Skywalker

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Skywalker; Part II
Topic Started: Mar 7 2008, 07:08 PM (141 Views)
LionHeart	Mar 7 2008, 07:08 PM Post #1
Entropy Posts: 1,909 Group: Elite Members Member #14 Joined: December 3, 2007	Ta daa! part II Chapter I Anakin sat on the cold metal bench in his cell, listening to his brothers argue. Luke, Han, and Jacen were in the three cells to his right having been captured just before him during the battle in the senate building a month earlier. They had found each other fairly quickly once they were in their cells, being able to sense each others’ presence upon their arrival. Just as Anakin was sure he had sensed Alex’s at the senate. He still spent much of his time mulling that over in his head. Why had Alex been at the senate building? If he had come home early he would have told them and if he had indeed been at the senate at the same time as them, why hadn’t he come to help them? Of course there was the worst case scenario, in which Alex had been captured or killed during the battle and that was why none of the brothers had seen or heard from him. Anakin pushed his mind again, searching for Alex. Far away he could almost feel something, but then Luke’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “We can’t just sit here forever, we need a plan!” “Well when you come up with one, be sure to tell the rest of us.” Jacen interceded grumpily. “We need Alex. I don’t want to try anything rash without him.” Han added quietly. “If we can just contact him…” “Alex is not here.” Anakin interrupted. “And we can’t sit around waiting for him to come save us.” He won’t always be there to…” He added quietly. “We’ll just have to do this one on our own.” His brothers were silent after that, each retreating into his thoughts. Their conversations changed after that, focusing on formulating an escape plan rather than trying to decide how to hold out until Alex came to help them. After a few days they managed to come up with something, though Anakin was rather nervous about it. In Alex’s absence they seemed to have decided that he would be taking point on their escape from the detention area since aside from Alex Anakin was the largest of the brothers. On the appointed day Anakin sat on the floor of his cell watching the door and waiting. After a few minutes he tensed, hearing the footsteps of the soldier who always brought his food coming down the hallway. Anakin tensed slightly, a tiny bead of sweat trickling down the side of his head. The guard stopped in front of the door, punching in the keys to open it and stepping inside. The moment he did Anakin lunged forward, grabbing the guard’s blaster, and shooting the two guards that had come with him and hitting the first guard smartly on the head, rendering him unconscious. Anakin then ran out of his cell, looking down the hallway to the main control room to make sure he was clear, and then ran to Luke, Han, and Jacen’s cells in turn, opening the doors for them, and tossing the two guards’ blaster to Luke and Han. Jacen stayed behind them, waiting for the other three to take down the guards in the main control room then grabbed a blaster for himself. “They got the elevator locked down.” Luke said, looking at the main console. “We didn’t ever make a ‘Plan B’ did we?” “No.” Anakin replied, shooting another security camera and looking nervously at the elevator which was now climbing upwards to their level, most likely full of stormtroopers. “I think we need to start doing that…” Luke grabbed a thermal detonator from one of the dead stormtroopers in the control room and set the timer on it then placed it in front of the elevator. The four of them then retreated back to the main hallway of cells and barricaded themselves as best they could. They had only a few minutes to wait before the elevator opened and stormtroopers came streaming out. A few seconds after they did the thermal detonator ignited, eliminating at least half of their forces. Unfortunately the stormtroopers were using the other two elevators as well, and for every stormtrooper Anakin and the others took out at least two more would take its place. The brothers held them off as best they could, laying enough suppressive fire to keep the stormtroopers in the control room while they tried to find some way out of the cell bay. “This all seems awfully familiar.” Luke grumbled as he put another blaster pack in his rifle and fired at an exposed stormtrooper’s head. “That would be because great -great uncle Han was always telling the story about how he and great grandfather Luke made their daring escape from the death star cell bay with Chewie and great- great aunt Leia.” Han replied somewhat grumpily. “He only told that story about five thousand times…” “Oh yes…” Luke replied. “Though I doubt that whole garbage compacter trick they pulled is going to work this time, is it?” “Not likely.” Anakin frowned slightly, pulling back slightly as he rummaged in his pocket for another cartridge for his blaster. There was something very odd about all this. The way the stormtroopers were acting didn’t make sense. “Luke is it just me or are they not trying very hard to kill us?” Luke nodded, his brow furrowing slightly. “They did the same thing when the senate was attacked. They were cutting down everyone else, but it seemed as if they were taking particular care to make sure we were taken alive. Apparently they’re doing it again, though I can’t fathom why.” He looked over at Anakin somewhat apprehensively. “You don’t suppose they have in mind what they did the last time they captured you and Alex do you?” Anakin paled slightly at that. “I hope not. I really, really, hope not.” Granted the circumstances were slightly different this time, but the last thing in the universe he wanted was to relive the nightmare of the imperials torturing him. After what seemed like an eternity of fighting, the four of them started to get very worried indeed. The cartridges they had taken from the stormtroopers when they initially escaped had nearly run out and they were no closer to getting past the stormtroopers than they were before. The stormtroopers in the main control room seemed to have come to the same conclusion, and were now pushing farther into the cell bay, their fire intensifying as they hemmed them in towards the dead end at the end of the hallway. Finally the Skywalkers ran out of ammunition and they were forced to surrender, scowling resentfully at the stormtroopers as they were put into binders and marched out of the cell bay. After that the four of them were completely isolated from each other, each on a different level of the detention area and each was now under constant surveillance and Anakin suspected were also on death row, regardless of the imperials’ prior intentions of keeping them alive. Escape attempts were generally frowned upon by the Empire. “Of course they tried to escape, did you expect anything less?” Alex snapped at the lieutenant walking quickly beside him, who was trying to keep up with Alex’s large strides. “Who gave the execution order?” “Major Jerdis sir.” “Didn’t I fire him?” Alex asked grumpily, turning down a hallway and quickening his pace slightly and making the lieutenant break into a slight jog to keep up. “I believe so sir, but that does not take effect until…” “Where is her highness?” “In her office I believe sir, but about Major Jerdis…” Alex waved his right hand impatiently at the lieutenant, his left arm momentarily missing as Alex had gotten it removed earlier that morning to have it replaced by a newer, better model. In the mean time he was forced to walk around with no more than his stump of a shoulder, a fact which was aggravating him greatly at the moment. He stopped in front of the Empress’ office, waiting impatiently for the scarlet clad palace guards to grant him admittance. Once they did Alex walked quickly into the office, bowing quickly to the Empress who had until recently been the chancellor of the republic. “Your highness, I have urgent need of your help.” “What is it General?” The Empress asked, looking rather concerned that her favorite general was so distressed. “I need you to secure an immediate pardon for my brothers, Major Jerdis is about to execute them in about,” Alex glanced at the clock quickly, “Five minutes.” The Empress jumped to her feet immediately and started walking quickly to her personal elevator in the back of her office, giving hasty instructions to her attendants as she and Alex stepped in. “Did you not fire Major Jerdis?” She asked Alex impatiently as the elevator started to fall down to the detention level. “I did madam, but that does not take effect until tomorrow, so…” The elevator came to a stop and they exited quickly, Alex at the empress’ elbow as they entered the large execution room. Luke, Han, Jacen, and Anakin were