The Imperium

by PM Barnes

  THE IMPERIUM

  A SHORT BY

  PM BARNES

  Published by PM Barnes at Smashwords

  Copyright© 2015 PM Barnes

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  When those that had the means to, left Earth, all that remained were those who had been struggling since long before technology had allowed for life on other planets. As the rich made their way to New Eden, the people of Earth suffered a catastrophic loss.

  With all commerce ceased and governmental structure eroded, they were in a battle for just their basic necessities.

  Along with economic strife, they also had to deal with a loss of faith. With the discovery of new planets, those on earth were forced to face the fact that they were no longer on top and the hard truth that they were not the only beings in the universe.

  The period that followed after the mass exodus, was the darkest time that Earth had ever witnessed.

  Chaos reigned and those who were left, did whatever they could to survive.

  After some time of this, a beacon of light appeared in the form of General Tollis.

  When the others had left earth he had stayed, believing that he could assist in lifting his home planet back up to its rightful place in the galaxy. He had eased humanity away from the brink of disaster. He offered structure, joined nations and brought back economic stability.

  The Imperium was formed and he went about setting up a governmental structure and creating a military force, which once again, gave the people something to be proud of and aided in restoring hope.

  Even with weapons that were not as advanced as their foes, they still managed to be a formidable force and went about seizing other planets and attracting allies to their cause.

  Taking help from those who were willing to join efforts, they were able to create a military that demanded recognition.

  With advanced logistical information being provided by the Asatora Logicians, who hailed from the planet Asatora, they were able to use their vast military forces to orchestrate fierce battles against those whose technology was superior to their own.

  In addition to that, they commissioned the Rubicon free-riders, a group of what many referred to as madman, who were capable of getting the job done in situations where tactical strategy alone, would not do. Filled with more guts than glory, the free-riders were often called upon to do the missions that were thought to have a low chance of survival and were outside of normal militarized campaigns. While they were hard to control, they were also incredibly effective.

  As earth made its way out of the darkness, it could not be denied that its underbelly had been showing since back before the advances that led to the exodus.

  It was understood that there would always need to be entertainment for the citizens and also a place in which to send the dregs of society.

  The Gladiator Slave Soldiers were a throwback to an earlier time. The games represented an outlet that was sorely needed in a society that still possessed remnants of its dark history. In addition to that, it provided a place to put those that were captured during battle, but had put up a fight that was worthy of more than just death. It also operated as a second chance for soldiers who had failed to gain

  citizenship through their service and a placeholder for those who were not fit to circulate about the general society. If a Gladiator fought with honor and distinction, they could be lifted out of slavery and earn a spot in the Imperium military.

  Above all, the Imperium believes in honor and merit. Values that have been present on earth since the early days. In return for a place in this new era of earth's history, one only needs to exhibit a desire to be a part of progress.

  Many of Earths basic values have not changed. Merit still reigns and those who prove themselves, are guaranteed a spot amongst the citizenry of the Imperium.

  People who remember the dark days well, make a point to teach their children about the importance of service and a strict accordance to the values that make up the collective ideals of the Imperium. Instead of it being a burden, the idea of performing ones duty is looked upon with reverence.

  From the time that a child can walk, they understand what their place is and know that one day, they too will serve the greater good of Imperium.

  Special attention is paid to instilling pride in the people of earth and in what earth represents and in doing whatever it takes to maintain her current position, while elevating her to the top of the chain.

  For many families, this concept is passed down from generation to generation, with each group of soldiers and good citizen's begating the next. Creating more people with more zeal and more desire to prove themselves and uphold the values of the Imperium.

  The structure that General Tollis put in place, allows so that all men and women, regardless of who your family was before the exodus or during those dark days, has the opportunity to be respectable and to be part of the movement uplifting earth to where she belongs.

  Those who came from families that only a generation or two ago were without honor, now have a chance to hold coveted places as citizens of the Imperium.

  General Tollis and his ideals have created a universal cohesion that the people of earth have never experienced before. With religion having been cast aside, many people look up to him as their one true savior. His image and legacy have brought many families into the light. He has been capable of instilling passion in the masses and creating the kinds of soldiers who consistently go above and beyond the call of duty.

  Nowhere is this as true as it was in the case of Tiberon Auus.

  TIBERON AUUS

  A lot of people like to talk about the good old days, back before the world went to shit. For my family, there never was any. All that happened when people began leaving our rock for another was things went from bad to worse.

  My ancestors had been farmers, people who worked the land. As the climate began to change and the planet suffered, they were forced to move around, picking up what little work they could.

