The Fastest Man Alive
Chapter 82
By: BigToFu
NASA Technician
Jerry Woods, PhD.
With a yawn, Jerry rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before getting up from his monitor and heading over to the coffee station. Stifling another yawn, Jerry smiled down at the sound of the coffee machine gurgling with the faint smell of vanilla wafting upwards to tickle his nostrils, caress his heart and stimulate his mind.
Slowly he reached for the mug with his name on it, inspected it with a critical look. Then nodded his head at it being clean and proper as it should be. Putting his mug inside the section for a cup, he then pressed the button for the brew and waited.
Alert!
Alert!
Alert!
Alert!
With a growl of frustration, Jerry turned and gave his computer a glare but never moved from his location. Ignoring the alert that was going off behind him, Jerry stared down the coffee machine as it dribbled the final dregs of the ambrosia known as vanilla French roast. His right brow ticked as the beeping from the alert continued, but he ignored it all as his hand reached forward and picked up his mug of coffee.
The warmth that spread from the cup up his hand promised him sweet, sweet release from the trappings of the night shift. With a smile at the beauty firmly in his grasp, Jerry strolled back over to his desk with a smile plastered on his face. He did a little jig before arriving at his desk in Nasa’s operations and observation room.
Turning his chair so that the back would be facing his computer, he sat down, wiggled his behind to get nice and comfortable, then with a kick of the leg twisted back around. One hand went to the keyboard to input his lanyard and password, while the other brought the mug to his lips.
He was never able to take a sip as his eyes flowed over the text of the massive warning on the screen. The hand holding his prized mug fell from his grip as he read the big bold words.
[ Warning gravity anomaly]
Along with the red flashing lights, Jerry was greeted with the sight of three new planets inside of the solar system with clear pictures from the satellites in orbit. What was also clear was that was an impossibility; and things got even more bizarre as he read more and more about the data collated and extrapolated by the computers and the satellites.
“Ouch! Ouch!” Jerry yelped in pain and shock as the coffee he was about to sip spilled into his lap. Jumping up from his seat, one hand tried to clear his lap and the other was flying across the mouse pad, the device in hand.
Three new planets within the span of a few hours and if the images captured were in any way correct. Some madman was out there moving those planets around as if they were Ikea furniture. Jerry parsed through a few shutter images over the last forty-eight-hour time frame and found that yes, there were three new planets brought into the system. Eyes wide, he then isolated the time frame and had the computer bring up the minute-by-minute time shots.
Okay, maybe those in charge weren't so paranoid about wanting to keep an eye on the space assets of the madman Blake. He stood up and looked around only to find the room empty, ‘fuck’ he cursed coming to the realization that as he was the lead operator working on the night shift. He was now the lead person on this and that was honestly the last thing he wanted.
Jerry heard the rumors, those government types tend to make people they take interest in disappearing into mysterious labs or workplaces with NDA’s pouring out of all their orifices while calling it a promotion. Looking around, he froze and found that he was still alone and the time was ticking away. ‘Shit!’ he had to do something. If he was going, to be honest with himself though, he wanted nothing to do with being the one to snitch on that madman; but it looked like there was no way he could get out of this one.
With a growl of frustration, Jerry cleared off his workspace of the coffee along with himself before sitting back down. He didn’t want to be that guy, but it was very clear now with everyone gone that he couldn’t pull rank and would have to do the reporting himself. Sitting down and now wide awake without the need for coffee, Jerry set about gathering as much information he could.
He very well doubted that the Director of NASA would be happy with only receiving still-images of what was going on in their solar system. No, Jerry would need a full and detailed workup on the gravity anomaly that was reported along with the positions of the planets.
Three more years Jerry, just three more years and then you can retire.
[ Scene Break ]
Benjamin Blake
Father, Husband, Emperor
Leaning back in the stretch hover limo, I released a sigh as I settled in for the little flight. All around me though things were buzzing with activity as Sue chatted excitedly with Raven on what she hoped to find on these new planets. Humming along with the antigravity of the limo, I ran a hand absently over the curve of Raven’s stomach as she leaned into me.
“I’m telling you, there is something peculiar about the make-up of our universe for such a thing to be possible.” Sue gushed over the planetary hologram that floated in the free space of the limo. “Not one but two planets so far have shown up with unique biospheres that were thought impossible.”
Sue kept gushing over the planetary scans and I tried to just let her words flow over my relaxed form until she dropped a name that I totally wasn’t expecting.
“I wonder if the biological life down on Hoth would be like what they showed in the movies,” Sue stated and the name over the planet updated in real-time. “Maybe we’ll find Wookies down on Kashyyk, the topographical charts have shown unusual heat clusters within the forest canopy.”
I wanted to say something, but honestly, I just dismissed it because naming a few planets wasn’t really that high up on my list of important things. Also, any man with more than two brain cells would know to live by the phrase happy wife equals happy life. So instead of saying anything, I just decided to chill in my lane and plan the next steps.
Science vessels were being prepared along with the scientists to man them along with what I would call a beefy security team. At this point, I was of the mind to shoot first and sort things out later, but that was no proper way to run an Empire.
An absent hand came to rub the stubble on my chin causing me to turn and smile at Sue, “We’re here my loves.”
Returning the smile, I pecked her on the lips before doing the same with the beauty leaning up against me. Shifting them both over, I got out first as the Primarch held the door open, then gave the area a nice once over because one could never be too sure. The world wouldn’t be able to handle my reaction if someone had been able to get a sniper round off or set something up. Those dark thoughts were instantly dismissed as my sight zoomed in on the guards positioned for overwatch.
That means someone was on coms and all possible vantage points were covered. Easily able to tell that this was more of Natasha’s handy work on display. That was good since she worked best from the shadows after all.
Happy with the level of security, I turned towards the limo door and held a handout. Raven stepped out first with an elegant flow to her steps. Then Sue followed with a holo-tablet in her hands scrolling through technical data. Shaking my head at her, I tapped the face of the tablet to get her attention before pointing towards the science vessel when she finally looked up.
Her jaw dropped at the sight of all the sleek lines and curves of the ship that would be taking us on our little voyage.
“Sir, ma’am…” Doctor Vogal called out with a raised hand waving from the cargo bay of the ship. Sue turned and smiled at me, but honestly, she didn’t need my permission. With a shake of my head, I removed my hand from the holo-tablet and watched as she skipped off to go and talk science.
Turning to get the rundown on preparations, I listened to the Primarch in charge of security along with the ship's Captain give a run down while also offering a tour of the ship. While I was listening to them discuss security procedures and the perimeters that would be set up once we landed, the chair I had called for finally arrived.
Holding up a hand to give the two the signal to stop, I turned and watched as a hoverchair, modeled after Frieza’s, came and was brought over by one of the logistics crew. With a wave of my hand, the chair was summoned to my side. Then another wave of the hand activated the anti-gravity.
“This is?” Mystique asked me with a raised brow even as she looked the hover chair over. With a smile on my face, I slid up beside her, then with one arm around her waist and the other on the lip of the hover chair. She was scooped up and delivered to the confines of the vehicle.
A swift few keystrokes on my omni had shields and life support activated with a shimmer of blue force fields. I took a moment to go over the rest of the chair's controls as I let those around me with jobs get on with their work. It was very much a good thing that I had already put policies and rules in place to stop things from going into a grinding halt whenever I made my presence known. A lot of people don’t realize how being born American made you entirely averse to bowing and scraping, even if I find it okay on occasions.
Taking a step back, I watched as Mystique hovered in her chair and took it around on a short flight before coming back down to hover before the shuttle bay doors. With a smile, I vanished from my location in a burst of speed to reappear at her side while also noting the look that Sue was giving the hover chair.
Moving out of the way as a pallet of scientific equipment was moved in, my head perked up as I felt a shift in the air. It was tinged with something and that wasn’t brimstone and adrenaline which meant Ghost Rider was still dealing with his own mess and hadn't made it back yet.
