INIQUITOUS DOMINION: The Galactic Classic

by Justin Conley

"We're saving the Santos legacy," Malvolio responded. "The people aren't going to forgive us for this chaos. We put the forgotten son of Timon Boardwalk Santos, the court belongs to us to do what we want. Besides, Ichiamo won't say anything that has happened here, right?"

  Ichiamo shook his head. "Nothing from me. You made your point clear!"

  After thinking about for a few seconds, Aimens came to Ichiamo and went on one knee.

  “Hail King Santos,” Aimens said under his breath and kissed the Starstriker ring on his finger.

  Others strolled to the new king and swore their allegiance. They kissed the ring and cheered. Then, from out of nowhere, some of the Fallen Court brought Ichiamo from his feet and up on their shoulders. They paraded him around the palace.

  Weirded out by the shocking change of events, Ichiamo said nothing. He was given the crown, something that years ago, his father Timon or his grandmother Luciana said would never be his. Some kind of laughter came from him after thinking this thought and he started to chuckle with them.

  However, he knew that somewhere down the line, someone was going to have to answer for this bloody night, and if he ever got the guts to do so, he will make sure that all of the men that were raising him up paid for it in some kind of way.

  For now, though, he would just keep a good eye on them and remember their faces and names until the day would come when he would be strong enough to do something about it.

  Despite the blood and gore, there was some kind of twisted happiness in the end. The tyrannical rule of Cheron Santos was over and Ichiamo Santos had become the new Santos king in the start of a new decade….

  FORCE OF ARMS

  FIVE: ICHIAMO AND THE “CONQUEST” OF SOLARIA

  70 B.E.

  The Fallen Court waited for the chance to get rid of Cheron. So far, throughout the last year since they made the plan up, there was no open opportunity. He was fanatical and insane, but not ignorant.

  Suddenly, an opportunity presented itself in the beginning of 70 B.E.

  Cheron arranged to go to a private show being played at the Theater of the Starstriker. The show dealt with a story about Pisanio Santos and the king wanted to personally view it to make sure they got the story correct and in good liking. Only the royal family, which included the king, his wife, his daughter, and his sisters, were to be in attendance.

  Aimens told his gang that when the show was over, he was going to get some of the cursers to disguise themselves as soldiers and blocked the passage away from the rest of the people by using some sort of excuse, thinking that the king would come away last.

  On the night, there was a problem. The king was the only one there. A handful of people were in attendance to include some strators and lators watching the show with him.

  Aimens left the theater and went into the streets. Some of them came to meet him halfway.

  “They must be inside the Santos Palace,” he said. “If that’s the case, then some of us have to go there right away. Tell the others inside that a signal will be given to let them know that the king is dead. Then, we take care of everyone else. Anyone who goes against us is dead, understand?”

  Everyone was in agreement. Aimens went with some of the men to the palace while others went back inside.

  Hours going into it, Cheron was getting tired and left, satisfied that this showing of the story of Pisanio would put him back in favor with the people. He was heading to the exit with his caravan following him.

  Cheron showed off the Starstriker ring as he laughed at a joke made by a strator. The soldiers stayed motionless. Cheron kept it up until they took a good look at it.

  Then, one of the soldiers said, “Like we’re supposed to care now.”

  Out came the sword and swapped off Cheron’s hand. Cheron fell to the ground by the exit and immediately began screaming for help. Before the strators could run, they were shots coming out from all over the place. More men came out from out of nowhere, shooting anyone that tried to escape. No matter what title they held, they could be potential witnesses and had to be executed. They knew that they were with Cheron Santos and that was good enough of an excuse to die.

  By the time it was over, the entire caravan was dead. Cheron was still lying in the middle of the street bleeding profusely and trying to get up with one hand. One of the soldiers picked up his severed hand, took the Starstriker ring off his finger, and gave it to another comrade.

  “Give it to whoever will take the title next,” he commanded.

  When the short and stubby soldier left with the ring, the rest of the men stood over Cheron’s body.

  Even though he was going into shock from all of the blood loss, Cheron managed to get out, “How… dare you! I’m the King… I’ll have all of you killed along with your families.”

  The soldiers laughed. Then, out came the swords. They came around Cheron’s body and stabbed with all the force they could. Cheron grabbed whatever or whoever he could, but it was no use. Cheron was at the mercy of his own soldiers alone and helpless. No one came to his rescue no matter how loud his screams were.

  By the time it was over, Cheron was said to have been stabbed thirty times. One of the soldiers even defecated on him; a sign that represented everything Cheron had been.

  History had repeated itself. Cheron Priam Santos, who only ruled for four years, was dead and robbed of everything on him. It was the worse death since the first Santos ruler...

  ****

  Aimens was more nervous than he thought he could be. He knew that if Cheron managed to escape from this, he was in trouble. He looked out from the window.

