fact.​

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"It doesn't matter. You would have supported them."​

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He shook his head.​

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His eyes wandered around the room, seeing a dozen or so men with weapons stalking up towards them. They had all removed their masks. All of them had the same faced, the same etched skin, the same broken eyes. They stared at him, dead men walking. Most held rifles of some sort, though a few had dropped them.​

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"No. No I wouldn't have."​

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"I know what it is to be in pain. I know the torture of having my flesh strip-"​

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"No! You don't. you don't know anything about our pain, you don't know anything about our suffering. You don't know anything about what we lost or what we now lack."​

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His lips turned into a scowl.​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

"But you will."​

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Another chill went down his spine.​

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"We'll take everything from you. We'll take everything from them. For what they did to us, for what they won't admit, we'll take everything."​

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She shifted towards the machine.​

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Her hands lifted, as though she were about to drop to her knees and say a prayer.​

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"A few of us worked for you before, followed you from Titan. We were glad for that, we knew what Titan had done, what they were capable of. We never thought you were...we thought you were better then that, we thought you were good. Some of us worked for you for decades and when you made Vanir...we thought we would be okay again."​

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Those words hit him like a truck, struck him square in the chest. Was it another thing he was paying for? Never writing the wrongs of the past, never changing what he had done under the arms of Titan? Was all of this his fault. His hand scratched at the duracrete, his fingers pressing against the hard stone. Tears welled up in his eyes.​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

"It's too late for regret Mr. Kuhn. Too late for you to look back on what you did and say it was okay."​

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The woman wandered back over to him, a loud whirring beginning to sound as the Machine came to life.​

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Alric's head snapped towards the device, his eyes searching over every inch of it. The odd glow around it had increased, the Orb seemed to slowly rise from its pedestal, a slow and steady spin beginning around its central axis. Shock dawned on him.​

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"We'll take everything. Everything you've built. Everything you have and love. It will all die."​

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Alric looked with panic in his eyes.​

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How?​

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He hadn't given them the codes, he hadn't said a word. There was no way they could know, no way they would have access to the Dark-Net.​

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"How?"​

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Alric repeated his earlier thoughts, desperation in his voice. He had to stop this, he had to stall them, had to...his hand twitched, his leg shifted slightly and the pad of his index briefly brushed against his pocket. Two orbs lay within, a thermal detonator and an adhesive grenade. His lips thinned in an instant, his eyes wandering towards the machine.​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

The woman laughed.​

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"Did you really think you were the only one? That we targeted you? No no, Mr Kuhn. We're more intelligent then that."​

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Alric looked at the woman, his hand slowly moving towards his pocket.​

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The Thermal detonator would be enough. The blast was nearly five meters, big enough to take out one of the pylons and stop the machine from functioning...but it would also kill him. His lips thinned.​

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Would it be worth it? Would...could he do that? It would end his life in an instant, there would be no pain, no hurt, he would simply be...gone. Could he do that? Was he strong enough. His fingers curled, both hands forming into fists. A knuckle brushed up against his other pocket. Suddenly he remembered, suddenly another form of strength came to him.​

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No. ​

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"You were a fortunate catch, but hardly our target. Vanir has many executive, and not all of them are as tight lipped as you."​

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I can't do that to them. ​

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I can't leave them yet.​

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His eyes slowly looked back up at the woman, then towards the ceiling above. His lips parted slightly, his eyes closing as he thought and calculated. His hand reached into his pocket, fingers grasping the Thermal Detonator.​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

"A few minutes Mr Kuhn. A few minutes from now it will all be over."​

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They seemed to turn away from him, shifting their gaze away and towards the machine.​

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More of them dropped their weapons, staring reverently at the machine as it began to power up. It was their salvation, their hope for vengeance. Part of him understood that, part of him knew why they were this way. Alric wanted to say that they were just, that they were doing the right thing. Perhaps if they had only taken him, perhaps if they had only targeted him...then he would have understood completely. Yet they would kill innocents, hundreds of thousands of people that had done nothing.​

