Life was good, so I had thought. The early morning started out like any other day. I headed to my command headquarters to get an update on my vast empire. I sat behind my desk and read all the reports. "Well it's time to harvest the planets" I said. I called up my resource manager asking for a detailed report. Suddenly he shouted "Sir we have a problem. We have several revolutions started on the outer planet systems." "What the hell are you saying to me" was my reply. I thought how could this be. All my planets were producing nicely and my clone army was being fed and housed. "What started this?" I asked my manager. "Sir it appears that your taxes were not paid to the Fatelords". "No!!!!" I shouted. "Get me Jarod on the line now." Jarod could solve this for me. He was my appointed bank manager for the upcoming production season. "Sir we cannot locate Jarod. He seems to have dissappeared." Well damn I thought. He is the one that had my taxes for the Fatelords. Now what do I do for my Clan Leader. I was to pay his taxes too and now they are gone. My trusted friend has decieved me. "Abandon all planets except the core systems now" I ordered my planet manager. "Right away sir" he replied. I sat down and pondered what to do. I am disgraced now to my clan leader. I will surely get banned from it now. Perhaps I can save some honor by leaving. With that in mind I sat down and prepared a communication to my clan leader. "Communications, get me a line to the clan leader right away" was my next order. "Sir we are losing planets to the fatelords. What do you want me to do?" my planet manager yelled. " Leave them now. All of them. We can come back later and recolonize them and rescue our troops." Hours later as I went home I pondered how this could have happened. Must I never trust anyone again? Should I even show my face again? Perhaps it's time to turn over my empire to a younger more eager empire. One thing I vowed to myself. Never again will I be decieved by anyone. To be continued..............