The historical archives of the Samsiran Empire were rife with propaganda, a means to control the populace as bending the events of history to suit their worldview was a small price to pay for peace. Difficult to agree with suppression of the truth when the sole drive is not the securement of peace but the maintaining of government interests. The Imperial regime was rife with such methods, but regardless most of the history from what I could see was still quite accurate, just the depiction of the enemy nations was heavily changed to suit the Empire's needs. One such event in the Empire's internal history was the most intriguing to me, it was called the Revolution of Hearts and Minds, apparently, it was the origin of the term "Hearts and minds".

This revolution began in the early years of the Empire before the Imperial family had yet to take power, the Samsiran Empire was a shadow of itself, ruled primarily by a dictator called Polarkis Tekos, he saw himself ironically as a revolutionary as his regime was established after a brutal civil war with rival factions of the nation attempting to take power. Three sides existed; the supporters of the remanent imperial family that survived nearly the entire dynasty being killed in a terrorist bombing. The Coalition of Arkas, the term "Arkas" was from an ancient Samsiran dialect that meant freedom or freedom of choice, this coalition opposed Imperial rule and desired to rally the people behind them to create a republic. Then there was the military junta that formed around former Imperial General Polarkis Tekos, who once was a decorated and legendary military officer of the Imperial Navy.

This time of turmoil was considered the most brutal civil war in Samsiran history and was considered the longest-running civil war, spanning over fifty grand cycles. It was long not in war but in the escalation of events as the seat of power shifted regularly either by the influence of forces within or outside of the crumbling empire. The three factions had employed various methods to seize power over the populace, General Tekos of course was a highly decorated military man, veteran of many battles against the Martop Imperium. The respect not only of the populace and the military had for him was high, so in terms of influence, he was ahead of the other factions.

General Tekos seized power first by laying siege to the Imperial palace that housed the remnant imperial family and their steadfast supporters, the siege was the bloodiest campaign ever performed on Imperial soil, neither side willing to back down as scores of Samsiran soldiers died. The Imperial army held the palace for over thirty major cycles, but in the end, their losses were far to great and an opening was made in the palace defences allowing for a strike force to infiltrate and seize the eldest imperial heir. The siege was lifted when General Tekos exited the palace with the heir's severed head laid at the feet of the remaining imperial army. Thus, began the new era of military autocratic rule under the banner of the Tekos Military Junta regime.

Little did the now-Supreme Chancellor Polarkis Tekos know, one of the heirs to the imperial throne survived and was whisked away, but from then on, the Tekos regime came into full swing. His ruthless dominion spread across the Empire, bringing almost every faction to heel, or simply eliminating them with mass executions of those who opposed his rule. The Coalition of Arkas was suppressed with many of their members arrested or executed for treason but like with all dictatorial rule something emerges to challenge it.

That person's name was never known even by his own followers, but they called him Eren Nu, from the words heart and mind. His speeches were legendary amongst the lower class as he rallied the populace against the cruel regime that kept them down. His revolution was gradual as many followers of his teachings were steadily converted to his way of thinking. The revolution of Eren Nu began, his words spread throughout the Empire all the way to the inner circle of the Tekos regime playing on the guilt and hesitation of the chancellor's own people.

The climax of this revolution came to head when Eren Nu willingly allowed himself to be arrested and was brought immediately to public execution for the masses. A foolish decision by the Chancellor but he was never shy with his dispensing of his justice, before Eren Nu was decapitated he spoke to the clamouring populace with a short sentence that sealed the downfall of the regime. "This is not our end, it is the beginning, no matter the cruelty, no matter the malice, you know what is right and what you have to do." Shortly after a faction of Tekos regime turned on the Supreme Chancellor, with only a minor shedding of blood the revolution of Eren Nu succeeded, an unknown man toppled a dictatorship with only his words.

Two Major Cycles Later, Ruktan Class Frigate, Bridge.

The bridge was truly a marvel of engineering, the many simulations I had of commanding sea-based vessels and aircraft carriers paled in comparison when standing at the head of a Ruktan class Frigate. I cast my gaze upon the many control panels and the layout of this vessel's command centre. The bridge is currently running on autopilot as many of the crew have been imprisoned in the lower decks, leaving the bridge sparsely populated. Only a few Garudan soldiers remain to guard me, they are members of Quroken's new squadron, their loyalty is quite impressive, they took to the education provided by Quroken and me with enthusiasm. Despite the Garudan's honourable way of life, they are a warrior culture and those who do not take well to traditional combat have a lower place in society. The squad of five Garudan's took well to the combat training, they have since been trained in the use of the Concentrated Laser Rifles as well as close combat Junpo.

Their loyalty towards Quroken and I would not be considered absolute but still quite high indeed, likely the feeling of being favoured assisted their egos. Currently, there are two large Garudan soldiers beside me, to my left is a tall Gaurdan female named Elkra, she is a Garudan of few words and I have rarely heard her speak, apparently, she had never claimed a Tokron despite being of age. Curious but it is her choice and I respect that, she appears in an imposing altered Demthesian combat armour, the armour was a burgundy colour covering the torso primarily. The shoulder pauldrons were small and less bulky than the Wokan combat armour.