already inside, strapped to four flat tables, their arms outstretched as the executioner’s attendants slipped a needle into each of their arms. “We’re too late, he’s already injected it!” Alex hissed, hastily rolling up his sleeve and motioning frantically to his lieutenant to get another one of the syringes and bring it to him. “General, what are you doing?” The Empress demanded as the stormtroopers following them ran into the room to apprehend Major Jerdis and his attendants. “You’ll die!” Alex just shook his head, looking over at his brothers’ horrorstruck faces as his lieutenant pushed the syringe into Alex’s arm and emptied its contents. “No my lady, I will not. Contrary to Major Jerdis’ beliefs this particular strain of the formula is not life threatening. If it were, I never would have taken the time to go and find you.” Alex grunted slightly, bending double and clutching his arm to his chest as his breathing quickened painfully. “This was developed by the military to create their super soldiers remember? They had to abandon it because the genetic modifications put so much strain on the subjects that it killed them.” “Then what inspired you to take it?” Empress Tikaris demanded. “Much less allow your brothers to get it?” Alex managed a small smile, his teeth gritted against the pain now coursing through his body. “Because my lady, my brothers and I are not your ordinary test subjects. And whatever their fate, I will share it.” Alex went down on one knee, panting heavily and trying not to cry out with the pain. He looked up at his brothers who looked as if they were experiencing similar symptoms and ordered his lieutenant to release them from their restraints. “Are you certain sir? They don’t look well…” “They’ll be looking much worse in a moment, I assure you.” Alex replied through gritted teeth. “Release them before they injure themselves straining against the restraints.” The lieutenant nodded and went to do as Alex asked. Meanwhile Alex himself was now so engulfed in pain it had become his entire world. It took all the willpower he possessed to keep from screaming as he felt his body changing and distorting. His left arm he could already tell was re-growing itself and he could not bear to imagine what was becoming of the rest of him. His bones were already shifting and growing in ways he could not fathom and by the time the inky black fur started growing and the claws sprouted he had released the scream that had been bottled inside him. The empress and the others could do nothing but stare in shock as Alex and his brothers changed into monsters. Alex already resembled every person’s nightmare of a werewolf and his brothers were not much different except in the color of their fur. When Alex had completely changed into his strange state the empress thought it would stop there, but then suddenly a pair of massive leathery wings erupted from his back and with one final bestial cry of pain a pair of horns joined them and Alex collapsed entirely on the ground, his breathing slowly returning to normal. Tikaris looked down at him in alarm, glancing over at his brothers who were in a similar state on the other side of the room, though they were rapidly and angrily recovering. “General? Are you alright?” She said tentatively. “Considering the circumstances” Alex replied, his voice deep and with a touch of a growl in it. “I think I am alright, yes.” He staggered to his feet, staring down at his hands, which were now more like paws and looked over at his brothers, his tail twitching slightly. “Oh…we are in trouble…” The empress was about to ask why when Luke and the others attacked the stormtroopers that had been standing a few feet away from them, tossing them in every direction. Alex roared at the rest of the stormtroopers to restrain them and to call for reinforcements. His brothers proved harder to control then he had expected, and the floor was covered in more than a dozen stormtroopers before Han and Jacen had finally been stunned to the point that they could be put into bindings and Anakin and Luke had been pushed back to the far end of the room and surrounded. Unfortunately Luke had gained an incredible ability for jumping and leapt over their heads to land in front of the empress, his newly acquired claws streaking down at her only to be blocked by Alex. With a snarl he caught Luke’s hand and threw him bodily into a nearby wall. Luke got to his feet and Alex threw him again, this time at the opposite wall and throwing a massive fist into Luke’s wolf-like jaw as well, pushing him back slightly. Undeterred, Luke leapt at him again, unleashing all of his fury. Alex fought back as best he could, hitting Luke with all the strength he had always held back, launching himself at Luke and pounding him without mercy. The two of them fought from one end of the lab to the other, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. They bit, fought, snarled, growled and roared back and forth, their newly acquired claws and fangs ripping into each other. Finally Alex managed to gain the upper hand and he grabbed Luke around the neck in a headlock and slammed him onto his back and knocked the wind out of him then throwing one last punch to his head to incapacitate him. In the mean time Anakin had fought his way out of the circle of stormtroopers and was standing in the middle of the room facing Alex. “Take the rest of the stormtroopers and wait outside until I call for you.” Alex said over his shoulder to his lieutenant. “But what about…” I will take care of him, just get the rest of the soldiers, and leave him to me.” The lieutenant nodded, looking nervously over at Han and Jacen who were lying on the floor already pulling at their bindings and glaring over at them. The stormtroopers and Alex’s lieutenant left, leaving Alex alone with his brothers. Anakin stood across from him, his snowy white fur and feathery wings a stark contrast to Alex as his icy blue eyes burned into Alex’s own amber eyes, full of hurt and betrayal. “So you betrayed us. I knew you were hiding something, but this?!” “Anakin let me explain.” Alex pleaded, taking a step back as Anakin lunged at him. “I can explain!” “Explain what?!” Anakin snarled, throwing a punch at Alex, then throwing another and another, Alex not bothering to dodge them as Anakin threw out a biting accusation with every blow. “You betrayed us, you betrayed the republic, and you betrayed mom and dad! After everything that’s happened you turned on us! How could you?!” “I only wanted to do what was best, for all of us!” Alex insisted as Anakin’s fist connected with his jaw again. “Liar!” Anakin yelled. “I knew you were lying, deceiving us all this time, and yet,” “You didn’t stop me.” Alex said. “Why?” “I trusted you!” Anakin cried, tears now streaming down his face. “You’re my brother Alex, and I love you. I trusted you…” He threw another punch at Alex, but he was blinded by his tears and his emotions now and it was slow, allowing Alex to block it, burying his fist into Anakin’s stomach. Anakin grunted, his body going limp in Alex’s arms as Alex gave him another blow to the back of his neck and whispered in his ear, his own tears starting to fall. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…” He lowered Anakin to the ground, looking around the room at his brothers; Luke’s stony grey fur mingling with the concrete floor and the spines running from his forehead down his spine to his tail still clinging to a few shreds of his shirt, Han’s brown fur changing color as he shifted between the floor and a stormtrooper and alternating between the grey of the wall and the white of the trooper’s armor then matching the brindle of Jacen’s fur, Jacen lying nearby glaring contemptuously over at Alex, the bony blades on his forearms clicking slightly against the floor as he pulled at his restraints. Finally Alex’s gaze fell down on Anakin’s crumpled form in his arms, his snowy white fur blazing against Alex’s inky arms. Alex sank to his knees, holding Anakin and whispering his apologies again and again as he clung to him. It was a long time before he called to his lieutenant and he came back followed by an entire of regiment of stormtroopers to drag Han and Jacen from the room and to carry Luke and Anakin’s motionless forms away, leaving Alex alone as he stared at his monstrous reflection in the shattered glass on the floor.



DayDreamer	Mar 7 2008, 11:43 PM Post #2
yeah i love jonas brothers..got a problem Posts: 216 Group: Members Member #15 Joined: December 5, 2007	how could he do that?? you don't betray your family members!! i don't like him, he's a jerk!



LionHeart	Mar 7 2008, 11:59 PM Post #3
Entropy Posts: 1,909 Group: Elite Members Member #14 Joined: December 3, 2007	he didn't exactly entirely betray them really...um... there's a perfectly good explanation for his actions, I promise!



