“No, I will not, you all have it wrong—Vice Admiral Lützow is the best commander…on this side of the Fringe!” Yelled Farthings hoarsely, in response to us trying to get her to lay down.

Athena’s head snapped back towards the struggling captain.

“Lützow? That silver haired man, you mean? His name is truly Lützow?”

The captain settled down, and watched Athena with a confused expression.

“Of course?”

“Is he related to the Lützow Great Family?!”

“He’s the third son….”

Athena had a variety of emotions pass over her face in the span of a few seconds, before squeaking out “He’s Wolfgang Lützow?!”

“Yes, his name is Wolfgang Lützow!” Said the captain exasperatedly.

I looked at Athena, now greatly confused. It seems that this is heavy news to her for some reason, though I was also surprised to learn that the silver-haired man came from the Lützow Family.

See, all Great Families have their reputations and strengths. The Al’Veraths, for instance, are well known for being one of the more chaotically aligned families, and occupy the higher end of strength among them all. Put simply, nobody looks upon any Al’Verath member kindly, as we have a history of backstabbing and dealing in shady things. One could look at us and compare the family to a gang or a mob of sorts. Families like the Al’Veraths are strictly out for their own gain.

Then there are families occupying a grey area. They are mostly law abiding, but will occasionally operate outside its purview for one reason or another. They aren’t really seen as good or evil, but rather as just a family with it’s own set of morals. Most Great Families fall under this sort of category.

Finally, there are those Great Families who seek to actively achieve good deeds and improve or maintain the laws of mankind. These are pretty universally well regarded, though there’s been a long-standing feud between this type and the chaotic families.

And out of these three types, the Lützow Family belongs to the righteous faction. They are universally acknowledged as being a good family, committed towards the betterment of all. They also normally take part in humanitarian efforts, rather than participating in the fight itself. In other words, they’re the cleanup crew in most situations.

So, sure, I understand why a Lützow being an active member of the military might come as a surprise to Athena, but that doesn’t seem to be what’s shocking her. Maybe it’s the fact that he doesn’t seem like a nice person? After all, beating a subordinate seems to be more in line with the philosophy of a family like the Al’Verath, and not the Lützows.

“The Vice Admiral isn’t the man he wants to look like.” Coughed the captain.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“He…he has to look that way, to protect himself and the people around him.”

“Explain.”

And so she explained.

There is a strict hierarchy in the Federation’s military. In any military, ideally. It means that the people sitting at the top are in charge, no matter the feelings of those at the bottom. The subordinates are subordinate in all senses of the word, and completely expected to do anything and everything commanded of them.

Now, this means that the military leaders have a lot of responsibility on their hands, and rightly so. They hold the lives of all under them in their palms, somewhat like kings.

In fact, that’s not a bad comparison. The men and woman heading the Federation’s military are like little monarchs, in command of their own armies and people.

But kings are still human, ultimately, and subject to the foils of mortal flesh. Hell, from what I’ve seen of the Pantheon, even those not strictly mortal still have issues of their own.

What this means is that there are a set of rule to follow, and some behaviors are seen in a better light then others.

For instance—helping bandits is bad, even wounded ones. Doing so will get you latrine duty or worse. Showing kindness is frowned upon. They are soldiers, not charity workers. Fear should be inspired by their passing. Your subordinates are resources, not people. A Vice Admiral is infinitely more precious than some foot soldiers. Besides, there are so many people in the universe that the loss of even a million or so is nothing major.

Above all, the military is not allowed to interact with the Pantheon.

Vice Admiral Lützow is chained by many, many rules, no matter how much he dislikes said rules.

“I knew what would happen to me, having brought members of the Pantheon on my ship.” Explained Farthings. “Everyone knows, and I got off really easily.”

“You were beaten!” Exclaimed Athena.

“And I knew it would happen. The Vice Admiral himself administered the…punishment, saying that is was the least he owed me.”

“That doesn’t seem like the mark of a good man to me….” Commented Sabrina. Haven nodded along at this sentiment.

“He is! The only reason he’s not a full admiral is because he’s too nice! Command knows this! For fucks sake, most of his direct subordinates were taken from other military deployments, me included! He took me away from a very bad place!” Yelled Farthings, her eyes wide and furious.

“But he beat you.” Said Athena once more, stubbornly.

