BSE Chapter 3-52

“I won’t lie to you, Kane,” Katalynn said as they slowly walked down one of the empty hallways of the complex, “Harlow surprised us with how many ships he brought with him. He must have been holding them back from the STO because he still had three fleets harassing their border and defending the territory they had claimed. What I’m trying to get at is that even with your impressive defenses, I don’t know if this is a battle we can win.”

“Are you certain?” Alexander asked, feeling a pit of despair open up inside him at the woman’s words.

“Nothing is ever certain until it’s over, but Harlow is no fool. We fought him three times, and he adjusted his tactics to counter ours with each battle. Our chances of winning are going to depend on a few things. We need to take away his main advantage, which is firepower. That includes his plasma missiles as well as any nuclear weapons he might be holding onto. If we can do that, our chances improve slightly.”

“Why only slightly,” Alexander asked.

“Because he will either pull out or shift his tactics. I’ve never seen a pirate so bound and determined to throw everything they have at something. I don’t know what you did to earn this man’s desire, but I doubt it will simply fade away if we chase him off. Assuming we even can, our fleets will be a ghost of their former selves. Even with your ability to repair and modify ships faster than anyone else in Asgardian territory, it will leave us vulnerable…”

Alexander could hear the hesitation in the woman’s tone, so he finished her words for her. “And you would withdraw if you felt like this was a losing battle.”

Katalynn grimaced but did not deny his words. He understood, he couldn’t expect them to simply throw themselves into a meat grinder to save one planet and one man.

“We could relocate most of your people,” she added after a tense silence followed his previous response.

Alexander simply shook his avatar. “I wouldn’t abandon any of these people to that fate. And Harlow would simply come to Asgard to take revenge or look for me if he couldn’t find me here. So, while I appreciate the offer, don’t count us out quite yet. I may still have a few cards to play to help even the odds a bit.”

“Good,” she stated, looking at him sideways. “My opinion of you would have fallen had you agreed.

“Another test of my character?” he asked in annoyance.

“Yes,” she admitted. “Be glad I am the one testing you and not the other Jarls. You saw how Jarl Bergson acted when she saw you. She’s a bit headstrong, but she’s also younger and much more open to change than some of the older Jarls. If you couldn’t handle yourself in front of her or defend your honor when it’s tested, some might think your inclusion to Asgard was political.”

“Was it?” Alexander asked as they walked.

“Everything I do must be factored into my political needs, but we can discuss that later. Tell me about these cards you are holding. I need to know if they will serve a purpose in the battle.”

“I have twenty stealth gunships.” Lucas had been the one to produce the gunships while he was absent at Asgard. They had been meant as a testing platform more than a weapon of war because of some downsides with the process he had discovered, which he quickly pointed out to Katalynn. “The stealth coating isn’t great and there are structural weaknesses with these gunships so I don’t know how much they would affect the outcome of a battle.”

“Railguns?” she asked and Alexander nodded. “Hmm. They probably won’t be instrumental against the thicker armor of the destroyers and cruisers in Harlow’s fleet and with the other issue, probably won’t survive against his frigates and gunships long enough to do any significant damage. Adding them to the fight would just be throwing them to the flame. For now, we will exclude them from the battle plan, but keep the pilots ready, we may find a use for them.”

Alexander simply nodded, not mentioning that the ships were all automated.

“Enough talk about politics and tactics, we will be sick of both shortly. Since we have time while our tacticians and commanders figure out the best course of action for the battle to come, how about you show me around your home?”

He was surprised by the question. “Um… okay. It isn’t quite as impressive as Asgard, but I can think of a few spots that might interest you.”

The pair took the tram to the closest exit to the central dome. The massive expanse of crystal clear material gave an unobstructed view of the night sky. It was quiet in the dome, as it was both night on the surface, and inside the facility.

The place had become a favorite spot for people to get away from the rest of the hustle and bustle of the quickly growing community.

“If memory serves, this dome was caved in the last time I was here.”

Alexander nodded his avatar. “It was.”

“Hmm. Impressive work rebuilding it,” she replied, looking at the structure more than the star-filled view outside.

“I had good people working on it, otherwise it would likely still be in a state of disrepair.” She glanced at him and Alexander felt the need to defend himself. “I would have gotten to it eventually, it was just that I had more important things going on.”

“That’s because you lack focus, Kane,” Katalynn said as she walked farther into the now lush interior of the dome.

“What do you mean I lack focus? I managed to modify your ship as well as one of mine in the same timeframe that I had given you originally. If that isn’t focus I don’t know what is,” he responded defensively.

“I’m not talking about your engineering accomplishments, Kane,” Katalynn stated. “I’m referring to where your priorities lay. Take me for example. While I would love to spend my days honing my fighting, I put my people first, even if it’s at the expense of my time. I’m not saying what you have built here isn’t impressive, but you need to eventually decide if you wish to be a simple engineer or a leader.”

“I have and always will do everything in my power to protect my daughter and everything I have built.”

She glanced at him. “I don’t doubt your sincerity. Defending your family is all well and good, but you’re not just a father. I didn’t offer this position of Jarl to you so you could neglect the people below you. They are just as important as all your gadgets.”

Instead of getting angry at the statement, he took a step back to process the woman’s words. She may be right, but that didn’t mean he was wrong either.

After minutes of silence, he finally spoke. “I’m not like normal people. I can’t simply care about them because you say I should.”