LionHeart	Mar 9 2008, 04:15 AM Post #4
Entropy Posts: 1,909 Group: Elite Members Member #14 Joined: December 3, 2007	Chapter II Anakin stood silently in the court room, listening to his sentencing. He stood in the middle of his brothers, Luke on his right, the twins on his left, all of them heavily bound and surrounded by stormtroopers as well as a handful of scarlet clad palace guards. Han was changing color like a chameleon every few minutes, since he still had not mastered control of his ability to do so. As such, his fur was currently white with strange black patches on it, matching the armor of the stormtrooper behind him. Before them sat the empress, who was acting as both judge and jury for their case. She finished announcing their sentence and banged the gavel on the bench loudly; ten years in prison to atone for their attempted escape, pending an additional appeals hearing. The multiple murder charges against them had been waived, since by some miracle the empress had decided that while in the lab they had acted in self-defense. Anakin found it strange that the empress was going to such great lengths to give them a light sentence. Attempting to escape prison in and of itself merited a death sentence as did Luke’s attempt to kill the empress. There was something strange at work, but Anakin could not decipher what it was. Also, he had not seen or heard from Alex since the lab incident and that did not bode well. “I see you found a way around the murder charges.” Alex commented, looking over the court report. He was in the empress’ office, looking over the report with mild interest as he handed empress Tikaris the contract he had brought with him. “Ten years…I can work with that.” He said to himself as Tikaris read over the contract. “You already signed the contract?” Tikaris said, looking up at him curiously. “Yes.” Alex replied. “I let your son’s lawyers look over it before I did however.” He smiled smugly. “They found nothing out of place.” Tikaris chuckled softly. She knew that merely meant that he had embedded it with loopholes and the lawyers had not been able to find them. She read through the contract, raising an eyebrow slightly. Alex had done a good job of writing it, ensuring he got precisely what he wanted and Tikaris’ son and his respective descendants had virtually no power whatsoever over him or his brothers. “You should have been a lawyer Alex; this contract is iron-clad.” Alex smiled softly, a touch of sadness in it. “I should have been a great many things my lady. Many things…” He looked down at the court report thoughtfully, tilting his head to one side. “My lady?” “Yes?” “I have a proposition.” Anakin looked up as his cell door opened, admitting the warden and a handful of guards. The warden pulled a datapad from his pocket and started reading it as one of the guards unlocked Anakin’s wrists from the manacles binding his arms to the wall behind him. “In accordance of the decision of the 7th appeals court, you are to be released on probation effective immediately. The length and conditions of your probation will be determined in your probationary hearing with her majesty Empress Tikaris. Until that time, you are restricted to the palace and its respective grounds.” The warden pulled some papers from his pocket and handed them to Anakin, who was looking rather bewildered. “These are your security passes, try not to lose them.” Anakin took the papers, looking ever more confused. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. I never went to the appeals court; I just submitted my appeal earlier today. How did they reach a decision already?” The warden pushed a few buttons on the datapad and scanned the information. “A proxy attended court on your behalf and is currently accepting your sentence as well as that of your brothers.” “Someone is serving our sentence for us? Who is it?” “That is confidential information I’m afraid.” “Can you at least tell me what cell they are in?” The warden scanned down the information for a few moments. “Cell 2001 on the fifth level. It’s the largest cell on that level.” Anakin thanked the warden quickly and left his cell, meeting up with his brothers in the main control room. They had been informed of the substitute as well and were as confused as he was. Upon reaching the fifth level of the dungeons Anakin ran down the hallway, scanning the numbers on the cells as he went past as his brothers ran behind him trying to keep up. At last he found the cell he was looking for and just as the warden had said, it was massive; at least three times the size of the regular cells and a door twice as thick which had been left open. Anakin burst into the cell, stopping short at the sight of the empress standing inside watching a prison guard putting the commands into the suspended animation container in the center of the room. At first Anakin was unable to see who was inside, but then the guard finished and stepped back and Anakin stared in shock at the figure imprisoned within it. “Alex?!” Alex looked up and spotted Anakin and he smiled slightly as he started lapsing into hibernation. “Alex, why…” “For you little brother. For all of you.” Alex smiled one last time, the expression frozen on his face as he slipped into suspended animation. Anakin stood motionless by the door, his brothers standing behind him, frozen in astonishment. Empress Tikaris turned and saw them and frowned slightly. “I was rather hoping you would not have to watch that.” “He was the substitute? Alex took our place?” Tikaris nodded. “Given his position, it was rather easy for him to procure probation for you four and take your place.” “But why?” Luke asked. “Why did he do it?” “For the same reason he saved you every other time I suppose.” Tikaris replied. “Every other time? What do you mean?” Tikaris looked at them in surprise. “You mean he never told you?” The four of them shook their heads, looking more confused than before. “I suppose not, given your attitude towards him during the lab incident.” Tikaris said, half to herself. “Interesting…” She walked over to them, sighing and motioning for them to follow her. “Come with me, it would seem he have a lot to talk about.” Once the four of them had accompanied Tikaris to her office, she sat behind her desk, leaning back and collecting her thoughts for a moment before speaking. “You know I take it the measures your brother put in place to protect you when Darth Follis was hunting you, correct?” Anakin and the others nodded. “Yes, he went to great lengths to ensure that we were all taken care of.” Tikaris nodded. “You do not however know what he has been doing since he gave his loyalty to the Empire then, correct?” Again, the brothers nodded, and Tikaris continued. “I can not be sure of all the details, as your brother has not seen fit to inform me of them. I can however tell you what little he has told me and what I know myself. When your brother was on his mission to the asteroid base to collect information, he managed to penetrate far enough into the system to find out what I was actually up to. You see, the assault on the Republic and the reemergence of the Empire was originally orchestrated by Darth Saed with the intention of restoring it to what it formerly was in the days of your notable ancestors. He intended to place me as the head of the government as a sort of puppet whilst he and his apprentice took actual control in the background. Naturally I did not approve of the idea of being a puppet to a Sith to be disposed of at his leisure. So, with the help of my son, I created a coup within a coup to undermine Saed and Follis and maintain the existence of the senate after the empire took power while for the most part preserving the Republic as it was.” Anakin interrupted quickly, frowning. “Why go through all the trouble of preserving the senate if you merely wanted to restore the empire and destroy the freedom and equality of the Republic?” Tikaris half smiled. “Because Anakin, the republic is not what it once was, as you are well aware. Corruption is spreading and equality is not what it once was. The republic Luke Skywalker and Han Solo fought to restore no longer exists. I saw that, and so did Alex. That is why I did what I did and why he did what he did. Initially he did nothing, for reasons he has yet to reveal to me. However after Sera Lacrima was kidnapped your brother made an agreement with me: with my help he would quickly end the war and join the empire, aiding it in its exploits and ensuring his assistance in its overthrow of the republic if I could ensure the safety of his fiancé and his brothers during and after the war. Naturally I was happy to agree, but the actions of a certain foolish lieutenant rendered the agreement void when Sera was killed. After that Alex used his knowledge and access to the imperial mainframe to wreak havoc on our armies. When I was finally able to make contact with him again I explained that the lieutenant in question had acted without my authority and had since vacated the realm of the living. Once we had reconciled our differences I renewed the agreement and asked for his help in ridding me of the Sith, which he was more than happy to oblige. When the war was over with and the Sith had been disposed of Alex withdrew from the affairs of the republic to arrange for the overthrow of the senate and the respective take over afterwards. He stood on the sidelines directing the offensive on Coruscant as well as the other core worlds, but he avoided being directly involved in the fighting, for reasons known only to him. He was planning, I think, on only having the four of you imprisoned for a short amount of time as prisoners of war