The gangs were led by a new force called the House of Latium that had made their presence known in Syra and Tier. He had investigators go to the spots and figure out how was some organization from out of nowhere not only able to coordinate attacks on two powerful planets, but even had the money to do so.
Just as he tried to get answers on one particular day, a guard came to him, bowed, and said, "Baptista Lysander is here to see you!"
Ichiamo showed a bewildered look, all the way to the point when another guard escorted Baptista and his servant over to the front steps of the throne. He gave a bow and Ichiamo stood up and walked down the steps to greet him.
"I'm surprised to see you here in Crystal Metropolis," Ichiamo told the elder Solarian statesman.
"Trust me! I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important," Baptista replied.
"You do know we're at war?"
"I understand. I also know you're looking for answers. Perhaps what I have to show you will appease the both of us."
Then, Baptista took out the same disc that was given to him in Solaria. "Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"
Ichiamo dismissed his entire court and from there, he and Baptista with his servant went to his private quarters. Lysander received the king's undivided attention.
His servant set up his Dreamweaver accessories at Ichiamo's desk. The king found it weird as he sat at the foot of his bed. It turned stranger when Baptista took the Dreamweaver headset, a spider-like model with eight legs, and presented it to Ichiamo.
"This journey you have to see for yourself. But I assure you, you'll find all the answers that you're looking for."
It was here that reluctantly, Ichiamo put the Dreamweaver headset over his head and lied back in his bed. Baptista gave his servant the signal and with his laptop, played the disc that was given to him.
Immediately, Ichiamo was placed in the same scene that Baptista played weeks earlier. Ichiamo was playing a fly on the wall as he could see the actions of Zola Gadiaga play out before his eyes. From beginning to end, he could do nothing but watch. A part of him wanted to stop it, but all he could do was play the voyeur until the scene ended.
When the disc played itself out, like Baptista, Ichiamo took it out of his head roughly and nearly held his head tight, trying to get his mind back to order so it did not scramble from too much playback.
"What the...who gave you this?" Ichiamo bellowed. "Why did he give you this?"
"A reporter gave it to me," Baptista answered. "And your guess is good as mine why he gave it to me. However, I never turn down anything if it helps me."
Baptista took the Dreamweaver headset from his head. "I recognized one of them. Tortilla Suntoris. However, the others I don't know."
"Aimens!" Ichiamo whispered. "The Fallen Court."
"Sounds like some really bad guys," Baptista said.
"They killed my cousin Cheron. It's not like he deserved it. It's just that..." He paused and rubbed her forehead. "It's one thing that they kill him. It's another thing that they killed his sisters, his wife, and..."
He cringed at the thought of that night of murder in the Santos Palace, where the Fallen Court made their issues felt through bloodthirsty violence. He never understood why they let him live or even worse, made him king. The former cursers, who saw their responsibilities reestablished, had taken over his court and kept him out of the radar of conspirators, never letting him forget that he could meet the same fate as Cheron Priam Santos if he tried to be any semblance to an authoritative king.
"They killed his child," Ichiamo said. "She was just a child. Why did they have to kill the child?"
Baptista put his hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps it's time to get some new friends."
"I think you're right!"
"I guess you're going to let Zola go?"
Ichiamo turned to him in a confused look. "Why would I do that? It's hard enough to get any woman to want to marry me."
Ichiamo had the misfortune of being married three times before Zola Gadiaga came into his world. His first wife slept with deceased prince Demetrius Santos on his wedding night, and two wives were concubine throwaways from his father Timon. Zola became nothing more than a bargaining tool to secure a truce, but Ichiamo figured a young beautiful Solarian desert princess could get him out of the damaging love life he had been having for years.
"I think that Flamer have brought me here to fix your problem," Baptista said. "Of course, if you want your problem fix."
"What are you talking about?" Ichiamo asked, listening intently.
"If I fix your problem, I take sole control over Solaria under the Santos name."
"What do you many by 'fix'?"
"Doesn't matter! If I fix it, Solaria is mine. I ruled it for you and you get a cleaner image and maybe a better wife and not some whore pretending she's--"
"I get it!" Ichiamo responded. "I don't want to know. If you want to fix it, then fix it. I don't want to know how you do it."
Baptista smirked and bowed. "If it makes you feel better, you're nothing like your father."
Ichiamo gave him a blank look, but then Baptista saved himself by adding, "And that's a good thing!"
EIGHT: ROOSTER BOYS AND THE MARK OF CYPRUN
75 B.E.
The Force of Arms Order was in effect. It has been years since the infamous Santos Ride that war occurred and involved the entire galaxy. This was not the days of Nero Santos and Ichiamo was never seen as a warrior or even a warrior king. Some people, mostly in Crystal Metropolis, waited for him to fail so someone could find an excuse to assassinate him. Ichiamo knew this, but ignored the rumors.
