Xenss waited as the technician completed his diagnostic test of the Command Videocom System. The test confirmed the unit to be functioning in optimal condition and free of monitoring devices, as Xenss expected it would. With a casual wave of his fore tentacle, Xenss dismissed the technician, who gathered up his tech kit and scurried from the room.

The test was just a routine check that was always performed before the Pronouncement. Nothing was ever allowed to go wrong with the Pronouncement, which was revered to the point that it was sacred to the Sathar.

The Sathar worshipped no Gods, respected no philosophers, tolerated no weakness.

To each and every Sathar, War and battle in all forms were the only things of true interest. Each and every living member of the race worked for the war machine. The Sathar had no concept or word for "civilian". Each Sathar learned to fight from the time it was born. Every moment of their lives were strictly regulated to increase their chances of becoming a successful warrior.

To the races of the Federation, Sathar lifestyle would be considered appalling. Sathar birthrates are extremely high by human standards. Thousands of young are born every day. All young born on that solar day on each world are placed in an enclosure together. Food and water are dispensed sparingly by the adults. Tales of great war heroes of the past and basic language and technical skills are taught by large monitors that surround the enclosure. By the time a Sathar young reached adolescence, it would probably have killed many of it's siblings or other children of its age group over food or water squabbles. This violence is not discouraged by adults, but rather rewarded, as the children that died were destined to make poor warriors, or else they would not have died so easily.

Of the thousands born on a particular day, perhaps a hundred will have survived to reach adolescence. The Sathar do not consider this a waste, as individual lives mean little to the Sathar. What is important is that the young that reach adolescence are strong, smart, and healthy. They already know a great deal about unarmed combat and survival under difficult conditions. This already makes them good candidates for being soldiers. Not every Sathar can be a front line fighter though.

On their Day of Trials, or twelfth anniversary of their birth, all of the surviving Sathar from the enclosure are escorted into the Testing Facility by adult warriors. There, they are subjected to a battery of tests that determine if they've learned the language, hierarchy, and technical skills shown to them on the monitors. Those that lack proficiency in

any area are used as targets for marksmanship and sword fighting, or summarily executed. The others go on to further testing involving weapons and marksmanship. The Sathar that do adequate in these tests, but rank below the average learning curve are removed from the group to become combat support personnel. They are then trained to be farmers, engineers, transportation specialists, medical personnel, and equipment operators. This is considered to be a sad fate, but all Sathar are indoctrinated enough to know they are expected to do their new duties to the best of their abilities.

The top scoring adolescents go on to become the elite of Sathar society, front line warriors. They receive another year of training in marksmanship, combat, and most importantly, following orders from the upper hierarchy unquestioningly.

When the year of training is over, they are divided into two equal sized groups. On graduation day, they are used for testing new commanders. Each group is assigned to a potential commander chosen by the higher ranking hierarchy. The two groups then fight to the death on a battlefield. The surviving side's commander is promoted and given an actual rank in the Hierarchy.

This gives the surviving group, both soldiers and new leader, valuable real combat experience. This too, is not considered a waste, but merely another step in eliminating the unfit. At this point, the surviving soldiers are given the "rank" of Warrior. Most Sathar will never attain a higher rank, as Sathar do not value length of service, only combat success. All Sathar dream of battle, but few see much active combat after this point due to the relative rarity of armed conflicts compared to the number of warriors.

Those few soldiers that see combat have the opportunity to become combat leaders, if they are on the surviving side in their test. Because this method means half of those that apply for a higher rank will die in the attempt, other races would be surprised to know that the opportunity is almost never turned down. As in most things for Sathar, the privileges of rank also have their disadvantages. Should a commander who is given orders by his superior officer fail to carry out those orders successfully, he is executed. Failure to take a military objective is simply not tolerated. The soldiers in that battle are thought to be too valuable to waste, but their commander obviously is inadequate. His replacement is chosen from the troops that did the best in that fight to temporarily take command of his surviving troops. This field replacement will later be given the chance to test to make his position permanent but the rest of the unit will not get the chance to test for a higher post, because the unit failed to achieve it's objective.

Those that attain the higher rank are then able to test for spaceship combat crew positions. These positions are the most coveted of all, because the leader of the Sathar forces is always from this select group. They are also considered to be higher in rank than the common ground forces commanders. Perhaps most important, Sathar Warships see enough combat to make the possibility of advancement much greater. Sathar who see the most combat get the most chances for advancement to ship's captains and, later, fleet admirals. The Sathar had no such names for these positions, simply calling all higher ranking Sathar, Commander. The chain of command was a highly flexible thing among Sathar. Instead of the UPF's rigidly structured chain of command, Sathar use a highly fluid system where units and crews were restructured at will, and all soldiers obey every superior officer unless those duties contradict that soldier's current orders.

