Escape From Redeem, Rise of an Emperor

Earth: Presidential Palace, Geneva

Black strode back and forth, within his opulent bed chambers. The report he had been given by General Defoe had been disturbing indeed. The whole thing was chaos. The news of the Bruce families demise had hurt the leader of Earth, greater than any lose he had endured throughout his entire long life.

He had not wept for the man who was like a son to him. But inside he grieved. The President had placed so much hope in Dorn and his son Caleb, that starting again with his vision of the future seemed more than he could bear.

But start again he must. When the Captain of the Elite Guard was chosen, it was usually a close decision, with two to three candidates up for selection. Dorn Bruce did not have any equal to compare with, throughout the process. Kam was deluded, if he thought he was the greater man between the two.

Bruce excelled as leader of the Guard and very shortly after his appointment. Black thought it wise to give Dorn some of the gifts that were only available to him. The knowledge on genetic manipulation and other techniques gave Black his physical and mental enhancements and were strictly classified to only the upper echelons of the Science Guild. Even they did not know the full processes that Black had developed long ago.

To stop the aging process had been very difficult. Black discovered that human cells divided until they were too small to divide any longer and that’s when people began to age rapidly and then die of old age.

He found a way to turn off the very thing that made the cell stop dividing and thus finding the answer to the fountain of youth. He also discovered techniques to cut out unwanted genetic code, such as the genes that made you susceptible to cancer or other illness.

He could remove genetic code in DNA and he was also able to add code to it.

This advancement in part, was given to society to create an elite class of people who would lead Earth into a new era. The President had given Dorn all of the gifts that he could.

Alas, it could not save him from assassination. That thought had made him feel more vulnerable than he had in a long time. He looked over the schematics of Caleb’s DNA and marvelled at its creation.

Although Dorn had been Caleb’s real father, Black was the one who was responsible for his unique abilities. It helped that the framework of the boy was already superior, coming from the seed of Dorn and Jessica Bruce.

But the gifts that Black had given him were greater than every living being on the planet, including himself and the boy’s father. Now that creation was gone. A communicator chirped, interrupting his study of Caleb’s complex genome.

‘Yes Margret?’

‘Sir I have General Defoe on the line, and he says it’s urgent!’

‘Patch him through.’

A screen came to life on a wall, the other side of his bed chamber and the body of Defoe was displayed in ultra-high definition, which made him seem like he was actually there in the room.

‘Good evening General.’

‘Good evening Mr President. I have some more bad news I’m afraid.’

‘It could not be worse than the last news you gave me.’

Black had suffered before; he had survived several assassination attempts on his own life. The betrayal had run way too deep this time for his liking.

‘Sir, The Lord Commander of Regiment 1 is missing and so is a newly appointed Guardsman, by the name of Tristan Donnelly. In the current circumstances we should assume the worst and expect that they have become renegades like Master Kam.’

‘Sebastian is missing now?’

Black despaired. Who else would be tangled up in this drama?

‘Yes, both men had close links to Kam. Tristan was under his direct tutorage.’

‘Hold on there; Kam could have killed them both if they found out his plans and didn’t like it. We should not condemn men without any evidence William!’

‘We do have evidence Sir. A ship belonging to Regiment 1 is missing, and the dojo at the Advanced Training Academy has been cleared of weapons and armour. The surveillance cameras show this Tristan as the one taking them.’

There was still yet another scenario that Defoe may not have thought of.

‘William, what if this Tristan killed the Lord Commander while trying to steel one of his ships.’

‘It’s a possibility sir. Sebastian has always been difficult to manage. But he is a simple warrior and incapable of hiding something this secretive.’

Perhaps the General did not know the Lord Commander? He was far from simple. He liked others to think that he was. This was usually his enemies undoing. Sebastian had been another of Blacks Personal appointments.

He had been groomed from birth to be in command of Earths Shock and ore troops, commonly known as Regiment 1. He was belligerent and even sometimes aggressive. They were both good traits in a warrior. What most people did not know, was that Sebastian Ignatius had a strategic mind to rival even Defoe’s. He just did not make it public and liked it that way.

‘General I think either way we should be cautious about this. Do some digging and let me know what you uncover?’

‘Sir I think Guy should be by your side, until this has been resolved. I am also recalling all of Regiment 1 from galactic manoeuvres.’

It was over the top but Black supposed it was necessary, for now.

‘Very well General send Guy back and tell him to take back command of the Guard temporally, until I make it official. I also want you to brief me immediately if you have any more intel on Sebastian or the missing Guardsmen.’

‘Yes Mr President. I’ll send Guy over right away, Good evening.’

