by Lee Watts
In the control room, Colonel Veltri was equally impressed.
"Quite a speech, Sire, but how are we going to make good on it?"
Alexander smiled, secure in his assurance from on high.
"I have no idea," he confessed. "But I'm not worried about it. Have faith. Be strong and of good courage. Let's sit back and watch how the Elder does it. Gentlemen, this day will be something you'll tell your grandchildren about."
For a moment, Veltri considered the possibility the Prince might have snapped under the pressure. He stared at the man, pondering it. He decided it didn't really matter, in one way or another the battle would be over in about two minutes.
***
As emergency doors automatically slid to cover the gaping hole exposing the control complex's hangar to space, Chiranjiv jumped from the tumbling assault shuttle and used his armor's thruster pack to fly his way back into the bay. Once sealed, the bay re-pressurized and the returned gravity dumped Merrick prostrate to the floor. The fall cracked the face shield of his helmet, and he quickly removed the covering.
With every item cleared from the expansive, two-level hangar, Chiranjiv had no trouble spotting the helpless Guardian. Reaching for his sidearm, the Dridmor discovered it missing as it was pulled from the holster during the windstorm created when Merrick destroyed the magnetic field.
I'll do it the old-fashioned way, he decided. Unfastening the sheath across his back, the Dridmor withdrew the slender metallic staff, pulled it apart, reforming it into a fiery, double-bladed staff. Merrick heard the sizzling air and rolled onto his back to face his enemy.
Chiranjiv's eyes turned completely black then he broke into a run. Merrick barely had time to roll out of the way before a burning edge came crashing down. Spinning, Merrick kicked hard, knocking the Dridmor off of his feet. Each immortal scrambled to stand, Merrick, grabbing his own battlestaff as he did.
Circling each other, Merrick glared at his helmeted opponent, he didn't know who it was, but that mattered little. All that mattered was protecting the crown stone and sending the evil warrior to the Vortex.
"It's over, Merrick," came a hollow voice from the helmet. "You're the next to last. You know the prophecy before it's over the gate will open, and all who hold the keys will die."
"Yes, but not today."
He lunged at the Dridmor who blocked the strike with a lightning-fast move. Merrick's twin short swords whirled fiercely at his enemy, who expertly parried and stuck back with his double-edged staff. Rolling one of his swords to a backhand grip, Merrick spun and brought his blades down with crushing ferocity. After two identical turns, Merrick sent a quick spinning kick to his enemy's midsection causing Chiranjiv to double over. Slashing up hard, Merrick's blow cracked his enemy's helmet. Stepping to finish the contest, Merrick was caught by a powerful down slash, which severed his left hand. The fire of the burning weapon immediately cauterized the wound. The Guardian howled in pain, but the other man, was wounded himself and unable to see through his cracked visor, fired his thrusters launching up over the railing of the second level. Landing, he unfastened his damaged helmet and cursed as he tossed it aside. There was a deep gash in his chin caused by Merrick's blade. Peering up at the now unmasked Dridmor, Merrick recognized him.
"Chiranjiv."
"That's right, Merrick," he shouted. "And consider that hand payback for what Shania did to me!"
"Shania? She took a piece of you, did she?"
"Not as much as I will take from you, and yes, I was there when she fell. She suffered greatly, but not as much as you're going to. I'm going to cut you apart a piece at a time."
Activating his thrusters, Chiranjiv made a rapid descent toward Merrick, bringing the full weight of his staff down forcefully. Knowing better than to try and counter such a powerful blow, Merrick sidestepped and slashed outward. Catching his opponent across the torso, the burning blade seared across the crimson armor, but it held. The Dridmor countered with a wide, spinning swing of his staff. Merrick ducked, but Chiranjiv brought up a knee, smashing the Guardian in the face, which caused Merrick to stumble back with blood pouring from his broken nose.
"It's over Merrick," he gloated then sent a quick slash deeply cutting across the Guardian's already wounded arm and another hack across his chest. Merrick staggered back. Weakened from the blows and losing his mental edge, Merrick ineffectively chopped, at his enemy.
"Your strength is failing. Fear me, Merrick! Beg for mercy and a quick end! BEG, MERRICK!"
Chiranjiv slashed again, this time cutting his opponent deep across the face, searing his flesh.
"BEG! Do you feel the spirit of fear descending upon you? You've lost, Guardian! Your power is gone. Your love for the mortals has brought you to this end. You shouldn't love them; you should hate them! You should hate the Elder! He's abandoned you."
He thrust, lodging the burning blade deep into Merrick's side. The Guardian cried out from the intense agony. Enraptured, Chiranjiv twisted the fire sword then viciously pulled it out to widen the cut. Swaggering toward his dying enemy, he scoffed at him.
"What's the Elder given you for an end? Defeat, fear, hate, confusion!"