Ichiamo kept up with the latest. For some reason, from all over the planets, young males and females signed up with their respected planetary armies. Even in Solaria, the new supporter of Santos policy, there were rumors of a special army called “The Rooster Boys” that were in the midst of the fighting and were able to take out their targets without losing many soldiers. Gossip swarmed among the Crystal Metropolis nobility and the royal court wanted to know when they were going to end the war for them. Ichiamo was more anxious than his court was for swift progress.
Meanwhile, in Crystal Metropolis, plans were made in case the planet was attacked. The Democrat Guards had become more like the planet's army itself than just family bodyguards. They arranged escape plans for evacuation of the planet. For the ones who did not want to escape, there were underground villages being made to hide them until the end. For someone most said would be a washout ruler, Ichiamo knew what to do. It was the benefit for having a militaristic father like Timon Santos.
At the start of 75 B.E., Ichiamo found from his sources that the attacks were coming from the House of Latium, a secret sect that came into Troyuvant and attacked every gang they saw in their rearview. Much of the year dealt with learning the new enemy. King Ichiamo found out that this was not just another drug gang looking to push themselves into the drug craze. They were a highly-organized, highly-populated, spiritually-enforced group with their own rules and laws.
Then, Ichiamo found out another secret. The House of Latium was much more than a drug gang or a political party. The true secret was that the House of Latium came together as a religious sect for a belief spreading among the cosmos; one that Ichiamo was familiar with more than anyone.
The Second Renaissance.
This was new territory to Ichiamo ever since they made their first appearance as middlemen of peace among Solaria's wealthy families. Until the time of the attacks of Tier and Syra, only a few planets knew about Second Renaissance. It had its own book of laws called simply “the Code.” It worshipped two messiahs: Cipher, the oracle of languages, and Flamer, the enforcer of actions.
According to its teachings, the ATM started from an actual computer program made by the gods of the universe. For Second Renaissance, it was a game of universal theater and everyone was considered playing a role in some form or fashion.
In learning about the religion, Ichiamo learned abo
ut the origins of the entire ATM. He saw that despite Second Renaissance being unknown to everyone, its inception intertwined with the life of the galaxy. Ichiamo concluded that even if he ended up defeating the House of Latium, he knew that the Second Renaissance was going to be a topic for debate afterwards.
As he kept the planet informed on the latest results of battles and causalities, he told them about these facts that they needed to know. He wanted people to know that in spite of the House of Latium, Second Renaissance was not the enemy. As his mind usually did, Ichiamo thought ahead of everyone else. He was going to end this war quickly no matter what he had to do.
Thank goodness for the Rooster Boys, he would tell himself.
Unfortunately, there was one problem the Rooster Boys could not fix: his domestic problems with his wife and his court.
****
It took a while before Zola Gadiaga returned to Crystal Metropolis after spending more time away than she planned. When she did, she found that the Santos Palace had been rearranged.
Mostly, those aspects regarding her well-being.
Her expensive bedroom had become a new room for someone else. When she entered it, she found that all of her accessories were packed in gold cases. Servants were still trying to send cases out of the room and into the street to distribute to the public.
Raging mad, Zola stormed straight into the throne room and confronted her husband, who finished signing documents from strators regarding actions to help his forces win his dispute with the House of Latium.
"What is the meaning of this?" Zola asked. "What are you doing with my things?"
"Nice to see you, too!" Ichiamo responded sarcastically.
"Well! Are you going to answer me?"
Ichiamo just walked close to Zola's face and whispered, "No!"
Then, a couple of Democrat Guards entered the throne room and without warning, grabbed Zola's arms.
"What is this? What are you doing?"
Ichiamo paced around. "It's one thing to cheat on me. I expect that. It's another thing to do it with men I have to tolerate for my own sanity. Do you really think I'm going to let you make an embarrassment of me?"
Ichiamo hoped that Zola would feel some sort of hurt. Instead, she glared at him with pure fury. Seeing her brown eyes piercing through him, he thought of his grandmother Luciana. The same cold eyes that frightened him as a child reappeared in the form of the Solarian beauty.
"Do you know who I am?" Zola asked. "Do you know who my father is? You think this would stand? Think about your precious little peace before you do this."
"You should think about your lovers before I do that!" Ichiamo fired back. "Because this is only the beginning. Take her away."
From there, Zola was taken away, but she kept screaming, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!"
On top of the Force of Arms War, with Zola's anger that he was sure to make her family furious, he unofficially re-declared war on Solaria once again.
****
76 B.E.
It took a while before it sunk in that Lucius Gaines was fighting a war. Even when he first came back to Solaria to join the war as a fighter pilot, the notion still did not fathom.