  There, he saw it. The flare was as immense and dazzling as it could be.

  “There it is,” he told the group. “Start bringing them out.”

  Then, while the palace was as quiet as it could be, each of the cursers put on their masks and went into the many rooms of the palace. As soon as they burst through the doors, they let their bloodlust loose, stabbing, slashing, or shooting with silencer bullets anyone that was Cheron Santos-branded to include the influx of street cursers appointed by Cheron, other officials and leaders, or bystanders.

  It had gotten to a point that it did not matter if they were connected to Cheron or not. The enraged cursers started killing anyone within distance.

  One person awakened to see what was going on and gave out a scream. She was shot down on sight, but the call was made.

  Cassandra and Rosaline Santos got up from their beds to see what was going on. Before they knew, several of the cursers grabbed them by the hair and other ligaments, trying to tear them apart. The Priam sisters screamed out for their brother while trying to grab each other’s hands, but there was no one coming. The brought them to their knees and as they cried out for mercy, their heads were cut off cleanly.

  It was antebellum in the Santos Palace. Blood, guts, blades and bullet shell cases were everywhere. One of them even let out a flare of his own to let anyone know who was awake what was happening at that moment.

  Aimens went into the king and queen’s room. There was no sign of the Queen anywhere. Aimens was pissed and ordered his men to “tear the entire palace down if they have to, but find them!”

  ****

  Queen Andromache and Strator Ichiamo Boardwalk Santos were in the same room together on top of another level. They heard noises, but pay it no mind. Worry came over Ichiamo's face. He was getting older by the minute and his stomach could not take much more madness. Andromache watched her little girl Arturo with shorten hair playing with a plastic sword.

  “Where’s Cheron?” she asked Ichiamo. "What’s taking him so long?”

  Ichiamo circled around in his seat, hitting his head to get the sound out. “I’m more worried about what that noise is. It sounds like it’s coming from downstairs.”

  “Who knows what’s going on with that man?”

  A pause.

  “I fear something’s going to happen to him,” Andromache said.

  “What do you think will happen?”
Ichiamo asked.

  “The worst. Cheron knows that there are some people out there that hate him, but I don’t think he knows how much.”

  “I’ll talk with him. I’ll make sure he doesn’t make any more mistakes.”

  Then, three men in masks burst into the room and looked around. There was no one else but the three, and with that knowledge, one of them took out his silencer and shot Andromache right through the eye. This put Ichiamo into hysterics. He dropped down from his chair and tried to find a nice corner to cover himself with. Another soldier grabbed little Arturo and while she was screaming, raised her to the air and slammed her down with as much force as possible, cracking her skull in two.

  Ichiamo was the only one left and he covered all of his face so no one could see what he looked like as a frightened old man. The third of the men took Ichiamo’s hands away. They paused for a few seconds, taking another look at the now-dead queen and princess. Then, two of the men took Ichiamo by the arms and dragged him out of the room.

  The three men brought him downstairs, where Ichiamo saw first-hand all of the carnage made by the Fallen Court barrage. A part of him could not help but compare this kind of bloodshed to his own father Timon's purges. The men took him to the main throne room, where he saw that they were some that came out without a scratch.

  Unmasked, Aimens scope out the faces and was impressed that he did not see anyone else that needed to be punished.

  One of them took off his masks, revealing Malvolio. He could not believe what his fellow curser was doing. Then, he saw Ichiamo on his knees in distress. Before he could go to him, he saw that a comrade came down with the crown and the Starstriker ring in his hands. He gave it to Malvolio. Malvolio took the items, observed them, and then at a scared Ichiamo.

  He walked slowly to him. Ichiamo tried his best to plead with them, but before he could do, Malvolio raised him to his feet, and quickly put the crown on his head and the Starstriker ring on his finger.

  “HAIL KING ICHIAMO SANTOS!” Malvolio bellowed to the top of his lungs.

  ​Everyone stopped what they were doing and saw the gesture. Aimens was bewildered, but saw that Malvolio was not backing down.

  "What are you doing?" Aimens asked.

  "We're saving the Santos legacy," Malvolio responded. "The people aren't going to forgive us for this chaos. We put the forgotten son of Timon Boardwalk Santos, the court belongs to us to do what we want. Besides, Ichiamo won't say anything that has happened here, right?"

  Ichiamo shook his head. "Nothing from me. You made your point clear!"

  After thinking about for a few seconds, Aimens came to Ichiamo and went on one knee.

  “Hail King Santos,” Aimens said under his breath and kissed the Starstriker ring on his finger.

  Others strolled to the new king and swore their allegiance. They kissed the ring and cheered. Then, from out of nowhere, some of the Fallen Court brought Ichiamo from his feet and up on their shoulders. They paraded him around the palace.

