We awake on this day to sunshine.
Above the Imperial
Fortress the Wolf's Sigil
and the Falcon Banner by
its side.
And the Gorean were
gone.
Imperial Fortress - Karin City - Imperial Karin
~~*~~
Prince Edward VonGrippen bounced on the balls of his feet, tilting his head to the side still wearing the furred Karin cap he'd been given during his first arrival on the world. Trusty, warm, it was also funky. Which, given the fact that he was standing in the high council chamber waiting patiently for someone to arrive, provided him with some kind of distraction.
It was taking the Karin forces time, the Gorean pulling back as fast as they could, retreating under their warlord's order to staging points around the Imperial Capital. Obliging the terms of the treaty as it had been laid out by the young Immortal Emperor. A deal, that Edward knew, wouldn't please anyone, but at least it bought them some time.
He waited, snuggled down in the dragoon jacket, watching the doors, the council table between him and it. Prepared for anything, there were still elements of the Gorean forces in the city that hadn't heard the evacuation order. And all it took was for him to let his guard down… He shuddered at the memory of his endless battle with Sal-zÿr; he'd have nightmares about that for years.
While he waited, Edward played with his ring, taking a few paces, bouncing and returning the way he had come. His eyes never left the doors, anxious that he couldn't feel Darien's presence. He wanted to vanish, to go and search for him, but that would mean abandoning Karin without any kind of explanation as to what was happening.
He knew he had a responsibility, and it sucked.
The doors opened, and Edward brightened, looking at the fusiliers that swept into the room, weapons up, raising in surprise at the sight of the Prince. A quick radioing back to command while Edward stood patiently smiling at the two soldiers, and they had officers in the room a few moments later. Edward greeted them with a polite nod, eyeing his wrist watch and whistling innocently until, at last, Colonel Mayfair entered.
"Edward," he said, pulling off his aviator sunglasses and tucking his helmet under his arm.
"Colonel," Edward greeted with a bow of his head, "congratulations on liberating Karin."
There was a commotion back by the door as Masconi strode through it, putting her hands on her hips and looking over her own sunglasses at the smugly bouncing Princling.
"Oh dear god," she murmured, "what did he do?"
Mayfair gave her a look, clearing his throat a little, "Sal-zÿr?"
"Dealt with," Edward said.
"The Gorean Invasion?" Masconi asked.
"Dealt with," Edward nodded.
"Do we want to know how?" Masconi said looking directly at Mayfair.
"There's a lot of the past few weeks I don't think I should know about," Mayfair sighed as he sat down on the edge of the council table, setting his helmet down beside him and tiredly running his hands down his face.
"Tell me about it," Masconi responded pulling out a chair, tossing her assault rifle onto the table and falling into it heavily. "Try being stuck in a Jeep for weeks with James."
"I have you beat," Edward said plopping down onto a step. "Try ten thousand four hundred and thirty three days repeating the exact same day where you end up being the main course at a Gorean's dinner party."
"Three weeks stuck in a tank, eating standard issue beans," Mayfair stated looking up. "We're not getting time off this time are we?"
"I could stop time, transport us all to Ibiza for a month," Edward offered.
"I have a bathing suit, somewhere," Masconi said looking behind her at the doors.
"No snow," Mayfair said nodding.
"No snow," Edward agreed.
"No snow," Masconi echoed.
"Can you really do that?" Mayfair asked, looking over at the young Immortal Emperor. "Stop time and give us a vacation?"
"It would be a horrible abuse of my power," Edward said, rolling his eyes. "And you know Darien would have a shit-fit if I went on a honeymoon without him…"
"Honeymoon?" Masconi asked, "care to explain that one?"
"He proposed," Edward held up the ring, "just before I sent him to Geldan VII…"
"Why the hell did you do that?" Mayfair sat upright.
"I needed him to research Z'ræl," Edward said, "but he's vanished. I kinda lost Katz and Kyr too."
"Lost, how do you mean lost?" Mayfair pressed leaning forward resting a hand on his knee.
"Well they were all where they were supposed to be." Edward sighed, "but then they vanished. I'm not omni-sentient, it's not like I can just close my eyes and know where everyone is at all times… but this is the first time I've lost Darien."
"Great," Masconi sighed as she lolled her head back.
"Speaking of missing people," Edward asked, looking at her.
"Shale and Alessandro are at a field hospital. James is about somewhere. He's anxious to return to his Aga'khan." Masconi said tiredly.
"We are all anxious to…" Mayfair blew out an exhausted sigh. "Do I want to know what's next?"
Edward shook his head, "we keep on trucking. Darien's probably in trouble, Katz and Kyr… well that's a given. And there's still Earth."