That worry wasn’t here today and he had no plans to go and deal with either the United Nations or the monster metropolis under New York. Both things he could deal with later while one of them would need my actual attention since it was something the Ancient One had asked me to sort out personally. All things in due time and could be handled later as I felt the approach of one of my own.
Yeah, this isn’t going to be good, I think as I could feel her roiling emotions more clearly as she approached. Looking skywards, I watched as a streak of red and purple came flying around the bend at very high speeds. On top of one of my flying bikes sat Medusa with the only thing covering her face being a silver visor to block the wind.
The bike came to a stop at the far end of the ship's bay, and I watched as she hopped off and hovered for a bit with the flight belt. Her personal Primarch did his thing, looked around, and then pointed in my direction.
I raised a meaty hand, glowed a bit of my power, and then watched her orient herself and fly over.
Medusa flew down and the moment I brought her in for a hug, I knew that something was wrong, and it wasn’t the small frown on her face that clued me in. No, that was the slightly defeated aura that was exuding from her body. That was also the only thing needed before killing intent started to leak alerting everyone within the vicinity of the smiting that was about to take place.
Without having to say a word, both Sue and Raven were at my shoulder with an intense interest in the situation.
“What happened?” Mystique asked with concern tingeing her voice. Medusa gave a wan smile and I could see that she wasn't very happy with the situation. Since I had no clue why, I turned slightly and shrugged, Medusa on the other hand seemed to have braced herself.
We all watched as she gathered her thoughts before speaking. “I was approached today by a group of Inhumans who were looking to defect and colonize one of the new planets.” Medusa then grimaced and we could all tell that it was bad. “During the conversation, they hinted at and laughed about the possibility of leaving the Empire.”
Automatically, I shook my head, “That will never happen, I have invested far too much of my personal time to clothe them, feed them, lift them up out of the muck and educate them about the greater world and universe.” I was really trying not to let the real and utter betrayal show, but I had to admit, I was fucking heated.
“I know,” Medusa replied with a sigh.
“They were told that the price was loyalty.” I continued my voice oozing power. “Not just flag-waving pledges every once in a blue moon.” I continued with a shake of my head. “The loyalty owed to the Empire and myself, is till death do us part. There is no emancipation from my Empire.”
“They made a choice, and that choice was to be a part of the Empire not to die as slaves.” Mystique picked up where I had stopped. She placed a hand on Medusa’s forearm stopping me from pushing forward some more.
“It’s not so different from what our ancestors did with the British,” Sue stated, trying to play devil's advocate.
I snorted, “The British had boats and could take upwards of six months to years to get across the ocean. I have ships, teleporters and can move freely through space to lay down the law if I have to. This isn't about taxation without representation like it was in the old days.”
“From what I have seen already, they have plenty of representation within the government.” Medusa then sighed with a shake of the head. “Be that as it may, they were hoping that I would lead them.”
The three of us grimaced, taking a step back, I looked at the shuttles ready to leave and follow behind my away teams. Instead of going over and just leaving it with a note of fuck it, I decided to send out both an alert and an all-call for everyone. I took the job, now it was time for me to do my part and put my big boy pants on.
This Emperor had work to do.
[ Scene Break ]
Pandora Prime
Emperor Blake's Throne room
Emperor Blake
With the all-call going out, it didn't take long for the family and my advisors to gather and prepare. I had already made my decision and shared it with my ladies, and closest confidants. Funny enough Fury didn't have anything to share even if he warned me about Nasa picking up my recent acquisitions.
Then again, I know Fury was happy with being one of the very few in the know and having his own escape from Earth in case things go sideways. Then again, the man was far too stubborn to leave a sinking ship and I just might have to conquer the place so my Uncle didn't die because of some moronic politician.
Standing with my back to everyone, I waited for those who were summoned to gather even as I looked out over my planet. Pandora, formerly Mars, was coming along very nicely and I couldn't have done any better. The skies were blue right alongside the oceans. The lands were green and lush with forests covering sixty percent of the landmass. The parts without forests had eco-friendly cities and metropolitan areas to house and support my rising population.
All across the board, things were looking up, even my military complex showed no issues and was well within budget. I was able to get Reed to fuck off back to New York and none of my labs have exploded due to some super genius assholes that lacked common sense or basic safety precautions.
And I think that was why this shit fell into my lap.
Bringing up my hand, I gave my omni one last check making sure that the kids weren't giving Peter a hard time as I ignored the alert that came through. The people in the chamber could wait as I checked in on my kids and found that they hadn’t tied up Peter and shipped him off-world. Surprisingly, they were actually all relaxing and watching a movie together, cheeky brats.
Stepping away from the window overlooking Pandora Prime, I caught my reflection. Strong shoulders and a straight back had me cutting a striking figure as a warrior Emperor with my long flowing cloak, a wolf's skull draped over one shoulder, a dragon over the other. The cloak that stretched down my back had wolves' fur on the shoulders before swapping over to dragonhide. My chest was covered with my spartan Locke-styled armor with greaves and boots to match. Even my ladies were decked out in their own armor for the occasion.
Leading the way, I walked into my throne room ignoring the precession of people that stood down below the dais and walking over to the massive throne couch. Large arches raised from the ground and reached upwards towards the vanishing ceiling. Golden inlays, along with ocean blues, pearls, and other rich inlays fluidly moved around the throne.
I couldn't even shake my head at the ostentatiousness of the thing since I had given Emma the freedom to pick and decorate the place with the others. I came to a stop before the throne couch with Medusa on my right, followed by Felicia, Jean, Gwen, and Sue. Ororo is at my left, along with Emma, Mystique, Natasha, and Selene. On a love seat at the right were my mother and father. In the leftmost chair sat Fury with his badass trench coat watching everything with a hawk-like gaze. Beside him sat Andromeda, Namora, and behind them sat my Primarchs.
The Ancient One sat on the right side and beside her, Faora sat at the head of her own table with my Spartan leaders at her back. Both Primarchs and Spartans lined the grand throne room all standing at attention. Casting my gaze far and wide, I took in the whole room before me even as I glanced over those that came before turning my gaze upwards to the enchanted ceiling. The ambiance of the room was allowed to marinate for a time before I felt it was the right moment.
Down past the dais were those who had approached Medusa and I could already see some of the so-called noble assholes mixed in, but that was alright. The call had gone out and the full five hundred and eleven that were showing discontent with my ruling showed up. They had balls, ‘ll give them that much at least.
The interesting thing was, that I had no hate for these people, only pity for they know not what they have done. With one fluid motion of my hand, my massive anime ax I have used in countless battles manifested. Hushed whispers and words started to float around the room: even my entourage and I stayed silent. With my grip firm, I slammed the butt of the weapon into the ground silencing the buzzing of the throne room.
Three taps were performed as I cleared my throat before speaking.
“It has come to my attention that those of you before me have shifted from ideas of separation from my Empire to talks of performing such actions.”
The buzz of speech picked up, my ladies frowned at the obvious buzzing of the chamber. Raising my ax once more, I brought it down hard with the crack of thunder.
With everyone finally settling back down, I spoke softly even as my voice reached the far corners of the throne room. “My father raised me to understand that the true measure of a man is not him using his intellect to create weapons, but his use of knowledge to advance his people.” I finished with a sigh and a wave of my free hand towards those before me. “ My father has also taught me the dangers of holding onto those that were never yours to hold to begin with." I looked over towards him to see the smile of pride on his face alongside my mother's as they held hands. “I have tried hard to live my life by such words and have made sure to set the same example for my own kids.” Silence fell and I made sure to exude power and kept it that way before speaking again. “So I want you to understand my reasons for not following Black Bolts' rule of thumb by oppressing the Inhumans and extending my hand in good faith instead. With my saving you from the mining pits of Atitlan, and the cleansing of your gene pool of what those in charge viewed as lacking, I only asked for one thing, loyalty.” I let that word hang in the air.
