The Ramarian Crisis
By DarkHorse

Prologue: Dire Warnings

*113 Years Ago on the planet Ramar*


  "Supreme Commanders of Ramar," intoned Higon, concluding his
presentation. "There is no disputing the data this time. In
less than 100 iatas, our star will cease to provide us with
energy. Supreme Commanders, our civilization will die."

  Higon looked at each of the twelve Supreme Commanders
that comprise the High Council of Ramar. *What fools*, he
thought. He managed to hide his distaste for all of them.
Ramar is a solar system with eleven planets, each already
fully populated. Ramar is a civilization of warriors and yet
all they do is play war games all iata long. *We have all
forgotten what it was like to be true conquerors*, Higon's
thoughts continue to rage in his mind as he waited for the
information he had just presented to be fully absorbed by
the thick-headed Supreme Commanders. Bah!

  "So esteemed scientist," Supreme Commander Lako leaned
forward, his eyes boring into Higon's. "What would have us
do? Flee our own worlds? To where? We've already conquered
every world in this system that can be conquered and that
can hold life." Lako smirked as he leaned back on his seat,
glancing at his peers, each with a smirk of his own.

  *Gods, they don't care!* Higon scowled but not so much lest
they blast him right where he stood. *Just because the
catastrophic implosion of their star won't happen in their
lifetimes...they just don't care!*

  "There are other systems," Higon's spread his hands, palm
up, trying very hard to plead with these idiots who call
themselves leaders. "We have the technology of space flight.
True, it will take many an iata to reach even the nearest
system but they are there for the taking if we just..." and
that's when he lost it. "Have we really forgotten what we
are?! We are conquerors of worlds! We are the nomads of the
universe and yet here we are content to just play war games
and wait for the--"

  "Enough!" The loud rebuke, uttered by a voice that
already rang with authority that will not brook interference
even among the most seasoned of combatants, was accompanied
by the even louder crashing sound of a fist down a fixture
that was once a table. Higon visibly cringed at both sounds,
embarrassing himself in the process.

  Fram's blood-red eyes stared down at Higon's, which only
increased the latter's discomfort. "Such strong words for a
*non*-warrior." Laughter erupted around the council chamber.
Fram settled down on his seat, a smile still plastered on
his face. "So, scientist, you would have us do what our
forefathers of long, long ago did."

  It was not a question but clearly a response was required
and so Higon nodded.

  "And that is the only alternative? Surely we can do
something to that uncooperative star of ours to prolong--"

  "Council Commander Fram, there is nothing we can do!" A
mistake. One should never interrupt Fram while speaking.
Higon swallowed the lump of fear on his throat. Already,
Fram's eyes were narrowing, his whole countenance one of
tangible, barely controlled rage. Higon looked fearfully at
twelve sets of eyes, each bearing contempt, distaste, and
what other negative thoughts they surely have for him.
Finally, he glanced back at Fram. "F-forgive me, Council
Commander, please continue."

  "Very well, scientist," drawled Fram. "How do you propose
we go about 'conquering' other systems? Surely you don't
mean for us to just wander aimlessly through the desert of a
universe until we stumble upon a habitable planet?" That
elicited polite laughter from the others.

  Higon took a deep breath as he walked over to a terminal.
He lightly touched the panel to bring up a three-dimensional
holographic display. In the beginning, only clusters of
stars with no discernable pattern could be seen.

  With another deep breath he focused his attention to his
reluctant audience. "The probes that we sent out to the far
reaches of the known universe have identified for us six
systems that are candidates for conquest." As if on cue, the
holographic display began to emphasize six clusters of star
systems.

  "Three of the systems have one planet each that appear to
allow habitation. Two of the systems have two habitable
planets." Higon paused. The holograph now showed the
Ramarian number one on the three systems with one habitable
planet and a Ramarian number two on the two systems with two
habitable planets.

  "The last system," Higon continued. This time the
holographic display brought to fore the one system that
Higon was emphasizing, causing the others to fade. "This
last system as you can see has nine planets revolving around
a yellow star. Only one of the planets is current inhabited
by sentient beings, but with our technology, we can make the
three others in that system habitable." Higon stopped and
smiled, proud of his presentation. The holographic display
now highlighted the second, third, fourth and fifth planets
of the solar system in the order of their distances from the
central star.

  The Supreme Commander from the planet Eloramar of the
Ramarian system, Yulo, leaned forward. "Scientist, may I
remind you that there are eleven worlds in our system. Are
you suggesting that we all cram ourselves into four
planets?" With a gesture of dismissal with his hand, he
leaned back on his chair amidst nods of assent from nearby
commanders.

  "Supreme Commander Yulo," Higon hurriedly replied. "If
you would please look at the fourth planet of this system�it
is larger than all eleven of our worlds combined with room
to spare!" Higon looked around the assembly, noting their
collective silence and wondering what it meant. He was
beginning to fidget and then all of a sudden�

  "Scientist, how far is this system from us?"
  
  "Scientist, that third planet, what is the level of their
technology?"

  "Tell me scientist, what kind of resistance will we
encounter from the inhabitants of this system?"

  "How much restructuring will be needed to make these
planets habitable, scientist?"

  The questions came one after another, each from a
different Supreme Commander. Higon found himself opening his
mouth to answer one when another would be asked. This pretty
much kept his mouth open and his eyes wide until finally,
silence once again reigned. At this, Higon looked at Fram,
as if permission was needed before he could continue. Fram
gave a nod of assent.

  "Honored Supreme Commanders, this system is, sad to say,
the farthest of all. It is roughly 34,000 lumiata2 away."
Higon could see from the blank stares of each council member
that the distance he had just mentioned is something that
their pea-sized intellect could not comprehend. "In other
words, Esteemed Commanders, it would take our fastest attack
vessel roughly 75 iatas to reach the system."

  As soon as he said this, the council erupted in
objections, expletives and wild gesticulations. Higon knew
that if they didn't make serious preparations to leave
within the iata, the fate of the majority of their kind
would perish. As he looked at the ensuing chaos in the
chamber he knew that nothing would be resolved today or for
many a day to come. Presently, someone remembered that he
was still there and was summarily dismissed.

  *At least I tried*, Higon thought despairingly. With
shoulders slumped, he walked out of the council tower to his
conveyance. The conveyance, a type of hovercraft, upon
sensing the presence of its owner through its biometric
scanners, opened itself up. Higon stared at his vehicle. It
was an expensive one for though he was *just* a scientist, he
was a highly paid scientist and the head of the Ramarian
Research Institute, an institute that was responsible for
the vast majority of technological advances his race now
enjoys. He looked around him. Ramar, the central planet in
their system politically, was an ugly planet. So were the
other ten planets for that matter. It was of no consequence.
While Higon didn't think highly of the worlds that his race
occupied, he had love for his race and he was determined
that it would survive. With one final look around, he
boarded his conveyance.

--------------------
NEXT:
Chapter 1 - Wormhole

--------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Here are some words I've invented that are used by the
Ramarians on a regular basis:

1) An iata is a year in Ramar, roughly equal to 413 Earth
days. Even though Ramar is composed of eleven planets, each
with its own rate of rotation, the iata has since been the
standard for measuring years.

2) Lumiata is a light-year in Earth terms.

C&C are very welcome. Please e-mail them to
darkhrse0714@yahoo.com

--------------------
DISCLAIMER:
Magic Knight Rayearth and all the characters in that
anime/manga are properties of CLAMP.  These are used here
without permission.

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