The highest member of Sathar hierarchy in this region of space was Ssrannqs. Xenss had worked his way through the hierarchy to rank just below him. Now he was in a position to assume Ssrannq's place if he every falters in his role.

Ssrannqs faltering in his role was not likely. Ssrannqs performed exceptionally in every military role he'd ever assumed. As a leader, he was second to none. At the staging area, he had smashed the UPF fleet sent to destroy the facilities, just as he said he would. Intelligence reports that Xenss had access too, which weren't many in spite of his position as second in command, seemed to indicate that some plot of Ssrannqs was successful at disabling more spacefleet vessels, as well as ground based defenses.

Now Ssrannqs had called for a Pronouncement, and the fleet was abuzz with rumors about the subject of the Pronouncement, and just how far Ssrannqs would go. Xenss noticed Ssrannqs walk onto the bridge and knew that the answer to all their questions would come very soon.

Ssrannqs acknowledged Xenss with a nod of his elongated head. Xenss guessed that it was a signal to report. "The technician caste has checked out the radios and they are unmonitored and functioning in optimal condition for the Pronouncement.

Ssrannqs didn't even nod at that data, as it was expected. "Open the fleetwide channel on my mark."

Ssrannqs slithered up to the command couch of the Deathstrike and held up a fore tentacle. When his fore tentacle dropped, Xenss keyed the radio's transmit button and verified signal strength. All was in working order, so he settled in to watch and listen to his commander.

"The Pronouncement begins! In eons past, we Sathar learned to follow The Way and subjugate or destroy all other sentient races we encountered. We have been following the Way for twelve thousand Pargs. We will walk The Way until the end of our time. This we know."

"Bolarsss", the crews spoke as one, and Xenss knew that word was echoed across known Sathar space at that moment. That word was a word of confirmation and a reminder of what happened in the ages when the Sathar did not follow The Way.

Ssrannqs continued. "At the start of every major military campaign all warriors are told what is expected of them. It is for that reason we created the Pronouncement"

Again the crew confirmed his words with a hissed word, "Bolarsss."

"We stand on the eve of our first major campaign against the races that call themselves the United Planetary Federation. We have fought them twice before with limited goals. Now, thanks to the power of our race, they stand defenseless before our might. This time I invoke The Way to begin a campaign of annihilation."

Xenss was stunned. He expected a major campaign this time, but a campaign of annihilation was rarely done in Sathar History. It had been invoked once against the Eorna, but since that time, it hadn't been used at all. In a campaign of annihilation, the goal was simply to slaughter every sentient member of that race in one ceaseless battle using every means at their disposal.

That campaign had proven nearly successful, but that was one isolated planet they'd attacked. Ssrannqs had locked them into a battle to the finish with four races spread out across over a dozen worlds! Even on that one world where the last Pronouncement of Annihilation had occurred, Volturnus, a few of the Eorna had survived to this day. The sheer audacity of attacking that many heavily populated worlds made Xenss tremble with anticipation but, respecting the Pronouncement, he remained silent.

Xenss surveyed the rest of the Bridge Crew of the Deathstrike as Ssrannqs continued. They wore the same expressions of startled anticipation as Xenss wore.

"The planetary defenses across the Frontier are down, and half of the fleet lies smashed and adrift around our staging planet. The other half is now crewless. Their emphasis on recreation instead of duty made it easy to kill them by the hundreds. The weakest members of their race who worked with us have performed their tasks well. The Way is clear to destroy them all completely. We will destroy their ships in the sky, and kill everyone we find on the ground, planet by planet. Our first target will be Volturnus, where we will once and for all kill all Federation beings found there, then we will finish killing the remaining Eorna."

"I expect each and every one of you to see combat. This will be our greatest victory and we will all be remembered long after our eventual deaths as achieving more than any of our forebearers. We jump to the Zebulon System to strike at Volturnus in two days. Make your final preparations for Glory. Orders of battle will be transmitted shortly. Ssrannqs out."

Xenss shut down the transmitter and studied Ssrannqs. The leader looked supremely confidant and in control.

This will either be our moment of triumph, or our greatest defeat, Xenss thought. But with the size of the force Ssrannqs had gathered, it was obvious to Xenss that little the Federation had left could oppose them, if what Ssrannqs said was true. The thought of the Federation falling to the Sathar Armada filled Xenss with peace. At last, the most frustrating group to ever oppose Sathar goals would be gone. It was truly and excellent time to be a Warrior.

Back to Sathar Onslaught Main Page