Leaning forward, I let my eyes glow with power and spark a little, “For the payment of your loyalty, my Empire would provide food, housing, and enlightenment of your minds with higher science and understanding of the universe.” My weapon crackled with power and lightning, and I had to pull back some as I could feel them responding to my emotions. “You have broken this social contract between the ruler and his people. I have provided, but you have not kept to your end of the agreement with payment of loyalty.” I shook my head, ridding myself of the oppressive power that exuded from my being. It was best to just outright ask and be certain before I enacted my own plans. “Do you intend to leave my Empire?”
“Your majesty.”
I waved him off and scoffed, “Do not address me as such.” I returned with a glare. “Speak quickly so that we may get this over with. I have things of greater importance to deal with than a bunch of unloyal people.”
The guy in front who had self-elected himself as speaker and leader on their behalf stepped forward. He stood at least eight feet tall with green scales instead of skin. His form rippled with muscles, and it was easy to tell he had a lot more to his mutation. His legs appear to be digitigrade causing him not to be able to wear shoes.
It was clear he was gathering his courage as he looked back at a few of those behind him, “Before you summoned us here, yes, we were in talks to leave the Empire.”
I waved a hand across, silencing him, “Talks are irrelevant, seize the future you want.”
The dragon-scaled man frowned, stood straight, and all on my side could see him shedding the fake supplication. It wasn't that hard to tell that he and his group had no care or respect for any of us, but that was alright. Since I had no care for him and his people either, I had given freely, they took and then spat on my generosity.
“Yes, we would like one of the new planets and be allowed to go our parting ways if it is of no consequence." The dragon-man shook his head. “Black Bolt was the last Inhuman King and we would like to try our hand at democracy where everyone has a fair say. We have already served under a King, and we would like to not return to such ways.”
Silence descended in the throne room with his words, but I kept my face neutral. Everyone had already agreed that my judgment would be fair. I do doubt they would think that though. Each of my statements were pronounced with shocked gasps around the room. Did I relish the shock on the face of the over five hundred before me, maybe, but that was neither here nor there as they had sealed their own fates.
“Then I release you from my empire," I stated to the shock of all. Then brought the butt of my ax down with a thundering crash. “You shall leave with none of what you have gained for that which was gained by the Empire's grace and social agreements between it and its citizens belongs to the Empire.”
Shock flowed through them all, but they had no chance to speak as I brought the butt of my ax down once more with a thundering clap.
“You shall leave with no supplies, no medical technology, no infrastructure, no assistance.” My ax came down once more with a thundering clap. “You shall be guided by my Primarch to a planet of the Empire’s choosing as the last grace of this Emperor's will.”
More shock and another crash of my ax to pronounce my judgment. “Your wealth shall be converted to what was used before you came into my Empire's citizenship and shall be used to purchase supplies and tools for your departure. As the unstable molecular fabric is a secret of the Empire for its citizens, you shall turn yours over at the time of departure before searches are carried out to check your wares.” Another crash of my ax to make sure no one spoke and interrupted.
“Your omni-tool shall be null and void as your genetic sample is purged from our systems. On your time of leaving my throne room, you shall be labeled as visitors and shall lose all rights my citizens are allowed to our open networks. I completely strip you of all the rights allowed to the citizens of Pandora. ”
Across the island, shock rang out as they watched the live feed: shocked. The video was being fed live to all bars, hospitals, schools, omni-tools. Everything within my Empire's sphere of influence was showing the video.
As I finished speaking, I raised my ax high into the air as it crackled with power and electricity, then brought it down hard with my final judgment and cracked the marble pavement. We were gone in a burst of teleportation leaving behind the five hundred with my Primarchs and Spartans who had their orders.
[ Scene Break]
Bob the Primarch
With his back ramrod straight, Bob stood above all those before him as he watched the inspection of the heretics. With a sigh, he shook his mighty mane and tried to put the troubles out of his mind since they would no longer be his problem as they were the ones who spurned the great Emperors generosity.
Looking around to make sure no one was keeping a close eye on him. Bob stepped back into the throne room and eyed the minibar. Sigh, he wanted something to drink but he knew that it was only filled with Empress Emma’s favorite drinks. Of course, he would know since he was the one that built and stocked the thing. With a shake of the head, Bob made sure to steer clear of the minibar and get water from the fridge inside one of the side rooms before going back into the antechamber to watch the heretics get searched.
It took them a few hours before all five hundred were searched and had their apartments cleaned out. Bob looked over an itemized list of items before his personal omni pinged.
[ Give them the five years of rations delivered in a bag of holding. ]
[Another bag of holding will contain cold weather clothing and general earth shelter materials for the group.]
[Make sure that everyone gets on that shuttle, the flight log has already been planned.]
With a shrug, Bob got to work since the Emperor had already spoken. It was a shame that he was still trying to help them, but such was the Emperor's generosity. After giving out a few commands, Bob then checked his handlebar mustache, oiled it, curled the ends and then started to lay into them with a bombastic flair.
“Alright folks, the Emperor has seen fit to give you guys five years' worth of rations and some basic housing, hot damn y'all got off with the good shit.” Bob thundered with a grin of pearly whites. “But that's neither here nor there because your ride is here.”
With a wave of his hands, the double doors opened to show a shuttle touching down fifty meters from the doors.
Clap!
Clap!
Bob looked around at the surprised expression on everyone before he felt that he might as well move things along. “Ya’ll dont gotta go home, but you do gotta get the fuck outta here!”
With that as a prompting, his Spartans and Primarch brothers started to move the group along, men, women, and children all got onto the shuttle. It really was a dirty job, but they made their choices. With a grimace, he massaged his epic mustache before at least trying to get some of the kids to stay. He knew that the Emperor and Empress would make special dispensations for them at least, but none would listen.
Since no one wanted to take up his offer, Bob put his primus helm on, flicked the visor into place, then put a tag on his chest and took a seat near the doors that led to the cockpit. His Spartans can deal with the rabble while he rested his eyes.
[ Bob - The legally blind Primarch. ]
Humming a merry little tune, Bob allowed the world around him to fade away before it was brought back into stark contrast with a shake of his armor.
“Get off your ass Bob, we have shit to do.” Spartan Jacob's voice filtered through his internal communications unit. Eyes fluttering open, Bob let out a sigh and smacked the hand away before Jacob could shake him again. His HUD read a twenty-minute change in time, which was good.
“Piss off Jacob, no one likes filler characters,” Bob muttered as he stood up from his seat.
“You’re just upset my name’s better than yours,” Jacob replied with some snark. “Sounds like you’re hating because you ain't me boss man.”
“Yeah, yeah, go round them up,” Bob muttered while punching his keycode into the keypad leading into the front of the shuttle. “Remember no stragglers…”
“Got it.”
Ignoring him, Bob pushed his way past the other Spartans into the front of the shuttle and then into the cockpit. For a brief moment, all he saw were darkness and little twinkles that he knew to be stars. Then between an eyeblink and the next, his vision was overwhelmed by a field of white with minor hints of blues.
“Bring us to a hover at around fifty feet up and make sure the tractor beams are working in reverse please,” Bob stated with a pat on the shoulder of the pilot.
“You got it boss man” The pilot spoke up as his co-pilot started to input and activate the planetary entry procedures.
With a nod of the head, Bob tossed a few words in parting, “Good, let’s keep it nice and clean and I’ll buy the first rounds with my winnings.”
With a hop skip and a whistle, Bob found himself back in the cargo bay of the shuttle with the ramp down and a lot of people standing around the exit refusing to leave. With a snort and roll of the eyes, he pushed his way through the crowd to get to the so-called leader of the group.
“What's the hold-up?”
The dragon-man turned with a growl, some type of gas licking at his lips. “We were told we would be getting a planet, what is this?”
Looking at the fool before him, Bob could only sigh and ask the Emperor to grant him strength in dealing with such a moron. “You were given a planet since you did not ask for one, duh. Plus, you’re in luck, the pilots tell me that we are twenty miles inland and about five miles out from the nearest forest.”
“That is a death sentence for me and my people, you don’t expect me to just comply.” The dragon-man snarled foul gas pouring from his mouth.