Katalynn sighed at his response. “Loki said you might feel this way, but I don’t believe that to be true. If you didn’t care, you would have taken me up on my earlier offer to evacuate as many as possible. I think you are already on the way to figuring this out, but it never hurts to hear it from someone else. Learn to care about the citizens. If not you’re just going to end up like another self-serving asshole, and the universe has enough of those already. With your skills, I believe that would be a great disservice to humanity's future.”

“You only say that because you want access to my inventions,” he stated quietly.

“That is certainly one aspect of why I chose to speak to you about this issue,” she admitted. “But not the only one. I saw how out of depth you were when you came to me, yet you still put everything on the line to speak to someone you thought was a pirate. You may claim that it was only for your daughter and the infrastructure you put together here, but I have my doubts about that. Humanity needs more people who care, Kane. That is the main reason why I extended the offer to join the Asgardians. I won’t lie to you, you have a rough road to travel to get these people to put their faith in you, but I think you will get there eventually. I will help where I can but when I took my position the populace already supported me so my experience will be limited in that fashion.”

“I expected a nice outing where I showed you around. I didn’t expect to be lambasted for my choices,” he muttered.

“The truth is never convenient,” she admitted. “Nor is advice generally well received when given to people who stick their heads in the sand to ignore the bigger picture. Tell me, how many people do you have that will call you out on your bullshit?”

“A few maybe, why?” he asked.

“Good. Surround yourself with more of those types of people and you will eventually figure out how to rule effectively. Now, where to next?”

Alexander sighed and gestured down a side tunnel that led toward his workshop. Their walk there was quiet as he processed what she had said to him. He found it hard to accept that she was right. Mostly because he didn’t want to contemplate the day when Yulia was all grown up or when she got married and started a family of her own.

This was something that had been at the back of his mind for a long time, yet he didn’t want to think about it. Alexander had to be old. Even if he hadn’t been activated back in 2050 where his memories seemed to end, he had to be older than even Dr. Lund, and she was the oldest known living human that Alexander had met.

The average life expectancy of humans was all over the place in this era, ranging anywhere from eighty to one hundred and twenty in some worlds. Most of it depended on access to high-end medical services at a young age.

Assuming his power source was self-sustaining, that meant that barring catastrophic failure to his body, he would likely outlive every single person he knew. The thought sent an uncomfortable feeling down his body.

Logically he knew he had already outlived all of his friends and family from back in 2050, but that was different because he didn’t remember who they were or how he felt about them. That would not be the case going forward.

Before the existential dread could overwhelm him, he shoved it back into his subconscious to pick at later. There would be time to come to terms with those issues at some point. Right now he needed to focus on showing Katalynn around and after that, getting rid of Harlow.

“Nice and easy issues to handle,” he spoke quietly.

“Did you say something?” Katalynn asked.

“I said we are almost there,” he lied.

They soon entered Alexander’s workshop. He had expected it to be quiet and empty, but he found Yulia and Lucas working on something.

“Yulia, Lucas! You two best not be modifying that augment gear again. I told you that was a one-time occurrence.”

The two jumped slightly at his entry.

“Yulia, you told me he would be busy all night. That’s the only reason I agreed to help out.” Lucas shook his head before turning to Alexander. “Sorry, Alex. And no, I wasn’t helping her modify the augment suit. I was helping her improve her go-cart’s performance.”

“You mean cheating?” Alexander asked pointedly, looking over at his daughter who hung her head.

Lucas defended his daughter’s actions. “Hold on now. It’s not cheating if it’s within the rules of their races…or otherwise not covered by the rules,” he muttered that last part. “Anyway,” he said happily, trying to draw Alexander’s attention away from their actions. “Who’s your very tall and lovely friend?”

Katalynn only snorted at the man’s compliment. “I prefer my men to have a bit of meat on their bones.”

“What does that mean?” Yulia leaned over to Lucas and whispered.

Lucas leaned back over to the girl and whispered back. “Have your dad explain it to you.”

Alexander simply groaned internally as he heard it all. He was pretty sure Katalynn had heard it as well.

“This is Lagetha Katalynn Char,” he finally stated, seeing as Katalynn didn’t seem obliged to tell them herself.

Lucas clapped his hands together and chuckled nervously. “Well, this is awkward. It was nice meeting you, Lagertha, but I think it’s past time I get some sleep.”

The man didn’t wait for an invitation to leave as he hurried out of the workshop.

Alexander didn’t miss Katalynn’s gaze lingering on the man as he left. When she turned back, she caught him staring. The woman looked unfazed by that.

“If he bulked up, he may have a chance,” she said simply. Then she turned toward Yulia. “So this is your daughter?”

“Yulia, come say hi to our guest.”

Showing no fear, the girl hurried over. “You’re super tall, but not as tall as Alex. One day, I’ll be as tall as Alex.”

Katalynn smiled. “That is a worthy goal to shoot for. Now, what is a go-cart and why would you attempt to cheat with it?” That last question came out as an order and the girl stiffened like she had been caught with her hand in a cookie jar.

Alexander really needed to learn how Katalynn got these sorts of reactions from people, it might come in handy if he had to discipline his daughter down the line.

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I'll be transparent, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. Specifically the second part of the conversation with Char where she brings up his leadership shortcomings, but I'm curious what you all think, let me know.