"We need to re-establish contact with Field Marshal Riley," Archduke Walker von Karin stated from the doorway, looking as tired as the rest of them from his ordeal entombed in the bowels of the mountain fortress. His beard was longer, his hair tucked back like a fine grey mane, but his blue eyes were still bold and filled with energy. As if his freedom had given him a new lease on life.
"Milord," Mayfair sprang up from where he sat.
Walker smiled, crossing to embrace his countryman, pulling back to beam down at the Prince, "your highness, I had some reports that a square city block of Karin witnessed you battling a Gorean… repeatedly."
"By yourself?" Masconi asked.
"As I said, I was dinner mostly," Edward shrugged. "Time looped, things went screwy and the Gorean surrendered. Something to do with him not much liking the thought of hitting orbit at Mach twenty…"
Walker scratched the collar of the hand knitted sweater he'd been given during his stay beneath the mountain, "well now, that's a story and a half and…" his voice trailed off as he stared at the open doorway, "oh my god."
Everyone turned their heads to look back at the doorway, where, between two guards, wearing a dirty, if finely tailored suit, Chancellor Evans stood.
"Good afternoon," Evan's said with an imperious tone, despite the fact that he was securely manacled.
"Oh hell no!" Masconi said, jumping to her feet and scrabbling for the DT-09 assault rifle, sweeping it up and cocking it loudly. She was almost across the floor and trained on the Chancellor when Mayfair knocked the rifle aside.
"Stop!" he commanded, the full weight of authority in his tone.
"Personally I'd rather see him shot," Walker mused lightly to the room, folding his hands neatly before him as he rounded on the Chancellor, "since we have three members of the High Council present, and that, technically, is Quorum I vote we hold a spot execution..."
"Oh do I ever second that motion…" Masconi said lifting the rifle again.
"Excuse me," Edward held up his hand, "Supreme ruler of just about everything here, I'd really rather you don't execute the Chancellor. And since I technically hold Veto… booyaka!"
Heads swung round again, this time in surprise.
"With due respect, Prince Edward…" Walker began.
"Emperor," Edward corrected standing up, "as a member of the High Council you should be aware of the difference." He looked stern as he stood with his arms crossed, "I am the Emperor, of that I don't think there is any doubt." He stared at each of them as if daring them to disagree. When none did, he nodded.
"Very well then," Edward said firmly. "I don't want members of my High Council executing the duly elected Chancellor of the Imperial Senate. Not when he holds the popular vote behind him, and not while the Empire is teetering on the edge of total collapse…"
"But…" Masconi began, lifting her gun again. "He's a traitor."
"Is he?" Edward said pointedly. "I don't see any proof of that. None that would assuredly convict him in a court of law, and unless we are willing to abandon everything we have worked to build. Everything you, Walker, have built towards democracy. We have no choice, this is the Chancellor, and he is my Chancellor…" Edward's eyes flashed, as he stepped down from the top step raising his hand as the chains that bound the Chancellor decayed and turned to dust.
Evans smiled as he rubbed his sore wrists nodding to Masconi, "thank you your Highness…"
"Don't thank me yet," Edward said calmly. "You still failed in your little scheme to assist Rikard. And from what I understand, he isn't a forgiving man. In order for you to survive, and to excel, you are dependant upon me." He walked forward raising his finger, "your life is dependant upon my survival. Your future, now, rests with the Empire's future. If you think betrayal will win you favour with your former Master, you know that will only make your death a quick one. No sir, no. You're my Chancellor now and your life is mine."
"I…" Evans started, his smile fading.
"I am your life," Edward continued. "I am the hand that holds you dangling above the precipice. If you act against me, I will let you go. And you will fall to your own demise. Am I clear Chancellor?"
Evans looked at the hard faces around him, and back into the dark eyes of the all powerful being before him. Realizing that his fate was sealed. "As you command, Emperor…"
"When the time is fitting, Walker will give you a list of decisions handed down from the High Council. You will sign each of them without protest. The Senate will convene, and after the current crisis is over, you will tender your resignation. And after that, you will fade into obscurity. Nothing more than a footnote in Imperial history." Edward pointed to the door, "get out."
As he left, both Walker and Masconi turned to face the Emperor. Each with a trepidous expression on their faces. He looked back at both of them and shook his head.
"I cannot afford mistakes, not now," he said choosing his words with care.
"Jesus," Masconi breathed. "Darien would pitch a fit."
"Darien?" Walker fell into a chair, shaking his head. "I think I am bloody close. Mister Elias, we can drop the pretences now, I know that you're really a construct."
Edward lifted his finger, the doors to the council room slammed shut. The stonework around them melted down sealing them inside, as the Immortal stared calmly around him.
"Pretences aside," he said quietly. "I am what I am, Highlord, and the time is here for you to make your choice. Once we stood in this very room, during General Iver's rebellion, and you knew I was the prince. Now I stand before you as your Emperor. Have you changed your mind about me?"
