Starblade

by Rodney C. Johnson

  Upon seeing the impressive form of King Odin, LaSalle bowed at his waist to acknowledge his Sovereign Lord. “I am humbled to be summoned, your Majesty.”

  The Monarch grinned. “Please call me Odin.”

  To be asked to address the King in such an informal way broke protocol and wasn’t normal for such meetings. All the same, Gee would humor his Majesty who was well known for his many quirks.

  “Guillaume, I chose you for this mission because you are very special.”

  “I’m just the son of a Gaskin goose farmer and a loyal soldier, sir.”

  “Have you any family?” inquired the King.

  “Only my wife and son. My parents passed away years ago.”

  “I’ve a cousin. A German girl. Hot little bird as I understand it.” His majesty sat in a leather chair and bid LaSalle to do the same. “Lord Blud envisions that I grow this house’s royal sapling into a mighty oak. His desires are for me to extend my enhanced offspring across the Empire. Blud would be just as pleased to own many more super soldiers with my talents. Perhaps even turn our eye to the old colonies?” The remark made it clear the King knew his place in Lord Blud’s agenda. “Is it true Guillaume? Xavier LaSalle found you in a basket on his doorstep?” Asked Odin, intelligent green eyes keen with interest.

  “So he always told me.” Apparently his Majesty had done his research Commander LaSalle realized. “Childless, they never questioned from whence I came.”

  Behind a closed fist the King hid a pleased expression. “Guillaume, have you heard of a company called GenKon?”

  “Only in a whisper.” Gee hesitated, unable to hide his reaction from Odin. “Xavier, I once heard him speak of it.”

  The King's gaze pierced LaSalle, talking no more of GenKon. “You and I are very important. Ours is a singular destiny, to become Lords of the Earth and reach to the stars. Be wary of the Centurion sent to watch you and Captain Braden,” the King warned. “Remember this is a fool’s errand, one that shall gravely cost our planet more than it has already lost.”

  [The Present: DSV Excalibur, Orbit of Planet Ksar]

  Gee peered out his cabins porthole down at the purple globe of Ksar. Buzzing around the planet were gray and orange Iksar’rang worm-ships. Before coming here, he thought the Imperium to be a police state. The Imperator was but an amateur compared to these Iksar’rang in regard to such military matters.

  Cole went down to have a look around. LaSalle had no interest in joining his fellow officer’s planet-side. At least for now, the Centurion Trajan remained off ship, and not looking over his shoulder.

  LaSalle prepared a personal report to send to his King. “Odin, I humbly recommend that we find better allies than the Imperator and his Centurions.” LaSalle wrote out in his precise longhand. “During our trip here, we encountered something of interest. A Falcanian FS-9 Raptor which tracked us. It’s likely they know what we are up to. I’ve been doing research concerning these Falcanians. If half of it is true, it’d be in our interest to become their friends…”

  Chapter 3. Phoenix Dawn

  It is the character of Imperial dynasties to reinvent themselves, often from out of a desire to hide ignoble roots. House Drakonis is no different in this regard. According to my grandfather's parentage, we began as Visals and the Kreis. On Sharr's maternal side, the Visals were by trade pharmacists, an honest vocation to be sure. Due to questionable Saxe-Coburg blood, a genetic prank by way of the Visals, Sharr Khan’s third wife, my great-aunt Arshira, turned out to also be his distant cousin. None of which would have been so were it not for the schemes of his own paternal line where things become far more dubious. Rumors claim the Kreis fortune had been amassed by raiding and the last head of this House remained in the family business at the time he met his end. Falcanian history shall forever hail the brother’s Sharr and Talik as Sons of the Iron Dragon. Perhaps something noble did come out of a dynasty which had been built from gears forever turned in a constant web of manipulation? After all, my mother is a product of this very dynastic mechanism, and she has tried to bring peace to a galaxy fraught in turmoil.

  --- Prince Zarhur Sharr Aranskrai

  The large Drakorian guards ignored her as if they were ordered to allow her to pass. Certainly the Drakorian would not permit any errant person into the presence of their Shotar unless they expected that person to be there. She pushed open the doors and found Sharr at his desk, staring at his holocompass.

