Kheraskov confirms that the barbarians beyond Sector Alpha Crucis have been held in check since a battle forty-three years previously, long before Flandry's birth. However, Flandry remembers that the invading Alarri had been defeated at the Battle of Mirzan when he was a boy. These sound vaguely like the same event except that the dates are different. Flandry does not remember the name of that the earlier battle and Kheraskov does not tell us what it was either. In the Flandry novels, the barbarians seem to be held well in check. McCormac brings in Darthans to patrol the Virgilian System during his Rebellion but that is all. In "Tiger by the Tail," the barbarians, particularly the Schothani, are a major threat and it is stated that the Empire uses nonhuman hirelings to hold its borders. The galaxy seems like a different place. But this is a matter of perspective. Flandry is right in among the Schotani which is why they have "a tiger by the tail."
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I don't think there is any contradiction in what Admiral Kheraskov said and what Flandry. It is to be expected that the Empire would have to fight off barbarian attacks at different times and locations. I also recall how "Warriors from Nowhere" mentions how the Taurian marches saw repeated barbarian incursions and punitive expeditions by the Empire repelling them. And some of those barbarians were from human colonies outside the Imperial domain which reverted to savagery.
Ad astra! Sean
Correction: "...Kheraskov said and what Flandry recalled."
Sean
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