Imperium - Dynasty Begins Ch. 01

The stench of rotting flesh perforated the room, again. Samael wanted out as fast as he could. The gangly construction pulsated behind them. He thought there were bunch of those creatures lined behind a wall. He wasn't about to risk these people's lives.

"Ok, let's back up and look for another exit," Samael whispered.

Someone else lead the group back to the room and eventually towards the next exit, as Samael stood behind and placed another 'X' marker.

They walked, he guarded their backs and they slowly advanced. The group was led by a shaky man jumping at every tiny sound.

A sudden sound alerted them all, "To the left," Samael warned.

Everyone turned and spotted targets already emerging from the walls. The targets quickly retreated back into the walls from the deluge of gunfire, and laser beams. People who preferred the more traditional weapons were keeping guard from their front as another one of the creatures suddenly charged them from the darkness. It was quickly disposed off. As they advanced further few people, including Samael, glanced at the puss monster lying motionlessly on the ground. One member of his group managed to kill the creature swiftly using their own sword. Its head separated from its body. Three arrow heads and bolts imbedded deep in its chest. Dark green blood oozed from those holes all over the ground. The smell of its blood heavy in the air. Samael couldn't quite put it, but he couldn't stand being near it any longer.

He remembered hearing somewhere that the Martian government annexed several worlds recently in a nearby system. He wondered if these creatures were somehow linked with them.

*Great, kill everything, * He remembered the Tester's words.

The corpse suddenly started beating. Every fiber of his being wanted to start springing towards where his group was. But something told him to stay.

He knelt, the beating of its flesh in tune to his breathing. Every time he'd see it move Samael held his breath. Its limbs gripped in post mortem spasm. He somehow kept control of his bowels and with his free hand felt the being's chest. No heartbeat, but the convulsions of its body still continued. He watched its bloated veins slowly expand and consume the creature's flesh. The bloody sinews grotesquely enlarging. Something was happening with its fluids still circulating the cadaver. The smell of its blood finally reaching his nose. A heavy smell of manure and something else. Something... very strange. Something that reminded him of his mother and his early childhood. The smell reminded him of vast prairies of Terra, grassy hills and stony mountains.

His eyes started to sting which awakened him from his daydream. He stood up, the creature no longer convulsed beneath him. For good measure his rifle singed a hole right through its heart.

He started slowly walking towards where the group of young men and women were waiting. They finally reached another room where a massive entity stood.

A large stone golem stood erect as they amassed inside the room. Frozen in its space, its weapon soaring high in the air. Blood and guts dripped from its blade. The sword a bloody mess. Beneath it a pool of blood, guts and severed limbs. To its right several severed bodies; one of them still alive, was trying to collect their bowels back into their cavity. Smell of piss and shit heavy in the air.

Several people in his group retched all over the floor. Some of them started to cry for their mother, others, their God.

"God help us," One woman cried out.

Samael too wanted to cry and beg, but thought about how pathetic he would look, how the soldiers would laugh and sneer behind his back, and they were watching, "Fuck that. And FUCK YOU!"

He lifted his rifle and started firing. It's superheated bullets bouncing of the stony body.

Samael yelled out, "FUCK YOU!"

His rifle was horribly ineffective.

The supper heated bullets glancing off the golem's body and smashing into the floor. Someone's pistol stood several feet in front, its owner unknown. Samael ran and slid on his knees towards the coveted item. He grabbed the laser pistol and started blasting away, people around him finally feeding off of his energy, started firing their own guns. Most of them were horribly ineffective as the energy simply dissipated on the golems stony skin. Samael noticed several ax heads imbedded deep into the giant's body, silvery liquid slowly seeping to the ground. Several bolts imbedded deep into its skin. He sneered.

"That's it," he grinned and unsheathed his vibro-blade.

The knife hummed in the air. Singing its thanks to the owner who finally decided to use it. He started running. Faster than he expected the body of a 10-foot monstrosity loomed over him. As fast as he was, the giant's own blade swept across the air. He ducked, but felt the air around him being split in twain. As soon as he stood and attempted to attack, the giant would swing his giant blade with unbelievable grace and speed. The ground ate the golem's blade and he protected his face from the eruption of dirt and blood.

He spat something down on the ground. Someone's skin ended within his lips. He fed of his emotions. Disgust, fear, longing for victory; everything climaxed in him. The vibro blade sang. It wanted to be used. The knife sang into the wind, it wanted to taste the golem's blood.

"Good, good. Patience. An opportunity will arise," he tried to calm himself, dodging left and right.