Bob shrugged, “Not my problem, I’m just the well-paid help to make sure you get to your destination.”
“Then we are going back.” The dragon-man snarled, turning on his heel.
“Yeah, no can do,” Bob stated as his hand lashed out as swift as a striking cobra and grabbed the man by the back of his coat. “The Emperor has already granted you rations that will last five years, housing and manuals to build it. So off you go.” Then without showing much care, he picked up the dragon-man and tossed him off the ramp.
He screamed of course, but Bob couldn’t bring himself to care, the tractor beams would catch him, or he would survive due to his enhanced physiology. Turning around with a clap, Bob smiled at the stunned crowd in the cargo bay, “Who would like to learn how to fly today?”
No one spoke so Bob felt that he might as well take the lead, he was the Primarch in charge after all. Luggage went first of course, along with those that decided to cause a fuss. Then when there were only people left. Bob took an idea from Jacob and got fancy with it. They expanded the tractor beam to cover the ramp and then added a slide leading out and down.
He really wasn’t very happy about the kids and he really tried the soft touch, but the adults could kiss his ass. One asshole even tried to bite him, the bastard. Bob made sure he went out the hard way even if the guy didn’t fly half as well as the ninja stars back on Pandora.
That asshole was followed up by a few other human-shuriken before Bob felt his frustrations were vented enough. When everything was said and done, there was just a little old lady left and Bob had to admit, he felt mighty conflicted about this one.
“I’m telling you, sonny, there’s been a misunderstanding, I’m not supposed to be on this shit.” A little old granny spoke with tears dripping down her eyes.
He sighed and looked around only to notice all his Spartans were on the far end of the cargo bay bulkhead acting as if they were minding their own business. Of course, the cowards wouldn't want to deal with the old lady.
Hiding his own personal cringe, he leaned over, “Ma’am, we called for all those who wanted out before the shuttle left Pandora Prime, I don’t believe that this was a mistake.”
The little old lady cried even harder, “I didn’t vote for this, I swear.”
Reeling back, Bob brought a hand up to rub his forehead and almost missed the kick that struck out from the little old lady that was no longer so little. The kick caught Bob in the fun bits and he thanked all that was holy for his codpiece. Bob flew with such force that he slammed into the bulkhead creating an indent of his body. Those that saw winched in sympathy before two Primarch went in for the attack while two Spartans helped Bob.
“Did anybody see the bus that hit me?”
A spartan chuckled at him, “Yeah, she's pushing eighty and running over everyone in her way.”
Looking in the direction that his spartan was pointing, Bob found the little old granny wasn't so little anymore. She stood ten feet tall with muscles having muscles that ripped apart a good portion of her clothing. Ohh hell, he was not about to deal with this bullshit, not today.
Checking over his armor, Bob made sure that his air cannon was set to none lethal and charging. He prepared himself to get into the mix, but one of the Primarch that was fighting her was thrown his way. That was when Bob realized that he didn't want to catch any of those hands because granny was clearly from the streets.
With a shake of the head, he walked over to the command terminal, punched in his command codes, and gave the order for mag boots.
“Stop playing, over there, and come help me!” Jacob yelled from where he was getting a thrashing by the granny.
“Sorry, can’t hear you over stuff,” Bob yelled back as his hands flew across the control terminal. This went on for another twenty seconds before Bob had the configuration that he wanted and pressed the big red button. A shimmer of blue rolled through the cargo hold right as Jacob was slammed against the bulkhead walls one more time.
The field went over his form and did nothing, but when it hit the massively buff old lady, it sent her flying right out the back of the shuttle. Walking over to the ramp controls, Bob looked around. “We all agree on no one hearing about this?”
“Well, fuck you very much, where was my help when I was getting my ass beat?” Jacob called with a hand raised in the air. “All you got was knocked across the damn cargo bay, that old bird gave me a five-piece combo with the sides.”
Rolling his eyes, Bob hit the panel to close the ramp, then opened the drone controls. There were about five hundred people, but he didn't think that they would split so soon, so five of the long-term observation drones would do.
A flick of the wrist opened his own omni and Bob could already see the betting pools opening.
[ Five Years' worth of rations already had bets on it being stolen, someone losing it. The most money was on it being left behind during an animal attack.]
[Death by a monster attack.]
[Death by a parasite.]
[Death by Cannibalism.]
[Frostbite.]
The list went on and on, closing the program with a shake of his head. Bob walked over and picked Jacob's lazy ass off the shuttle floor and pushed him into a seat, the lazy ass.
[ Scene Break]
A few days had come and gone, and I found myself sitting on my balcony watching the stars. I knew that I really shouldn't feel this way, but I also knew that it was just part of the human condition, and I would have to deal with it.
Life isn't a popularity contest, and not everyone could or should be loved. A soft click came from the side as the backdoor to my house opened and I knew that it could only be one person from the aura. My dad said nothing as he came and took the chair at my side, and we fell into silence as we both peered up at the stars.
“I know that look and understand why you're wearing it,” My dad said after taking a sip from his mug. “But you can’t be out here brooding the whole night, you’ll set a bad example for my grandkids.
I let out a sigh before a chuckle followed it.
My dad put his mug down and looked at me, “I told you when you were younger, that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't force him to drink.” I watched as my dad shook his head at me with a sympathetic look. “It's the same with people, no matter how fair you might be, some just won't appreciate what you do for them.”
“I get that, but I was just hoping that with them learning about the world they would make better choices,” I replied. “I’m trying to do right by people even if they don’t want me to.”
That caused my father to snort into his mug. “Benjamin, a person is smart, but people are dumb.” He went silent for a moment as we held eye contact. “You made the right call. I would rather you send them away now instead of sending my cops to arrest them later because they turned traitor or became terrorists to resist your rule.”
Now it was my turn to give my father a hard look. “Your cops wouldn't get the chance before I crushed them underneath my heel.”
My dad shook his head with a chuckle. “Just like your mother taught you: good; but it would have to be my cops, so your citizens see justice doing its work.”
Okay, he was right, but he knew that, so we went back to being silent. There was a beep and with a wave of my hand, I activated the holo to check. What I found was another person dying because of one of the frost beasts on that frozen hell hole. From the data readings, bets were being placed and collected at a rapid rate. On the side, a data counter was going up from the taxes and I had to give it to Emma, that was a nice touch.
Lowering the volume of the drone feed, I gave my father a side glance. “Did you place any bets?"
My dad shook his head, “Didn't want any of that blood money…. Your mother said something about not missing the chance to make good change off some fool’s mishap.”
I stared at him.
My dad shrugged, “She claimed her grandbabies need new toys.”
I gave him a flat look. "She has billions to her name, the bets don't even blip as a percent. Not to mention we are the royal family, there is nothing we can’t purchase or create ourselves.”
My dad shrugged in return, “You tell her that.”
I stared at him for a long while before turning away and chuckling. “Yeah, that's not going to happen.”
“Exactly,” My dad replied before standing and offering me a hand. “Let's head inside, Maya made some noodle art of her grandpa.”
“Alright.”
Authors Notes :
The bar scene and exploration will have to wait for the next follow-up chapter. Plenty of things to cover, also poor Jerry. Nasa will never be the same.
As much as Ben might feel some type of betrayal from Markus and those leaving, he isn't going to do anything about it. Yes, I wrote this from Ben’s prospective and you are going to hear the thoughts rattling around inside of his head along with his emotions. That doesn't mean he will act on all of them.
Something I get all the time is why is Ben always angry or lustful. Generally, I don't answer because I thought that it would be common sense by now. I guess it's not but the average human being goes through multiple range of emotions on a daily bases that can go anywhere from anger to depression to just loathing and apathy.
There are a lot of things that irritate us but we never act on them just like there are a lot of things that make us horny that don't get acted on.
What I'm trying to say is chill and stop asking or making such redundant statements. It's a fictional story, like Elsa, sings, LET IT GO!
Also, please leave a comment and review, it helps me know reader engagement with the chapters.
Let me know what you guys think about the chapter.