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He couldn't allow it.​

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"Watch."​

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She said, turning away from him and towards the Machine.​

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"Watch it all end."​

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Alric's thumb pressed the trigger of the Thermal Detonator, holding it down as the timer slowly began to spool down.​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

"I can't yet."​

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Alric said as his hand suddenly withdrew from his pocket.​

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"I have a question to ask!"​

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There was strain in his voice, his shoulder suddenly whipping back as his arm flew and the Thermal Detonator was chucked in the air. Half of them didn't even notice, the only one that turned was the woman before him. Her eyes popped open, her mouth let out a screech, then suddenly the Thermal Detonator exploded.​

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it's baradium charge exploded outward in the air, catching the ceiling of the facility and tearing into the rock above. The explosion tore into the stone, bit at support struts and completely vaporized them within half a second. The Thermal Detonator imploded in upon itself and the facility began to rumble, a massive chunk of what held the facility up suddenly beginning to crumble as it's support found itself simply gone. Stone began to fall, massive chunk of rock came crashing into the ground, and everything began to fall apart.​

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"No!"​

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The woman screeched, reaching towards Alric.​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

The Old man was already moving. His hand had retreated to his pocket, his fingers wrapping around the adhesive grenade and pulling it free before anyone had time to react.​

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Alric threw the grenade as hard as he could, tossing it full force towards the Machine. The grenade impacted with a heavy thud, then seconds later exploded into a massive burst of blue and white. The gel like goo that made up the contents of the grenades inside covered the Machine in an instant. The spinning sphere found itself stuck to the pillars around it. The orb spun, faster and faster until it tore the pillars from their foundation. In an instant the machine collapsed in on itself, electricity and plasma pouring fourth as tremendous energy began releasing itself.​

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Alric stood, rushing away as fast as he could.​

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The woman stumbled after him, clawing the air, reaching out as fast as she could.​

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Rock fell from the ceiling, massive chunks of stone and debris crashing into the ground as the ceiling fell in upon itself. Some of the soldiers ran, some collapses in pure terror, and still others simply stood, the last of their hope gone. Alric just ran, he sprinted as fast as he could towards the far doors. There was no thought of those around him, no grand last line delivered. Only one idea, one simple thought that pushed him through the agony of running.​

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His girls.​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He rushed as fast as he could, moving towards the door as everything fell apart around him. A few blaster shots rang out, though they seemed to fly comically far away from him. Panic and adrenaline pushed him, pressed him forward until eventually he stumbled through the far doors.​

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The Tetan struck a staircase, massive and winding but cast in natural light.​

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There was no hesitation in his climb, no looking back. He didn't know if some of them were following him, if they intended on killing him, all that mattered was getting out. He rushed forward, taking each succeeding step with more of a limp. One, two, five minutes passed until eventually he reached the top. Daylight cast around him, sunshine struck his face, and fresh air immediately filled his lungs. Alric gasped for breath as he fell from the top stair, falling down as his leg finally gave out.​

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A rumble tore through the earth, the ground itself shaking as the facility completely fell in upon itself.​

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The ground shook, and slowly a sinkhole began to form as the underground was filled with rock, dirt, and trees.​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

His first call had been to his company.​

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Not out of selfishness, not to check if the corporation was okay, but to save those he had left behind.​

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It had taken hours of wandering, of limping within the mountains but eventually he had stumbled upon a fisherman. The man had been startled, shocked to find Alric there. He had immediately dropped his fishing pole and helped, asked Alric what had happened and where he had come from. The old Tetan had simply smiled and asked to see the mans communicator. The first call had been to Vanir's construction director, an order to send out digging and survey equipment, to find those prisoners still within the buried facility.​

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The second?​

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The second had been harder.​

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"Danger, honey don't say anything. I know I've been gone for a bit, I know you were worried, but right now I just need you to do something for me. I need you to drop everything and head to Bestine."​

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The second had made him smile though.​