Most thought the war was going to end in a year. Instead, it dragged on to the next.
In the first month of 76 B.E., Lucius joined a new land and air squadron nicknamed the Rooster Boys, a ragtag of hardcore soldiers from all walks of life in Solaria. Some were mercenaries looking to fight for high profit while others were thrill seekers looking for the next rush. Lucius was none of those things, but in a weird way, he fit right in with the group.
Before he joined the Rooster Boys, he had flown in ten successful missions around the spheres of Tier, Syra, and the lengthy-massed planet Monoro.
It became more of a joy when he found out that a couple of his schoolmates were in the Rooster Boys roster as well. Cassio Ramirez was a pilot along with him, also a flying ace. For a time, he was worried about him coming into the war, but Cassio found his niche and capitalized on it. Another one, Alonso Fontaine, supervised ground forces in the desert area of Solaria. He was closer to home than Lucius or Cassio, but had not seen much action. They managed to find each other during their off-times when the enemy were resting and talk about old times.
However, there was always the one possibility that lingered. The Black Hand of Death ready for fresh souls.
That was why when they came together again, Alonso came with an announcement that came like a streak of lightning.
“I’m getting married,” he told them.
The boys knew to whom: his adolescent sweetheart, Hermia Rasetta. He wanted them to be his best men and they accepted without a thought. As long as he was happy, it would make him a better, and hopefully, more careful fighter.
On the day of the wedding, it was outside, and only a few friends from the Roostertown Chapter were there. For the first time since their graduation, Lucius finally met Juliet and her friends, Sylvia and Diana, who ended up joining the war effort for the sake of their new friends.
While everyone else enjoyed the small but pleasant wedding, they took the chance to talk. Juliet could see that there was a change in Lucius’s demeanor. She could tell that no smiling days existed for him lately.
Lucius could see a change in Juliet as well. Although she was still giddy around him, she had seen some things she never wanted to tell Lucius. She had worked as a nurse for the wounded. In the beginning of the war, it was more practice for the preparation of being a doctor. Then, the wounded and dead arrived. It was disturbing at times, but she had nurses Sylvia and Diana to converse with during the cold nights.
Hermia was the only one of the four roommates involved in actual combat, leading ground forces in previous engagements in Tier officially occupied by the House of Latium. She came back from another mission when she told Juliet that she wanted to get married. They both called Alonso back in Solaria to let him know. Alonso called everyone he knew from Solaria to invite them to this event.
For the time being, all was right with the world.
As they conversed, Juliet could see the change in Lucius. He viewed everyone having fun, but he could not smile or join in on the joke.
“I think this is probably going to be the last time we laugh like this,” he blurted out to her.
“Why would you say that?” Juliet asked.
Although Juliet could not believe he made the statement, the miserable part about it was he was probably right. She faced the people having fun as well; seeing their happiness in the desert, knowing that in another hour or so, they would have to go back to their posts and the couple would have to pick another time to have their wedding night…
****
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
She was wondering if she should tell him.
“There’s something I forgot to tell you. You may not like it after I tell you.”
“There’s nothing you can say now that I won’t fear.”
She took a deep breath and braced herself. "I…I love this moment.”
He was astounded. “That’s it? I mean…I love this moment, too.”
“You do?”
He faced her and poured his heart out. "There’s no place I rather be than here. I love this place because you’re in it. And I’m not just saying that. Believe me! If you knew what I faced, then…" He shook his head. "It doesn’t matter. Here we are, on this beautiful planet, and you’re in my arms. So no more talk about this. It’s settled. I love you and I love what we have. Nothing in this world is going to change that.”
Then, he brought her close and hugged her. Nothing else needed for him.
From their meeting, it had become official.
Cassio Ramirez, the Roostertown Chapter playboy, had become a one-female man.
It was less than a year ago that Cassio Ramirez received the news that he and his squad was being transferred to Cyprun and ordered to guard the major outposts stationed on all moons of the system along with the war
resources vital to victory for the Children of the ATM.
He always had Lucius to talk to about certain aspects of life, whether it was about romance or passing classes. Ever since he was little, he needed someone to show him a sort of way. He wasn't as smart as Lucius, but he never lost his greatest tools: his handsome face and chiseled body.
Before the Children of the ATM, Cassio had no direction with his life. He had money thanks to his parents and their business dealings. He had the looks, which meant that if he wanted to pass university so much, he could just woo a few teachers and his five years were a breeze.
However, due to the war, Cassio came with a thought. Was he going to continue to play trickster just to pass life? Luckily, the Force of Arms War became his answer and he had something to do.
INIQUITOUS DOMINION: The Galactic Classic Page 17