then arranging for your release at which point I assume he would have explained everything to you. However due to your untimely escape and the circumstances which followed he had to adjust his plans slightly. The rest you know.” Tikaris sat back, looking over at the four of them and waiting for their response. “So that’s why he was so nervous.” Anakin said to himself. “He knew what was going to happen. All this time, we were never hurt because of him?” “Did you think it was coincidence?” Tikaris asked. “You were captured because he ordered that you were not to be harmed. In every engagement you were in from the time he promised me his loyalty you have been protected because he guaranteed it would be so. Your brother has been watching over you for years, you just were unaware of it.” She picked up the contract Alex had given her earlier and handed it to them. “Alex wrote up a contract for you. I suggest you sign it before anything else happens.” Anakin took the contract and signed it without reading a word, handing it over to Luke. “You’re not going to read it?” Luke asked as he scanned it and finally added his signature to Anakin’s and handed the contract to Han and Jacen. “No.” Anakin replied simply. “I don’t need to.” Han and Jacen signed the contract and handed it back to the empress who stood and the four brothers followed suit. “In signing that contract you agreed to the same conditions as your brother and you now owe me and the empire your loyalty. Do you understand?” Luke and the others nodded, then bowed and left to retrieve the imperial uniforms they were now required to wear. As they turned to leave, Tikaris called to Anakin. “Anakin, I’d like a word with you please.” Anakin stopped and turned back, walking back to the desk. “Yes?” Tikaris handed him the contract he had signed and told him to read it. “Carefully.” She added as he took it. Anakin read the contract, his brow furrowing as he did. “You see it, don’t you.” Tikaris said as she watched him. “Loopholes.” Anakin said. “Everywhere.” Tikaris nodded. “Even my son’s lawyers were not able to find them. I only know about them because your brother showed them to me.” Tikaris walked around her desk to stand in front of Anakin, her face suddenly very serious. “Anakin, Alex created that contract to protect you and your brothers as well as himself.” “Protect us from what?” “My son.” “Your son?” “Yes. I trust him about as far as I can throw him.” Tikaris replied wryly. “He is becoming a power hungry fool, and that contract is all that is protecting you from him when he comes to power. Alex trusts him no more than I do, which is why he created it in the first place. You have little more then ten years until that contract fully comes into effect Anakin, I suggest you make good use of them.” “Ten years?” Anakin said quizzically. “What do you mean?” “When your brother finished his prison term I will allow some time for him to assess his circumstances and then I will abdicate to my son.” “But why, you said you don’t trust your son.” “I don’t but I am getting the feeling that my presence in the mortal world will not continue for much longer.” Tikaris replied, smiling slightly. “I am waiting long enough for your brother to get out of prison so that he can keep an eye on my son. In the mean time, Alex has appointed you as the captain of the Imperial Royal Guard in his absence.” Anakin looked at her, stunned. “Me? Captain of the Royal Guard? Why?” “Why not you?” Tikaris asked. “Besides Alex you are the strongest of your brothers and unless I am mistaken, you know Alex’s mind better than anyone.” “But why would he trust me with this?” “As you just said, he trusts you.” Tikaris answered. “And I think that since you know him best you are best suited for taking his place.” “Take his place? You ask the impossible.” Anakin said softly, staring down at his hands. “I could never measure up to Alex. I’m not as strong as him. I’m the youngest, I could not defeat the Sith, I get too emotional,” “While your brother by all appearances has no emotions whatsoever.” Tikaris finished for him. Anakin said nothing, but Tikaris knew he agreed with her. “Anakin, your brother has abandoned his emotions for reasons that I think even you have not yet discovered. Do not assume you must do the same to be as strong as him. You are far stronger than you give yourself credit for. Besides, there are different kinds of strength anyway. Alex knew that and that is why he appointed you to stand in his place until his release. Consciously or not during the time you were with your brother during the war you learned how to be like him and do what he does. Your brothers look to you now, you know that. And you will not disappoint them.” Anakin looked down at her thoughtfully, trying desperately to believe her. “I am not Alex. I can never be Alex.” Tikaris smiled. “I know you’re not. But you don’t need to be him; you need only to be like him. And you are.” She patted him on the arm returned to her desk. Anakin put the contract back on her desk and turned to leave, thinking over their conversation. As he neared the door, Tikaris said one last thing to him. “I saw Alex smile.” Anakin stopped, his hand frozen in midair in front of the door controls. “Why would one so devoid of emotion do that I wonder?” Anakin didn’t answer. He pushed the button to open the door, pausing only for a moment, then continuing through the door.



DayDreamer	Mar 11 2008, 11:28 PM Post #5
yeah i love jonas brothers..got a problem Posts: 216 Group: Members Member #15 Joined: December 5, 2007	hmm..i suppose he isn't such a meany...but stilllll!!! waiting patiently for more.



LionHeart	Mar 12 2008, 02:57 AM Post #6
Entropy Posts: 1,909 Group: Elite Members Member #14 Joined: December 3, 2007	lol I'm glad he isn't such a meany. he's not that bad really next one will be up tomorrow



LionHeart	Mar 12 2008, 07:55 PM Post #7
Entropy Posts: 1,909 Group: Elite Members Member #14 Joined: December 3, 2007	Chapter III A.C. 213 Major Peter Hirson looked up as Captain Alisander’s massive wolf-like form came to land in front of him, the Captain’s snowy white wings flapping a few times to slow his speed, then folding behind him as he came to rest. The Captain’s dark blue armor was scratched and scorch marked and he looked somewhat out of breath and stressed. Far away on the other side of the palace courtyard the main gates of the palace wall were hanging half-heartedly from their hinges as a small group of medical personnel went through the bodies lying at the gate to tend to the ones still living. It had not been long after the empire had come to power that the rebellion had inevitably come into being. The rebels had been fighting the imperial troops in small skirmishes off and on ever since, but today they had mounted a massive assault on the palace itself, simultaneously attacking all three of the palace gates at once. The fighting had become so overwhelming that Captain Alisander and his lieutenants from the Royal Guard had abandoned their posts in the palace to assist the Palace Guard and dividing themselves amongst the three gates. Captain Alisander and his three lieutenants were the Empress’ faithful bodyguards and by far the most mysterious and dangerous of the Royal Guard. Where they had come from and what they truly were was an enigma, but regardless of their dubious origins they were proving invaluable to the defense of the palace. However, even with their help the palace guard was having a great amount of difficulty holding off the massive rebel force that was assaulting them. Captain Alisander absently scratched his neck beneath his heavy steel collar, reading the battle report Major Hirson had given him. “Casualties are mounting at an alarming rate Major, where is the Gredan unit?” Hirson pointed to their right, where a large group of palace guardsmen were fighting. “They are still pinned down at the east gate sir, along with Lieutenant Lamorack.” Captain Alisander wrinkled his nose, frowning at the east gate, and then smiling slightly as a roar echoed from the west gate. “Lieutenants Helis and Jeufre have secured the west gate at least.” He looked up at the storm clouds gathering above them and sighed quietly. Rain never boded well, especially since it rendered his wings useless. He did not have long to stand and rest unfortunately; the rebels mounted a counter attack on the main gate and with a massive beating of his wings Alisander took flight and soared back to the gate to support the division holding them back. It soon became apparent that the palace guards were in serious distress. The rebels had gotten reinforcements from somewhere and were attacking with renewed ferocity. Alisander hastily discarded his empty blaster cartridge and inserted another as he smashed his fist into the face of a rebel soldier, sending him flying backwards into four of his comrades. As he did, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he grabbed Hirson, pulling him close enough to hear him over the tumult. “Hirson! What’s the date?!” Hirson looked at him in complete confusion. “The date sir?” Alisander nodded impatiently, shaking Hirson slightly. “Yes, the date, what is it?” “The 16th I think…” Captain Alisander looked back up at the palace and growled slightly with frustration. Already he spotted a few straggling rebel soldiers breaking through the main gate and heading for the palace. Alisander pulled a code cylinder from a pouch on his belt and shoved it into Hirson’s hand, bellowing his instructions into Hirson’s ear. “Go to the fifth level of the dungeons and release the prisoner in cell 2001 and tell him what is happening, understand? He’ll know what to