“It was better than the alternative.” Said Farthings, sighing tiredly and leaning back in her bed. “Normal protocol for positive interaction with the Pantheon is to execute the one in charge on grounds of treason.”

“T-that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?” Asked Godard.

“As long as you don’t actively help a member of the Pantheon, nothing happens. If you didn’t know or mean to, you’re simply given a reprimand and nothing else. However, that wasn’t the case here.” Finished Farthings sadly.

We sat in silence for a while, digesting this new information.

“So, you’re okay with just being beat up by your superior officer?” Asked Sabrina incredulously.

“I was the one who suggested it.”

“But still…”

“There’s worse to be found in the military, kid. All communities will have corruption, and their fair share of monsters. Nothing is exempt from that. Not even groups you consider trustworthy.”

“To be human is to be inherently flawed.” Said Jvorg, capping the conversation off.

We left the captain to her bed, and decided to go exploring around the planet. It would prove to be a rather fortuitous decision.

If one thing could be said about the planet we found ourselves on, it’s that there was an overabundance of greenery. It felt very much like Earth in this respect, with great towering trees housed in carefully managed forests, pruned by mankind over a lengthy period of time in order to make the ecosystem function like a well oiled machine.

You can always tell which forests are manufactured in this way, and which grow naturally. Just look at the undergrowth, and the layer of dead stuff making up the topmost layer of soil. In a natural forest, that layer is thick—rife with fallen leaves from years prior still decomposing, various dropping to give the soil that needed nutrient kick, and an endless variety of small plants and fungus, thriving on their own little circles of life. It’s wonderfully complicated, and endless permutations of this lush, naturally grown forest exist.

On the other hand, a manufactured forest will always be missing much of this. The ground is mostly clean, and leaves get routinely cleared out. The trees are trimmed to promote larger growth, and various other interactions the forest has with the world around it are jarringly tweaked ‘for the forest’s health’.

To me, it’s always just felt soulless, even though the people around me exclaim over the natural beauty of such placed, and the wonder of that life surrounding them. Even now, with this group, my friends are going around with their eyes near falling out from how wide they’ve grown. They can be mostly forgiven though, as there are no natural forests on Jor. It’s too far out and not wealthy enough to afford maintaining something like that.

Which, again, begs the question of what forests like these are doing here?

This planet—whose name we found to be Ezare—was as far out as one could get without becoming a part of the Fringe itself, and it didn’t seem like it had any specialty besides those lush, green, fake forests. I could understand it if it turned out that there was a diamond mine around here, or a planet chalk full of various other precious materials used in construction or ship building.

But, we heard nothing of the sort. The planet is apparently reached self-sufficiency; they have no tourism, no natural resources to trade, no trade itself to speak of, and yet they grew forests which would make any inner ring planet (ehem) green with envy.

So then, how did they do it?

Well, my money’s on shady underworld dealings—The sort which is relatively common this close to the Fringe, actually.

Er, that is, my money was on that at first, upon seeing the planet for the first time and being presented with the leafy green forest quandary. However, I do not think the people living here are capable of deceit. Normally, I’m not so trusting, nor would I ever stop thinking that everyone around me has an agenda or is actively seeking to do me and mine harm. However, there’s just something about the people here.

They seem so innocent, so trusting, that my sadistic side almost wants to tease them about it. And it isn’t one group of people who are like this—almost everyone we ran across while exploring greeted us (which was slightly annoying, I will admit. Might have fueled the desire to hurt them somewhat, if I’m being honest.)

They offered their help in every situation, gave helpful information about the planet and where to find things, and were just stupidly trusting all around. Honestly, it feels like these people have the guile of a 2 year old, and that immediately puts me on guard. They almost didn’t feel like people, with that total lack of subterfuge in their eyes.

In fact, they felt nothing like people, but rather generic NPCs which you might find in any game.

Like they were designed.

Which, ironically, would turn out to be halfway true in a stunning turn of events. Oh, wait, shit, I didn’t ruin that surprise, did I? Well, fuck, ignore what I just said. Just remember that the people felt….off.

Anyway, our little group of ten toured around Ezare, walking through the expansive forests, checking out the largest cities, and generally just looking around. We were all curious about this anomalous planet, and all had our own suspicions about it.