Walker sat upright, "you fought a Gorean one on one, I do not doubt you are a powerful being, but…"
"Masconi, am I a God?" Edward looked over at her.
Masconi worked her jaw, her eyes wide, "Matty… you're…"
There was a flash about the four of them, as they appeared upon an ice plateau thousands of miles from the citadel. The table sitting in its exact place, the wind whistling past them as it cut to the bone.
"What am I?" Edward repeated, his azure eyes blazing.
Walker stood, "Your Highness." He raised his voice above the wind, "this is unnecessary, we're your allies…"
"Your friends," Masconi called out.
"And still you doubt me, you wanted a God," Edward stated, his voice cutting through the wind, despite the fact that he never raised his tone. "I am it." He stared at Walker, "you needed a saviour, and I am it." He looked over at Mayfair, "you needed a weapon, and I am it. I am what I was created to be. I am the Immortal Emperor… I can darken the sun…" He pointed up as the Karin star began to dim. "I control the weather…" he swept his other hand about as the snow swept up off of the plain and danced in his hand. "I am life…" Behind him the snow rose up, carving into a ghostly visage, screaming in its silence. "I am death…" the visage crumbled back into snow.
"And what do you expect of us?" Mayfair said calmly, his hand resting on his sidearm.
Edward's face as uncertainty seeped back in, looking away across the ice as he struggled to regain his composure… it had taken so much to defeat the Gorean. Not that he was weak, on the contrary, his power had only swelled… but there were dangers the closer to the embodiment of true power he sailed. Already it was beginning to affect him.
Edward swallowed, hauling his eyes back to the companions who were looking at him in open fear, "I need your trust."
"You want our trust?" Walker asked quietly. "Then you have to prove yourself worthy of it. Power isn't enough; it isn't an answer in of itself. If there is one thing we learned from Markus Aquinas, it's that ultimate power is, ultimately, disastrous."
"You can't terrify us into submission," Masconi pointed out. "You are the Immortal Emperor, but there is more to being the Immortal Emperor than power. You want me to kneel to you? You have two ways to accomplish that. Break my back with your power, or convince me you're worth it."
"But haven't I done that?" Edward asked sounding lost, quiet and subdued. "Have I not freed Karin? Have I not been everything that was expected of me and more? Am I not the Emperor you wanted?" He looked meaningfully at Masconi, "what will it take for you to see more in me than a little Engineer. When will you see that I have always had the best interests of my people, you, at heart."
Masconi looked down at the snow.
Edward shrugged his shoulders, as they appeared back inside the Council chamber, he blinked a little. "Then we are truly lost… but you are all open-minded now. Before you viewed me as nothing more than a construct. Now you are aware of who I am, each of you has a glimpse of what I really am. Don't mistake that. Rikard and Sephradon hold power akin to my own; you have seen only a fraction of what they can do. Of what they will do if they suspect for a moment that I am weak. I shelter and protect you, but make no mistake, I am only as strong as you let me be, and if you loose faith in me, we're all finished."
Masconi looked nervously at Walker, who returned the look.
"What do you intend?" Walker asked quietly.
Edward bounced on the balls of his feet, "to win." He smiled an Elias-esque grin, "and smoke a spliff, with my feet up on Rikard's desk in his darkest lair of unimaginable evil. After I make his Legion of Terror dress up in tutus and dance a scene or two from the nutcracker. Now to do that, we're gonna have to change a few things."
Masconi rested a hand on the back of Walker's chair, "like what?"
"Well I am technically missing one fiancée, a couple of ships and an annoying fighter jock… oh and my best friend, so get on that." He looked at Mayfair, "you'd best get up to orbit, there's a fleet of ships up there waiting for you to tell them what to do, best get them pointed at the right enemy." He looked over at Walker, "and you… fix the socio-political situation of the entirety of known space."
He stopped and looked at each of them, tilting his head again. "This isn't over yet. And I can guarantee this is going to get harder. If we stand a chance, any chance at all, then I am going to need you all, doing what you do best."
Field Hospital - Karin City - Imperial Karin
~~*~~
When Alessandro opened his eyes, he hadn't expected to see the broad muzzle leaning down over him.
Shale's muzzle twitched as he smiled, his dark nose snuffling a few times before he leaned back resting a large paw on the edge of the bed. Somewhere he'd managed to find human-styled clothing in his size. Jeans and an oversized pair of converse running shoes. On his muzzle, a pair of reading glasses sat so that the large brow eyes deliberately stared over the rims. The book was tucked discretely under his arm, and judging from the well worn spine, Shale had been at his bedside awhile.