do.” “Release the prisoner?” “Yes! And quickly! We haven’t much time!” Alisander pushed Hirson roughly back towards the palace, turning his attention back to the battle raging a few feet before him and bellowing a challenge as he dove back into the fray. Hirson grasped the code cylinder tightly in his hand and ran back to the palace, still very confused. Captain Alisander hadn’t even told him who the prisoner was that he was releasing. Was it some dangerous and violent criminal that had been locked away and Alisander was so desperate he was going to unleash him on the rebels? Hirson ran up the palace steps, barely managing to get passed the rebels who had gotten there and running through the hallways down to the murky dungeons. He took the elevator down to the fifth level, wondering for a brief moment why it was so empty. There wasn’t a guard in sight as he sprinted down the cell bay, reading the numbers on the cells as he went past. When he finally reached 2001 he skidded to a halt and hesitated for a moment before shoving the code cylinder into its slot and opening the door. Inside the massive cell was nothing more than a large suspended animation chamber, its contents surrounded in mist, making it impossible to discern what was inside. Hirson walked cautiously up to the suspended animation chamber and tapped lightly on the glass. The mist shifted slightly, but nothing else happened. Looking down at the controls Hirson scratched his head for a moment then pushed the buttons to awaken its inhabitant. As he did he noticed that the glass of the container was thicker than any glass he had ever seen, and as the mist began to clear he started stepping back nervously, glancing at the massive and complicated lock on the outside of the chamber. When the mist had cleared Hirson stood frozen in shock, staring up at the colossal figure inside of the chamber. It was it seemed some nightmarish twin of Captain Alisander. While Captain Alisander’s fur was white as snow and a pair of majestic feathered wings stretched from his back, the monster in the chamber had fur dark and inky black as night itself and a pair of massive leathery wings folded on his back and as he stretched them he frowned, his amber eyes scanning the room and falling on Hirson. Major Hirson stared back at him, not sure what to do. Captain Alisander had ordered him to release this monster, but that was seeming somewhat ridiculous at the moment, given the circumstances. The monster looked down at Hirson for a minute or two, and then set about occupying himself with getting out of the chamber. It took him perhaps a full minute to do so. The monster merely tapped on the glass a few times then with a grunt of effort rose to his feet in one rapid motion, bursting through the glass and stretching his wings to their full length. He stretched them a few times, then folded them again and stretched the rest of him, finally taking notice of Hirson again. He looked around the room, almost as if he were expecting something else, then frowned and hopped down, landing on all fours and walking towards Hirson, who was still frozen in the middle of the room. “What has happened? Why did you awaken me?” “C-captain Alisander ordered me to release you.” Major Hirson replied, watching the monster’s horns and claws and long whip-like tail nervously. “Captain Alisander? Who is that?” The monster asked. “The captain of the Royal Guard.” Hirson replied. “He’s fighting at the main gate with the rest of the…” “Get on my back.” The monster interrupted. “What?” “Get on my back, we have far to go and you cannot run as fast as me.” Major Hirson hesitated, then climbed onto the monster’s back, positioning his knees behind the wing joints as best he could as the monster told him to explain what was happening on the way there. By the time they reached the main floor of the palace the monster was running at an amazing pace, heading for the main hall and frowning in a distinctly disgruntled way at the information Hirson had given him. Hirson for his part was clinging to the monster’s shoulders and trying desperately not to fall off as the monster rounded a corner, his claws skidding slightly as he did and pulling to a stop suddenly as he looked through the bars of the banister down at the main hall. At least a dozen rebel troops had managed to get in and were running for one of the grand staircases that led to the upper floors. The monster looked over his shoulder at Hirson and barked an order at him. “You. Off. Now.” Hirson gladly complied and the monster jumped onto the edge of the banister overlooking the main hall, then jumped down, landing with a dull thud in front of the rebels that made small craters in the marble floor and letting loose a roar that echoed through the palace and out over the din of the battle. Alisander stopped mid-stride and looked back at the palace, a grin spreading across his snout. “He’s awake.” “Who is awake Captain?” Alisander grinned wider and picked up a rebel soldier and swung him around in a circle, flinging him out over the heads of the other soldiers like a giant shot-put. “Big brother.” Before the soldier could ask for further explanation, it came bursting out of the palace. Alex came running across the courtyard, his amber eyes aflame as he dropped to all fours to gain speed and jumped into the center of the fray at the main gate, not far from Captain Alisander. In a short amount of time Alex had cleared a 15 meter square space in front of the gate using nothing but his indignation and claws. Once he got hold of a blaster the distance increased to 50 meters and the rebels were turning to retreat in a hasty and terrified manner. Snorting angrily at them Alex flung a few chunks of concrete at their retreating backs, his chest heaving. With one last roar to encourage their retreat, he turned back to where Anakin was standing and smiling and he swept Anakin into a massive hug, lifting him up off the ground and hugging him tightly. “Good to see you again little brother.” Anakin smiled and hugged Alex back. “I missed you. You have perfect timing as usual.” “You woke me up late; I had nothing to do with it.” Alex replied as he put Anakin down again and smiled at his other brothers, who had come running when they heard him roaring. They all wore collars similar to Alisander’s and the same dark blue armor as Alisander, though the pauldron on his right shoulder was silver, while theirs was on their left shoulder, denoting him as a higher lieutenant than them. Had Alisander worn his uniform properly, he would have had a silver pauldron on both shoulders, indicating his rank as captain, but since he still considered Alex the actual captain, he settled for the first lieutenant’s uniform instead. “You got your voice back quickly.” Jacen remarked dryly, wiggling a finger in his ear and shaking his head. He looked happy to see Alex nonetheless, despite his somewhat haggard appearance, the sharp bony projections on his knuckles being slightly chipped as were the blades on his forearms. Alex shrugged. “I was merely informing you that I had arrived to save the day, that’s all.” Luke rolled his eyes and waved a hand at Alex dismissively. “Flashy as ever. Good to have you back though.” He looked over his shoulder and frowned at the second wave of troops assaulting the east and west gates, keeping the palace guards stretched as thin as possible. “The east and west gates are still weak, I had better go back.” Jacen and Han nodded their agreement and after quickly hugging Alex as well they ran back to their respective posts. Alex’s smile faded slightly and he started walking across the courtyard with Anakin, taking in the situation as they walked. “This is quite the mess you’ve gotten yourself into.” Anakin nodded. “Yes, they are particularly determined this time. We really needed your help.” Alex stopped and looked at Anakin, smiling softly and putting a hand on his shoulder. “You have done a fine job little brother, even without me.” Anakin smiled back, suddenly overwhelmingly happy to have his big brother back and at his side. For the next while the two of them stood on the steps of the palace, Alex sketching battle plans on a scrap of paper and discussing them with Anakin. Already the rebel forces attacking the east and west gates were shrinking slightly, bit by bit retreating to reinforce the main force that was undoubtedly gathering to assault the main gate again while still leaving behind enough troops to keep the gredan unit at the east gate pinned down and prevent them from reinforcing the main gate. Something had to be done to get the gredans out of the mire of the east gate and put them in the position to help the rest of the palace guard, especially since the captain of the palace guard was riding with them and the captain was their greatest asset apart from Alex and his brothers. Alex sat down on the palace steps and scooped some pebbles off the ground to play with as he mulled things over and caught up on things with Anakin. “You’re calling yourself Alisander now I hear.” Anakin nodded. “That’s right. We couldn’t very well keep our real names, so we came up with new ones. Luke is Lamorack now, Han is Helis, and Jacen is Jeufre. Nice obscure names.” “You’ve been reading Le Morte D’Arthur again, haven’t you?” Alex said, half smiling. Anakin grinned proudly, apparently pleased that Alex had guessed it. “Of course. Oh, and by the way, we’ve named you Artorius.” “Charmed.” Alex, now Artorius replied. “I suppose there are worse things you could have come up with.” He looked over at the west gate, where Jeufre was resting for a few precious moments while he waited for the next wave. “What became of