Imperium - Dynasty Begins Ch. 02

Jones couldn't be sure what he heard was right, but the very next thing had him silently screaming. The pain seemed nothing like before. Every inch of his head was in terrific agony. He tried to vocalize, to ask for any form of help, but nothing. His lips weren't moving.

Tristan's assistant rolled a cart that had a glass vat closer to the subject's head and the brain was quickly lowered into it, a metallic object was attached to the brain's stem. Tristan pushed a button and a low beep of the object indicated it was working. He watched in silent horror as they wheeled away his brain, his brain, his brain. . .

"The stasis is working. The brain shows no loss of functionality." One of the assistants read his data that was running across the screen. Others smiled approvingly.

"Great, now on to the next part. Let's create a life," Tristan whispered.

Another cart was rolled into the room. The items on it were of varying sizes, but all of them were of mechanical nature. Some were parts of limbs, others sections of skulls. The most menacing looking one was an odd orb that pulsated a shiny green light.

"We're ready," The assistant closest to Tristan whispered.

The work never ceased and Tristan looked thrilled at every second of it.

***

A month has passed. The interview with Vanessa Rovencroft was quite revealing. He learned quite a bit about the newly opened 'School' for students ready to serve the newly developing Human Imperium. As per Vanessa's words those that attended this school were to form the future of the federation and the universe itself.

First few days were spent like at any new school for a new attendee. People were curious, but rarely approached him or anyone else. That said, there many rules regarding their behavior. Those who damaged the reputation of the school or it's attendees, were mercilessly placed in stocks, whipped and then placed 40 days in solitary confinement. A harsh warning and reminded to anyone that would breach any form of etiquette at or outside the school. However, that could be anything. So far, Samael had cataloged 40 different deeds that could get him in serious trouble. The number changed every month or so.

The rest of the time he was studying. From math to advanced Toxicology or better yet study of poisons. There were other more lenient 'sciences' that weren't demanded to be a part of attendees' curriculum, but nevertheless, very few people took 'Necromancy 101 - What does it mean?'. A funny little subject. It was the talk around the campus.

Among everything, he had stumbled on Terra's radio recordings. Radio? Who uses radio? Whoever it was, he learned quite a lot from their broadcasts. Songs were very good to listen to. Rock, pop, oldies from time forgotten. Artists and musicians hailed long and wide. For days the signal would change its frequency, but Samael found it every time. The only problem presented was an Alpha Numerical code that he had to enter every time he wanted to listen to the darn station.

A friend bunking with him was a wizard with hacking tools and gave him few advices. The few times he talked to anyone and it produced results. Samael was thinking socializing was quite beneficial to his progress. Anyway, hacking tools he found online were working like a charm. Breaking the code in few minutes at most.

After listening to songs and their news reports he noticed a strange pattern among them. Words were short and without any meaning to them. A name "Martian Man" would always precede the short musical numbers.

He was fed up with the station and their breaks. Always on the ones he enjoyed listening. Few minutes at most and then a voice would recite a commercial break. Madness! He was just about to throw his receiver into the wall. However, something told him to take a step back. Look deeper into it. A stopwatch and several days later he was banging on his mentor's doors.

Vanessa Rovencroft gladly took the mantle of mentoring the young man. So when she saw the man was somewhat sleep deprived and cranky, she at first thought the work was too much him. She wondered if her intuition had faltered. But after few hours of reading and listening to the massive and detailed report he managed to write, she was impressed. And curious.

"What made you look into it?" she asked gently.

Samael nervously scratched the back of his head, "There is this song. A good beat, I really like it, and after trying to listen to it for few times the station would cut it short. Made me mad and something just told me to look deeper into it. I can't really explain."

*He has good intuition, * She thought.

After several meetings with the higher-ups she was told to provide more evidence. Some believed that Samael stumbled upon a random thing that everyone gave too much credit to. Very few wanted to explore the possibility of someone actually sending covert messages. Why would they?