  My once proud great-great grandfather went from plowing fields and tending animals to working in a dark windowless factory. Many others were forced into the same fate as jobs outside of manufacturing parts for Apex, became virtually non-existent.

  He passed this legacy of helplessness and factory work on to his son, my great grandfather and the downward spiral continued, until Apex eventually moved their operations to one of the found planets, they had coined, "New Eden."

  If the new planet, they had taken up was Eden, then what earth had become after that, can only be referred to as hell.

  With over 90% of the population out of work and no hope of future economic growth, panic set in and earth became an endless wasteland, filled with desperate people committing desperate acts.

  When I was young, my father would tell me a story of how my great uncle, who had lost his leg in a manner that no one would speak of no matter how many times I asked, had to fend off a band of marauders who had come to take my great grandmother and grandfather, who was only a small boy at the time. Apparently these kind of raids were fairly common. Often bands of riders would come into a small community and snatch up young boys to groom into future members of their crew and the women for reasons that only became obvious as I got older.

  Great grandfather, who was a tracker, had been off on a job attempting to make what little he could, to take care of
them all.

  My great uncle had a prosthetic leg, something I understand to be a primitive version, of what we have available now, and an old gun that had been handed down for generations.

  As my father told it, he (my uncle) had no idea if any of the 6 firing cartridges (which were referred to as bullets) would even work. Lucky for him (and us all) they did.

  As it goes, toward the evening one night, as my great grandmother was putting my father down, they heard the roar of motorcycles approaching and the loud hoots and hollers of men. My great uncle had told my great grandmother to get into the basement with my grandfather and not make a sound.

  At this point, my father would switch the narration to my grandmother's point of view and say that as she huddled there in the dark, clutching her son in one hand and a knife she had grabbed from the kitchen in the other, she was mentally preparing to fight until the end, should the men make it to where they were hiding.

  From the basement, she could not hear much of what was going on above. But, after some muffled conversation and some stomping, she heard two loud bangs. The bangs had startled her as well as my grandfather, who began to cry. She cooed him as best she could, but he would not be silenced. She knew that their position would be given up.

  As she heard footsteps approaching the door, she laid my still crying grandfather down behind her and got into a fighting stance with the knife.

  When the door to the basement opened and what little light they used in the house, spilled down, all she could see was the silhouette of a man.

  Then my great uncle had called down to her.

  She had dropped the knife, grabbed my grandfather and gone upstairs to hug my great uncle. After the emotions had died down, she asked what had happened and ran to the door to see a man lying half in and half out of the house, with a small pool of blood spreading around him.

  Six men had come to the house that night. My great uncle killed one and wounded another. He became somewhat of a legend in our small community after that. Many people would come by, bringing offerings of food and drink, just to hear the famous tale and see the spot on the wood were the blood had stained it.

  My great uncle and father, along with other men from the community, had formed a watch group of sorts after that. Standing guard with their primitive weapons of knives attached to long sticks, prepared to fight to the end if the need so arose.

  With the word out that we also possessed an ancient weapon and were not to be tampered with, the fear of being raided became almost extinct in our little corner of the world.

  Through my great uncles act of bravery and my family's subsequent assistance in keeping the peace, we began to drop the cloak of destitution and shame and rose into the warriors who we were always destined to be.

  When word that the great General Tollis had begun to amass an army arrived, my family was one of the first ones to sign on. General Tollis spoke of gaining back our planets once fine glory. He was greatly respected by everyone the world over and was highly revered in my family.

  He had already started the process of unifying all of us left on earth, into one nation. This unification allowed us to begin to organize and create an infrastructure again. Manufacturing popped back up, along with farming and education. In addition to that, as we begun to heal and come together, we put a stop to the pillaging and crime that had plagued us as a planet for almost a century.

  He brought back the light and gave us something to be proud of again. He saved us all from the edge.

  The stories of how he helped to restore our glory became part of the fabric of my early years growing up. Everyone in my family before me, who could serve, did, including my mother who had lost her left eye in the war.

  As a young boy, all I ever dreamed of, was the day that I too could join the fight and continue the tradition of excellence that had become my family's legacy. Many of the games that we played as children were in preparation for the future, where we would one day take up arms and join the fight to make our planet proud.

  When the time came, I was lucky enough to be placed in a Principli squad, with three of my childhood friends. Christolis, Shadra and Delphine. We had lived near each other our whole lives. Everyone in the community knew that we were inseparable.