  “How can you do this?” Frederika demanded. “You’re not going to beat this girl. It’s barbaric!”

  The blonde leaned on his black wooden desk. Frederika was personally angry with Sharr. In the midst of her fury, she realized she had made a mistake. She fell in love with Falcanian culture. And with Sharr.

  But at the moment, she felt betrayed. Sitara had warned her this place would not be Utopia, and it appeared the Princess had been right. Oberon lectured her all the time about “going native”. These were their competitors, potential enemies who happened to hold many secrets which they could use to strengthen their empire.

  “The girl broke our law,” the Shotar said. “She will be punished as we see fit.”

  Sharr stood and crossed the room, his tail undulating like a lion on the prowl. He confronted the little minx who had barged into his office. The fact that she had done this wasn't unexpected, nor were it a trait that the Shotar considered a liability in this particular female. Such a attribute also existed in his queen. He liked women with a bit of attitude.

  “What is the Phoenix Heart?” Her emerald eyes blazed at the thought of his barbarism. “Why is it of such importance that a girl must be caned for its violation?”

  Sharr exhaled and took Frederika by her upper arm, holding her in a vice-like grip. “The Heart is the source, the well of souls,” he said calmly. “It is the core of the Falcanian soul, heaven wrought real on Earth. There a Falcanian's spark transcends and awaits Phoenix Fire. The great rebirth.”

  Frederika blinked at this knowledge. She hadn't expected him to reveal this to her.

  “It’s a power source. A regulator of our over-soul,” he continued. “The Heart is the central processor of the Rashalon Engine. It is a repository of all we are and wish to become. It is our hope that if Falcania should fall, a new genesis for our species will dawn before the stars.” A green flash reflected off his eyes. “I am its eyes and hands and so shall be my scion for time yet to come. Within that blood-red orb, our myths are real. All those who have gone before await rebirth, reconfiguration into new bodies so that they may once again soar among the living. Its collective knowledge heightens us, and makes each Falcanian a greater whole.”

  Frederika gasped and tried to pull away from him. Her own strength tremendous, yet he held her in her place. “You say it is the core, that it's a cybernetic heaven?”

  “That is it precisely.”

  “But... But what if there is a true heaven?” Frederika did not think herself very religious, though certainly she had certain spiritual beliefs. She always thought one’s soul moved on after death to bigger things. “What happens if there is an afterlife where souls go to dwell?”

  “Nature shall adapt,” the Shotar told her. “My vital spark, as all Falcanian sparks shall return to the source, to enhance us all. And each at their appointed time shall be reborn in generations forward.”

  It came across to Frederika as an arrogant response, the presumption that nature would adapt to Falcanian whims. She found her own reaction ironic given whom and what she was. There existed little doubt to her that The Phoenix Heart must be the mysterious power source which Oberon had mentioned being scanned by their surveillance satellites. What kind of power did it produce? Was it some kind of collective psychic force, the dynamism of the Falcanian ego-self formed into a mental storm for each Falcanian to draw upon?

  She understood why to touch the orb could be a transgression that deserved punishment, but Frederika knew Mia should not be punished so harshly for her careless actions. “If someone is
to be caned then let it be me. She… Mia cannot endure such pain. I will take her place.”

  Frederika knew her physical superiority and her tolerance level. She had suffered pain before. Mia did not share her engineered, Morningstar advantage. This choice seemed simply to be the most logical outcome to solve the problem.

  Noticeably Sharr relaxed, and then let Frederika out of his grasp. He had made his point, and then found himself confronted by an act of singular nobility. Plus he did have a more joyful bit of news for Frederika. But first, the matter hat hand. She moved a pace back from the Falcanian whose tail snapped back and forth while he considered her offer. “Are you certain you wish to take Mia's place?”

  Frederika nodded, resigned with her choice.

  “Very well,” Sharr said.