So she sent him on a mission. Something extremely rare in this case. Young attendees usually accumulated knowledge; first two years before they would be sent to missions of various degrees. Difficulty of the missions or tests would vary. Mentors would scrutinize over their students' skills and then give them something worth their skill. Some found the young man received too much leniency from his mentor; who happens to be a principal of the same school. It's safe to say people in high places wanted their sons and daughters to be picked instead.

Vanessa wanted nothing to do with them. They're trying to use their position not to better people's lives, but their own. She stopped any further talk about her prodigy. The rest could go fuck themselves if they like.

He was escorted by some of the teachers and given all the data he might need to see if this was truly something they needed to investigate.

As one of the higher-ups said, "If the lad fails, he fails. Hopefully he'll learn from his mistakes and we keep our reputation intact."

Samael watched the slate in his hand as his shuttle was leaving the orbit of Mars. The mission he was sent on was of clandestine nature. Sort of. There was nothing in the text that told him he had to stay hidden, among the leaves and branches, covered in dirt. Like in the movies. Even to him this was looking more and more as just "Stand still and watch" type of mission.

His mentor wanted to learn everything about recent riots back on Terra. There were traces of political and social agenda to assault and infiltrate the Empress' Embassy and Her Holy Throne on Terra. The blasphemous act could hurt their place in the growing federation of man. But the question was who was behind it.

Samael doubted he was the only one doing this, so he thought about the motive of these protests. Why now?

The Church has had a big revamp few years back, looking more and more like a magician's cult than anything. Something regarding their recent discovery on a certain planet. Who knows?

A politician's 'brave' attempt to overthrow an evil oppressor? There has been nothing like that in the local news. The ones that were vocal, were adamant on peaceful talks and understanding. A mark of a sane men and women behind the helm, nothing less.

So what else is there? A hidden enemy? Samael shook his head.

Time to find their demands. Try to appease them. And if possible save the Empress' reputation in doing so.

However, it wasn't that easy to achieve. They wanted to remove any form of oppression from their world. And the word had a very wide definition in their eyes.

A brief layover on Mars Orbital Station, and they were off to ISS. Right above Terra's orbit. He slept for few hours and when he woke up a wondrous sight was in front of him. He was unusually amazed that the 3000-year-old station was still floating in the orbit. Samael managed to visit the station only few times and all of them were very hush-hush, as his dad would tell him; nobody needed to know.

She hasn't changed at all since the last time he was here. The massive structure was a remnant of old. Drifted in space like a ballerina. A beautiful dance at that.

The station looked way differently than the older model, but there were some non-essential components that were covered in glass, pictures that showed her in different stages. Preserved for future reference. Historical items were apparently in danger from radical activists, the glass protecting the ancient items from any form of vandalism.

They docked the ship and he took some time to stretch his legs. He stopped and focused on a strange man promoting something. A short stout guy was adamant at attracting everyone's attention. Figuring something good was happening he approached.

"Come 'ver 'ere, we 'ave plenty of new girls. They are waiting' for ya," the short guy was talking in a weird replica of an accent as mass of people walked pass. It was horrible.

Shops and merchandise were displayed for everyone to see. Some of the would be customers would stop stare and judge an item with a short look. Samael stopped by the man and he grabbed him by his wrist. Before he could react in any way the man spoke.

"Young man, I think you'll love my girls," his strange accent was mysteriously gone, a strange card in his other hand.

"Follow the road, first building on the left. You can't miss it," he whispered.

Samael shrugged, his mentor said nothing about a contact. He was strictly on a reconnaissance mission. Alone. He felt something being dropped inside the pocket of his jacket. He reached and noticed a strange coin. He placed it back where he found it and remembered what the instructors back on Mars told him.

He was told how to go about it; Samael read quite few books, reports from other people in similar situations. All of the brave men and women were doing their best to catalog everything they had seen. Samael was going to do everything in his power to make this mission a success.

However, he had to catalog their strange movement. For whatever reason the Imperium Embassy on Terra was unable to send any reports that detailed their movement. A mental note was added;

1.Radicals might've infiltrated the Embassy.

2.The Embassy might've willingly send false reports.