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The Fastest Man Alive
Chapter 82
By: BigToFu
NASA Technician
Jerry Woods, PhD.
With a yawn, Jerry rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before getting up from his monitor and heading over to the coffee station. Stifling another yawn, Jerry smiled down at the sound of the coffee machine gurgling with the faint smell of vanilla wafting upwards to tickle his nostrils, caress his heart and stimulate his mind.
Slowly he reached for the mug with his name on it, inspected it with a critical look. Then nodded his head at it being clean and proper as it should be. Putting his mug inside the section for a cup, he then pressed the button for the brew and waited.
Alert!
Alert!
Alert!
Alert!
With a growl of frustration, Jerry turned and gave his computer a glare but never moved from his location. Ignoring the alert that was going off behind him, Jerry stared down the coffee machine as it dribbled the final dregs of the ambrosia known as vanilla French roast. His right brow ticked as the beeping from the alert continued, but he ignored it all as his hand reached forward and picked up his mug of coffee.
The warmth that spread from the cup up his hand promised him sweet, sweet release from the trappings of the night shift. With a smile at the beauty firmly in his grasp, Jerry strolled back over to his desk with a smile plastered on his face. He did a little jig before arriving at his desk in Nasa’s operations and observation room.
Turning his chair so that the back would be facing his computer, he sat down, wiggled his behind to get nice and comfortable, then with a kick of the leg twisted back around. One hand went to the keyboard to input his lanyard and password, while the other brought the mug to his lips.
He was never able to take a sip as his eyes flowed over the text of the massive warning on the screen. The hand holding his prized mug fell from his grip as he read the big bold words.
[ Warning gravity anomaly]
Along with the red flashing lights, Jerry was greeted with the sight of three new planets inside of the solar system with clear pictures from the satellites in orbit. What was also clear was that was an impossibility; and things got even more bizarre as he read more and more about the data collated and extrapolated by the computers and the satellites.
“Ouch! Ouch!” Jerry yelped in pain and shock as the coffee he was about to sip spilled into his lap. Jumping up from his seat, one hand tried to clear his lap and the other was flying across the mouse pad, the device in hand.
Three new planets within the span of a few hours and if the images captured were in any way correct. Some madman was out there moving those planets around as if they were Ikea furniture. Jerry parsed through a few shutter images over the last forty-eight-hour time frame and found that yes, there were three new planets brought into the system. Eyes wide, he then isolated the time frame and had the computer bring up the minute-by-minute time shots.
Okay, maybe those in charge weren't so paranoid about wanting to keep an eye on the space assets of the madman Blake. He stood up and looked around only to find the room empty, ‘fuck’ he cursed coming to the realization that as he was the lead operator working on the night shift. He was now the lead person on this and that was honestly the last thing he wanted.
Jerry heard the rumors, those government types tend to make people they take interest in disappearing into mysterious labs or workplaces with NDA’s pouring out of all their orifices while calling it a promotion. Looking around, he froze and found that he was still alone and the time was ticking away. ‘Shit!’ he had to do something. If he was going, to be honest with himself though, he wanted nothing to do with being the one to snitch on that madman; but it looked like there was no way he could get out of this one.
With a growl of frustration, Jerry cleared off his workspace of the coffee along with himself before sitting back down. He didn’t want to be that guy, but it was very clear now with everyone gone that he couldn’t pull rank and would have to do the reporting himself. Sitting down and now wide awake without the need for coffee, Jerry set about gathering as much information he could.
He very well doubted that the Director of NASA would be happy with only receiving still-images of what was going on in their solar system. No, Jerry would need a full and detailed workup on the gravity anomaly that was reported along with the positions of the planets.
Three more years Jerry, just three more years and then you can retire.
[ Scene Break ]
Benjamin Blake
Father, Husband, Emperor
Leaning back in the stretch hover limo, I released a sigh as I settled in for the little flight. All around me though things were buzzing with activity as Sue chatted excitedly with Raven on what she hoped to find on these new planets. Humming along with the antigravity of the limo, I ran a hand absently over the curve of Raven’s stomach as she leaned into me.
“I’m telling you, there is something peculiar about the make-up of our universe for such a thing to be possible.” Sue gushed over the planetary hologram that floated in the free space of the limo. “Not one but two planets so far have shown up with unique biospheres that were thought impossible.”
Sue kept gushing over the planetary scans and I tried to just let her words flow over my relaxed form until she dropped a name that I totally wasn’t expecting.
“I wonder if the biological life down on Hoth would be like what they showed in the movies,” Sue stated and the name over the planet updated in real-time. “Maybe we’ll find Wookies down on Kashyyk, the topographical charts have shown unusual heat clusters within the forest canopy.”
I wanted to say something, but honestly, I just dismissed it because naming a few planets wasn’t really that high up on my list of important things. Also, any man with more than two brain cells would know to live by the phrase happy wife equals happy life. So instead of saying anything, I just decided to chill in my lane and plan the next steps.
Science vessels were being prepared along with the scientists to man them along with what I would call a beefy security team. At this point, I was of the mind to shoot first and sort things out later, but that was no proper way to run an Empire.
An absent hand came to rub the stubble on my chin causing me to turn and smile at Sue, “We’re here my loves.”
Returning the smile, I pecked her on the lips before doing the same with the beauty leaning up against me. Shifting them both over, I got out first as the Primarch held the door open, then gave the area a nice once over because one could never be too sure. The world wouldn’t be able to handle my reaction if someone had been able to get a sniper round off or set something up. Those dark thoughts were instantly dismissed as my sight zoomed in on the guards positioned for overwatch.
That means someone was on coms and all possible vantage points were covered. Easily able to tell that this was more of Natasha’s handy work on display. That was good since she worked best from the shadows after all.
Happy with the level of security, I turned towards the limo door and held a handout. Raven stepped out first with an elegant flow to her steps. Then Sue followed with a holo-tablet in her hands scrolling through technical data. Shaking my head at her, I tapped the face of the tablet to get her attention before pointing towards the science vessel when she finally looked up.
Her jaw dropped at the sight of all the sleek lines and curves of the ship that would be taking us on our little voyage.
“Sir, ma’am…” Doctor Vogal called out with a raised hand waving from the cargo bay of the ship. Sue turned and smiled at me, but honestly, she didn’t need my permission. With a shake of my head, I removed my hand from the holo-tablet and watched as she skipped off to go and talk science.
Turning to get the rundown on preparations, I listened to the Primarch in charge of security along with the ship's Captain give a run down while also offering a tour of the ship. While I was listening to them discuss security procedures and the perimeters that would be set up once we landed, the chair I had called for finally arrived.
Holding up a hand to give the two the signal to stop, I turned and watched as a hoverchair, modeled after Frieza’s, came and was brought over by one of the logistics crew. With a wave of my hand, the chair was summoned to my side. Then another wave of the hand activated the anti-gravity.
“This is?” Mystique asked me with a raised brow even as she looked the hover chair over. With a smile on my face, I slid up beside her, then with one arm around her waist and the other on the lip of the hover chair. She was scooped up and delivered to the confines of the vehicle.
A swift few keystrokes on my omni had shields and life support activated with a shimmer of blue force fields. I took a moment to go over the rest of the chair's controls as I let those around me with jobs get on with their work. It was very much a good thing that I had already put policies and rules in place to stop things from going into a grinding halt whenever I made my presence known. A lot of people don’t realize how being born American made you entirely averse to bowing and scraping, even if I find it okay on occasions.
Taking a step back, I watched as Mystique hovered in her chair and took it around on a short flight before coming back down to hover before the shuttle bay doors. With a smile, I vanished from my location in a burst of speed to reappear at her side while also noting the look that Sue was giving the hover chair.
Moving out of the way as a pallet of scientific equipment was moved in, my head perked up as I felt a shift in the air. It was tinged with something and that wasn’t brimstone and adrenaline which meant Ghost Rider was still dealing with his own mess and hadn't made it back yet.
