National Library, New Washington
When the Council sent me to explore Chronosians, I did not know what I would find. They were cunning and they were intelligent. What is more, they are now awakening to the power of Tiar. This came as a surprise to me. As a Ranger I knew that only the People, what Cronosians know as Tal, had the power to link from mimd to mind, and do other powerful tricks of the mind. It is now a fact that Chronosians are awakening to this power. It is also clear that they will be extremely dangerous to the people, as they challenge our believes, but will also challenge the concept of who was chosen.
They have been very good to me. They have allowed me to live and become almost one of them. My ship, the Yaoshan Falls, has become one of them, and now serves them. I fear that she will tell them great secrets of the People, which reside in its memory banks. What can I do, as the ship, once bonded to me, has now bonded to a Human. I’ve been told that it is beyond bonding, and that they consider the Falls a sentient being. How could they do that for a machine escapes me. What is clear is that “George,” as it calls itself, blocks me effectively every time I get close to it.
I know Chronosians fear the People. They have seen the power of the people. They now have access to many of our weapons, captured at Kesmai. They know that we use MASERS, though we will not use starbombs. Humans will and have, which makes them very dangerous. What is even more ironic is that what I have learned about them, I cannot tell to the People. I am now in exile, forever away from my people and the hope of one day becoming an Elder.
Diary of Krak’Tal
MI-5 documents
The Tal are a people spread across multiple star systems. They are organized into Cravens, better translated as Clans. Each one of these Cravens has a council of Elders, who are the repository of the history of the Clan, as well as the traditions and mores. There are over one hundred of these Cravens with some dominant over others. The Gueken Craven is based on the home world of Gueken and is the largest and most powerful of them. Krak’Tal is from that Craven and we know from debriefings that the Craven has a military, formed of Kir warriors, and Ranger Tal Officers. We also know that these legions have never been defeated in battle, since any defeated army never goes home. The best example of this are the countless thousands of Kir Warriors that we captured at Kesmai, who are undergoing training under our officers and NonComs.
From a battle ready perspective we worry that these troops will not perform when the time comes. Nevertheless we are training them as auxiliary troops, as ordered by Admiral Malthus. He argued to the allied command that these troops could be used to liberate their brethren, especially now that they realize the Tal are no gods. In this sense a new training command was created, and the First and Second Kir Divisions were formed. At the moment human advisors are in charge, but he wants those troops to be led by Kir junior officers, when they hit the field. This means that Kir are attending accelerated officer training programs across military academies of the Empire. The Confederation is still discussing the feasibility of training Kir Personnel, but we believe they will not do it. After all, Kir are truly alien and it has taken them over six hundred years to accept ‘Tern OFficers.
Our intelligence analysts believe that the best course regarding the Tal is a preemptive attack on their home world of Gueken. We believe that a decapitation strike will leave the Cravens confused, and in disarray, especially if we take out the High Council. This is why the Military is now planning on a major three pronged attack on the System, and allied units are training to best coordinate this effort. We believe the time to do it is during the next two years or so, before the Tal are able to reorganize and counter attack. We also believe the attack on Kesmai and the failure to take the system shocked them.
Our window of opportunity to press our advantage is quickly going down. We also know that our intelligence is not very reliable. In the comming monhts we will send recon vessels to Gueken, to try to find out what we can. George has told us he can enter and leave the system. He also promised to deliver the AI fleet by promising them the freedom we have assured them. System Defenders will be a tough nut to crack, but if they abandon their posts, we know we will have an easier time…
Admiral Cornelius Ryan
Imperial Naval Intelligence Service