The Storyteller
Dungeon Master
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2017
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THE PLANET AGORAX, THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO...
Chief Vecra Zaxary watched, lingering horror still etched upon his features, as the television monitors retracted back into the ceiling. Around him, dozens of others wore similar expressions, ranging from Vecra's abject horror, to barely controlled grief, to simmering rage.
"It is done. The cancer is excised, and the Empire can be as it was meant to. Order has been restored."
There was silence for several moments, before a being stepped forward from one of the cowed throngs. He was a small Tintinna, short even for his kind and wearing large spectacles; Vecra dimly recognized him as the High Minister of Agriculture. He was slightly surprised to see the man; rumor said that he had bribed officials to take his family out of the system. Surely that would have flagged him as disloyal, and not fit for the presence of the Leader?
He spoke up in a quavering voice.
"My Leader... you have guided us all for so long. Your knowledge and wisdom are beyond any I know! But my Leader... my Diktat... I cannot understand this... this..."
"This SLAUGHTER[/i]!!"
There was shocked, hushed murmuring as another voice spoke up. A Cathar female, the same Vecra had noted earlier. Haflin shouldered her way forward, her lips peeled back in a snarl that exposed gleaming teeth.
"You have all just witnessed murder! On a scale I cannot fathom!" Called Haflin, turning back to those assembled. "Not of enemies! Not of barbarians! But of Imperial subjects! Those who looked to the leader for guidance! For protection!"
The Cathar spread her hands, turning back to look up at Agorander.
"You are the Leader, sire, but I cannot ignore what you yourself have seen fit to show us!"
Vecra did not even see the Leader shift on his throne.
"As I said." Intoned Agorander. "I have excised a cancer. Those who would defy me have been destroyed."
To Vecra's - and most of the others' - surprise, it was the little Agricultural Minister who replied.
"Sire, you did this!" He confirmed. "But in so indiscriminate a fashion... all on Agorax who remained loyal have been destroyed as well! Beyond the walls of the Ziggurat is a tomb, my Diktat! A tomb of your people!!"
To Vecra's shock, he saw the Leader's head actually move. The vision slit of his gleaming helm focused on the little rodentoid.
"All on Agorax?" He questioned. "High Minister, your statement implies that no loyal subjects remain. Does that include all of those I have seen fit to spare?"
There was more murmuring. A few beings shouted "No, my Leader!"
The Minister adjusted his glasses, and stood taller than Vecra would have thought he could. His whiskers twitched nervously, but he met Agorander's steel gaze.
"It includes me, Sire."
There was a pause before Agorander spoke once more.
"Then further surgery is required."
The Leader raised his arm, and a crackling beam lanced out from a weapon in his hand. The Tintinna let out a brief cry as the beam struck; after only a moment, all that was left of the brave Minister was a pile of grey ash.
There was stunned silence for another moment, before Agorander spoke again.
"My intention," intoned the Leader, "had been to make you the core of my future empire. To start again with the most loyal. The most trusted."
The beam lanced out again. An Aqualish screamed before he, too, was reduced to ash.
"I see now that I was optimistic in my projections. I cannot determine who among you will remain loyal enough to carry out my will. And thus, I must accelerate to the final phase of my design."
The beam seared away another of the gathered officials, and the throngs began to panic. Many broke toward the doors, which of course did not open for them; more beams struck down several even as they pounded uselessly on the metal. More tried to hide behind pillars, but the thing profile of these toward the base made this almost impossible.
Haflin, who somehow had not been targeted yet, did neither of these things.
"He has us trapped! But he's in here with us! C'mon!"
Even then, with the Leader raining death upon them, many of those scrambling for their lives hesitated, so deeply rooted was their loyalty to Agorander. A few, however, did change direction; a mob of beings gathered around the Cathar, sprinting toward the pyramidal dais upon which sat the Leader's throne. As they approached, the two Automatic Conquerors which stood at the base stirred to life. Their bladed bracers hummed, and they fired beams of destructive energy from their chest-mounted disruptors, ashing several even as they charged.
The droids were powerful, but even they could be defeated by shear numbers. A dozen each brought them to the ground, many dying as they did so, but pinning the Slaughteroids beneath hills of corpses and beating limbs.
Vecra watched, transfixed, as Haflin sprinted up the steps. The Leader was not oblivious to the danger; his aim shifted, and he actually rose from his throne, standing to fire down at the Cathar. To everyone's amazement, the large felinoid nimbly dodged before the weapon had even been brought to bear, as if granted precognition of what was to happen. Agorander readjusted his aim, and the same thing happened. The Cathar was fast, faster than Vecra would have believed!
And then, Haflin reached out her arm, palm opened.
There was a concussive blast, seemingly from the outstretched palm, and Agorander fall backward into his throne, gleaming armor clattering on the hard stone. He uttered a sound that seemed more robotic than human, and before he could recover, Haflin was on him.
"The Je'daii Rangers send their regards, monster!"
There was a crackle, and abruptly, Haflin crumbled into ash. As she did, Vecra could not help but imagine that she turned back toward him, looked directly at him...
Then she was gone.
Everyone stared up at the throne. Agorander sat, armor still gleaming, but there was a slit-shaped hole in his chest, as if Haflin had somehow been able to punch through the metal with her bare hand. Something clear that wasn't blood oozed from the wound. The Leader sat composed for a moment, as if nothing had happened, before he began to sag. The raygun was still clutched in his hand, but it wavered, and was left pointing at the ground.
There was absolute silence for several moments after it became apparent that Agorander, Whose Will the Stars Obeyed, had died.
And then the Leader's voice echoed through the room.
"I am Agorander. Whose Will the Stars Obey. Foolish mortals, know that I am not so easy to destroy."
Along the walls of the throne room, hidden doors began to open. From them, squads of Slaughteroids began sprinting in, and the killing began again.
Doing his best to avoid the murderous droids, Vecra ran, Haflin's last look etched in his mind. There was something to that look, something she was trying to tell him. Something he had to do...
The doors that had discharged the Slaughteroids began to close, and abruptly, Vecra knew. At the last moment, he dove beneath a closing door, scrambling into the passage beyond and running through the darkness.
Agorander was not so easily killed, it seemed, but there were other ways he could be stopped.