Elkra stood a head taller than me brandishing her CLR in both hands, her eyes vigilant to her surroundings, she is diligent, nonetheless. To my right is a male Garudan, his name is Pok and he is the exact opposite of Elkra, he barely kept his mouth shut, but despite the misgivings of many of his own kind on how annoying he is, I quite enjoy his out loud thoughts. He is of a similar height to me, his combat armour is Demthesian as well though it required no alterations to fit him, his weapon was a basic CLR all though he painted an odd insignia on the side. It looks like a rudimentary attempt to draw his own planet, perhaps to remember it or some sort of honouring ritual. Pok tends to speak rather loudly as if he cannot control the cadence of his voice, but his words are fascinating.

For a while now he had been going into this rant about the origin of his species, apparently this was a concept he frequently spoke about with his own kind. Many Garudan's thought him mad when he spoke of his ancestors descending from the sky at the behest of the sky people, a tale apparently handed down in his family, After the Wokan invasion, he began to rant with more intensity about how the Garudan's must have descended from the skies in preparation for their eventual rise. Though he has not admitted it yet, the reverence in his eyes when he casts them upon me is clear, he likely views me as the one that shall bring his species to the next era.

Though these two guards of mine are unique characters the task at hand is of greater importance, I step forward with Pok and Elkra shadowing me closely and make my way to Quroken. He is accompanied by Kal a Garudan soldier who chose to stay with Quroken whilst Ukon remained with Sok in the infirmary, moving towards my now second in command I ask a question. "How is the bridge computer system, can you access the survey information and the ground operations." My words seem to cause Quroken to tense for a moment before he slumps in dejection, turning to me with a pleading look, despite leading armed and armoured Garduan soldiers he still makes that face.

I smile back at him with a sympathetic expression before he begins his report. "I can't access any of the bridge systems detailing ground operations, surveying, weapons or even ship controls, all are locked behind layers of encryptions and passcodes." He turns back to the monitor and attempts to type several commands before the control panel blares red, not a good sign. He nods back and forth clearly frustrated before continuing. "The ship is currently on autopilot, in the stationary orbit and will not budge unless we get the bridge passcodes from the bridge crew." He places his right hand to his chin in contemplation of a similar habit of my own, perhaps he is attempting to emulate me.

The situation is as expected, this vessel is of Demthesian make and likely the passcodes for the main systems would have been likely either owned by the Wokan crew or tortured out of the now-deceased Demthesian officers. I guess the next phase of my plan is the best course of action given the current circumstance. I order Quroken to keep at it and decide to leave the bridge for now and head to the infirmary. The bridge is located on the top deck of the ship, four decks in total with various sub-decks, the bridge deck consisting of crew quarters and the infirmary. The security deck contains the barracks, security rooms and weapons storage, the engineering deck and finally the cargo and docking bay deck. The bulk of the prisoners are located on the lower decks, all neatly packed into the rather numerous amounts of cells, the various leaders of the crew divisions were taken to their own interrogation rooms, I will greet them later.

Swiftly we managed to move through the ship corridors and down to the third deck, Elkra and Pok follow behind whilst Pok's eyes dart back and forth, either vigilante or curious at the architecture. Elkra keeps her cold and expressionless face, something both intriguing and something I can respect, eventually, we make it to the infirmary and enter the white room. The infirmary is rather simplistic in design no gaudy architecture insight, a rather sparse white room, with various medical beds on the left and the right neatly arranged. There are several cabinets lining the walls most likely with medical tools along with interesting robotic mechanisms attached to each bed. We have yet to determine how to operate them, especially the roaming one that seems to be running some sort of triage routine.

These robotic mechanisms were dull brown, bulky machines half my size in a cylindrical shape, on top is this dome with several red blinking circles dotting the dome-like head. The mechanical being has several appendages that seem to have various medical tools attached, apparently, when Sok was first brought here his Telkreen tried to smash the triage robot believing it was a monster. Luckily Zerg was there to reassure her and explain it was here to help, the triage machine apparently scans the patient's biological structure and adapts its medical knowledge to various species. This machine was a standard issue aboard all Demthesian vessels as most of their forces were composed of servant races and thus the medical tools needed flexibility.

The machine which was called ARMA or an Automated Robotic Medical Assistant was able to perform basic medical care to stem the bleeding and stabilise Sok, so he would make a full recovery. The medical knowledge is leagues above my species, regenerative gels, medical nanites to repair tissue damage, some sort of biological fabricator to create artificial organs. His full recovery was imminent yet his Telkreen Kara was none too happy over this situation. Her disapproving near hostile look was evident as she glared at me while their child Mera clutched her sleeping parent, Mera had fallen asleep as it seems.