  After finding out that we would all be placed in a squad together, it was assumed that my father had something to do with it. Truth be told, he did pull string so that we could all serve our time together.

  As a man who had done many a tour, he believed strongly in the bonds formed with your comrades. He spoke of their ability to help you win the tough battles and give you the strength to push through, over insurmountable odds. He said that when you were unable to find the will to go on, looking to your left and seeing someone you loved, pushing just as hard, often gave you the spark you needed.

  He had been right of course. As we fought through our first hard years, we all grew closer together. The friendship we started as toddlers, developed into a more mature version of love.

  After our first tour, Christolis and Delphine decided to be married. This did not come as a shock. They had been sweet on each other since we were teens and the constant intensity of always having one's life on the line, escalated their affections.

  I had urged Christolis to wait until after we had all finished our second tour and been promoted. But, he would have none of that. He accused me of being blind and not understanding life, saying that if we could not hope to build lives and starts families, then what was the point of all of this. He said that if I did not take his cue, I would lose Shadra.

  At the time, I had not known what he meant. Shadra and I were fine. Our relationship had not taken the same pathway as Christolis and Delphine, but we had a fierce friendship. I counted on her to watch my back and there was an ease between us that allowed me to be myself. I had never thought to marry her or anyone else for that matter. All that I had ever wanted, was to fight and become a great man, like the others before me.

  Christolis and Delphine were married in the spring, during the break before our second tour. The happiness I witnessed between the two of them that day, softened my heart. The relationship between Christolis and I had taken a hit after the conversation we'd had and we hadn't spoken much since then.

  After the ceremony, I pulled him aside and apologized for my callousness. He said he understood and that we would always be brothers. He also gentle joked again that I should take his lead and marry Shadra. His jibe had fallen on deaf ears, until later that evening.

  Shadra had asked me to dance and I had been filled with enough wine to have said yes.

  With the warming effects of the alcohol and the joviality and love in the air, I saw Shadra for the first time as a woman. We were almost the same height and as she leaned her head into my shoulder, I took a deep breath in and filled my lungs with her. She was beautiful. I had not intended to say it out loud, but I must have, as she had looked up at me. In her eyes, I saw something there that I had never noticed before. There was an expectation and there was love. Not just the love of a friend and comrade, but the love that my mother and father shared and the love that I had seen between Christolis and Delphine.

  I had kissed her. Feeling the softness of her lips on mine and been filled shame at having never thought to do it before.

  Had Christolis been right? Was this the thing that we were all actually fighting for? The right to find a good person and settle down, build a family?

  Before that night, I had only been motivated with dreams of being the best. But, being the best for who? My mother and father were already proud of what I had accomplished, who else was I doing this all for?

  I was locked into a blurred mess of questions, when Shadra had grabbed my hand and led me away from the party, out toward the old woods, near the edge of town.

  It was not until she had stopped under the old canopy used for the yearly picnic that I realized where we had actually come. She'd kissed me again then and all my questions had gone away. I wante
d nothing more than to know that kiss inside and out.

  When she pulled away from me and eyed me coyly, stepping back toward one of the tables, I followed behind her, anxious to have more of this new feeling.

  Before I reached her, she started removing her clothes. I had stopped my approach then, slightly unsure of myself. I had no experience and did not know where to begin, if we were indeed going to do what I thought we were. Shadra who knew me so well had sensed my unease and beckoned me to her. It lit the spark and gave me the courage to continue forward.

  Once I made it to her, she placed her hands on the side of my face and looked me in the eyes. Then she had said, "I know that you don't have experience, neither do I. It's okay because this could never be bad as I have waited for this moment my whole life."

  That night, under the canopy of festivals, my eyes were opened to a part of life I had not even begun to consider for myself. Before then, I had lived only for the glory, for restoration of my planet back to its rightful spot. But, after I had been shown the way, I wanted to live if only to touch and see Shadra again.

  I really believed that night, laying on the table and looking out at the surrounding woods, feeling Shadra's warmth next to me, that things were going to be perfect. She and I giggled about how we would tell everyone, especially Christolis and Delphine, who she said, had known all along. We spoke about the future and made plans to be married after we finished our next tour.

  It all seemed so easy and possible.

  I wish I had understood then, that in times of war, no one's hopes and dreams are safe.

  That short span of time before our second tour started had been the best of my life. It was like getting to meet Shadra for the first time. I had known her forever, but nothing like this. We spent endless hours stealing away with each other, wrapped up in our entangled limbs, kissing and talking about how our lives were going to be.