This stoicism struck many as troubling, especially considering the lion’s normally confrontational demeanor and penchant for aggressive actions. Others, primarily the more disillusioned and inexperienced, took it as indecision, and had quickly made attempts to convince him of their cause for peace. This, of course, was the reason for the mountains of papers before him. Anyone who had dealt with Lukanol before greatly doubted that he would take any of them to heart.
They were right, though none of them could have guessed the true reason. Galika was not suffering from any sort of indecision; he knew where he stood on current matters, and that was on the side of war and reactivation of the Filian Military. And despite appearances, he was far from idle. Indeed, he had been very busy over the past several months, though no-one had any notion of it.
Truthfully, this whole conflict was both his hope and his idea, all part of a grand scheme that he had been brooding on long before he had ever set foot in office. It was a plan two decades in the making, one that was even now becoming a reality.
Galika was the son of a proud warrior lineage; all Lukanols were known for their prowess in battle, as well as their fiery tempers and violent temperament. Galika had inherited these same traits, though to a greater extent than most. His experiences growing up had further fueled his lust for combat, as in his early childhood he spent many nights listening to the stories of his grandfather, Bakira, who had served as a General during the Rival War. These tales captivated the young lion, and he began to idolize conflict and battle at an early age.
Another driving force in Lukanol’s life- and his plans- was an overriding disdain for races other than his own. This contempt was fostered by his parents. As long as he could remember, they had told him that all lions carried within their veins the blood of royalty, dating back to a time hundreds of years in Filius’ past. They were not entirely wrong; Filius had not always been a Republic of the people. In its dawning era it had been a monarchy, ruled by Leonid family dynasties until their eventual downfall. The notion that he may have had royal ancestors inflated Galika’s ego, and influenced his interactions with other children. He would dominate in all activities, demanding the attention and respect of all around him so that many of his classmates would go out of their way to avoid him. Any children who were not of Leonid descent were ignored unless they could prove they were worth his time.
This prejudicial pride only grew stronger with age, extending not only to those of other races, but on members of his own who enjoyed their company. By middle school, he had severed ties with any friends who did not share his views, and avoided contact with any non-Leonid whenever possible. Of course, such actions earned him a great deal of criticism, and he was viewed by many as arrogant and hatefully racist, but he never paid such labels any mind. His pride was kept intact, and to him the opinions of others meant nothing.
His college years, however, were when the wheels were truly set in motion. Galika’s studies in law included a course on the ancient history of his world, and during one late night of research he came across a document that would change his view on everything. It was a copy of a tablet from the last days of the Leonid Dynasties, and buried amidst the myriad dates and figures was the name of the final king, Methikoda Lukonil, whose last name was the original spelling of his own. A check into his ancestral tree proved his suspicions; the last of the kings had been a Lukanol, and therefore one of his own forerunners.
The very next day, while he was still brooding over his discovery, he found himself in a class discussion on equal racial rights. And at that moment, he felt something inside of his mind snap. The words of his professor seemed to fade away, replaced with a powerful realization. His ancestors had been kings, ruling over his world and maintaining order, but they had been betrayed by the other peoples of Filius. The other peoples of this world were far worse than he had thought; they were traitors, mutineers and rebels that had brought his ancestors to ruin, and replaced their noble rule with a weak and corrupt system. He was born to be a king, but now he found himself trapped in the stagnation of bureaucracy. He had been denied his rightful place in the world, and the other races were all to blame.
The change in his behavior was immediate and frightening. It went beyond just avoiding non-Leonids; hatred and aggression permeated every interaction he had with them. Those who stepped too close to him would often receive threatening growls, and he would lash out at any who touched him. His teachers noticed the change, but they quickly found that trying to intervene did no good. Galika would not hear reason, and anyone who got involved found themselves plagued by a slew of problems. Students would have grades plummet for no apparent reason, and instructors were confounded by technical problems during lessons. But there was never any proof that could link Galika to these troubles, so no corrective action was ever taken.
Galika now held hatred for more than just other races, however; the current government disgusted him as well. In his mind, the Senatorial system was nothing but a joke, a squabbling mass of incompetents bereft of leadership and devoid of strength. Rhetoric and campaigning for months to pass bills that his ancestors would have decided on immediately made no sense to him. He began to dream of bringing the entire crippled government to its knees, smashing it into oblivion. In its place, he would see the rise of a new order, or rather the return of an ancient one- the Leonid monarchy, with himself as the first ruler. These fantasies dominated his waking thoughts and filled his dreams at night, and his every word and action was influenced by them.
When the time came for him to give his graduating dissertation, he was careful in his wordage. Knowing full-well that open racism or slighting of the current government would put a huge black mark on his political resume, the entire discourse was planned carefully to avoid causing any blatant offense. He was noticeably terse and sharp in his style, and those who knew him well enough could easily read between the lines to find hidden references to either the bygone monarchy or his views on present affairs. But without any real proof, his exemplary writing style allowed him to pass with flying colors.
He graduated summa cum laude with a doctorate in law and political systems, opening the door for his rise to power. It was an opportunity that he fully intended to make good use of.
At first, Galika had attempted to push his own agenda forward, and much of his first year out of the university was spent trying to bring others of his race over to his side. But each and every attempt failed, and he was forced to face the cold truth. Centuries as a democracy had, in his mind, left Filius a complacent and lethargic society, content to wallow in its brokenness, and the people had grown blind to reason, seeing him only as an imperialistic nuisance. And so he changed tactics, giving up his demands for a new government to falsely supporting the current one. When Leonid Representative Ramir Tathura died, he ran for office to take his place, and through a combination of campaign promises and political weaseling landed himself a leading seat in the Senate, effectively becoming one of the most powerful cats on the planet.
Once there, he had quickly set to work. He began to quietly listen in on other Leonid delegates, looking for any that might have held the same views as himself. For a long while, his eavesdropping was unproductive, and he began to fear that he alone did not support the democratic mud hole his world had gotten itself stuck in. It wasn’t until nearly twenty-three years after his election to office that he finally struck gold. Snippets of discrete transmissions led him to discover a small sect of delegates that had been keeping their true opinions hidden. Among them were Ozmari Dafili, Jokarad Vahiki, and Zetopa Kathim, other Leonids who held great power in the Senate.
He quickly made his move, approaching them one night during one of their meetings. Though at first they were understandably suspicious of him, he quickly assuaged their fears with a proposition too good to refuse. He wanted their help in bringing about the new world order they all desired, and in return he would offer them any post they wished when it came to be. They possessed influence and means that he could use, things which they were only too happy to provide. His honeyed words, coupled with grand promises that he could, in fact, make real, quickly convinced the others to make him their leader.
He already had a sound plan by that point. Not too long before their first meeting, Galika had intercepted a transmission