It amazed Kristof that his father had allowed the Puranni ships, roughly sixty total, to join his armada given his hatred for the Puranni people. A number of the visions that had come to him over the past few days came back to him now, and he knew that most of the House of Duranis were doomed this day, no matter what happened between Kristof and his father.
The communications board beeped at his side, and a set of landing instructions from the Wrath appeared on the monitor. Kristof transferred the instructions to the autopilot and let the ship take it the rest of the way. Mentally he began to prepare himself for the impending confrontation with Admiral Ethan Anders, a man he had never expected to see again, even as he continued to send that undetectable stream of power into the mass launchers.
Ethan Anders had been a stern, cold man as Kristof had been growing up. Things had worsened after the death of Kristof’s mother, and love had not been a prominent feature in the Anders household. What his father had been, though, was a truly gifted tactician and commander. Kristof knew his father would not have allowed the Queen’s Consort to come to him here unless he intended to use such a person as leverage in his larger plans. Those plans were what Kristof had come here to thwart at all costs.
The shuttle touched down in the Wrath’s cavernous hanger bay and Kristof was at the head of the boarding ramp as it descended. At the ramp’s base a platoon of soldiers awaited him in full dress uniform. Their weapons were holstered, Kristof noticed, no doubt fearing no danger to a ship the size of the Wrath of Clovani from any number of troops that may have hidden aboard the shuttle.
An officer with Lieutenant’s stripes upon his uniform stepped forward from the platoon and saluted Kristof with crisp precision, and Kristof returned the salute in kind. Surprise registered on the lieutenant’s face at receiving a Clovani military salute from someone he believed to be just a Puranni dignitary. Kristof ignored his surprise as he descended the boarding ramp.
“I am Lieutenant Losner,” the officer announced curtly. “I have been commanded to bring you before Lord Admiral Anders immediately.”
“Lord Admiral, you say,” Kristof said lightly as he stopped at the end of the ramp. “I see the years have been kind to the Admiral.”
“You are acquainted, then?” the lieutenant asked, somewhat surprised.
“Passingly,” Kristof answered evasively as he continued to send out threads of power to the mass launchers. In time the instabilities would destabilize the entire weapon system, so long as he had enough time. Once the weapons were completely destabilized, they would do more harm to the ship than anything else once they were activated.
A second soldier stepped forward with a set of body scanners, and Kristof nodded to him before allowing the man to scan him for hidden weapons. Satisfied after the scan, the Lieutenant had his platoon of troops form up around himself and Kristof and moments later they were on their way.
The Wrath of Clovani was indeed a city unto itself. Kristof observed whole armies moving in parade ground formations on the deck below as he and his escort boarded a shuttle car that followed a track high above several hanger bays before plunging deep into the ship’s core. All of these people did not matter, though, only himself and his father. He could feel his father somewhere near; cool, calm and collected. Kristof began to feed subtle doubts and fears into his father’s subconscious. When the time came, he did not want his father calm and collected.
Kristof knew they were headed for the heavily armored core of the mammoth vessel. While the captain of the Wrath may command from the bridge that sat along the ship’s upper spine, flag officers such as his father tended to occupy the battle bridge deep within the ship. Should an enemy force somehow actually succeed in attacking the Wrath and disabling it, it would take a whole day of laser and torpedo fire to blast a hole deep enough through multiple layers of armor inside to reach the battle bridge. Even then, the armor around the battle bridge itself would prove near impregnable.
The trip through the ship, even aboard this shuttle car, took them nearly fifteen minutes. Kristof stood with his hands clasped behind his back next to the Lieutenant at the head of the car, sending out a tendril of thought to his father ahead and tendrils of energy into the mass launchers of the two dreadnaughts. The officer beside Kristof did not attempt any conversation, and Kristof let the silence remain. There was nothing that the Lieutenant could tell him that would be of any consequence.