Adrian?” Alisander shrugged. “We don’t know. We never did try to find her. I don’t think Jeufre really wanted to, not after what happened. I think she did get married though, a few years after we disappeared.” “I suppose everyone thinks we’re dead then.” “Yeah…” Artorius sighed and tossed a pebble, watching it skitter across the stone of the courtyard. He had expected that he and his brothers would be presumed dead, but actually admitting it meant that they were truly severed from their former identities. “Who is the captain of the Palace Guard?” He asked Alisander, wanting to change the subject. “Captain Sorden. I’ve never met them.” “You are captain of the Royal Guard and you never bothered to meet the captain of the Palace Guard?” Alisander fidgeted slightly, looking at the marble of the steps with distinct interest. “No, I did not. I have been rather busy, doing…important things…” “Meaning you forgot and never bothered.” Artorius stated in a matter- of -fact way and smiled obnoxiously over at Alisander. Alisander scowled at him and stole one of Artorius’ pebbles and threw it at his head. Artorius caught it and threw it back, scoring a hit, and smiling smugly. Alisander stuck his tongue at him and flapped his wings slightly in discontent, making his collar ring slightly against the metal of his breastplate. Artorius frowned, lifting the collar in his fingers and inspecting it. “So he already put you in those did he?” Alisander nodded, not meeting Artorius’ eyes. “Not long after you were imprisoned. He’s already trying to control us. These are in case we should somehow forget the contract we are bound to.” Artorius snorted derisively at that. “Sounds like something Prince George would think of. Not to worry, when that contract does come into effect he will realize just how much power he truly has over us.” When the final assault came, even Artorius was forced to admit it was a formidable and very well planned one. The force the rebels had gathered to assault the main gate was comprised of about 90% of their forces and far surpassed the palace guards. Artorius and Alisander were forced to call Helis and Lamorack to help them, leaving only Jeufre to guard the east and west gates and prevent any further troops from leaving them to join the main rebel force. Artorius and Alisander flew through the rebel troops, doing their best to destroy as many as possible before the inevitable storm broke and their wings were made useless. The two of them landed on the massive palace wall, Artorius standing above the gate and Alisander on the main wall to his right, shooting their blasters down at the troops while the rain pounded down on them. Artorius decided to make one last effort to fly before his wings were totally soaked and jumped from the gate, soaring over the rebels’ heads then turning and firing both his blasters at them as he let gravity carry him the rest of the way over them, finally landing right in the middle of their force. He stood up and gave them a grin that turned their blood to ice then let loose, fighting his way back through them to the gate and cutting a large path as he did so. Once he reached the gate again he focused on pushing the rebels as far away from it as possible and for a time he succeeded, but then he was forced to jump back up to the top of the wall as they surged forward again. Artorius looked over at the east gate, watching the gredan unit fighting what rebels remained there then glanced over at the west gate where Jeufre was dispatching the last of the rebels there. Artorius quickly counted what rebels were left at the east gate then called to Jeufre to take the soldiers he had left and relieve the gredan unit. Jeufre complied and his troops gave the gredan riders enough leeway to finally pull back and regroup. Once they had reorganized themselves, Captain Sorden and the gredan unit thundered across the courtyard to the main gate, smashing through the rebels and driving them back. Artorius and his brothers jumped in after them, and before long the rebel force had been cut in half and was rapidly dwindling further. The remaining rebel troops at the east gate abandoned it and ran to the main gate, Jeufre and his troops storming across the courtyard to get there before them. As Jeufre neared the main gate, an explosion ripped through a section of the gredan riders and palace guardsmen, and Captain Sorden was catapulted into the air, landing on the stone of the courtyard in a splash of water. “The captain is down! I’ll see to it!” Jeufre yelled to his brothers and ran to the captain’s side. Sorden’s scarlet armor had been blown to pieces and as Jeufre dropped to his knees and picked up the captain he could hear them coughing and saw a trickle of blood fall down their chin underneath their helmet. Jeufre leaned the captain against his left arm as he searched his belt for his medkit and screamed for a medic. He finally found the medkit, but then just looked hopelessly down at the mangled metal embedded in the captain’s chest, not knowing what to do. If he tried to pull the metal out, the captain would surely bleed to death. Captain Sorden coughed again, their breathing becoming ragged as more blood trickled down their chin and got washed away in the rain. Deciding the helmet was doing more harm than good; Jeufre pulled it off, dropping it to the ground when he saw Adrian’s face underneath it. “Adrian?” He said softly, hardly believing his eyes. “Is that you?” Adrian nodded, looking up at him with mingled confusion and wonderment. “Who are you?” She managed, weakly lifting a hand to try and wipe away the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth again. Jeufre wiped the blood away, his voice choking in his throat as he spoke. “I…I am… I’m Jeufre, one of the Royal Guard.” Adrian nodded, and then flinched as a wave of pain hit her and Jeufre took hold of her hand, holding it tightly as she gritted her teeth against the pain. Jeufre screamed over his shoulder for a medic again, Adrian’s hand grasping his tightly as she fought against the growing pain in her chest and breathing faster. “Hold on Adrian.” Jeufre said desperately. “The medic will be here soon, just hold on a little longer.” Adrian nodded, her breathing calming slowly. “It’s alright. It doesn’t hurt as much now.” Realization dawned on Jeufre and he looked desperately over his shoulder again for the medic that he knew was too late. Adrian’s body was going limp in his arms and he held her hand tight as he leaned her against his side and felt her heart go fainter and fainter even as the soldiers at the gate were starting to celebrate their victory. Adrian closed her eyes slowly, her grip on Jeufre’s hand relaxing as she listened to the Palace Guard cheering. “Did we win?” She asked. Jeufre smiled, feeling his tears mingling with the rain as they fell down his face. “Yes, we won.” Adrian smiled, and a long time later when Artorius and the others finally found them she was still smiling as Jeufre held her lifeless body in his arms. Artorius and the others formed a ring around them, effectively fending off the palace guardsmen and gredan riders that had gathered around them. Before long word had spread that the captain was dead and as Jeufre and his brothers lifted Adrian onto their shoulders to carry her to the palace the crowd of soldiers parted and formed a pathway to the palace steps. Once inside they lay her on the marble of the floor at the base of the two grand staircases in a small alcove. The five of them stood by her side, forming a sort of honor guard until her body was taken away to lay at rest with the rest of the fallen officers, including her husband. Some time after the battle was over and the clean up crews had just begun to survey the damage Artorius went to the war room to meet the empress. The room was full of people, rushing here and there as they tried to assess the situation and messengers ran back and forth. Empress Tikaris rose to her feet as Artorius came in and went to greet him, smiling happily. “I had heard you had come back, it’s very good to see you again old friend.” Artorius smiled and bowed, noting her son was there as well and not liking that in the least. “It is very good to be back your highness. I trust you have been well while I was away?” The Empress agreed that she had, and the two of them went to talking. After a few minutes a messenger ran breathlessly up to them, holding something in his hand. Artorius watched him closely as he bowed to the empress and lifted his hand to give the empress the message in it. Just as he did Artorius pushed the empress back, stepping in front of her as the messenger’s hand flashed out and the knife he had been hiding in his hand slashed across Artorius’ left eye. A moment later Artorius buried his claws in the messenger’s gut and slashed upward, raking his claws up the man’s torso. He fell to the ground and the Royal Guard ran forward to ensure that he did not get up again. Artorius clamped a hand to his eye, hissing slightly as he did and hoping that he wouldn’t lose the dumb thing. As the medics were called for and pried his hand away from his eye to inspect it the empress sighed and half smiled as she watched him swat at the medic’s hands and growled nastily at them as they attempted to stitch his eye back together again. “Welcome back Captain.”



DayDreamer	Apr 4 2008, 07:54 PM Post #8
yeah i love jonas brothers..got a problem Posts: 216 Group: Members Member #15 Joined: December 5, 2007	sorry it took me so long to respond to this..i've actually ended up reading it a few times without realizing that I was reading it again! It was good(every single time I read it) LOL...lots of A names..



