Veridi Gothca

Prologue

There was a chill in the spring air of Gothca. The chill of deceit. In the inner chamber of his home, where the Chancellor would retire when he needed to dwell on the state of his "Republic." Chancellor Crighton lay in his plain black leather upholstered chair with a faded design from generations long prior, it was a simple comfort he allowed himself as he had more important things to do than waste his wealth on petty vices. As he stared out into the luminescent green landscape of Gothca, Crighton ruminated on the news he had received about a severe security breach of confidential technology and information, this was unacceptable. While it was unknown who the identity of the whistleblower was, what was known is that they had to be someone higher up. Crighton turned around and entered the DNA lock on his PC, he went through the list of project leads who could have leaked the data, and he narrowed it down to a handful of the only people who had top-level access to experimental technologies. Two stand-out candidates were Dr. Leonard in bionics & nanotechnology and the lead of cybernetics & robotics, whom he knew himself. Aiden Greene. The next week was going to be spent on rooting out this traitor and how to swiftly punish them, for this was the only way to deal with insubordination. The long search and constant thoughts of someone he knew betraying him left Crighton exhausted. He would deal with this problem when his mind was clear.

Crighton awoke the next morning still filled with dread that Aiden was the most likely culprit to betray not only him but his people, to whom those secrets were sold was still a mystery but the fact was that if sent to the alliance, would do irreparable damage to his regime. Secrets like that would come at a fortune, and money like that being moved would not go unnoticed on Veridian. Crighton felt the tough stubble on his chin, it would have to be removed if he wanted to keep his kempt image fresh in the people's minds. He went about his daily routine, lathering his face with moisturizing shaving cream. He shaved his face, the razor glided effortlessly through the tough hairs on his face, quick and efficient, that was his preferred method for anything that was an obstacle.      

Crighton stepped into his closet to dress for today's speech. Crighton would often wear the traditional Veridian dress attire that a man of his station would be expected to, with an added flare of military adornments. He manually opened a wide metal drawer that was built into the rest of the closet. A dark grey suit lay on top of red velvet padding that sheened a luxurious crimson. He held the uniform up and inspected it for any imperfections, there were none he could see, thus it was perfect. He could have had a team of stylists dress him for every event, but he was a man who preferred doing such a simple yet important ritual of the day by his own means. As he finished dressing, he opened a worn wooden box of all the medals he had earned through his years in the military and public service. He pinned a dozen of them to his uniform, each one a commemoration of all he had achieved, and yet, there will always be more.

Now Crighton was ready for his speech at city hall. He left his manor, locking it down while he was away. Crighton went over to his personal stagecoach, the door was opened by one of his security detail, a man of tall stature and dressed in a black suit with armored padding. Chrighton stepped inside and then closed the door shut. The interior was a mix of burgundy suede and black polymesh, perfect for the lack of dirt and sunny Viridian days. Crighton would be driven to the city hall for his speech, then afterward a meeting with his cabinet. The two security that traveled with him weren't the only protection he has. in the skies, there was an armada of armed drones, while on the ground it was said that the government employed elite mercenaries from all over human space that any alien invader would tremble in the presence of. It was even said that the government hired non-humans for their private security.

An hour later he would arrive at his destination to give the first speech of the year to the people of Gothca. One of the guards opened the door for him, and as he stepped out he saw all the people standing waiting for him to give his speech. He was hoping there'd be more of the youth standing in attendance, it was getting more difficult to reach out to them in recent years due to the latest rebellious movement. There was little he could do in the way of force to dissuade this new attitude amongst the younger generation, but that's not what his speech would be about. He would try to ease the peoples slowly yet steadily declining faith in his government policies.