The sense of his father ahead grew minute by minute as the shuttle car sped through the ship. Kristof began nudging his father with vague feelings of confusion, while at the same time blocking thoughts of the mass launchers that were now ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Kristof’s plan had not reached fruition yet and he did not want his father preempting his plan.
Soon the shuttle car came to a stop and the platoon formed up around him once more. Kristof smiled at the thought of all this show of strength just to impress him, knowing that it was a wasted effort. It was all posturing, he knew, as was much of Clovani military custom. ‘Peace Through Domination’ was their motto. Perhaps it had been that as much as anything else that had made it hard for him to take military life seriously back when he was an officer himself. Kristof much preferred a genuine feel and flow to his life rather than having his life dictated to him.
The march to the battle bridge led them through several massive blast doors and down a long corridor before they reached a final set of blast doors that stood open. The majority of Kristof’s platoon escort were forced to remain outside, and he was accompanied inside by Lieutenant Losner and a quartet of guards. The battle bridge was bustling with activity, he saw, as the crew went about cataloging Puranni military assets on their long range sensors. There was not a crew member here with a rank lower than Lieutenant, Kristof noticed, and smiled again at the Clovani arrogance of power and rank attracting power and rank.
At the center of the battle bridge was a raised dais that held a ring of command stations, each being operated by an officer in General’s uniforms. His father’s senior staff, Kristof knew. He even recognized one or two of them, he thought. General Othor had served with his father for decades. At the center of the dais in a raised command chair sat his father, Lord Admiral Ethan Anders.
The Lord title was new since Kristof had last seen his father. On Clovani, the title of Lord Admiral was given to the supreme commander of the Clovani military, and then only if the admiral was also family to the Emperor. This would mean his father ruled the Emperor’s fleets and armies combined, and answered to only the Emperor himself and not the Clovani Senate or High Command, and that his father had remarried into the Emperor’s family. Kristof wondered to whom his father had been wed, since the Emperor had few living relatives that Kristof knew of. Kristof banished the train of thought, as it mattered little now.
Lieutenant Losner led the way through the busy command deck and Kristof followed, keeping his head bowed low. He did not want his father to see who he was until the last possible moment. All of his visions had seen this moment in time, and the best possibilities that followed now demanded he surprise his father and be able to fan the flames of that surprise and anger to a fevered pitch so that he would not be able to think clearly for a time. Kristof used the power to help encourage that lack of clarity even as he began to enhance the doubts in his father’s subconscious.
The command dais was accessed by a stairway on either side, and each was guarded by a pair of heavily armored battle androids. Kristof was again scanned for weapons, as was the Lieutenant, before the two of them were allowed to pass. Losner’s quartet of guards were forced to remain behind at the foot of the dais.
Four more battle androids stood at even intervals around the command dais. Kristof paid them no mind, his attention now completely focused on his father. The Lord Admiral had not yet noticed their arrival, and Lieutenant Losner stood at attention as they awaited the Admiral’s pleasure. Kristof noticed his father had aged much in the years since he had last seen him on Bonibus. Ethan
Anders had always been a large man, heavily muscled and broad of shoulder. That muscle had faded somewhat now, and the Admiral sported a bit of a pot belly under his uniform. His dark hair had gone to a steely grey, but his eyes remained the fierce pale green that Kristof had inherited.
Finally, the Lord Admiral graced them with his attention, and the shock that registered in the Admiral’s face at seeing Kristof was all that Kristof could have hoped for. The Admiral’s mouth worked silently as he took in the sight of his son for the first time in many years, his eyes moving up and down, taking in everything.
“YOU!” Lord Admiral Anders yelled, his voice recovered at last.
“Me,” Kristof responded casually.
“I was told that the Puranni were sending the Queen’s Consort, not some lowlife criminal scum from Bonibus,” the Admiral yelled, his voice thick with contempt. “What game is it that the little bitch thinks she is playing here?”