LionHeart	Apr 4 2008, 08:16 PM Post #9
Entropy Posts: 1,909 Group: Elite Members Member #14 Joined: December 3, 2007	lol oh dear, there are a lot of A names aren't there? oops... oh well, glad you like it, I'll have the next part up soon, probably tomorrow



LionHeart	Apr 5 2008, 07:41 PM Post #10
Entropy Posts: 1,909 Group: Elite Members Member #14 Joined: December 3, 2007	Chapter IV The funeral held for the soldiers that had fallen during the battle was by far the largest Artorius had ever attended and certainly one of the most disheartening. He hated funerals and had been to very few. His parents’ funeral had been impossible to attend since he had been in hiding at the time and the only other two he had attended were for Cris Tane and his fiancé Sera. As such funerals were a source of dread and unhappiness for him and as soon as Captain Adrian Sorden’s casket and that of her husband had passed by he extracted himself from the crowd lining the street watching them go past and retreated back to the palace. Inside the palace Jeufre stood on a balcony looking down at the street as the miles of caskets filed past. He had not stayed much longer than Artorius, preferring to grieve privately and silently in the palace for Adrian. He turned his head slightly as Artorius came up behind him and stood silently next to him. Jeufre looked over at him for a minute, debating whether or not he should talk to him about what had happened. Of the five of them, Artorius alone knew what Jeufre was feeling and he and he alone would be able to understand it and comfort him. Jeufre cleared his throat slightly, making one of Artorius’ sharply pointed and backswept ears twitch slightly in his direction, twitching the small red metal earring pierced in it, the same as the earrings worn in the left ears of his brothers made from Adrian’s armor. “Artorius, could I talk to you about something?” Artorius frowned slightly, clearly knowing where this was going and Jeufre hesitated for a second. Artorius was his big brother, it was true, but Jeufre still was hesitant to bring up a painful subject with him, given his present mood and recent abandonment of all extraneous emotions, leaving only the more dangerous of temperaments behind. It was almost as if the great scar across his left eye had become the only physical manifestation of the scars fate had etched into his heart. “How do I deal with this Artorius? Losing her I mean, it has made me feel so…” Jeufre broke off, dropping his head and staring down at the balcony, not able to express it. He waited as Artorius tapped a claw on the stone railing of the balcony, thinking over his answer. Jeufre was somehow afraid that he would tell him that there was no recovering from it, that he had no choice but to abandon everything inside him that any such feelings of attachment and loss. However, when Artorius did answer, it was something completely unexpected. “There are I suppose different ways of doing it, though I hardly know which is best. You lost friends during the war, and so did I. It hurt, yes, but there was the comfort of knowing why they had died, knowing that in their dieing they had saved others and we knew that it was all just a part of being in war; the fighting, the dieing, the losses, they were inevitable and unavoidable. But when Sera died, that was…that was different.” Artorius paused for a moment, scratching absently at the railing with his claw. “She was no soldier, she was only caught up in it because of me, and had I never gotten involved with her things would not have happened as they did. And knowing I could have perhaps saved her, that it the most painful thing of all.” He turned his gaze to Jeufre, trying to make him understand what he was trying to say. “Sera was a civilian Jeufre, her death was something that should never have happened nor should she ever have been put in the position for it to happen. Adrian was a soldier; she went into this knowing what might happen and she rode out to meet it regardless. You know the sort of person she was Jeufre, and you know she was not afraid to die for what she believed to be right. Perhaps you could have saved her, perhaps not. Had she lived however, what then? Would you have been able to stand the agony of watching her, knowing who she was, watching her husband and knowing that you should have been in his place?” Jeufre frowned slightly, furrowing his brow, but not answering. “I’m not saying it’s better she died, but just know that she died doing what she loved and defending those she loved and that is what she always wanted. Do not spend your life regretting what you did not do or wondering what you should have done. Adrian is gone, yes, but you knew her better than anyone and you will forever have the memories of the time you spent with her. Be thankful for that. At least you had the privilege of knowing her, loving her as no one else did.” Artorius sighed and turned to leave, putting a hand on Jeufre’s shoulder. “Whatever you do Jeufre, never allow yourself to be consumed by your sorrow, or it will destroy you as I have allowed it to destroy me. Regret is a terrible thing; never let it get a hold of you.” With that he patted Jeufre on the shoulder, his face hidden beneath its emotionless mask and left Jeufre on the balcony. Jeufre looked back down at the street and the string of coffins passing by and at the massive palace walls that were being etched with the names of their occupants and as he did he smiled softly and gave Adrian one last salute and bid her farewell. Prince George wasted no time exerting what little authority he had over Artorius and his brothers. Soon after the funeral their contract officially came into effect and they became the servants of the royal family, bound to protect them for the rest of their lives. That assignment in and of itself would not have been a terrible ordeal for Artorius and the others, but George soon began implementing rules and regulations designed to restrict what power they possessed and ensuring that it could never be used against him. After all, he had seen what they were capable of and the last thing he wanted was for them to use their power against him. First was Artorius’ collar, matching those his brothers wore, then the prince promptly forbade them to ever use blasters again or any weapon for that matter which, in essence, was more advanced than a sword. Artorius had scowled at that, but let it be. Weak weapons were better than no weapons at all, and soon he and his brothers had equipped themselves with formidable enough swords that he was almost willing to forgive Prince George for confiscating their lightsabers. There were many other restrictions George placed on them, but despite all his efforts Artorius still managed to prove he still had more freedom than George could ever deprive him of. Artorius made it clear to Prince George how much he was willing to let him control him and his brothers a few months later when the Empress went on one last trip before abdicating the throne. They would be touring every core planet in the empire and then would go to Earth to secure comfortable relations with them as well. Artorius did not particularly mind traveling, but due to certain terms in his contract he found this particular one more trying than usual. As the shuttle neared Earth Artorius adjusted his sword at his side and made no attempt to hide his displeasure. He had been forced to remain in close proximity to Prince George for an unfathomable amount of hours and it was doing nothing for his already sunny disposition. According to his contract, Alisander was bound as the personal body guard of whoever sat on the throne as emperor or empress, which meant that for the length of the trip he had been following Tikaris wherever she went, which as Artorius knew was no great trial. Artorius however was bound as the protector of the heir to the throne. As such he had been obligated to spend far more time with Prince George than he considered healthy or reasonable. As Alisander watched Artorius fidgeting in his armor and grumbling unsavory things about George he wondered what had inspired him to write up a contract that would bind him to the one man in the universe he disliked more than anything. As the shuttle landed Artorius and everyone else got to their feet and moved into position and filed out of the shuttle to where the Earth diplomats were waiting along with an army of reporters. The reporters found endless fascination with Artorius and his brothers throughout their stay. After all, even in their own galaxy they were unlike anything anyone had ever seen before and on Earth they were even more amazing. Artorius hoped desperately that the reporters’ fascination would soon pass over to the other Royal Swordsmen or the empress herself, but it did not seem likely. There were a limited number of swordsmen with them, as they were a special unit of the Royal Guard that Artorius had picked out. They were much like the other members of the Guard except for the swords they had strapped to their backs and all the special training Artorius and Lamorack had given them. It was about the closest thing Artorius had managed to create to a guard of Jedi and he supposed it would be fairly effective, though it seemed not in the realm of saving him from reporters. After some discussion with Lamorack he decided that it might be best to give the reporters something interesting to occupy them for long enough to focus on that and leave Artorius and his brothers alone. Lamorack seemed skeptical, but agreed to give it a try. What they decided to do was to create a sort of distraction for reporters while the Empress and Prince George were in another of their endless meetings with the dignitaries. On the appointed day Artorius saw George into the meeting room then left Jeufre to take his place by the closed doors while he wandered off with Lamorack to a large spacious hall nearby full of portraits of famous historical figures. The reporters saw them wander off, but did not seem to take any special notice of them, instead choosing to try and pester Alisander and Jeufre while they were powerless to avoid them. “They haven’t taken the bait yet.” Lamorack commented absently as he wandered the hall, glancing up at the portraits. Artorius shrugged. “We will just have to make the bait more interesting then, now won’t we? Poor Alisander looks like he is contemplating hitting that cameraman over the head with his own equipment.” A few minutes later the reporters abandoned Alisander and Jeufre in pursuit of the commotion they heard coming from the room Artorius and Lamorack had retreated to. Upon their arrival, they found Artorius and Lamorack in the middle of a ferocious argument and suddenly Artorius lost his temper entirely and drew his sword, slashing at Lamorack. Lamorack snarled and blocked the sword, the clash echoing through the hall. Soon the two of them were enveloped in a swordfight that made the walls shake with the impact as they kicked each other into it. Artorius threw another punch at Lamorack, but he dodged it and Artorius’ arm buried itself halfway through the wall before he jerked it free and managed to land another on Lamorack’s jaw, sending him sliding back across the floor. Lamorack surged forward, slashing down on Artorius’ head. Artorius brought his sword up just in time, gritting his teeth as he dug his