Chapter 21: Picking up the Pieces
[Your Crusade has awarded you essence!]
Muar was getting used to seeing the notification in the corner of his vision, as all actions against Cato and his dark purpose flowed upward through those who undertook the [Crusade]. It had significantly accelerated his progress through Bismuth, even if he had a very, very long way to go to reach Azoth.
In a way it made up for the time he was spending outside of the Core worlds, traveling through the worlds that made up the innermost circle in order to ensure they had a personal connection to the [Crusade]. Muar didn’t know which god or gods had finally taken notice of Cato’s abilities, but the spread of the quest to all the worlds of the System was finally a response that matched the danger.
“If you can’t do it, your priests need to petition your [World Deity] at the Temple,” he told the Platinum World Administrator patiently. On the frontier, such people were cowed by Muar’s title and Bismuth Rank, but so close to the core, and with the backing of a real Clan, the man was clearly used to dealing with august personages. “That moon can very easily be a threat.” He waved at the large silvery-blue crescent riding low on the horizon.
“But how?” The Platinum just didn’t seem to comprehend the facts no matter how Muar stated them. “It’s just in the sky. You can’t actually get there.”
Muar knew that being a World Administrator for an inner world required someone to be at least marginally intelligent, so the blank, abject stupidity was just for show. Something to waste Muar’s time and prevent the Platinum from having to actually do anything not ordered by his masters within the Clan. Such petty and venal games were unworthy of the divine System, made obvious by how those engaging in them were so obviously less.
Yet it was a game that still had to be played, to do what was necessary to stop Cato. If he had more of a backing – although the backing of the System should be enough – then he would be far more effective. But he did not, and for now, should he fail to convince those in charge to act of their own accord, he would instead commune with the gods directly at the temple. None of them spoke to him as such, but certain System messages and the actions around planets demonstrated that he was being heard.
On five different worlds, small moons – barely more than mountain-sized – had been brought down by Azoths. On two others, much larger ones had been brought into the System, transformed into high-rank Zones. For many inner worlds, such moons were already within the System’s grasp, which was a pleasant surprise and prevented him from needing to do more than examine them for any possible influence.
Thus far he hadn’t found any evidence of Cato’s subversive contamination, which either showed that Cato was far more subtle than Maur thought, or that he’d outdistanced Cato’s vanguard. While he wasn’t certain, and could never be certain, Muar very well thought it was the latter. He hadn’t heard anything further about Raine or Leese, save for messages from the Tornok Clan.