  This time he placed a gentle hand upon her. For a moment Frederika let herself rest upon him. Even though she was still angry, she could not help but be attracted to this man and yet despise him for his brutality. Trying to sort out that paradox might take a lifetime.

  “I do wish to show you something,” Sharr said.

  “What?”

  Drakorian Guards entered the room with a human boy around eight. He had wild hair and a tan Eurasian look. His eyes were clouded white with blindness.

  “That is Mia's brother, Philip,” Frederika murmured.

  Sharr nodded and let her walk to the boy.

  Frederika knelt down and hugged the child. “Philip,” she said with a slight lilt to her voice. “I'm your sister's friend, Rika.”

  “Mia told me about you.” The boy felt her face and memorized her features with his hands. “You’re very pretty like she said.”

  “He arrived this morning,” Sharr said by way of explanation. “My agents retrieved him. In a few hours he’ll see the world as you and I do. Perhaps even better.”

  Frederika lowered her voice so only Sharr could hear her. “Then you still intend on going through with the surgery?”

  “Do you believe me so cruel?” Sharr Khan asked. “I would not deny Mia my gift or make another suffer for someone else's transgression.”

  Frederika bit her lip. Sharr could have as easily taken back his gift. Mia had broken Falcanian law and he could have denied her brother the surgery. This unexpected compassion from the Shotar confused Frederika and caused her heart to flutter.

  “May I see Mia?”

  “I will have her returned to the nodor.”

  “Und,” her accent became thick. “Shall I then take her place in one of your cells?”

  “That will not be necessary.” Sharr took Frederika's hand feeling her stiffen. “I trust when the time arrives, you will submit yourself willingly.”

  Frederika closed her emerald eyes. Though even with his compassionate actions, Sharr still intended on going forward with what was in her mind a savage action. The “civilized” world did not abide such forms of punishment. But she had made her choice.

  “Rika?” Sharr squeezed her hand. “Will you submit yourself willingly?”

  “I will.”

  She crouched, her tri-claw boots ready for launch. With a battle cry, Sitara jumped and sliced downward with her vajra. She hit her mark. The bamboo was cleanly cut in half. She landed on her shock absorbing claw-boots, turned, and slashed at the hovering advancing multi-armed android.

  Unlike the bamboo, the mechanism returned with its own assault, thrusting its fierce naginata blades at the Princess who avoided the blows easily. Not because she had set the automaton to a safe level, but rather she had the superior skills to compete with a computer mind in combat. She spent much of her early years learning the arts of Kalari and Kra-Shreik, two complementary combat forms taught to her by her mother and the Imperial Strato-General Shuriken Kra. These martial arts made her a formidable combatant, either bare handed or grasping steel.

  At the moment, her mother busied herself in choosing the fabric for Sitara's wedding ensemble and that she needed to attend her own fitting soon. The Princess wished her day of bonding would not become a state occasion, but that was unavoidable. On a bright note, her upcoming nuptials would at last deny Urksa any attempted conquest of her and remove any hope he had to ascend to her father's claw-throne.

  Using the pommel of her sword, she tripped the combat robot. It quickly recovered and lunged at her with its own naginata only to have it deflected by the clawed edge of Sitara's Kraris held in her left hand. Like her mother, she was able to fight with a blade in each hand. Upward the Princess sliced and bisected the automaton, its torso slit by her blazing blade. The slit-eyed robot's head looked blankly up at her from its place on the training mat.

  Down on one knee and breathing deeply, Sitara recovered herself. Her dark braid fell down her back, beads of sweat moistening her gray sports garb. Supported on her vajra's hilt, she curled her tail and fanned out her rose-colored wings to let the heat out of her body.

  Clapping filled the training veranda. “Bravo, sister!”

  Violet eyes snapped upward. Sitara was surprised to see the woman who leaned against the arched doorway of the combat arena. She returned her vajra to its holster and resheathed her Kraris.

  “Ariel!” Sitara got to her feet and walked over to hug her twin. “What brings you away from Nani's palace?”

  “I'm here to be your lady-in-waiting,” Ariel said.