  Weirded out by the shocking change of events, Ichiamo said nothing. He was given the crown, something that years ago, his father Timon or his grandmother Luciana said would never be his. Some kind of laughter came from him after thinking this thought and he started to chuckle with them.

  However, he knew that somewhere down the line, someone was going to have to answer for this bloody night, and if he ever got the guts to do so, he will make sure that all of the men that were raising him up paid for it in some kind of way.

  For now, though, he would just keep a good eye on them and remember their faces and names until the day would come when he would be strong enough to do something about it.

  Despite the blood and gore, there was some kind of twisted happiness in the end. The tyrannical rule of Cheron Santos was over and Ichiamo Santos had become the new Santos king in the start of a new decade….

  ****

  73 B.E.

  Solaria had been a prize for the past rulers of the Aventine Monarch Galaxy. This part-water, part desert planet had been a trophy to be won even before Pisanio Santos was born. To this day, with the new ruler Ichiamo Santos as the fourth Santos king, the planet Solaria was still a prize to be won.

  However, due to climate changes and the array of violence from different factions vying for power, Solaria became more of a warzone than a habitual place. Solaria had become one of the most dangerous planets in the ATM by the start of the 70's B.E.

  Once it was full of rich land, fertile water, and a place to make a future. But since the great event known as the “Industrial Migration” occurred, what was supposed to bring the land and technology together only started tearing the land and water apart.

  Nothing was safe, although technology still thrived.

  The reason for this failure had more to do with the notion of time and chance for the colossal planet. Solaria had always been known with going backwards in the enhancements of society while every other planet was moving forward. Because of this one aspect no one could conquer, the planet was riddled with problems that continued to stay around even with the announcement of power changes in Crystal Metropolis.

  In the past, every warlord wanted to possess this land. Land meant power and power was everything in the ATM. Solaria was a large planet, so it meant that whoever possessed it was going to be a part of ATM history forever.

  So far, even the all-powerful Santos kings could not take over the planet. Since Pisanio Santos, one of the main goals they had in their reign was to conquer Solaria. For Pisanio, it was about power. For Nero, it was about tradition. For Timon, it was about revenge. Cheron completely ignore it and Ichiamo brought it back to the surface.

  At the start of his reign, he already led a campaign to conquer it, his “New Plan,” but he took a different approach than the past Santos rulers. Instead of attacking the land altogether, he decided to take it politically and financially. He decided to attack the central problem Solaria always had: the successor wars after the death of Solaria's supreme leader Cassio Lysander.

  It was more than making a statement that his father or grandfather could not make. His own ascension was seen as a mockery because of how he came to power. Cheron was murdered and he knew who did it, but he could not kill them due to their influence and his own personality being the run of jokes all over Crystal Metropolis. Ever since his attack by his cousin and Cheron's father Bastiannius Priam, it was hard for Ichiamo to function. His voice was quieter and due to being physically inactive, he had gain weight. Weeks after Cheron Priam Santos' death, it was said that he weighed over 300 pounds.

  However, becoming the new king, Ichiamo realized that he had to change his lifestyle. It was from here with a little help from friends, he spent the rest of 70 and the beginning of 71 B.E., on a workout regimen. This meant he left the management of his royal court to the former Fallen Court.

  An interesting side effect occurred through this action. Not only did the former Fallen Court accept their positions, but they improved on fixing things. Plus, they promised loyalty to the new king and they delivered. The same men who caused carnage in Cheron's reign started a revival of enhancing the Santos name.

  And with a new, physically-imposing Ichiamo returning to the forefront, he could finally put his new plans swimming in his head for years into action.

  From 71-72 B.E., Ichiamo made the plans to take Solaria once and for all. He scraped up lots of funds, and then asked some of his most trusted political officials to accompany him to the planet. There, they would meet with the ministers of Solaria.

  From the start, Ichiamo wowed his opponents with his new look and physical strength. The officials who were with him did not know what to make of it.

  It was true. Ichiamo had been planning this move since his father Timon was king, but it had never been implemented because he knew his father would say no. Timon Boardwalk Santos was a warrior king. Their views would never bring the special plan together.

  All it took was the signing of a contract. No guns o
r bombs involved. No deaths and burials of soldiers. No one had to cry for the dead. It was a land deal the Solaria powers could not refuse.

  He played his hand carefully and made sure each piece was put in pace.

  The Lysanders saw themselves in the seat of power, which meant he made sure the Lysanders were given top billing on negotiations. Ichiamo knew the other two families, the Gadiagas and the Suntoris, would not want to be anywhere near Lysander relatives. So Ichiamo decided to speak to them at another time. The one thing all three families had in common was that they were followers of a new religious movement called the Second Renaissance.

  It was here that Ichiamo was able to glue all parties together. Ichiamo had his messengers promised them that he would help the Second Renaissance treasury so schools and hospitals could be built. Ichiamo knew that the Second Renaissance, while being power players, had no problem being behind-the-scenes power players.