I step forward and Kara Jorn steps forward with ruthless steps, her gaze could bring men to their knees, I must admit Garudan females are truly frightening. Despite that I stand my ground as Elkra thrusts forward as if to shield me from an enemy, I wave my hand for her to stand down, she turns to me confused but complies regardless. Pok on the other hand seems to be hiding behind me and attempting to conceal his obvious fear.

Kara Jorn steps right before me and puts her foot down and leans her left arm backwards pointing at her sedated Tokron before speaking in an icy voice. "Look what you have done to my dear Sok, following you have nearly sent my beloved Tokron to meet the ancestors before his time." Her voice sounded calm and collected but the burgeoning fury hidden behind her eyes was evident, she then continued her cold rant. "I know we owe you a debt and my Tokron feels as if he must repay that by pledging his sword but make no mistake... I have no desire to expend my life for you and neither should Sok." She speaks still in that calm voice stemming the tide of her fury just as she presses her fist across her chest horizontally, which is according to my memory of her culture is not a good sign.

Well despite her understandable anger towards me she is remaining as civil as expected so I answer with sensibility. "I understand Kara, Sok's current state of injury as a result of my own tactical error and I take full responsibility for his suffering... I will endeavour to ensure it does not repeat." I spread out my arms angled down towards the floor to signify a defensive but also submissive posture, I believe it is the posture one takes when they are in the wrong and request forgiveness or an acceptance of being at the mercy of another. The posture seems to placate her somewhat but the fire just beyond her eyes is palpable and something to be concerned with.

She lowers her hands to her side and looks me squarely in the eyes perhaps expecting me to flinch from her gaze, I do not of course which provokes a scoff from her before she speaks once more. "Ensure you do not, Captain." This Garudan female surely has ice in her veins, her command of fear could be compared to some of the fearsome Generals of Samsiran history.

I turn to the sleeping visage of Sok and give him a Samsiran salute before leaving with my two bodyguards, as I leave the infirmary and make our way down the corridor I turn to Pok. "Pok can you go ahead I wish to speak with Elkra privately if you don't mind." Pok shrugs and looks at us both warily before giving a clumsy Samsiran salute and makes his way down the corridor at a brisk pace. I then turn to Elkra sizing her up for a moment before asking a simple question. "Why are you here Elkra, why such immediate loyalty despite only knowing each other for a short time." My words apparently provoke barely a reaction as her expressionless face gives next to nothing for me to analyse.

She remains ramrod straight towering over me like I am a child she can easily pick up; she moves her right hand to her face and parts the left side hair bangs. She apparently shaved half of her hair off, the left side cascading down, the hair is short barely reaching her shoulder, perhaps some fashion statement as most of the Garudan females have thick short hair. She glares down at me before tilting her head slightly to the right perhaps in contemplation before speaking up in a soft tone. "You saved us." Her voice that I had rarely heard was very monotone but still was a pleasant sound nonetheless, it almost seemed elegant.

Regardless I narrowed my eyes judging her expression, eyeing every facet I managed to catch a glance, it is not much to work with, so I speak plainly. "That's not the reason, such an act deserves thanks or perhaps respect, you don't seem the type to be that simple, please you can tell me what's on your mind." I know this is prying but she and Pok are skilled and unique amongst the Garudan and I hate to waste them, so pry I must.

She ponders for a moment her eyes fluttering in thought as she gazes below, this is the most expressive I have seen her. She pauses and sucks in a breath before replying to my early statement in that melodic voice. "I... I don't want to go back to Garuda... may I stay here?" Honestly, I did not expect that response but nevertheless, it is a start and anything I can pry away from Elkra is a tactical victory of grand proportions.

With such an answer I place my right hand on my chin and contemplate her words, a few potential answers run through my head before I respond. "That is not what I expected, most Garudan's have quite the bond with their homeland and are eager to return, you are not one of them?" I ask to pry more but just as the reflection of some semblance of expression past across her face, the cold void quickly seeds control once more.

Elkra remains calm and stands up straighter than any being I have ever seen before giving a near-perfect Samsiran salute and answers in that monotone voice. "Yes, I want to stay." It was clear that she meant what she said and was willing to stand stock still in defence of her words, I knew prying further would likely get me nowhere, so I left it at that.

I returned her salute and gestured to continue down the hallway towards the security office I had turned into my makeshift command centre. You would think I would make the bridge my command centre, but I am no pilot and having me there when the ship is not under my complete control was pointless. Luckily, the security room was still operational and the video feeds were still active for the entire ship. Reaching the security office, I noticed Pok standing near the door with an utterly bored look on his face staring off into space despite not being able to see said space. It is truly incredible how low his attention span is, I will avoid putting him on guard duty.

Finally, we arrive and quickly enter the office, inside is a little different than before, now there are three seats instead of two at the security control panel. Demthesian chairs were different from the standard model on Korvan. These chairs were oval instead of the strict rectangular chairs back in my homeworld, apparently, this Demthesian design can interface with the gravity plate system, producing a localised gravity field to keep the crew in place just in case of damage to ship-wide gravity. Logically one would think straps to secure crew would be more cost-effective but then again perhaps those primitive methods were cast aside during advancement.