  Ariel Persis Drakonis, nearly identical to her sister in every physical manner, shared her parents' combined features which resulted in the twins beautiful and predatory looks. To Sitara, Ariel would be but a mirror image. Where Sitara concerned herself with mechanics and mathematics her twin busied herself within the walls of the Valküri Temple to master her orders scheming ways.

  “Father missed you at his birthday,” Sitara said.

  “I couldn’t leave my post,”Ariel sighed.

  “Or you didn't want to be reminded about our little brother.”

  Ariel quickly changed the topic. “Things are very festive in Kuras.”

  “I'm sure Nani will be pleased having us all back.”

  “You bet!” Ariel grinned. “We’ve had to ready the palace for father's arrival. Nani's ordered a state of celebration, and the local administrators are overwhelmed.”

  Sitara laughed. “Funny, I thought Shuriken was Viceroy!”

  Ariel giggled as well. “In this, the wedding of her first born grandchild, one does not argue with the Grand Dame of Falcania.”

  Their grandmother, Ambika Sen, could be a formidable woman. Her judgments were not unlike law handed down from the Dreikatha and no Falcanian or any under their protection would deny the grand matriarch her wishes.

  “It promises to be a grand affair,” Sitara said dryly.

  Frederika watched the Falcanian warriors erect the whipping bench in the drizzle and fog. Clearly they intended to invoke fear in the victim as well as make a point to the other women as they erected the wooden frame in the courtyard. The rack was constructed in the garden of the dancer's harem was a stained wooden frame, resembling a large sawhorse covered with leather and various straps. It stood at the center of the flowered courtyard, where it was put on display so each of the women might examine the cruel apparatus for themselves.

  The blonde harrumphed, uncrossed her arms, and turned away from the instrument of her demise. At dawn tomorrow, she would present herself for the cane. Frederika took comfort knowing she had spared Mia the pain of the rattan.

  Mia glanced at Frederika, her blue eyes filled with guilt. She was happy to learn her brother had arrived and even now underwent the operation which would give him sight. But she felt tremendous guilt that her friend had volunteered to take her place.

  Not saying a word, for there was no need, Frederika lightly touched Mia's cheek in a sisterly manner to offer a warm smile.

  She had to do something. Frederika made a resolution to learn what she could strategically about the Falcanians and bring it back to Oberon for military use. Sharr had enough trust in her that he would let her wander the palac
e unaccompanied. After all, she was the Shotar's favorite at the moment.

  Time to put some of her training to use for her own people.

  As she moved down the hall toward the flight of stairs that she knew would bring her to Sharr's office two Falcanian women entered her path. Princess Sitara and a female she had not seen before were in the midst of a deep discussion. Nearing the two Frederika realized the other girl must be Sitara’s twin. They shared an exact countenance.

  Sitara looked at her uneasily. For a moment, it seemed as if the Princess might ignore Frederika, but then the two Falcanians halted. “I am sorry, Frederika,” Sitara murmured.

  “You've nothing to be sorry for, Sitara. This is my choice.” Frederika told her with conviction.

  “If I knew a way to spare you this I would.” Grabbing her by the hands Sitara pulled Frederika closer. She knew the experience of the cane all too well. “It will be painful.”

  “I imagine that's the point,” Frederika said, it sounded more sarcastic than she had intended it to be.

  “You’re an honorable woman, Frederika. Worthy of my father's attentions.” Her tone sounded ceremonial, but still friendly. “I can see you as a sister. That is why I have shared so many things with you. Let this not put ill will between us.”

  Frederika forced a smile. “Of course not.”

  She felt her heart strings ache. She also saw a kindred spirit in Sitara. It was odd they should bond at all and yet not as unlikely as either girl would think given their shared origins as products of controlled genetics.

  Fog settled thickly across the Island.

  Atar Kran was perched on the beachhead while his men analyzed a debris field. He oversaw the operation from atop a small outcropping of rock, the fog encasing them in their search. Fragments scattered the beach that made the white sand look as if tiles from the golden road were thrown about by a tremendous storm fiercer than the light rain which fell upon them.