Weakened, pale, his life flowing away, Merrick locked eyes with the Dridmor and softly quoted the Holy Codex.
"For the Elder has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power… and of love,… and of a sound mind." Straightening, he added, "His word will not return void."
Summoning his strength, Merrick advanced. Crying out and expending every bit of power he could muster, he hacked at the dark one. Chiranjiv countered, but Merrick sped the rate of his strikes, shouting more powerfully all the while. With the speed of the blows faster than the eyes could follow, Merrick, at last, got through his enemy's defenses lobbing off Chiranjiv's left hand. The Dridmor screamed in pain.
"That's for Shania," Merrick yelled and chopped down again, severing Chiranjiv's other hand. "And that ones for me!" Taking half a step back he growled, "And this… this is for your unholy rebellion."
Shouting from the depths of his heart, Merrick spun bringing his full strength and weight in a blow against Chiranjiv's neck. Decapitated, the Dridmor's head rolled, but body stood a pair of heartbeats longer before collapsing to the floor. Merrick, held his wounded side while standing over the fallen Dridmor. Victorious, he stared at his fallen opponent for several moments while considering the ancient prophecy about his own demise.
"…but not today."
***
Returning to the Deinodon was one of its assault shuttles. Tractor beams guided the ship into the docking bay. Once inside, the rays disengaged, and the shuttle moved under its own power.
Standard procedure was for the ship to take up a landing position designated by docking control, but since the ship was crewed by Master Sergeant Gibson and every Remnant soldier he could squeeze into the craft, standard procedures were ignored.
Activating the cutting beams used to drill through ship hulls for boarding parties, the shuttle quickly ripped through the relatively soft interior of the Ramillie command ship. Massive internal damage caused cascading failures in the vessel.
Qil'Donan yelled for a report on what was happening, but before he was answered, the bridge lurched from an internal impact, and powerful cutting beams began boring through the wall. The crew ran in disarray, and Qil'Donan grabbed his functioning, but normally only ceremonial, sidearm. Within seconds, Remnant soldiers, stormed into the Deinodon's expansive bridge. Immediately, an intense firefight ensued with the scores of the crew in the room. Blue and red laserfire filled the bridge, and each shot either hit a target or destroyed a component on the ship. Before a full minute passed, the Remnant troops had eliminated the bridge crew and sealed the entrances.
Marcus went into the assault shuttle then exited again holding a pole with a banner of Theera-Enty on it. Pulling Qil'Donan's slumped corpse off of the command station, he staked the pole deep through the chair then stepped back and saluted, each soldier and Marine in the
room following his lead.
"Long live the Realm," he exclaimed.
The troops repeated his words.
"LONG LIVE THE REALM!"
Before they could relish their triumph too much, the ship's lights wavered, sparks shout out of computers, and the entire vessel began to rumble.
Urgently, Marcus shouted orders.
"She's gonna blow! Everybody back in the shuttle! Go! Go! Go!"
The invaders sprinted back into their borrowed ship and reversed the drive while clumsily backing their way out of the dying craft. Reaching the docking bay, the shuttle spun around and sped away from the death throes of the Deinodon. Seconds later, the last ship of the Ramillie assault force exploded in a glorious, billowing plume of orange and red.
As the planet Oosay moved out from eclipse of the system's star and dawn's early light illuminated the previous night's field of battle, the full extent of the devastation was at last revealed. Broken bodies, shattered hulls, and still burning boulders littered the ring. From operations control, Alexander was at last able to survey the level of destruction with his naked eye.
The night was a test by fire of courage and cunning, fidelity and faith, but in the end, the Prince's orders from the beginning of the night had been carried out. The Remnant had survived, the enemy was defeated, and the banner… still flew.
CHAPTER 42
"…let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand." – Joel 2:1
The HMS Dauntless was the first of more than three hundred thousand Realm ships to enter the Oosay system. The asteroid ring evidenced the utter carnage of the recent battle. In the operations control room, Grant gave a report.
"Colonel, we're receiving an emergency hail from the admiral. Should I send for his Highness? I believe he's still meeting with the wounded in the medical bay."
"No, let's have the admiral meet him in person. Put Balin through to my station."
"Colonel," Balin blew out in relief. "Thank the Elder you're safe. What happened?"
"The Ramillie, but the Elder has preserved us. They'll be back, so we need to evacuate quickly. What of the fleet?"
"It's as though time stood still for them. Wait till we get in visual range. You're in for quite a surprise."
"So are you, Admiral. So are you."
A few hours later, thousands of people packed into the main docking bay of the control asteroid. With a backdrop of stars, a wide platform was near the panoramic magnetic field. Banners of the Realm were posted on each side of the raised stage. Extending from the main doors to the platform was a wide, blue carpet of the same hue as the banner.
