Chapter 806 God
Khan's expansion strategy proceeded smoothly. No tribe could hope to oppose him, and his strange abilities put him closer to a deity rather than a strong warrior in those primitive minds. He barely had to do anything to make the Scalqa fall to their knees.
The quadrant's ships also removed problems connected to the vast scope of the mission. Baoway wasn't immense but remained a planet, and Khan wanted to handle every conquest personally. That could take decades on his own, but the various vehicles greatly shortened the process.
Nevertheless, new problems surged as the expansion continued. Khan acted personally to avoid pointless bloodshed and add assets to his force. He wanted the Scalqa's strength for multiple reasons, but their numbers rose too much too quickly.
It soon became impossible to stuff all the newcomers into the settlement, and there was a limit to how much Khan could expand it. Adding blue bushes cleared more of the forest, but the trees would completely disappear if Khan kept at it.
Building new settlements became mandatory, which Khan could easily achieve with manpower in his quadrant. Yet, the Scalqa, especially the newcomers, would regress to their primitive, free state without proper leadership, and Khan couldn't be everywhere at once.
Appointing trustworthy leaders was the only solution, but Khan quickly ran out of them. He wanted Rok-Go close for his understanding of the blue plants, but Kru-Zi, Ni-Kri, and another former tribe leader could do. However, that only covered three settlements, and the entire planet could fit thousands of them.
Moreover, a troubling trend spread among the newcomers. Khan's deity-like behavior made the Scalqa want to be close to him. Almost everyone desired to serve him directly instead of being relegated to a distant settlement.
It soon became clear a half-assed approach wouldn't work. Khan could prioritize the empty quadrants all he wanted, but the issue remained. That method delayed the inevitable at most, which he couldn't abuse due to his deals with the descendants.
However, immediate solutions didn't exist. Khan needed to spend time among the newcomers to solidify their reverence. Training them in the human ways would also take a while, and incidents could happen if he sent unprepared Scalqa in the middle of factories and similar structures.
Those problems would be easy to handle inside the main quadrant, but everything had to be perfect inside the areas occupied by the allied descendants. The latter weren't dumb, but Khan wanted to appear reliable. Still, colonizing an entire planet by himself was turning out to be more than he could handle.
Khan's inability to find a solution forced him to summon his inner circle. Few were off-planet, but Gordon, Monica, Lieutenant Dyester, and George were available, and their brainstorming eventually provided a feasible idea.
"Are you serious?" Khan asked, his eyes studying the planet's map above the interactive table inside one of the quadrant's main ships.
"Historically," Monica announced, "It worked. It would also suit your situation."
Khan fell silent, but his senses noticed the suppressed chuckles surrounding his friends. George and Lieutenant Dyester seemed about to burst out into a laugh, but a wave of seriousness soon enveloped the latter.
"Don't let it go to your head," Lieutenant Dyester warned. "You are one step away from going overboard as it is. Religious fanatism is the last thing you need."
'Fuck,' Khan cursed in his mind, especially since the idea made sense. Realistically, that trend had also started on its own due to his magical power.
The inner circle's plan involved two phases. The first was to abandon the idea of leaving Scalqa settlements in every quadrant. The approach was feasible, but the authority issues weren't worth the hassle. Khan's power would become too fragmented, and reminding those aliens about who was in charge would be a periodic waste of time.
Finding a relatively empty quadrant and establishing multiple, massive cities was a far better approach in terms of management. The Empire and Global Army would provide the structures, allowing Khan to concentrate his power into a single area, consolidating the Scalqa's population and quickening their mental and technological development.
The approach would involve relocating the accumulated blue bushes, but managing a handful of locations was better than overseeing a thousand. The idea would greatly diminish Khan's workload and make use of the few trustworthy figures among his alien underlings.
Khan had no issue with that new strategy, but the second phase slightly irked him. The Scalqa were attached to nature, so relocating into an artificial environment could create problems. Big cities were also harder to manage in terms of public order, but Khan's inner circle had found a solution that might solve both sides of the matter.
