The United Galactic Nations was in an uproar. The heirs and heiresses of politicians, high-ranking planetary and national leaders and corporate conglomerates had been gunned down and cremated by Arcadia like they were nothing. What made it all the more tragic was that they had been labeled as Pirates by the very government that had sent them there in an act of deniability. “It was obvious from this act,” said the talking heads, “that the UGN cares more for its own reputation and hide than it does for the people who keep it running.”

The UGN was fracturing as conglomerates, nationalist firebrands and various political parties dogpiled on those in power. Come the next ‘free and fair election’ even if the popular vote mattered at all the current parties in power would be cast aside. No company would do business with them, for it was unprofitable to be associated with those who sent the children and relatives of society’s elite to die on a backwater world filled with barbaric savages.

To Arkhan’s delight, all was proceeding as he had wished. He was still very bitter about the fact that they had tried to enslave his people and exploit his world so long ago, and he was still fuming about how they invaded worlds that He was supposed to keep safe. This destruction, this slaughter had brought a bit of schadenfreude to his heart, and he relished watching the talking heads in the UGN try to either defend the undefendable or lay into those who had irked him so.

Nevertheless, both Arkhan and Asharia had their eyes on a far larger goal now that this little incident had been dealt with. Both of them had the intent to further consolidate Arcadia’s power, but they needed a way to further assert their control over those planets and stars within their nation. Sure, Asharia could easily just use her power to mind control everyone (and there was no way of telling if she had already done so) and Arkhan had the blind devotion of most of Arcadia, with the seven pre-FTL civilizations so far being unaffected by the mindless faith that the Church of Arkhan instilled in people.

They had made the right call, those planets. They had joined Arcadia instead of going it alone. They now knew that the galaxy was not empty and that there were those who were far from being peaceful, friendly little green men. They had seen what one of the two main superpowers on the galactic stage would do to them if it caught them, and they had seen that Arcadia was the lesser of two evils. Arkhan and Asharia made sure to promise them that they would keep their sovereignty, for the most part, only needing to join Arcadia to receive protection and support.

Those planets had little to offer Arcadia aside from more populace, but Arcadia could offer them more than they could have ever had in the next few decades otherwise. Fortunately for the economy of those worlds, strict regulation was placed on exports and imports so as not to flood the market with goods cheaper than that which could be gotten on-world. Drowning the economy with goods that were from external sources and which were cheaper than anything made internally would send the planetary economy into a tailspin, so the goods that were available for export to those worlds were those that were desperately needed.

Big Brother Arcadia was more than willing to lend a hand in the reconstruction efforts, which further ingratiated them with the pre-FTL planets. Reconstruction was good and all, but like had been mentioned before, there was a bigger issue that had the attention of Arcadia’s leadership.

…

“It has come to my attention that there is a cult, or rather, there are multiple cults that have popped up inside the UGN following the retreat of the AHU. Can anyone tell me what these cults are about?”

Chief Intelligence Officer Evelyn Norn, an elven woman with a face that would make you immediately think ‘Ice Queen’ followed Arkhan’s inquiry with her own words.

“Of course, my Lord. What we have discovered about them can be summarized thusly; They are, for lack of a better way of putting it, worshipping either you or both you and Lady Asharia, though they themselves are unaware of it.”

Arkhan seemed visibly upset and merely said one word.

“Why?”

Either not noticing or not caring about Arkhan’s distress, Evelyn Norn continued.

“The answer, my Lord, is quite simple. It started when a few former atheists began to pray during an orbital bombardment. Seemingly as a result of their praying to whatever deity would listen, the AHU fleets quickly withdrew. We know this was due to our own actions against the AHU. But the mass populace among the UGN are unaware that we even were responsible. The spin doctors in the UGN tried to say that the UGN military was responsible for the defeat of the AHU, but at that point only the core worlds believed it.”

“So,” Arkhan sighed, “what are we to do about this?”

The Pope of the Church of Arkhan, Zimmiad I, who was a dwarf with a beard that was unusually white for one of his race that was so young, spat out his idea.

“I say we teach these vile heretics and apostates a lesson in which version of the One True Faith is the correct one! My God, merely give the word and we, the faithful, shall embark on a glorious crusade to rid the galaxy of these mockeries of the truly devoted!”

“No!” Shouted Drakz Blackmane, a Lion Beastman who oversaw the military when Arkhan and Asharia were not commandeering it, “There will be none of that! We are not the AHU reborn, despite what the rest of the galaxy would have everyone believe. If anything were to be done about these cultists, rather than a crusade we should instead seek to integrate them into the Church as differing sects. I cannot support the usage of our military in a way so similar to our old mortal foe!”

“You dare equate the drive the truly faithful to those devils?!” yelled Pope Zimmiad I, “We cannot tolerate these blasphemers! We must bring the hammer of God down upon these heretics!”

The shouting match between the Lion and the Dwarf continued for a while, during which time Arkhan rubbed his temples. Finally, he felt that he had endured enough of this foolishness.

“Zimmiad I.”

At Arkhan’s words both the Lion and the Dwarf hushed up.

“I cannot agree to a crusade; not like this, anyways. To you they may be heretics, but they idolize me all the same. Are you familiar with the idea that both competition and cooperation breed strength?”

“Yes, your Grace.”

“Then see them not as heretics, blasphemers and/or apostates but as competition. Will they save the most souls, or will the First Church do so? Inevitably there will be conflict, but this is acceptable. Besides, the true ‘crusade’ will be not against those who worship your god, but in a slightly different way, but instead against those that would see such beliefs erased, no? The UGN claims to believe in free speech and expression, yet how have they treated those who seek to spread these cults, and how have they treated your missionaries?”

“As firebrands that needed to be jailed and/or executed, my Lord. They have driven the vast majority into hiding and have driven the rest to the far corners of their dominions.” Evelyn Norn stated matter-of-factly.

“Do you see? These cults are but ‘wayward lambs’ as a man of the cloth would put it. Would it not be better to compete with while cooperating with these offshoots of your faith in an effort to undermine the authority of what is potentially the next great threat to our nation and to your faith?”

The eyes of the Pope widened and filled with a kind of light as he realized what he thought his God was trying to say.

“Yes! Yes, I understand, your Grace! Truly, your wisdom is unending!”

“Hrmph!” Drakz huffed with a feral grin on his face. “I should have thought of that! Undermining our next potential foe from within by supporting elements that destabilize them; genius!”

“I agree.” Evelyn said coldly. “It is a move that could easily be coopted to benefit us in the act of espionage and has the potential to form cracks in the edifice of the UGN. I can see the possibilities that could emerge from such an enterprise; guerrilla forces, corporate and governmental espionage, the list goes on.”

…

As the assembled cabinet lauded Arkhan as a genius, the man himself heard Asharia’s voice in his head.

“You are getting really good at manipulating them, aren’t you?”

Arkhan replied to his wife and queen.

“It does help that they are so pliable, at least to me.”