The golem almost seemed impervious to emotion, but Samael felt the creature was slowly becoming agitated by the constant swinging. Something told him that the thing learned to sever everything with one swing. Well, he wasn't about to let it that satisfaction. Without realizing it, he too started singing with his blade. Humming in tune.

Samael had to step through guts, hands and severed feet of his classmates. He felt nothing but joy from this fight. The golem twisted and turned, losing the sight of Samael. He figured the golem would scream in frustration. At this point it mattered not. It swung his weapon one last time and smashed the ground. Samael walked up it's back slowly. He was appraising it from behind. The creature desperately trying to remove its weapon deeply imbedded into the earth. The blade in Samael's hand was lifted high in the air.

The giant's swinging suddenly stopped and Samael sneered, "Now, my turn."

The vibro-blade split the air, made contact with the golem's skin and Samael felt it rend and tear its pseudo flesh as if it's made from paper. Rock, tissue and silvery liquid sprayed through the air as the hum increased. The joy the knife blade felt at that moment ran through Samael and he wept. The young man almost seemed frenzied as the blade moved from left to right. The victory was his and he was tasting it. Samael drank his enemy's blood and relished in its demise.

He wept from joy and felt nothing but happiness as the golem slowly started to gargle its final moments on this rock. His hands were numb. Heavy and laid with sticky, smelly liquid. Blood, guts and his classmates' limbs mixed with the golem's own bodily liquids. He thought if the creature even shit and pissed. The smell heavy in the room, much more so than before. The severed spine of the rocky giant held nothing. Was nothing, the monster twitched one last time and perished, silently. Samael felt nothing, but disdain and joy. Killing his adversary as he was told to do. Contempt that the giant was dead, his frustration over in a flash. The room finally started to open up. The walls around him started to descend back into the floor. The day's air finally bathing him with its purity.

"Fuck me," a person's whisper echoed in the shrinking room.

People stood gaping at the figure covered with blood, guts and sweat. Samael breathed hard and watched his remaining classmates finally safe from all. He finally felt a moment of peace. A battle he had won. He fed on his emotions and felt proud at his decisions. He could walk out with his head held high.

The stout man finally appearing, clapping his heavy hands. A look of joy on his face, "Finally, a good fight. Thank ye laddie," he grinned.

"Fight worthy of the Empress," a soldier exclaimed.

The group of soldiers smiled and started clapping. Samael felt like he was on top of the world.

***

Samael arose in his bed the next day watching the ceiling with odd sense of foreboding. The day started with a bang.

He was awakened by the neighbor's dog barking without remorse. Samael cursed the owner in his mind while he tossed and turned. The reckless bastard wasn't taking care of his responsibility and the genetically enhanced pup was already forming tremendous vocal cords. The dog fucker making his life miserable with every passing day. He was cranky. Really cranky.

He sighed. The day is slipping away. He didn't want to, but the world is going away with or without him. He lifted beneath the sheets and ran towards the shower.

Under the spray he allowed the muscles to relax. Yesterday's unusual activity left his body in a sad state. He needed to move more. Practice more. He wasn't physically capable to pull everything as yesterday. Samael would rather use his brain to solve problems. Yet, a gun seemed a lot more fun.

Solution solved, without much fuss.

His father issued his own congratulations and had a warning for the eighteen-year-old man, "Don't do anything that would ruin you."

Odd wording from his old man, but he understood. He vowed to follow his teachings. His father's parenting was as always flawless. His mother too invaded his thoughts, calming him. Absence of the woman that birthed him always felt sorrowful, yet he oddly felt calm joy.

He smiled and exited the shower. Samael forgot to light a candle for her anniversary. He wrapped himself in a warm towel and went into the kitchen. First he grabbed the lighter out of the drawer. Next he took a long candle. They were very hard to get, as the government tried to shut down anything that had to do with making their planet unclean. Somehow, lighting a candle on a loved ones' memorial proved to pollute the environment.

"Fucking insane twats," he spat, but quickly calmed down. The dead deserve better.

He placed the end of the candle into the holder and lit the wick. The small flame quickly grew larger. The smell of wax started to fill the room. Samael inhaled deeply and found the scent strangely calming. The picture of his mother was staring back at him. She was young when she perished.

His father often described her as a wall of fire. A rose that bloomed under heavy pressure. Samael smiled and vowed, again, not to disappoint her memory in any way. He clapped his hands together in an ancient ritual of honoring the dead. A practice banned on Mars.