3.The Embassy is afraid of escalating the situation so they are willingly choosing not to disclose any information.

He shook his head. Samael's cheeks reddening. He wasn't a spy. He wasn't a hero. Either way he had his work cut out for him.

He finally stopped in front of a lavish gate. Heavy wooden doors that were stretching around a single gorgeous mansion. He tried to walk through them but was stopped by a giant being. He watched in awe as his heavy hand was gently placed on his chest. He stopped.

The giant's hand felt heavy even while gently pressing on his chest. Samael watched wide eyed as the giant gazed in his, evidently trying to find out if he was dangerous or not. After a moment he was allowed to proceed. The giant turned and stood motionless protecting the grounds once more.

Samael proceeded to walk on a stone path. Medium sized oval rocks were paving his way towards first sets of wooden stairs. He smiled as the entire building looked breathtaking. An homage to the old Japanese architecture. Samael saw plenty back on Mars. As a cherry on top two bonsai trees were planted on either side.

He stepped through the doors and saw two women standing behind a counter, obviously waiting for customers. The young man proceeded to walk and smile as he stopped near one of them.

"Welcome to 'Votre Plaisir'," she said in perfect French, "can I help you today?"

Samael smiled, "A man gave me this," he said and dug the unusual coin from his breast jacket pocket.

The woman's eyes went wide, "Ah certainly, monsieur, please," she pointed towards the back door.

The doors slid open and revealed a black stairwell that winded down several floors. Samael carefully went through them and followed them down few levels. At the bottom was a pair of strange doors.

One of the doors mysteriously opened and he saw several people talking around a table. A man was walking towards him. Samael held the coin on the palm of his hand. After inspecting his coin Samael was ushered inside and silently pointed towards the table.

The people talked under their breath. All four people were radically different from one another. Hair color, clothes and piercings in deferent places. Samael noticed everyone had a small tattoo of a black rose right on their wrist.

Three of them left shortly just after he arrived at the table and greeted everyone with a nod.

"Welcome to the 'Fight'," a soft voice greeted him, the woman that was left was different. She alone looked normal. Her accented voice echoed in the room.

He heard the door close, "Thank you," he wondered why he was here.

"You're here to fight the good fight," she spoke as if reading his mind, "we're about to hit them on all fronts. Talking and pleading our case isn't working. So it's time for a different method," the voice stated.

Samael's eyebrows went up, "What method is that?"

"Ah, concentrated attacks on all fronts. Make them use force, and through their force we'll destabilize their power. It'll be glorious," The woman's eyes glowed with pride.

"Right. So what do you expect me to do? Infiltrate their ranks?"

The strange woman shook their head, "No, not at all, just protest at their embassy and when the time comes, use the weapons we give you to break few bones so people think the security of the Imperium Embassy did it. We've got several protests around the world going as we speak, several people will start looting and burning random places."

Samael looked around, several anti-imperial paraphernalia were scattered around, a flag of a hammer and a sickle was stretched across one of the walls. And bunch of boxes lying together, filled with all kinds of weapons, items and clothes. He didn't see it until now. He swallowed hard. He didn't realize it, but somehow or someway he ended in the den of snakes.

How could this happen? He was only supposed to look, take some pictures and videos, then fuck off from Terra with what he had learned. Not - this. He wasn't sure but somehow this was the anti-imperium protests that were quickly getting out of hand and somehow he was in it.

Samael breathed in, "I've never hit anyone before, I don't think I'll be able to do it."

The woman smiled, "We'll give you a weapon, as I said. The weapon should do most of the work. You still need to swing it, of course."

Samael still wasn't convinced, "I don't know. I'm anti-violence. Any kind of violence," he repeated after she wanted to refute him somehow.

"Alright, we'll offer you money for every broken limb. Confirmed broken limb," she dug around one of the boxes, after a while she handed him a black hoodie, glasses and a bandana.

"Ok," He said simply and kept watching her as she turned to another set of boxes and started digging around.