That worry wasn’t here today and he had no plans to go and deal with either the United Nations or the monster metropolis under New York. Both things he could deal with later while one of them would need my actual attention since it was something the Ancient One had asked me to sort out personally. All things in due time and could be handled later as I felt the approach of one of my own.
Yeah, this isn’t going to be good, I think as I could feel her roiling emotions more clearly as she approached. Looking skywards, I watched as a streak of red and purple came flying around the bend at very high speeds. On top of one of my flying bikes sat Medusa with the only thing covering her face being a silver visor to block the wind.
The bike came to a stop at the far end of the ship's bay, and I watched as she hopped off and hovered for a bit with the flight belt. Her personal Primarch did his thing, looked around, and then pointed in my direction.
I raised a meaty hand, glowed a bit of my power, and then watched her orient herself and fly over.
Medusa flew down and the moment I brought her in for a hug, I knew that something was wrong, and it wasn’t the small frown on her face that clued me in. No, that was the slightly defeated aura that was exuding from her body. That was also the only thing needed before killing intent started to leak alerting everyone within the vicinity of the smiting that was about to take place.
Without having to say a word, both Sue and Raven were at my shoulder with an intense interest in the situation.
“What happened?” Mystique asked with concern tingeing her voice. Medusa gave a wan smile and I could see that she wasn't very happy with the situation. Since I had no clue why, I turned slightly and shrugged, Medusa on the other hand seemed to have braced herself.
We all watched as she gathered her thoughts before speaking. “I was approached today by a group of Inhumans who were looking to defect and colonize one of the new planets.” Medusa then grimaced and we could all tell that it was bad. “During the conversation, they hinted at and laughed about the possibility of leaving the Empire.”
Automatically, I shook my head, “That will never happen, I have invested far too much of my personal time to clothe them, feed them, lift them up out of the muck and educate them about the greater world and universe.” I was really trying not to let the real and utter betrayal show, but I had to admit, I was fucking heated.
“I know,” Medusa replied with a sigh.
“They were told that the price was loyalty.” I continued my voice oozing power. “Not just flag-waving pledges every once in a blue moon.” I continued with a shake of my head. “The loyalty owed to the Empire and myself, is till death do us part. There is no emancipation from my Empire.”
“They made a choice, and that choice was to be a part of the Empire not to die as slaves.” Mystique picked up where I had stopped. She placed a hand on Medusa’s forearm stopping me from pushing forward some more.
“It’s not so different from what our ancestors did with the British,” Sue stated, trying to play devil's advocate.
I snorted, “The British had boats and could take upwards of six months to years to get across the ocean. I have ships, teleporters and can move freely through space to lay down the law if I have to. This isn't about taxation without representation like it was in the old days.”
“From what I have seen already, they have plenty of representation within the government.” Medusa then sighed with a shake of the head. “Be that as it may, they were hoping that I would lead them.”
The three of us grimaced, taking a step back, I looked at the shuttles ready to leave and follow behind my away teams. Instead of going over and just leaving it with a note of fuck it, I decided to send out both an alert and an all-call for everyone. I took the job, now it was time for me to do my part and put my big boy pants on.
This Emperor had work to do.
[ Scene Break ]
Pandora Prime
Emperor Blake's Throne room
Emperor Blake
With the all-call going out, it didn't take long for the family and my advisors to gather and prepare. I had already made my decision and shared it with my ladies, and closest confidants. Funny enough Fury didn't have anything to share even if he warned me about Nasa picking up my recent acquisitions.
Then again, I know Fury was happy with being one of the very few in the know and having his own escape from Earth in case things go sideways. Then again, the man was far too stubborn to leave a sinking ship and I just might have to conquer the place so my Uncle didn't die because of some moronic politician.
Standing with my back to everyone, I waited for those who were summoned to gather even as I looked out over my planet. Pandora, formerly Mars, was coming along very nicely and I couldn't have done any better. The skies were blue right alongside the oceans. The lands were green and lush with forests covering sixty percent of the landmass. The parts without forests had eco-friendly cities and metropolitan areas to house and support my rising population.
All across the board, things were looking up, even my military complex showed no issues and was well within budget. I was able to get Reed to fuck off back to New York and none of my labs have exploded due to some super genius assholes that lacked common sense or basic safety precautions.
And I think that was why this shit fell into my lap.
Bringing up my hand, I gave my omni one last check making sure that the kids weren't giving Peter a hard time as I ignored the alert that came through. The people in the chamber could wait as I checked in on my kids and found that they hadn’t tied up Peter and shipped him off-world. Surprisingly, they were actually all relaxing and watching a movie together, cheeky brats.
Stepping away from the window overlooking Pandora Prime, I caught my reflection. Strong shoulders and a straight back had me cutting a striking figure as a warrior Emperor with my long flowing cloak, a wolf's skull draped over one shoulder, a dragon over the other. The cloak that stretched down my back had wolves' fur on the shoulders before swapping over to dragonhide. My chest was covered with my spartan Locke-styled armor with greaves and boots to match. Even my ladies were decked out in their own armor for the occasion.
Leading the way, I walked into my throne room ignoring the precession of people that stood down below the dais and walking over to the massive throne couch. Large arches raised from the ground and reached upwards towards the vanishing ceiling. Golden inlays, along with ocean blues, pearls, and other rich inlays fluidly moved around the throne.
I couldn't even shake my head at the ostentatiousness of the thing since I had given Emma the freedom to pick and decorate the place with the others. I came to a stop before the throne couch with Medusa on my right, followed by Felicia, Jean, Gwen, and Sue. Ororo is at my left, along with Emma, Mystique, Natasha, and Selene. On a love seat at the right were my mother and father. In the leftmost chair sat Fury with his badass trench coat watching everything with a hawk-like gaze. Beside him sat Andromeda, Namora, and behind them sat my Primarchs.
The Ancient One sat on the right side and beside her, Faora sat at the head of her own table with my Spartan leaders at her back. Both Primarchs and Spartans lined the grand throne room all standing at attention. Casting my gaze far and wide, I took in the whole room before me even as I glanced over those that came before turning my gaze upwards to the enchanted ceiling. The ambiance of the room was allowed to marinate for a time before I felt it was the right moment.
Down past the dais were those who had approached Medusa and I could already see some of the so-called noble assholes mixed in, but that was alright. The call had gone out and the full five hundred and eleven that were showing discontent with my ruling showed up. They had balls, ‘ll give them that much at least.
The interesting thing was, that I had no hate for these people, only pity for they know not what they have done. With one fluid motion of my hand, my massive anime ax I have used in countless battles manifested. Hushed whispers and words started to float around the room: even my entourage and I stayed silent. With my grip firm, I slammed the butt of the weapon into the ground silencing the buzzing of the throne room.
Three taps were performed as I cleared my throat before speaking.
“It has come to my attention that those of you before me have shifted from ideas of separation from my Empire to talks of performing such actions.”
The buzz of speech picked up, my ladies frowned at the obvious buzzing of the chamber. Raising my ax once more, I brought it down hard with the crack of thunder.
With everyone finally settling back down, I spoke softly even as my voice reached the far corners of the throne room. “My father raised me to understand that the true measure of a man is not him using his intellect to create weapons, but his use of knowledge to advance his people.” I finished with a sigh and a wave of my free hand towards those before me. “ My father has also taught me the dangers of holding onto those that were never yours to hold to begin with." I looked over towards him to see the smile of pride on his face alongside my mother's as they held hands. “I have tried hard to live my life by such words and have made sure to set the same example for my own kids.” Silence fell and I made sure to exude power and kept it that way before speaking again. “So I want you to understand my reasons for not following Black Bolts' rule of thumb by oppressing the Inhumans and extending my hand in good faith instead. With my saving you from the mining pits of Atitlan, and the cleansing of your gene pool of what those in charge viewed as lacking, I only asked for one thing, loyalty.” I let that word hang in the air.