The screen went blank and the President returned to his schematics trying to figure out who would take over from him, if the worst actually did happen.

He feared death and had fought all his life to conquer it. He had even created an elite bodyguard that now seemed as vulnerable, as a broken link of chain mail at the moment.

He needed to create another heir to his throne. Earth, although a democracy, was not wise enough to choose its own leaders any more.

The Human race had their chance at democracy and when he had taken the helm, their system was in ruin. However the people needed the pretence of democracy. Black’s rule could never be questioned. It had to be that way for the prosperity of the planet and her colonies. If he did one day die, then his life’s work must continue through a successor of his making.

He had much work to do.

***

Defoe looked at a hologram of the alien world. Kruger stood opposite the table that projected the hologram, and both men’s faces were lit by the glowing orb in front of them. Approaching the holographic planet, was a small red dot that gradually moved closer and closer until it eventually split making two dots, with one hitting the planet’s surface and the other turning away in the other direction.

It was a mock attack that they had planned, on the alien world that should have been happening at that very moment. Kruger’s eyes seemed even bluer, as he stared at the theoretical attack sequence before them. He hoped the simulation before him was as accurate as what was actually happening.

‘So, this is happening right now?’ He asked Defoe, who was engrossed in the projections display.

‘If all goes to plan, then yes this should be happening right now.’

‘Then we had best prepare for war my Emperor.’

Defoe liked the sound of that title. He would take it officially soon.

Only Kruger had called him Emperor and if they were not in a sound proof chamber he would have chastised his number two man for the indiscretion.

The title sat well with Defoe who smiled at the flattery.

‘I have most of the elements already in place Guy. I was concerned with the disappearance of the young Guardsmen and Lord Commander Ignatius. I will put some people of Black Watch on it.’

‘The disappearances have placed me in a good position back at Blacks side sir. I must confess I am looking forward to ending that man finally.’

His gravel like voice made the threat seem as sinister as it sounded.

‘I will envy you, not seeing the look on his face when he is finally betrayed.’

Defoe would have many operations running by the time Kruger was in place to assassinate the President. He would not be able to see the dead president at the feet of his top operative. So be it.

Once the deed was done, he would set the scene for the populace to witness the destruction of the Presidential Palace, and the demise of all who were inside its formidable walls.

In the beginning Kruger would have numbered with the other casualties. He had on the other hand proved his worth time and time again, to be just cast aside like the Generals other lose ends. Patience was needed now.

Defoe would have to wait for the coded message to arrive from the attack vessel that should be starting a war, and his ascension to become Emperor.

He would pull on the heart strings of the populace, to rally behind him and avenge the killing of Earth’s greatest leader, at the hands of the barbarous green skinned hoards. They would weep in the streets, he was sure of that. Only the complete annihilation of the attacking alien race would placate humanity.

***

Planet X1: High Orbit

The Raptor TS was a spacecraft that was renowned for its speed and stealth.

Its deep matt black hull made it virtually invisible to the naked eye, as it entered the enemy star system that was highly congested with alien ships that they had so far successfully avoided.

It was one of the finest ships that Black Watch had at its disposal and it sped through the alien star system undetected. Its sensor dampeners must have been working well since no enemy ship had noticed the dark vessel slip through space like a shadow in darkness.

The crew were limited to five. This mission did not require greater numbers than that.

Devastation would come to this world; they had several war heads that could flatten a whole city in their launch tubes. They were here to ensure maximum destruction and revenge.

That fact put a smile on the Captains face.

He had been told by General Defoe personally, how important and secretive the mission was. Captain Reynolds had been in the Watch way too long to know that important and secretive to Defoe meant if he messed up he would probably go missing.

Reynolds would not mess up.

So far no alien ship had seemed to notice them. That did not mean they would not be noticed. The last crew Black Watch had sent was testament to that. However, his ship was designed to not be seen unless they wanted it to be seen.

After the bombardment, they were then instructed to show themselves, and lure this enemy back to Earth so they could be cut down in one of General Defoe’s elaborate traps. He did not see the wisdom of this plan. Only a fool would reveal their home to a threat as unknown as species X1.

He did not dare to contradict that order, even though he thought it was madness. He had never disobeyed before and he never would. Maybe that’s why he was so valued within the Watch, he concluded happily. Reynolds would usually get to hand pick his men for missions as important as this. But the General had insisted on giving him four of his soldiers that were more than capable to operate the Raptor.

He looked over to the helmsman who was a young man in his late twenties. A tiny bead of sweat ran down his face, even though the temperature on the ship was a constant 22 degrees Celsius.