Alessandro offered a smile as he pushed himself upright, surprised at how well he was feeling. "Capitano, where…?"
He looked about him at the private hospital room, and again looked questioningly at Shale.
Shale reached out and ruffled Alessandro's hair.
Alessandro had only seen a few Taïrians, mostly while serving in the Imperial fleet, but it was the first time he had ever seen Shale dressed in anything other than handmade, coarse clothing. The green and white striped tie, loose beneath the sleeveless sweater-vest, definitely didn't say to him 'officer'.
A nurse walked into the room, smiling politely as she fussed with his blankets, loosening them a little to make it easier for him to sit upright, pouring him a glass of water and turning on the Trid before excusing herself again without a word.
Alessandro's smile faded a little as he looked puzzled, "eh, che? Why is no one saying anything to me?" he looked at Shale again.
The Taïrian Captain sat back down in his chair lifting his book, "watch," he murmured nodding to the screen that showed the INN reporter Schofield standing in front of the Imperial fortress doors, wrapped in a warm coat.
"… there are reports that Prince Edward was the one responsible for driving the Gorean from Karin, though we have not received any confirmation of this from Imperial officials. Chancellor Evan's office is prepared to issue a statement later today, once everything has settled down. But one thing is confirmed, the Gorean have left Karin, and Colonel Mayfair has liberated the capital city."
Alessandro smiled tiredly as he nodded, shifting in his bed, at least they were free. A fleeting memory of his torture at the hands of the Gorean Demi-Wyrm, of Prince Edward's presence there, with his Templar…
He opened his eyes again, realizing that he must have fallen asleep, the daylight had faded, and yet Shale continued to sit in the chair at his bedside, the book laying open on his chest, as his head lolled to the side, his breathing deep and long.
Smiling fondly he turned his head, starting as he realized that his cousin was standing by the door. The blue-trimmed great coat overtop of her Kardiac Group Captain's uniform, showered and clean, and staring at him with a maternal look that reminded him so much of his mother.
"Che cosa è errato?" He asked, blinking as he struggled to sit up again.
"Niente," Masconi answered, keeping her voice low so that she didn't wake Shale. Entering the room and sitting down on the edge of his bed, her hand absently brushing his hair aside, so that she could see his beautiful eyes. "Ero preoccupato io li avevo persi."
"I am ok," Alessandro said, switching back to his heavily accented English. "God protected me."
"You sound like your brother used to," Masconi said, her eyes blinking back the tears. "God and his loving protection… I wish I had your faith."
"I have faith in you," Alessandro answered, his hand reaching out to touch her arm, looking at her meaningfully. "When I… when I was a prisoner, he visited me, kept me safe…"
"Who?" Masconi asked her brow furrowing.
"The Emperor," Alessandro replied, smiling and shaking his head. "He called me his Templar…"
"Il Oro Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani è guasto," Masconi said quietly. "The Templar died with Kardiac."
"Sono vivo," Alessandro replied.
"I know you are," Masconi brushed his cheek, shaking her head. "I thank what ever god there is every second that you are alive…"
"I am a Templar," Alessandro said firmly. "You are the Highlady, your word and it is so… your word, and the Templar are resurrected… it is what he wants."
Masconi stared at him for a long while. Worry in her eyes for his mental state after his ordeal, patronizingly she nodded her head slowly. "There was a ritual, and when you can stand…"
Alessandro released her hand, pushing himself up and out of bed, wavering in his hospital gown as he shifted his feet on the cold tiles of the hospital floor. "I can stand Angelina."
"Allie," Masconi turned her head away from him, rubbing her brow.
Shale cleared his throat, closing his book as he leaned forward in his chair. "He has earned the honour," He said quietly.
Masconi stared a long moment at the Taïrian Captain, before she inclined her head. "I will find the chaplains… and I will notify the Emperor that he has a Templar initiate that seeks his permission to enter the ranks of the Oro Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani." She stood and moved to the door, "since you seem to feel he has earned this," she stared at Shale. "You will prepare him."
Shale returned a nod, setting his book aside as he stood, setting a paw down on Alessandro's shoulder, steadying him.
Karin City - Imperial Karin
~~*~~
James lurked, a habit he had been doing a lot of since the 'liberation' of Karin. Relaxation, celebration wasn't a part of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlīs warrior code. There was always another struggle, and for James that meant finding his way back to his Aga'Khan's side.
The key problem was that, typically, Darien Taine had managed to get himself lost, yet again. A frustrating habit that really ticked the highly trained assassin off. There was a rapidly growing list of revenge tactics designed to be inflicted in such a way that would allow the Aga'Khan to remain 'unharmed' yet still very very sorry for the inconvenience he had caused.
Which, of course created a new problem, where James was supposed to find a golf ball and a bottle of lubricant in post occupation Karin City.