Aulani, reunited with her brother, was at a spot by Marcus, Payton, and Cale near the platform. She pointed to Merrick as he hobbled toward them.
Though in fresh clothes, his stumped arm and bandages showed how close he came to an end.
"Oh, Merrick," Aulani cooed in sympathy.
He smiled.
"I'm fine, Child. Nothing that won't heal."
"Heal… but your hand?"
"For one of my kind, if you don't pierce our heart or take our head, in time, all wounds heal. Well, wounds of the body anyway."
"You mean… it'll grow back?" Jaiden asked. "How long will that take?"
"I've never really timed it. Not long. Aulani, your shoulder's wrapped. Have you seen a doctor?"
"One of the medic's took care of me. It'll be fine. Where's Alexander?"
"He's on the way. I'm glad you two could be here for this. I-"
The sound of trumpets interrupted him. Everyone in the hangar hushed as Caedmon and some soldiers entered from the side and took their positions on the platform. As the regal anthem of the Realm played, the far doors opened, and Alexander began down the broad path of the carpet flanked with soldiers. Vivica, knowing better than to call out during the ceremony, tried to catch Alexander's eye, but couldn't. From the other side of the path, Aulani saw the teary Hannah Kovacs clutching her mother's hand. Hannah's father, Imre, having fallen in defense of the others, was notably absent from his family. Reaching the platform, Alexander walked up the first few steps then stopped.
"Kneel, Alexander, Prince of the Realm," Caedmon proclaimed.
Alexander obeyed, and Caedmon placed his hands on the Prince's bowed head. With closed eyes, the Faithful Voice raised his face upward in silent prayer. When finished, the old man turned and took the crown from the adjacent pedestal. Solemnly, Caedmon placed it on Alexander's brow.
"Arise, Alexander, King of the Realm!"
Standing, Alexander smiled at his longtime mentor then slowly turned to face the throng. As the regal anthem finished, the crowd burst into applause. Smiling broadly, Alexander's eyes rested on Merrick, Aulani, and the others. When the assembly at last quieted, he addressed for them for the first time as king.
"I look on this hall, and I see heroes: heroes who've held the line against tyranny's oppression, heroes who stood by me through the wilderness, heroes all. Your courage and faith have been tried and proven. May it forever be that the Realm will have those who will stand between our beloved home and oppressors' chains. May she forever have sons and daughters who will not turn their back on the One who created us. Blest with victory this day, may our Paradise-rescued people praise the power that hath made and preserved us. The Realm was founded as a free nation, the power of its government derived from the consent of the governed, but our freedom is gone under the Hegemony. The Ramillie's long train of abuses and usurpations evidence a design to reduce our people under absolute despotism. It is, therefore, our right, our duty, to throw off such government, and to restore the Realm's legitimate rule! Our location is compromised. Many have asked, 'Where can we go?' I say there is only one place for us to go - back to the Realm. In this place we have won a great victory against a mighty foe. We stand here today, a blessed people. Salazar and the Hegemony intended to lock away our forces for evil, but the Elder has preserved them for this our greatest hour of need. No longer will we exist as a Remnant of what was, but will reclaim what we were and will be again the Realm! There are those who say driving the Ramillie from the Realm is impossible, but with the Elder all things are possible. We will take on the galaxy's greatest superpower to free our nation, and we will - we must succeed! We will march on, not with the trembling footsteps of those bent upon an enterprise destined for ruin, but with the gallant bearing of those certain of victory, and confident their cause is divinely blessed! The way ahead will be difficult, and we will doubtless suffer loss in this journey. In the coming hardships, we must call to remembrance the legacies of those who went before, their faith, their sacrifices, and hard-won triumphs. The Elder is with us; therefore, we must not fear. The time for hiding is over. Return to your ships; set course for the Realm. The resistance is over, and the revolution has begun!"
With the Dauntless in the lead, more than three hundred thousand ships made the jump to lightspeed to reclaim the Realm. Merrick looked to Caedmon who returned his gaze. The old man winked at the immortal and smiled, knowing that after so many years, the great promise they had so long hoped for was, at last, to be fulfilled.
EPILOGUE
So is the tale of how Alexander, son of Darius, ascended to the crown of Theera-Enty becoming the king without a kingdom. As the age hurdles to its end, Alexander finds himself in league with Salazar; and it's a union only one brother survives.
With all pretense of subtlety abandoned, the Ramillie forge an unholy alliance to secure their supremacy and forever alter the balance of power. Energy stones from a long-forgotten civilization again shape the tide of war, and an ancient map, at last, reveals its startling secrets.
Escaping Acatus, Koraden relentlessly pursues his goal, and as the time of Merrick's prophesied fate approaches, the two immortals are inexorably drawn toward a final confrontation.
With what lies ahead, the real adventure only now begins.
***
To be continued in Legions & Legaci
es and concluded in Promises & Prophecies.
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