Leaning forward, I let my eyes glow with power and spark a little, “For the payment of your loyalty, my Empire would provide food, housing, and enlightenment of your minds with higher science and understanding of the universe.” My weapon crackled with power and lightning, and I had to pull back some as I could feel them responding to my emotions. “You have broken this social contract between the ruler and his people. I have provided, but you have not kept to your end of the agreement with payment of loyalty.” I shook my head, ridding myself of the oppressive power that exuded from my being. It was best to just outright ask and be certain before I enacted my own plans. “Do you intend to leave my Empire?”
“Your majesty.”
I waved him off and scoffed, “Do not address me as such.” I returned with a glare. “Speak quickly so that we may get this over with. I have things of greater importance to deal with than a bunch of unloyal people.”
The guy in front who had self-elected himself as speaker and leader on their behalf stepped forward. He stood at least eight feet tall with green scales instead of skin. His form rippled with muscles, and it was easy to tell he had a lot more to his mutation. His legs appear to be digitigrade causing him not to be able to wear shoes.
It was clear he was gathering his courage as he looked back at a few of those behind him, “Before you summoned us here, yes, we were in talks to leave the Empire.”
I waved a hand across, silencing him, “Talks are irrelevant, seize the future you want.”
The dragon-scaled man frowned, stood straight, and all on my side could see him shedding the fake supplication. It wasn't that hard to tell that he and his group had no care or respect for any of us, but that was alright. Since I had no care for him and his people either, I had given freely, they took and then spat on my generosity.
“Yes, we would like one of the new planets and be allowed to go our parting ways if it is of no consequence." The dragon-man shook his head. “Black Bolt was the last Inhuman King and we would like to try our hand at democracy where everyone has a fair say. We have already served under a King, and we would like to not return to such ways.”
Silence descended in the throne room with his words, but I kept my face neutral. Everyone had already agreed that my judgment would be fair. I do doubt they would think that though. Each of my statements were pronounced with shocked gasps around the room. Did I relish the shock on the face of the over five hundred before me, maybe, but that was neither here nor there as they had sealed their own fates.
“Then I release you from my empire," I stated to the shock of all. Then brought the butt of my ax down with a thundering crash. “You shall leave with none of what you have gained for that which was gained by the Empire's grace and social agreements between it and its citizens belongs to the Empire.”
Shock flowed through them all, but they had no chance to speak as I brought the butt of my ax down once more with a thundering clap.
“You shall leave with no supplies, no medical technology, no infrastructure, no assistance.” My ax came down once more with a thundering clap. “You shall be guided by my Primarch to a planet of the Empire’s choosing as the last grace of this Emperor's will.”
More shock and another crash of my ax to pronounce my judgment. “Your wealth shall be converted to what was used before you came into my Empire's citizenship and shall be used to purchase supplies and tools for your departure. As the unstable molecular fabric is a secret of the Empire for its citizens, you shall turn yours over at the time of departure before searches are carried out to check your wares.” Another crash of my ax to make sure no one spoke and interrupted.
“Your omni-tool shall be null and void as your genetic sample is purged from our systems. On your time of leaving my throne room, you shall be labeled as visitors and shall lose all rights my citizens are allowed to our open networks. I completely strip you of all the rights allowed to the citizens of Pandora. ”
Across the island, shock rang out as they watched the live feed: shocked. The video was being fed live to all bars, hospitals, schools, omni-tools. Everything within my Empire's sphere of influence was showing the video.
As I finished speaking, I raised my ax high into the air as it crackled with power and electricity, then brought it down hard with my final judgment and cracked the marble pavement. We were gone in a burst of teleportation leaving behind the five hundred with my Primarchs and Spartans who had their orders.
[ Scene Break]
Bob the Primarch
With his back ramrod straight, Bob stood above all those before him as he watched the inspection of the heretics. With a sigh, he shook his mighty mane and tried to put the troubles out of his mind since they would no longer be his problem as they were the ones who spurned the great Emperors generosity.
Looking around to make sure no one was keeping a close eye on him. Bob stepped back into the throne room and eyed the minibar. Sigh, he wanted something to drink but he knew that it was only filled with Empress Emma’s favorite drinks. Of course, he would know since he was the one that built and stocked the thing. With a shake of the head, Bob made sure to steer clear of the minibar and get water from the fridge inside one of the side rooms before going back into the antechamber to watch the heretics get searched.
It took them a few hours before all five hundred were searched and had their apartments cleaned out. Bob looked over an itemized list of items before his personal omni pinged.
[ Give them the five years of rations delivered in a bag of holding. ]
[Another bag of holding will contain cold weather clothing and general earth shelter materials for the group.]
[Make sure that everyone gets on that shuttle, the flight log has already been planned.]
With a shrug, Bob got to work since the Emperor had already spoken. It was a shame that he was still trying to help them, but such was the Emperor's generosity. After giving out a few commands, Bob then checked his handlebar mustache, oiled it, curled the ends and then started to lay into them with a bombastic flair.
“Alright folks, the Emperor has seen fit to give you guys five years' worth of rations and some basic housing, hot damn y'all got off with the good shit.” Bob thundered with a grin of pearly whites. “But that's neither here nor there because your ride is here.”
With a wave of his hands, the double doors opened to show a shuttle touching down fifty meters from the doors.
Clap!
Clap!
Bob looked around at the surprised expression on everyone before he felt that he might as well move things along. “Ya’ll dont gotta go home, but you do gotta get the fuck outta here!”
With that as a prompting, his Spartans and Primarch brothers started to move the group along, men, women, and children all got onto the shuttle. It really was a dirty job, but they made their choices. With a grimace, he massaged his epic mustache before at least trying to get some of the kids to stay. He knew that the Emperor and Empress would make special dispensations for them at least, but none would listen.
Since no one wanted to take up his offer, Bob put his primus helm on, flicked the visor into place, then put a tag on his chest and took a seat near the doors that led to the cockpit. His Spartans can deal with the rabble while he rested his eyes.
[ Bob - The legally blind Primarch. ]
Humming a merry little tune, Bob allowed the world around him to fade away before it was brought back into stark contrast with a shake of his armor.
“Get off your ass Bob, we have shit to do.” Spartan Jacob's voice filtered through his internal communications unit. Eyes fluttering open, Bob let out a sigh and smacked the hand away before Jacob could shake him again. His HUD read a twenty-minute change in time, which was good.
“Piss off Jacob, no one likes filler characters,” Bob muttered as he stood up from his seat.
“You’re just upset my name’s better than yours,” Jacob replied with some snark. “Sounds like you’re hating because you ain't me boss man.”
“Yeah, yeah, go round them up,” Bob muttered while punching his keycode into the keypad leading into the front of the shuttle. “Remember no stragglers…”
“Got it.”
Ignoring him, Bob pushed his way past the other Spartans into the front of the shuttle and then into the cockpit. For a brief moment, all he saw were darkness and little twinkles that he knew to be stars. Then between an eyeblink and the next, his vision was overwhelmed by a field of white with minor hints of blues.
“Bring us to a hover at around fifty feet up and make sure the tractor beams are working in reverse please,” Bob stated with a pat on the shoulder of the pilot.
“You got it boss man” The pilot spoke up as his co-pilot started to input and activate the planetary entry procedures.
With a nod of the head, Bob tossed a few words in parting, “Good, let’s keep it nice and clean and I’ll buy the first rounds with my winnings.”
With a hop skip and a whistle, Bob found himself back in the cargo bay of the shuttle with the ramp down and a lot of people standing around the exit refusing to leave. With a snort and roll of the eyes, he pushed his way through the crowd to get to the so-called leader of the group.
“What's the hold-up?”
The dragon-man turned with a growl, some type of gas licking at his lips. “We were told we would be getting a planet, what is this?”
Looking at the fool before him, Bob could only sigh and ask the Emperor to grant him strength in dealing with such a moron. “You were given a planet since you did not ask for one, duh. Plus, you’re in luck, the pilots tell me that we are twenty miles inland and about five miles out from the nearest forest.”
“That is a death sentence for me and my people, you don’t expect me to just comply.” The dragon-man snarled foul gas pouring from his mouth.