“The ‘little bitch’ is my wife,” Kristof replied coldly, his gaze turning deadly as he looked at the man who had once been his father. “Queen Sabine and I were married by Master Subat of the Su’Tani four days ago, as a matter of fact. You do remember Master Subat, I am sure. My former wife’s father. I apologize for losing your invitation to the ceremony, father.” He made sure to say father loud enough so there was no doubt that everyone on the command dais had heard it.
Lord Admiral Anders roared in anger and his fist lashed out and struck one of the nearby battle androids. The android staggered and feel backwards over the railing behind it to crash to the floor below. Kristof was glad to see that his father had become truly unhinged by the thoughts of doubt and confusion that he’s spent the past several minutes feeding into his mind.
“You are no son of mine. It was bad enough you defiled our family honor with that first Puranni whore of yours,” Admiral Anders growled once he’d regained his cool. “Now you have gone and married the Queen of Whores, too, is it?”
How Kristof managed not to go after his father then and there he would never know. Instead, he looked on his father with contempt but remained where he was. He knew how bad the results would be if he assaulted his father now, but resisting the temptation had been so hard. The plan wasn’t ready, however, though it was close.
“Your family honor is no longer any concern of mine,” Kristof said instead. “You made sure of that when you disowned me years ago. But none of that matters. I did not come here to discuss family politics with an ignorant pig,” he spat, “I am here to discuss terms of surrender.”
Kristof watched his father slowly regain control of his temper and ascend to his seat above them. As he watched, Kristof turned his thoughts inward to the power of the ak’Sun Su’Tani that swirled within and slowly began to release the last restraints that contained it. The time was almost upon them that he had seen in his visions that would lead to the most favorable outcome. He needed to be ready.
“I see your Queen has some sense at least,” the Lord Admiral stated after a time. “The terms of the surrender of the Purannis Protectorate will be as….”
“I did not mean our surrender,” Kristof interrupted abruptly. “I am here to offer terms for your surrender, Admiral.”
Kristof watched as his father almost had a heart attack right then and there, rage turning his face purple and veins bulging in his forehead and temples. Quickly, Kristof used his power to blank every last memory of the mass launchers from his father’s mind before the admiral could order an immediate strike as his rage flared out of control.
“My surrender? MY SURRENDER! Perhaps you failed to notice the armada surrounding this ship as you exited hyperspace,” the admiral screamed at his son, though at first it had seemed he had wanted to say something else.
“I saw some rabble as I approached,” Kristof said insultingly. “I had assumed you had parked in a junk yard, though the reasons why escaped me.”
Kristof reached out with his thoughts and could feel his father’s rage bordering on insanity now even as he doubted himself, wondering if the Puranni had some weapon he did not know about. The officers around them were clearly distraught at seeing the Lord Admiral so unstable all of a sudden, and there was a sense of uncertainty swirling in the room. He also sensed that the energy he had sent into the mass launchers had reached a critical mass now and only awaited a fuse to detonate them. His plan was ready at last.
“General Astis, order our Puranni allies to begin the assault on Purannis! Tell them to go kill that bitch Queen like they wanted to do all along!” Admiral Anders ordered suddenly, clearly pleased with the idea of using the House of Duranis to begin the destruction of their Queen and their own home world. The General issued the orders through the communications station while Kristof reached his thoughts out to the Puranni ships around them.
Kristof could feel the outrage of the Puranni captains at realizing the Clovani would not help them overthrow the Queen through a forced capitulation after all. He could feel them vehemently reject the Admiral’s orders to attack, and he could feel General Astis’s fear as he turned back to the Admiral moments later. Kristof decided in that moment to aid the House of Duranis for finally coming to their senses.
“The ships of House Duranis have refused the order, Admiral,” General Astis stated fearfully, clearly afraid of the Lord Admiral’s response after seeing him so enraged moments before. Kristof sent a nudge of thought into his father’s mind, pushing him just a bit closer to the edge.