Samael spotted a red envelope sitting on the living room table. He thought long and hard about his path in life, and what would it entail for his future. He was an intellectual. However, from the yesterday's events he thought about changing something in his life. His father begged him not to throw his future away, a lot of doors was suddenly opened for him. With that thought he looked at what was most important in his life. He watched his purple eyes eerily glow in the dark. The candle light enhancing them further.

He picked up his phone, "Hi dad, yeah it's me. I've made up my mind."

***

Vanessa Rovencroft conversed with one of her tenured professors, "Are you sure we can accommodate him?"

"Yes, Principal Rovencroft we must grab this young man before others find out about him. I predict he'll serve the empire with vigor, and we need good men," he smiled and handed a data stick.

She received the glass object and slipped the item into her personal computer, after few moments of waiting the data stick loaded and a picture of a young man sprung into view.

She viewed the subject's sheet and his information on his graduation tests, "Seems perfect for the curriculum we've in plan. Deduction skills passable, has plenty of charisma, if it goes to plan the troops will follow him into anything and enemies will fear him. A perfect subject."

The man swallowed hard, "At the end of the tests, the boy has voiced an interest in joining the military. It's not a certainty, but there is a possibility we might lose this subject," he silently watched the woman's reaction.

Vanessa's fingers drummed on her desk.

"A troubling thought indeed. We don't want him as a mere fodder to the enemy troops, I have other plans for him. We might do something unconventional, try to appeal to his young age," the woman unconsciously licked her lips.

The man was sweating hard by this point, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, yet. The subject seems of low breed, uninterested in higher ranks of society. Oh, if he only knew the charms," Vanessa gazed in the eyes of the picture and felt the young man's attraction at the molecular level.

Vanessa was in deep thought when a silent knock woke her up, "Yes, I thought I told you not to bother us," her voice was firm, but held no grudge.

A woman in her 30's appeared at the door, "Apologies Madam, but you have a call on line three."

By this time Vanessa noticed a light silently blinking on the edge of her large desk, "Thank you," she nodded and focused her attention to the man profusely sweating on the chair across from her, "We'll talk more later, I'll take this call alone. Any other subjects you've scouted?"

"Not yet, madam. I've watched that group closely. I've had my eye on a few promising prospects, but so far only that young man came close to our criteria. Others were woefully short. I'll go to other testing sites and meetings with my scouts in the coming weeks. This subject just was too good to wait for a chance," The man quickly spoke.

"You did fine. I'll look forward to your next scouting report," the woman drummed her long fingers along the table.

The man rose from his chair and quickly ran out the door. Before the doors could be closed she heard him curse out his relief. She smiled and directed her attention to her newest object of interest.

The number on the screen was unknown to her, but her intuition told her of few people who might call, "Yes, Vanessa Rovencroft speaking," she politely answered.

"Long tooth," The strange modulated voice came through the static on screen.

Vanessa's eyebrows rose. She punched few buttons on her keypad, "Red velvet," she spoke and waited briefly.

The modulated voice continued speaking after few seconds of silence, "Is the line safe?"

"Yes. What have you found out?" she asked into the static.

"There are whispers about riots preparing in the future. I'm not sure we can avoid them though. They have a leader. I repeat: They have a leader," The voice desperately repeated word for word.

Vanessa sighed heavily, "That's a problem. A very big problem. Our military is occupied off world. Have you found the leader? Where is he located? Off world?"

"Leader couldn't be found. I believe he's giving them orders from off world. I'm not sure, they're using complicated encrypted messaging software," the voice spoke.

"Send me their messages, I'll try our own decryption methods," she drummed her fingers again.

There was a brief lull in conversation before a green light blinked once, indicating a data pack was being transferred. She nodded and started thinking about different methods she'll have to use to break their encryption. The impossible task gave her tiny shivers of delight.

"I've sent everything," The voice spoke.

She nodded into the void, "Yes, I've received everything. Try to find their research, if they have any," she chuckled.

The voice sounded amused when it spoke, "I believe they have none, they believe in lack of any authority and I think some of them actually believe they are living pristine lives. However, I've noticed a structure. They receive orders from other people, despite what they say."

Vanessa remembered the last transmission the spy had sent her, "They truly think they'll create a utopia. Maybe it's time to give them a harsh awakening."

The spy was silently waiting as Vanessa carefully weighed her next words, "Your next order is to try and disrupt their incoming riots any way you can. Contact me when you have more information."

"Yes Madam," the spy responded and the line went dead.

She pressed the button and the call left a void in the room. An uncomfortable wall of silence filled its place. Vanessa relaxed her shoulders and started thinking. The day had just started and it already was filled with different options.

She started to view her world with renewed hope.

A war might be on horizon.