"Here, with this shock stick you'll be able to knock anyone down on the ground. It's used on cattle by the god damn meat-eaters to numb them when they kill the livestock for meat. DAMN THEM - after they are knocked out, you can easily break bones or do whatever," for a brief moment the woman looked insane, "Pin this badge on the left side of your chest. It's the same as the security's in the basses," she explained as she slid a gold plated badge, a picture of Imperium's insignia on it, "You'll need this. The weapon is untraceable. Have it inside your bag or backpack and it'll show as part of the bag. They won't know unless they open the damn thing and see it with their own eyes."

"They're issued only to Martians. Only those from Mars work for their security," she pointed after seeing Samael taking the badge and holding it in his hands almost reverently.

"Wait, who do I hurt?" Samael finally asked.

"I really don't care who. Just break bones. At some point in time the guards will start chasing the protesters away. In that commotion start assaulting whoever retreats. Remember, we want blood. The more blood the better." She said.

"So, I assume there are others. How do I know they will not attack me?" Samael asked watching the map of Terra on the screen.

Her eyes widened for a brief second, "They won't, I hope. Just be violent. I don't care who gets hurt."

"Fair enough. So, you really think I'll look like a Martian?!" Samael asked.

"It's irrelevant, you're there to cause chaos. This is not our first rodeo; so to speak. If you do this and break few people on TV, people will go crazy. They'll want blood," she grinned.

Samael closed his fist around the badge and focused on the woman, "Tell me, please, what are our demands?"

"Everything," She smiled.

"Sorry, I don't understand."

"See - we say something we need ... a change in government; they might approve it and everything is swept under the rug. But, you see - we'll never stop. We'll change them as soon as possible. Keep them on their toes. We're leaderless; our demands are infinite," she sounded proud as she said the last words, sounding more like a slogan than anything.

"So you don't know," Samael said.

She mysteriously smiled at him, "Better for us if we don't."

"Good Lord, help me," He rubbed his temple, "Alright. Where do you want me?"

She thought for a minute, "You'll go to Paris, France. There'll be several people with you, don't worry you don't need to know who they are, only that you won't be alone. So when shit starts you're to fuck people up. Whoever. We mostly want property damage. Burn, break, plunder I don't care. Rape if you have to. Just be sure you have an audience and they see the badge. We've some that are into that shit and well we had to let them do what they wanted to do, I just hope they don't go overboard. There was one that gave me shivers," she whispered as she remembered.

Suddenly a man approached their table holding something between his fingers, "Captain Blue we need to test him though. The girl upstairs forgot to administer it prior to letting him thorough."

Samael's eyebrows rose, "Blue?"

"You don't think we'd use our real names around each other, while planning to overthrow a government," she shook her head.

"Well, no. Just 'blue' seems kind of lame. I'd go with Lion or Scorpion," Samael grinned.

"Never mind that. The girl wanted to say she's sorry," The man interrupted finally.

'Captain Blue' waved her hands exasperated, "What does she think this is some college fucking fuck-dome?"

Samael's eyebrows rose as she cursed. *This whole thing is doomed. The fuck are they thinking. And the cursing, God and Empress help me, *

"Sorry, she made a mistake. She'll learn eventually."

She grimaced, "When? While she learns we could've destroyed our mission."

She breathed out, "Alright, alright. You'll need to talk to her, one more mistake and she's gone," the woman menacingly whispered.

Samael swallowed hard, 'captain Blue' focused her attention on him again, "You need to take a truth test."

His eyebrows went up, he almost laughed out loud at the phrase, "Truth test? Really, do you think I'd come all the way here uninvited. For no reason."

"It's the only way. The higher ups are really anal about this; everyone gets checked. We don't have time for the usual background check so we use this," the man handed her an odd bracelet which she held between her fingers.

"You place it like this and we ask you few questions. If it gives you a shock, you're lying and we get rid of you," at this the man took out a small pistol.

"Ok. I have nothing to hide. Besides the time I lied once to my dad, and my teacher, and my friend. But other than that I never did anything to anyone. Except that one lady that hit my dog, I put dog poop on her porch door and lit it up. Saw that on old TV, perfect payoff if I say so myself," Samael smiled.