Debauchery BioTech 12 (Patreon)

Debauchery BioTech

Chapter 12

-VB-

Radstadt was now the heart of the Priesthood of Kalmaktama. They didn’t abandon their former home in Zdice but there was a definite reduction of personnel there. Two-thirds of the orins remained as did a quarter of the zends, but the rest used a portal created by their god to take one step on Zdice and the next step on Radstadt. 

How did the local government and people fare? That was what he was here for. 

Zend Ugan sat at the head of the large auditorium. He wore a more elaborate formalwear that zends can wear. A veil to cover his face. An embroidered dark red cloak that covered his upper body. Blue pair of lotus pants made out of the most sinfully comfortable material that only the karcist can make; it retained the perfect temperature at all times. 

And across from him, all of the important people from Radstadt sat in each of the available chairs, on the floor, and stood when there wasn’t a sitting space. 

Almost everyone in the auditorium looked nervous. Upset. Scared. 

‘And why wouldn’t they be?’ Ugan thought to himself. 

As a zend of the Priesthood, he’d seen things that would drive people insane as they questioned their reality. Some of the fresh orins definitely did, and had needed the karcist’s gentle hands to be brought back to normalcy. 

Unlike the near puppet-like Zend Karstein or the most fervent supporters that were the voluntaars, Ugan thought of himself a bit more … grounded. 

It was hard not to be when he was perhaps one of three zends who questioned everything that the karcist said. And he was probably the only zend to cling to his religion.

After all, nothing about what the Priesthood taught and preached asked its followers to abandon other gods. So he clung to Christ because there was an irrevocable morality found in His words that was necessary to prevent innate human excesses from overwhelming the good. 

Because it was always easier for humans to cause harm than good. 

“We may begin,” he spoke up. “And I, Zend Ugan, welcome you to the first ever Public Interaction and Connections Event. Please don’t boo me for the generic name.”

That got a few nervous chuckles from the crowd. 

“As for what this event will be about, it will be as the pamphlets said. I will speak about the Priesthood, answer any questions you might have, and show a relevant show of the powers granted to us by our god.”

Someone raised their hand up, and he pointed to them, making them slightly flinch. 

“You … call your cult leader a god?” 

That got even more flinches from people around … her. Yes, a brave soul. This was a Combine world until very recently. That sort of question directed at anyone in power would have seen them executed. Or worse. 

Brave soul. Very brave. 

“Yes, because he has accomplished things that are beyond human might, even for those in the cult. I believe you’ve seen the void dragons.”

Each void dragon was bigger than dropships. Bigger than jumpships. They were the biggest living and moving creatures anyone would ever lay their eyes on. 

Oh, and they spat breathes of reality unmaking plasma.

That’s how the karcist described the “attack” that devastated the Combine’s soldiers. 

“And we mean that in the literal sense. He can raise the dead, if the spirit lingers. Or raise the body, if he so wills it. He can create creatures that defy universal but ultimately mortal laws of reality. He stands above us without question, and though he is not the God of reality like the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God nor even close to reaching His level of existence, this does not change the fact that our karcist is indeed a god.”

“Does he demand worship?”

“No. He cares not for worship. He does not derive power from worship. He does not love you as the Christian God does. If a non member of the Priesthood worships him, then something has gone very very wrong.”

His words made the people relax somewhat. 

“But make no mistake. He can unmake worlds if he so wishes. You have seen the soldiers of the Combine die as their very souls were crushed to fuel a star system wide ritual. This is not something zends and orins like myself can do. Not without a far greater sacrifice that is utterly unacceptable to the Priesthood.”

“... But you can,” an elderly man said quietly from the front.

“But we can. Just like how the Combine’s Coordinator can nuke worlds.”

“How are we suppose to trust you - expect you to protect us - when you have sacrificed the souls of our children, siblings, and parents?” someone else asked, and that got a reaction out of many of them.

Ugan tilted his head. “You mean like how you sacrificed Lyrans and Feds for the glory of the Coordinator? You speak of wrongs and rights but you are of mortal flesh. Nothing you do is Right. You do not have the right to demand your rights or for wrongs to be righted because such things do not exist. There is only the Strong and the Weak, and it is through the mercy of the Strong that is our Karcist that you live.” He leaned forward. “Do not forget why we are here in the first place. Radstadt was where the Priesthood started… and where its hospital and temple was burned by YOU. Had I been in the position to determine who lives and dies, then I would have killed all of you for the murder of my children.”

For, before he took on the name of Ugan, he was Takamori Nara, a humble grandfather of three and father of two. A quiet neighbor and mechanic. 

One of the Priesthood who suffered at the hands of the very people before him. 

His words made many people flinch… but others who glared impotently. 

They were people who did not care what wrongs they have caused others. Only that they were hurt, real or not.

Such people were everywhere. 

Ugan did not care for them.

If they dared to pick up a weapon and fight, then their souls were forfeit. 

If they picked up a picket and protested, then that was fine. That was something the Karicst - and thus the Priesthood - allowed. 

“Make no mistake,” he continued. “The Priesthood hates you. Hates the Combine. Hates the sheep who follow without question and care for others. Until you prove otherwise, you are beneath our notice. We do not care for you. In fact, it would be easier if you all died. Some of us still wish that, but the karicst does not despite the fact that he has suffered the most at your hands. So bow when he passes. Thank him for his mercy. It is the only thing that stands between the rest of us and you.”

To punctuate the point, he transformed his left arm into a giant slobbering maw of serrated teeth to maximize suffering. Of eyes inside the mouth to enjoy the sights of brutal deaths. Of tongues not just to taste their blood but to taste the souls as they died. 

People screamed and backed away. 

He quickly transformed it back.

“We are conquerors but we care very little for your taxes and grains,” he continued. “But there will be adjustments. You will pay less tax because you will not be supporting a giant army. Most of your taxes will go to rebuilding and modernizing your neighborhoods. It will not go into weapons manufacturing or research because nothing that you make is sufficient in our eyes. You will become more than sheeps and worms. That much, the Karicst - our god - demands of you.” A pause. “But all lands that are currently private owned and maintained will now be under the Priesthood’s. That includes mountains, forests, lakes, deserts, and any plot of land that any of the citizens are living on. And please try to lie. It’ll give our older orins a chance to relieve their stress.”

Ugan stood up after that. “I will take one more question today. Then we will have another session tomorrow at the same time.”

“... I have to know if my sister is with you.”

Ugan turned to look.

Oh. Him. Ugan remembered him. 

“... Orin Michelle is happy and healthy, but refuses to leave our new temple on Zdice.”

With that, he left the stage. 

-VB-

A/N: … so yes. The average members of the Priesthood who came to Zdice along with the Karicst absolutely, utterly, and irrevocably hate the Draconis Combine, its culture, and its people. If they had their way, then they would have engineered a plague to kill worlds across the entire Draconis Combine. And some of them aren’t happy that Karcist Croy isn’t letting them fuck over the locals who helped persecute them.

Is it enough to make them break off from the Priesthood? No. Croy is their god, if they didn’t have a religion before and maybe so for those who also did have religion before meeting the karcist. One does not simply walk away from their god after having met them face to face, not when that god fulfills his promise time and time again.