The inevitable end

The territory of the Empire expanded, and so did its population as it occupied more and more planets with the help of the special ops units. Still, these territories needed to be garrisoned by someone to ensure compliance.

This was rarely taken care of by the Azburgains themselves. As their forces were busy on the front line, the garrisons were taken care of by their loyal subjects, who were rewarded for their efforts by Adam Valencia himself.

Adam, with years of experience and his natural talent for speaking and charming quickly stole the heart of a multitude of races with the aid of experts as well as his own knowledge.

Of course, each of his subjects was slightly different, so Adam ensured that he had someone with deep understanding, often a member of the nation, constantly ensuring he never accidentally angered them, nothing good would come from having a disobedient subject after all.

This ensured that the Empire and its effective meat shield worked as one unit, with the idea of merging the most exemplary subjects with the Empire stopped only by the colossal effort such a project would take, as well as the time, not to mention the current situation.

The war itself has been as brutal and wasteful as expected, with ships being destroyed left and right, entire asteroid belts being erased, all of the minerals consumed for the war effort.

In the royal bedroom at midnight, the Emperor of the proud Azburgian Interstellar Empire thought about something that deeply troubled him, his wife soundly asleep in front of him.

He felt dread because he knew all too well that the Outer Powers were nigh impossible to defeat, their fleets and economy easily overwhelmed theirs, and their technology looked like magic when compared to their poor imitations.

They are fucked to put it upfront. Hence Adam thought day and night, such as now, about how to avoid his inevitable doom and the extinction of humanity as its head and leader.

Would he have to kneel? But even if he did, the people wouldn't. They are proud Azburgian Humans after all, not to mention Adam inflated that pride and sense of duty to fuel their motivation and loyalty.

Now, if he kneeled, his Empire would fall apart, his own people would despise him as a coward and he would either be killed by them in a rebellion or eventually disposed of by his new masters.

Not to mention he would rather die than kneel to a human, let alone an alien that couldn't care less about his people and their culture.

He will not allow his Empire to end up like the Imperium, once a proud, ambitious species, now brain washed into loyal dogs thanks to his propaganda.

Now if they fought with the outer powers, what would happen?

He has not a fraction of doubt that his people would fight to the last, even the children would fight no doubt, their admiration and trust would drive them to fight with their parents.

Humanity would go extinct sooner than it would surrender, such is the price of pride, and while Adam felt proud of his people while thinking that, there is nothing good about extinction.

The damage they would deal would be something worth admiration no doubt, with the survivors raiding and making expansion in the region a living hell for any would-be colonizers, but they would eventually be tracked and killed with superior technology.

No matter where he turned, he saw a dead end, there was no hope to be seen.

Lastly, he could run, and he was pretty sure that with sufficient preparations, he could make it, but is that the kind of man he wanted to be? Could he forgo thousands of years of wise leadership and so, so much blood that was spilled for him?

Not only for the Empire but for HIM? For HIS ambitions?

No. He won't and wouldn't.

He would go down with his Empire, or rise with it.

His family is another matter, he would have to decide later on depending on the situation, but his wife will not die here, no fucking way.

Adam knows for a fact that she would happily stay and gladly die with him, such is her loyalty, and while it warms his heart, he doesn't want her to die.

No husband would want such a thing, and if they do, they should reconsider their relationship.

Such a time is still far off, and the war is still only a year in, they have plenty of time left together.

As Adam thought of this, Serena, still asleep, moved over and rested her head on his shoulder, drawing Adam's attention away from these grim prospects.

Right, things would solve themselves with time, and he would act accordingly. Now, he needed some well-deserved rest.