The food was great, though. Pretty much the only part of the whole situation I whole-heartedly enjoyed. There was the one place, just a little corner shop in one of the smaller cites, and we only noticed it because of the near-divine smell pouring out it’s doors. The place served cuts of meat, just like so many other restaurants on the planet. This one’s meat must have been dipped in ambrosia or something, because I’m sure the taste will linger on my tongue even years and years from now. It was like a marshmallow melting in my mouth, or some equally poetic sophistry like that. I think I heard angels singing while eating that meat. It was hard to tell over my girlish squeals of delight, which surprised everyone—me included. I got meat so good; it was nearly a sexual experience.

Anyway, that aside, there wasn’t much to do on the planet. No tourism means that there’s nothing for tourists to do, after all—unless you count walking around in those forests, and I don’t. Going to get food was rather pushing the envelop on things to do, honestly.

And so, we returned to our hotel rooms as the sun was setting, already somewhat tired of this planet even with all it’s oddities.

None of us expected the surprise waiting for us back with the captain, however. It seems she wasn’t alone, and we have company.

“Hello there.” Said the silver-haired man, from the chair he’d pulled up next to Farthing’s bed. Vice Admiral Lützow somehow found us, and apparently isn’t hostile. In fact, that smile on Farthing’s face speaks volumes. “How do you like my planet?” He asked, a gentile smile gracing his angular face. “It took quite a while to get everything set up and running, but I think the investment was well worth my time. Ezare really reminds me of home, but without all those stuffy nobles and regulations to dance around. It’s my home away from home, you could say.”

“You…you made Ezare?” Asked a stunned Athena.

“Well, yes and no. The planet was already here—I just took those base materials and improved things somewhat. Took a good decade or two to grow those forests you know, even with accelerated growth spells and formula.”

“Why are you here?” Asked Heimdal grimly.

“I’m here because you are here, and Captain Farthings needed to sign some paperwork. I trust that you’re taking her with you to the Pantheon?”

Heimdal reluctantly nodded.

“Good, good, I hate to see people as talented as the captain here die for no good reason. Helping the Pantheon is a death sentence, even though we have the same interests.”

“What interests?”

“The protection of the people, the stability of mankind.” Lützow help up a finger to forestall any disagreements, and caught Athena opening her mouth to do just that. “Now, now, I know that it’s a popular view that some members of the military are out for their own gain, and I do not deny this. There are some greedy and corrupt little fuckers at the highest levels, and they have imposed some rather abstruse rules upon us in the military.”

“And how are we to know that you are not one of them?” Asked Jvorg thoughtfully.

“Easy enough—just look at where my command is. They shunted me to Fringe patrol duty right after I made Lieutenant Colonel and I’ve been here ever since. They dislike people like me entering positions of power—much rather, they would have someone like them, corrupt and vicious. They fear the professional soldiers, and try to kill them off whenever possible.”

“Then why are you still alive?” I asked. Lützow turned to me, almost surprised to remember that I was in the room with everyone else.

“Ah, because they don’t know everything about me, of course. Staying alive 101: Don’t let anyone know what you’re capable of.” Said the Vice Admiral smugly. Hmm, I guess this means that he’s not at the 10th divide like his aura advertises. Indeed, there is something odd about the way it circles around him, like something is being held back.

“Anyway, everything should be over now. Your group can continue on it’s merry way.”

“Wait, what did you want with the captain?”

“I needed to give her an honorable discharge, even if it’s off the books. Officially, she’s listed as a traitor to the state, and should be detained on sight, but I swapped her file for another woman, who died under the captain’s command during that pirate attack. So, the system also says that Captain Farthings is a 4 foot 6 woman with bright blonde hair and no cultivation.” Said Lützow, gesturing at Farthings, as to point out that the actual person in question stands at nearly 6 feet tall, has deep brown hair bordering on black, and an 8th divide cultivation.

“As soon as someone manages to bring down those bastards I call my bosses, I’ll make the honorable discharge official. As it stands, Farthings is not the only one I need to do this for. It seems the people under my command tend to be unusually kind towards those that they shouldn’t be.” Finished Lützow with a small smile.

“Oh, and I also healed the captain completely. So, you guys can leave immediately. I’m not demanding it, but I highly encourage it. Would rather not have the wrong sort of attention drawn to Eraze, you see.” He added, almost as an afterthought.

We followed his advice, and left soon after. After all, we had only been waiting on the captain’s recovery.