Bob shrugged, “Not my problem, I’m just the well-paid help to make sure you get to your destination.”
“Then we are going back.” The dragon-man snarled, turning on his heel.
“Yeah, no can do,” Bob stated as his hand lashed out as swift as a striking cobra and grabbed the man by the back of his coat. “The Emperor has already granted you rations that will last five years, housing and manuals to build it. So off you go.” Then without showing much care, he picked up the dragon-man and tossed him off the ramp.
He screamed of course, but Bob couldn’t bring himself to care, the tractor beams would catch him, or he would survive due to his enhanced physiology. Turning around with a clap, Bob smiled at the stunned crowd in the cargo bay, “Who would like to learn how to fly today?”
No one spoke so Bob felt that he might as well take the lead, he was the Primarch in charge after all. Luggage went first of course, along with those that decided to cause a fuss. Then when there were only people left. Bob took an idea from Jacob and got fancy with it. They expanded the tractor beam to cover the ramp and then added a slide leading out and down.
He really wasn’t very happy about the kids and he really tried the soft touch, but the adults could kiss his ass. One asshole even tried to bite him, the bastard. Bob made sure he went out the hard way even if the guy didn’t fly half as well as the ninja stars back on Pandora.
That asshole was followed up by a few other human-shuriken before Bob felt his frustrations were vented enough. When everything was said and done, there was just a little old lady left and Bob had to admit, he felt mighty conflicted about this one.
“I’m telling you, sonny, there’s been a misunderstanding, I’m not supposed to be on this shit.” A little old granny spoke with tears dripping down her eyes.
He sighed and looked around only to notice all his Spartans were on the far end of the cargo bay bulkhead acting as if they were minding their own business. Of course, the cowards wouldn't want to deal with the old lady.
Hiding his own personal cringe, he leaned over, “Ma’am, we called for all those who wanted out before the shuttle left Pandora Prime, I don’t believe that this was a mistake.”
The little old lady cried even harder, “I didn’t vote for this, I swear.”
Reeling back, Bob brought a hand up to rub his forehead and almost missed the kick that struck out from the little old lady that was no longer so little. The kick caught Bob in the fun bits and he thanked all that was holy for his codpiece. Bob flew with such force that he slammed into the bulkhead creating an indent of his body. Those that saw winched in sympathy before two Primarch went in for the attack while two Spartans helped Bob.
“Did anybody see the bus that hit me?”
A spartan chuckled at him, “Yeah, she's pushing eighty and running over everyone in her way.”
Looking in the direction that his spartan was pointing, Bob found the little old granny wasn't so little anymore. She stood ten feet tall with muscles having muscles that ripped apart a good portion of her clothing. Ohh hell, he was not about to deal with this bullshit, not today.
Checking over his armor, Bob made sure that his air cannon was set to none lethal and charging. He prepared himself to get into the mix, but one of the Primarch that was fighting her was thrown his way. That was when Bob realized that he didn't want to catch any of those hands because granny was clearly from the streets.
With a shake of the head, he walked over to the command terminal, punched in his command codes, and gave the order for mag boots.
“Stop playing, over there, and come help me!” Jacob yelled from where he was getting a thrashing by the granny.
“Sorry, can’t hear you over stuff,” Bob yelled back as his hands flew across the control terminal. This went on for another twenty seconds before Bob had the configuration that he wanted and pressed the big red button. A shimmer of blue rolled through the cargo hold right as Jacob was slammed against the bulkhead walls one more time.
The field went over his form and did nothing, but when it hit the massively buff old lady, it sent her flying right out the back of the shuttle. Walking over to the ramp controls, Bob looked around. “We all agree on no one hearing about this?”
“Well, fuck you very much, where was my help when I was getting my ass beat?” Jacob called with a hand raised in the air. “All you got was knocked across the damn cargo bay, that old bird gave me a five-piece combo with the sides.”
Rolling his eyes, Bob hit the panel to close the ramp, then opened the drone controls. There were about five hundred people, but he didn't think that they would split so soon, so five of the long-term observation drones would do.
A flick of the wrist opened his own omni and Bob could already see the betting pools opening.
[ Five Years' worth of rations already had bets on it being stolen, someone losing it. The most money was on it being left behind during an animal attack.]
[Death by a monster attack.]
[Death by a parasite.]
[Death by Cannibalism.]
[Frostbite.]
The list went on and on, closing the program with a shake of his head. Bob walked over and picked Jacob's lazy ass off the shuttle floor and pushed him into a seat, the lazy ass.
[ Scene Break]
A few days had come and gone, and I found myself sitting on my balcony watching the stars. I knew that I really shouldn't feel this way, but I also knew that it was just part of the human condition, and I would have to deal with it.
Life isn't a popularity contest, and not everyone could or should be loved. A soft click came from the side as the backdoor to my house opened and I knew that it could only be one person from the aura. My dad said nothing as he came and took the chair at my side, and we fell into silence as we both peered up at the stars.
“I know that look and understand why you're wearing it,” My dad said after taking a sip from his mug. “But you can’t be out here brooding the whole night, you’ll set a bad example for my grandkids.
I let out a sigh before a chuckle followed it.
My dad put his mug down and looked at me, “I told you when you were younger, that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't force him to drink.” I watched as my dad shook his head at me with a sympathetic look. “It's the same with people, no matter how fair you might be, some just won't appreciate what you do for them.”
“I get that, but I was just hoping that with them learning about the world they would make better choices,” I replied. “I’m trying to do right by people even if they don’t want me to.”
That caused my father to snort into his mug. “Benjamin, a person is smart, but people are dumb.” He went silent for a moment as we held eye contact. “You made the right call. I would rather you send them away now instead of sending my cops to arrest them later because they turned traitor or became terrorists to resist your rule.”
Now it was my turn to give my father a hard look. “Your cops wouldn't get the chance before I crushed them underneath my heel.”
My dad shook his head with a chuckle. “Just like your mother taught you: good; but it would have to be my cops, so your citizens see justice doing its work.”
Okay, he was right, but he knew that, so we went back to being silent. There was a beep and with a wave of my hand, I activated the holo to check. What I found was another person dying because of one of the frost beasts on that frozen hell hole. From the data readings, bets were being placed and collected at a rapid rate. On the side, a data counter was going up from the taxes and I had to give it to Emma, that was a nice touch.
Lowering the volume of the drone feed, I gave my father a side glance. “Did you place any bets?"
My dad shook his head, “Didn't want any of that blood money…. Your mother said something about not missing the chance to make good change off some fool’s mishap.”
I stared at him.
My dad shrugged, “She claimed her grandbabies need new toys.”
I gave him a flat look. "She has billions to her name, the bets don't even blip as a percent. Not to mention we are the royal family, there is nothing we can’t purchase or create ourselves.”
My dad shrugged in return, “You tell her that.”
I stared at him for a long while before turning away and chuckling. “Yeah, that's not going to happen.”
“Exactly,” My dad replied before standing and offering me a hand. “Let's head inside, Maya made some noodle art of her grandpa.”
“Alright.”
Authors Notes :
The bar scene and exploration will have to wait for the next follow-up chapter. Plenty of things to cover, also poor Jerry. Nasa will never be the same.
As much as Ben might feel some type of betrayal from Markus and those leaving, he isn't going to do anything about it. Yes, I wrote this from Ben’s prospective and you are going to hear the thoughts rattling around inside of his head along with his emotions. That doesn't mean he will act on all of them.
Something I get all the time is why is Ben always angry or lustful. Generally, I don't answer because I thought that it would be common sense by now. I guess it's not but the average human being goes through multiple range of emotions on a daily bases that can go anywhere from anger to depression to just loathing and apathy.
There are a lot of things that irritate us but we never act on them just like there are a lot of things that make us horny that don't get acted on.
What I'm trying to say is chill and stop asking or making such redundant statements. It's a fictional story, like Elsa, sings, LET IT GO!
Also, please leave a comment and review, it helps me know reader engagement with the chapters.
Let me know what you guys think about the chapter.
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