(AN: Sorry for the delay, didn't have time to edit the chapter until after work.)
---Next Day---
As my family and I sat down for breakfast, I turned to Doctor Doom with the topic that was bothering me: given all I had learned about my heritage, I wanted to know how it all fit together. I asked him to shed some light on the subject, and my ancestor gladly shared what he knew with me.
Seeing the planet for what it was, an unpolished diamond, Aremus resolved to conquer it. With his wife, Isabella Fou Bartfort, by his side, they brought the planet to heel and reestablished her family as a ducal household. They ruled over the planet for a total of twenty years, then abruptly abdicated the throne. Uninterested in ruling the planet, their children declined the throne, which then passed on to their prime minister, whose family governed the world for millennia.
Approximately three thousand years ago, Doctor Doom arrived on the planet, his armor battered and his body at death's door. The eldest daughter of the Bartfort family discovered him by chance, bringing him into their home and nursing him back to health. Her compassion mended more than his body; it thawed his broken heart, and he fell deeply in love with her. With no suitable local suitor available, the family patriarch sanctioned the marriage, allowing the two to wed.
Traumatized by his harrowing past, Doom secured their home with every magical means at his disposal to safeguard his wife and unborn children. His extensive use of strong magic unintentionally awoke the dormant magical potential of the natives. At first, he paid this awakening little mind, but things rapidly escalated beyond his expectations. Where Doom believed magic and science should coexist, the newly empowered natives embraced magic alone.
Unwilling to find common ground with their magically inept peers, they used their gift to antagonize them. What started out as verbal disputes quickly devolved into bloody skirmishes before finally turning into a full-blown civil war. Divided between the Magic and Science factions, both sides committed atrocities that shaped the world into what it is today.
Upon completing his story, I profusely apologized for bringing it up. Assuring me it was fine, Doom acknowledged I needed to hear it at some point.
"I assure you, I am doing everything I possibly can to ensure their safety.", I stated, giving him a reassuring nod. "Now then, there is a part of your explanation that I find confusing. The Nucerian group arrived in this region of space seven thousand years ahead of you; why is that? While Doctor Strange was a fool, he wasn't a complete idiot."
I thanked Agamotto, satisfied that his explanation had cleared things up. Now that I knew the survivors were scattered across space and time, an active search was pointless. Relaying a message to my intelligence team, I instructed them to monitor for rumors about empowered humans. With that business concluded, we switched to more lighthearted topics while we finished our meal.
---Afternoon---
After spending time with my family, Ahsoka, Bo-Katan, and I headed to the infirmary to check on the brainwashing victims. Because yesterday's fire had kept Olivia from visiting the seven women, I took her place today. As we approached the medical wing, we could hear hysterical laughter from within. Curious to figure out what was happening, I threw the door open and found them laughing while drinking and playing cards.
"I might be wrong, but aren't you supposed to abstain from alcohol while you recover?", Ahsoka remarked, noticing the trash can was full of empty wine bottles. 'Holy shit, they are putting most of the Jedi Masters to shame!'
Disregarding Ahsoka and Bo-Katan entirely, the women fixed seven unsettling gazes upon me. Without a word, they let their cards clatter onto the table. Then, without skipping a beat, they began to flirt.
"It's about time you came to see us, jerk! Aren't you the least concerned about us?", Alicia snapped, shakily rising to her feet. "Get over here and give Momma some sugar."
"Fuck that, I want him to scoop me up with those big arms and fuck my brains out. It's been ages since I have felt a man's touch…", Beatrice commented with a pleading gaze.
"Haha, now I know you have lost your mind. There is no way in hell he'd want you dirty old hags.", Kila snickered, hip bumping her mother to the floor. "He wants young, perky women like Maya and me. Since there are only two of us, we will put extra effort into showering him with our undying gratitude."
With a blank expression, Bo-Katan moved to draw her pistol, intent on putting an end to their unruly behavior. Before the weapon cleared leather, I placed a firm, reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Ladies, it would be uncouth of me to take advantage of you in your drunken state. When you have fully recovered, we can grab dinner and get to know one another better.", I said, appeasing their desire to the best of my ability. "Now then, could you tell us what the seven of you are celebrating?"
"Hehe, I guess that means nobody has noticed yet.", Rieri giggled, stumbling toward me. "You see, during the commotion yesterday, we snuck out of the infirmary and made our way to the palace dungeon. When we found that bastard Bogan, the seven of us tortured him to death for experimenting on us. By the time we finished, nothing remained except a pile of ash and a few blood splatters."
Rieri latched onto me, hugging me tightly as she whispered her thanks. She told me I had given them the opportunity to reclaim their dignity. Without the chance to kill him with their own hands, she explained, they might never have truly moved past the trauma. They had no money or resources to offer me, so they wished to express their gratitude by giving me the only possession they felt they had left: the bodies they now considered damaged.
"Enough of that; I will not tolerate you tearing yourselves down any longer.", I scolded them. "What befell you is not your fault; do not let Bogan's betrayal define you forever. You are all strong, beautiful women with the capacity to move past this. The only thing stopping you from doing so is your refusal to forgive yourselves for not seeing his treachery sooner."
Touched by my words, Rieri squeezed me tighter as she and her colleagues began to cry. Softly stroking her back, I intended to give her some time to calm down, but fate had other plans.
Guilliman and I devised the Threat Level System to optimize the deployment of Imperial Forces. Ranging from Planetary to Omega, the classification determines the scale of aid local governments could expect to receive. Omega-level is reserved exclusively for threats that jeopardize the entire Imperium of Man. Given this extreme classification, I didn't hesitate. I promptly tapped the alert and immediately established a connection to the Planetary Governor's office.
"Hello, this is Primarch Stark. Please update me on the current situation you are facing.", I requested.
Instead of the planetary governor or one of his staff members, I heard a child crying on the other end.
"Please… Help us!!", the young boy begged. "An armada of scary blue people are invading our world. My… My daddy and mommy left us behind… We are trapped here with nowhere to go. Mister Commissar Cain is organizing our defense, but he doesn't believe we will last the night. Can you help, Mister Primarch Stark?"
Needing to identify these blue people, I pulled up a map of the Imperium and pinpointed the Nimbosa System. The moment I saw the hostile territory it bordered, the answer to my question clicked into place.
"Just to be sure, are you referring to the T'au?", I inquired.
"I… I am sorry; I don't know their names. Daddy sometimes referred to them as cows, if that helps.", the young boy said, trying to be helpful. "…Does this mean we are on our own?"
"There is no need to fear, young one. Reinforcements are on the way and should arrive in less than thirty minutes.", I reassured him. "Can you do something for me? Tell your eldest sibling to have your citizens seek shelter in their homes. They are not to come out until the all-clear is given. Do you understand?"
The child acknowledged the request, disconnected the call, and promptly set out to find his eldest brother. While the child searched the residence for him, I began making urgent calls to muster a respectable defense force. I had always hoped for a peaceful first contact with the T'au, but this event permanently erased that possibility.