He could hardly blame the youngster if he was feeling nervous. In about five minutes he would push a button that would potentially kill thousands, if not millions of hostile enemy, deep into their territory, with no reinforcement what’s so ever.

‘Approaching the planet now Captain.’ The helmsmen reminded Reynolds that the game would soon begin.

‘Bring us into orbit over the largest continent and target the following locations.’

‘Eye Sir.’

Reynolds touched industrial locations on a data tablet that showed the planet’s vast surface.

He sent the targets to the helmsmen and waited for a confirmation.

‘I have targets Captain; I am bringing the Raptor into orbit over the northern hemisphere.’

They all looked at the planet. Its oceans were a murky brown and their atmosphere readings were extremely high but tolerable in carbon monoxide. The General had said the aliens were industrious, and the planets pollution was evidence to this.

‘We are ready to fire on targets, at your command Sir.’

The slight tremor in the helmsmen’s voice was subtle but Reynolds could just detect it.

It was possible to fire from where he sat if he wanted to. He would give him the benefit of the doubt.

‘Fire!’

The order was stern; the helmsmen fired onto the targets, and they all watched the imagery screen that showed the falling projectiles thundering to destroy and avenge the lost souls of the last Black Watch vessel to come here.

All targets lit up on the screen and a monotone voice of the computer confirmed the successful bombardment, which the Captain had expected.

‘Turn us around and light us up like a Christmas tree helmsmen. Navigator, open a warp tear as soon as we leave the system.’

The Navigator signalled an affirmative, but the helmsmen’s nerves finally collapsed into asking the obvious.

‘Captain, if we light up and speed out, then our stealth will be gone, they will see us.’

‘Don’t worry about that, it is all in hand. I want to be seen helmsmen. And the next time you question one of my orders again, you will be jettisoned with the rest of the waste. Do you understand?’

He nodded that he did and blazed the sub light engines that would show them up to anybody who could detect them. The fires from the warhead impacts would be burning hard on the surface, as they made a slow retreat to the warp jump point back to Earth. Reynolds looked at his data tablet to check if they were being followed. There was no evidence of a pursuit just yet.

The chase did come eventually though, when they had passed close by one of the outer planets in the system, where a fleet of alien ships must have been based.

Hundreds of cruiser size ships made up a fleet that now set an intercept course for the Raptor. At the pace they were going, they may even cut off their small ship from jumping into a warp tear.

Captain Reynolds had no doubt of what he must do, if they did get captured. He did not voice his thought to the men on board. They may just yet make it passed the enemy who were now closing the net and no doubt looking to skin alive the ones who had dared attack there home world. It was a tight moment as they all watched the tear open up to reveal the warp jump point.

‘Helm, divert power to the engines, we need to reach that tear before the enemy fleet cuts us off.’

He would rip the ship apart before he let an enemy take it. As the extra power was fed into the sub-light engines, it felt very likely that it would do just that, before they could reach the sanctuary of warp space.

Some energy lances were fired at the Raptor. At the distance they were being shot, they easily manoeuvred away from the lethal looking projectiles that glowed red fury as they passed harmlessly around the Watch ship.

All of a sudden they had entered the tear and the blue glow of warp space. The relief on the faces of the crew would be short lived, the Captain lamented.

‘Helm, keep the tear open until half of that fleet follows us in.’

He hoped they would follow. After all, the mission he was given was to be the bait for a grand trap of General Defoe’s making. The other men on board were not aware of the full plan, and their relief turned to confused horror at what the Captain had asked. All they knew was that they would be making a retaliatory hit and run attack, on a new hostile race.

‘Sir if we…’

‘I do hope you are not questioning another order Helmsmen? I have an escape pod ready to launch you back to that systems prime planet, if you would like to protest.’

‘No Sir, I will close it when half have entered.’

He replied quickly. Rules and punishments in the Watch were different to the regular military. No record would be kept of this mission and no one would miss any of the ship’s crew.

He could hardly blame the young lad for being nervous. He was feeling the pressure of the mission himself. The rewards of success would be worth the risk though. Defoe would always gift success.

If he failed, Defoe did not give second chances. He would not fail.

Half of the fleet, maybe more had slipped into the warp tear that they had opened. The helmsmen closed it as quickly as he was able.

The distance of the enemy in relation to the Raptor was great enough that they would not be a threat until they exited just outside of the Solar system. Until then they would both helplessly drift in the warp current, unable to gain any advantage in the strange realm that was like a cosmic highway. ‘Well done everyone.’

The Captain congratulated the crew, who all looked like they had hells daemons chasing them. Maybe they did. They would soon find out if the Generals plan was as brilliant as he had claimed it would be.