"Really," Khan sighed. "A cult leader."
"Religious leader," Monica corrected. "The process has already started anyway. You know how the Scalqa look at you. Rok-Go is also a good priest candidate."
Khan felt the urge to tear the ship to shreds. He didn't mind being a leader. The assassination attempt had turned him into that. Khan would even don crowns and sit on tall thrones if the situation required it. Yet, the idea of creating a religion left a bad taste in his mouth.
The issue wasn't with the involved authority. Khan knew and accepted that side of his life could only grow. It was unavoidable since people kept following him, and the scarlet eyes even added a tinge of necessity to the matter.
However, a religious leader involved something entirely different from kings and emperors. The cult would be established around Khan, but he was no god. His powers were magical, miraculous even in the Scalqa's eyes, but he remained nothing more than a mutated human.
Zu-Gru's maimed corpse flashed in Khan's vision as he considered the idea. Leading the Scalqa was fine, but becoming their god was akin to tricking them, and he didn't want to lie to that species. The Scalqa deserved more from him.
Yet, better solutions didn't exist. That was Khan's best shot at preserving and empowering the Scalqa without destroying their planet or making it fall prey to civil wars. It would also consolidate his authority in ways mere negotiations and shows of force couldn't achieve. Khan would get his army as long as he was willing to pay the price.
"Start the plan," Khan eventually announced, pointing at one spot on the holographic map. "Build a city in this quadrant. Once everything is ready, I'll relocate the Scalqa there."
Gordon immediately got to work, but George and Lieutenant Dyester peeked at Khan before exchanging a knowing glance. They understood the matter weighed on Khan's mind, but the situation left them powerless to do anything about it.
Everyone left for the intended consoles, preparing the directives to start the plan, but Khan walked out of the main deck and entered the cargo area to achieve some privacy. That didn't arrive, but he didn't mind the intrusion.
"It's what they need," Monica reassured, reaching for Khan's shoulder to make him notice her presence. "It's what you already are for the Scalqa."
"A god," Khan scoffed. "Bullets don't kill gods."
"They didn't kill you," Monica pointed out.
"Because one of them shielded me," Khan said, almost shouting as he turned to face Monica. "Because a Scalqa took those bullets for me."
Monica was different from George and Lieutenant Dyester. She had long since become the closest person to Khan, and hearing him raise his voice told her exactly how angry he was.
Nevertheless, anger wasn't the problem. Its target was. Khan blamed himself and his weaknesses for resorting to a similar strategy. He hated himself for lying to a species that had already shed blood for him.
"Heavy is the crown," Monica commented, reaching for Khan's cheek, "And things will get worse. Many will die once wars get waged in your name. You'd try to shoulder everything on yourself, but you can't. No one can."
Monica's education allowed her to simulate events Khan's mind had yet to consider. She had never seen a war but could understand where things would lead. She also knew Khan, and it was her role to stop his unrealistic expectations from ruining his life.
Ideally, Khan would do everything by himself. He would fight wars on his own instead of risking his underlings' lives in battle. He would face the entire world alone instead of dealing with the friendly casualties connected to his directives.
However, Monica's words made Khan accept the reality of his status. Leaders commanded, and those orders occasionally led to their underlings' death. That was how the world worked. Khan had managed to avoid those instances for now, but the time would eventually come.
"For what is worth," Monica continued. "I know you'll be the best leader there is. Your current anger only confirms this. You'll be good but ruthless, making the hard choices but with your force's best interest in mind."
Khan found those words hard to believe but accepted them since they came from Monica. He took the hand on his cheek but quickly released it to approach the ship's side doors.
"You are thinking something stupid," Monica muttered, "Aren't you?"
"It's nothing," Khan exclaimed, opening the side doors. "Lying is unavoidable, so I must turn the lie into reality."
"Khan," Monica called in her scolding tone.
"If the Scalqa have to worship me as a god," Khan stated. "I'll become a god."
Monica instantly devised an hour-long scolding, but the shouts remained in her mind. Khan had flown away before she could open her mouth to start rebuking him.