‘OPEN FIRE ON ALL PURANNI SHIPS!” the Admiral ordered. “Destroy those doubly traitorous mongrels!” The moment Kristof had long seen had arrived, and he released the power’s last restraints within him at last.
Outside of the Wrath of Clovani, a raging firefight had erupted between the Clovani warships and the sixty ships of the House of Duranis. The Puranni ships where badly outnumbered and began to take heavy damage when they were suddenly surrounded by halos of bright light that shielded them from the attacks of the ships around them. Just as suddenly, a number of hyperspace wormholes opened and the Puranni ships where pulled into them and disappeared.
Lord Admiral Anders watched the monitors and howled in rage before turning to Kristof.
“You are responsible for this, I know it!” the Admiral accused him. Turning back to General Astis, he ordered all of the mass launchers, which were now back in his memory, to launch an all-out assault on Purannis and its sister worlds of the Protectorate.
“Don’t do this, father,” Kristof pleaded as he felt the power begin to rush through him like a storm, “It is your last chance.”
“Today your whore Queen dies, just like that other little bitch of yours did,” Admiral Anders stated smugly and gave the order to fire. From far beneath them they felt the detonation of the mass launchers as the energy Kristof had imbued within them exploded in a number of violent explosions that became the catalysts for a number miniature supernovas that began to tear through the ships around them as well.
Kristof didn’t answer. Things had gone as he had seen them in his visions, and he knew that he could not have changed the final outcome now no matter how hard he tried. His father’s unreasoning hatred had consumed him and driven them to this conflict, and now that hatred was consuming the ships of his armada as well, thanks to Kristof’s assistance. Kristof had needed the detonations of the mass launchers to create the small supernovas which were devastating the fleet, thereby insuring the fleet could not then continue on to assault Purannis.
The power of the ak’Sun Su’Tani was fully with him now, and Kristof called upon the Puranni Phoenix God, the God of Fire and Rebirth, to act through his vessel; ak’Sun Su’Tani the lord Protector of Light. Kristof had not told Sabine all of the ancient legends surrounding the ak’Sun Su’Tani of the past, of how they only appeared when eternal darkness was at hand, and that they acted as a conduit for the Phoenix God to unleash his might and drive back the darkness. In this way, the ak’Sun Su’Tani served as the protectors of the people, of the light, but the
act had consumed them all in fire.
Kristof had felt the touch of darkness in his father’s mind when he’d come aboard the Wrath, and knew just how true the visions had been. Now, Kristof felt the fire reaching forth to collect the surrounding fleet, and he watched his father’s surprised face moments before the man and the darkness within his mind was consumed in flames. He felt the fire tear outward through bulkheads and the ship’s hull even as the mass launchers’ explosions reached inward, and then reaching out past all of it to all of the other Clovani ships around them. The Wrath of Clovani exploded and became as a massive supernova that was now caught within the grip of a tightly confined black hole that had been created by the collapsing hyperspace wormholes the mass launchers had created for their intended asteroid weapons.
The burning, spinning conflagration reached out with arms of bright light and struck out at all of the Clovani ships, destroying many and dragging the rest into the spinning black hole. God’s Hammer, the second Clovani dreadnaught already aflame from its destroyed mass launchers, fought valiantly to resist the black hole’s pull and its grasping arms of light from the supernova, but in the end it was consumed as well.
Kristof felt the Phoenix God’s fire consuming himself as well, his flesh being seared by the supernatural flames, as he floated within the center of the conflagration. With the last of his thought, he reached out to Sabine. He felt her terror back on Purannis as she watched the conflagration on the monitors in the bunker, and he whispered into her mind softly.
“My love, I am so sorry I did not tell you what would happen today,” Kristof whispered to her, all of his love for her in his voice. “I could not let you and your people fall into the darkness that I had seen coming for you. This was the only way I could save you, my love. Please forgive me.”
The fires touched his spirit at last, and before he was gone he whispered out one last
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