claws into the floor. Lamorack pushed down on him and Artorius’ claws dug deep gouges into the marble of the floor as he fought to push Lamorack back. Finally he managed to push his sword back and slashed at Lamorack’s stomach, making him jump back. Artorius was the strongest of the five of them, they had always known that, but it had never been determined who of them was the best swordsman. Now Artorius was determined to find out. He dove at Lamorack, sending an uppercut to Lamorack’s jaw that echoed through the hall, then blocked Lamorack’s counterattack and brought his armor clad knee into Lamorack’s stomach, driving as much force as possible through the armor. It had the effect Artorius wanted, and stunned Lamorack long enough to give Artorius a few precious seconds to bring the butt of his sword down onto the back of Lamorack’s neck and as Lamorack crashed to the floor Artorius disarmed him and stood over him, his sword on Lamorack’s throat as he turned onto his back. For a few minutes they stayed frozen that way, Lamorack lying on his back and eyeing each other breathlessly, Artorius’ sword never wavering from Lamorack’s jugular. Behind them, pressed against the wall were the reporters, all frozen in anticipation as they waited to see what would happen. Finally Artorius stepped back and sheathed his sword then reached down to help Lamorack to his feet. The two of them bowed and then started walking back to the conference room, stopping only for a moment for Lamorack to pick up his sword again. As they walked he rubbed the back of his neck, wincing slightly as he did. “Did you have to hit me that hard?” “It was not that hard.” Artorius defended himself. “Besides, you have that collar.” “It still hurt.” “Don’t be such a baby.” “I am not!” They continued in like manner all the way back to the conference room, the reporters following a safe distance behind them, still not entirely sure what to make of what had happened. By the time they reached the conference room the Empress and the Prince had already left along with Alisander and Jeufre and Helis, which was precisely what Artorius and Lamorack had wanted. As the reporters argued over the disappointment Artorius and Lamorack were able to slip away and find their brothers, having finally determined who was the better swordsman and having done a small service in keeping the army of reporters away from the conference room. It was in the middle of their stay on Earth that Artorius made it painfully clear to Prince George what Artorius could and could not do. Both of George’s sons, the Princes Rondall and Liwan, had come on the trip as well and Prince George was making ready to announce Rondall, the older of the two sons, as the heir to the throne after the Empress abdicated to George. However, Rondall was in every way like his father, only younger and slightly shorter. As such, Artorius did not like him in the least and made it very clear that Liwan and Liwan alone would be inheriting the throne. “You are in no position to choose who will or will not be the heir to the throne Captain!” “On the contrary your highness,” Artorius contradicted him, using the formal title as he always did merely as a courtesy to George’s mother. “If you will read my contract you will find that I am the only one with the authority to do so. You may nominate whomever you so please of course, but the final decision is mine and mine alone. And I choose Liwan.” Prince George looked positively livid at that, his knuckles going white as he gripped the edge of his desk. Artorius merely crossed his arms across his chest and glowered down at him, not budging an inch. “Do you have any concept of what this will do to my public image Captain? It is quite fragile as it is, might I remind you.” “If it is fragile, that is your doing, not mine. I hardly care what becomes of your image highness; my concern is only to keep you alive long enough to sit on the throne once your esteemed mother abdicates.” Prince George began to retort, but just as he was beginning to do so a messenger came hurriedly into the room and handed the Prince a message from the president of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. They were requesting help from the Prince in order to track down and apprehend a dangerous fugitive that had been eluding them for months. The Prince was ready to refuse the request, muttering something about how he did not have the resources to do anything when Artorius interrupted. “If I may, your highness, might I suggest that you allow me to find this criminal of theirs? It will after all help that precious image of yours to assist them in this.” “And who is supposed to take your place in your absence?” George asked impatiently. “There are five of us, might I remind you.” Artorius replied dryly. “Lamorack will stand in my place. Not to worry highness, I will not be long. I would bring him back faster, but there is that annoying stipulation of them wanting him back alive.” In the end Prince George gave in and before long Artorius was adjusting his sword so that it strapped horizontally across the back of his belt as Jeufre adjusted his double swords on his back. “Ready?” Jeufre nodded and the two of them tore from the embassy, running on all fours to make better time and streaking past more than one surprised passerby as they went through the gate. They ran to a dark and deserted alleyway to discuss their strategy for a few minutes, and then parted ways. The criminal they were tracking was a murderer, and a vile one at that. Most recently he had killed a man and his wife and Artorius strongly suspected he was now after the one witness to the crime; their son, a small boy who had been quickly sent away to be with his relatives where the police assumed he would be safe under the police guard surrounding the house. When Jeufre reached the house however, it was clear what had become of the few officers watching the house. He stepped quietly over their motionless bodies as he crept through the house, finally ending up in the living room. There he found the man he was looking for. The criminal had already found the boy and shot his aunt and uncle and from where he stood it was impossible for Jeufre to tell if they were still alive. He drew one of his swords, balancing it lightly in his left hand as he walked slowly towards the criminal and keeping a close watch on the pistol he had pressed to the boy’s head. “Let the boy go Stevens.” Stevens held the boy tighter, moving along the wall to the doorway and his escape, trusting his hostage to keep him safe from the monster that had just appeared in front of him. Jeufre moved with him, staying in between Stevens and the door, and closing the gap between them as he did. In a move more of desperation than sense Jeufre slashed at Stevens’ hand, trying to get him to drop the pistol. Instead Stevens jerked his hand back and then started shooting at Jeufre. Jeufre dropped to the ground and rolled away, jumping up to throw a punch at Stevens’ face, the bony protrusions on his knuckles tearing into his face. Unfortunately that merely made Stevens angrier than before and he let loose another stream of bullets at Jeufre, forcing him to jump back again. Stevens reached into a pocket and Jeufre assumed he was reaching for more bullets and took the opportunity to rush forward again. Regrettably however Stevens instead pulled out a flash-bang grenade which exploded in Jeufre’s face as Stevens retreated out the door that Jeufre had left unguarded, running down the stairs to his car and screeching off into the night. Jeufre staggered to his feet, cursing his idiocy and touched a finger to his collar, activating his comlink and calling for Artorius to continue the pursuit. At the speed Stevens had been driving, only Artorius and his massive wings would be able to keep up with him. When they had parted ways Artorius had stayed on foot since flying would attract far more attention than he wished. He leaped up a fire escape and ran across a rooftop, jumping the gap in between buildings as he moved across the city. Jeufre had gone to the boy’s relatives’ house to inspect the situation there, while Artorius had been heading to Stevens’ house, just in case their hunch proved correct and Stevens got a hold of the boy and took him there. As Artorius jumped off a rooftop to go to another he suddenly realized he had misjudged the distance, and with a loud thud he landed instead on the side of the building and had to dig in his claws to keep from falling off again, sliding a few inches down the concrete face before coming to a stop. He clung to the side of the building, glancing up and down it to ascertain how badly he had misjudged the distance. By the looks of things he was too far down to simply jump up to the roof, and yet too far up to risk jumping the rest of the way down to the ground. He hung there for a few minutes, trying to decide how best to deal with the situation before Jeufre’s voice came over his comlink. Tentatively Artorius freed one hand from the building’s side and touched his collar. After assuring Jeufre he was on his way he reached behind him and set about moving his sword to the side of his belt. As he did he noticed that he had landed precisely in front of someone’s window, his arms and legs spread around it. As he adjusted his sword he looked in the window and caught the eye of the very surprised looking teenage boy standing on the other side. Artorius merely raised an eyebrow then went back to adjusting his sword. Once he was satisfied with its situation he looked at the distance between the buildings and deciding it was wide enough launched himself off the side of the building, spreading his wings and gliding through the alleyway and out into the street where with a few beats of his wings rose up into the sky above the rooftops. Stevens wasted no time ditching the car he had escaped in. He knew better than to hold onto something so easily identified. He skidded to a halt and dragged the boy into an abandoned office building, taking refuge in an empty storehouse. After he decided that enough time had passed to ensure he had not been followed Stevens threw the boy to the ground and drew his pistol, sneering unpleasantly as he cocked it. Before he could pull the trigger, something smashed into the side of his head, sending him flying as stars flashed in front of his eyes. When he got back to his feet another long set of gashes similar to the ones already on his face had joined them on the side of his head and the boy was standing behind the same monster that had confronted him before, now with both his swords drawn and standing in a defensive posture. Stevens looked at his pistol, now several feet away and furiously tried to decipher what to do about the precarious situation he was in. “Jeufre, take the boy to his aunt and uncle, the paramedics should have them to the hospital by now.” A deep voice behind Stevens said, cutting into his thoughts. “I will escort Stevens to the police station.” Jeufre nodded and backed out of the room with the boy. After he had gone Stevens slowly turned to see who the other voice belonged to. When he did his insides seemed to turn to ice at the sight of the demon standing there. Given the choice between the two he would rather take his chances with the first monster than this one. The demon rubbed his knuckles gently as he glared down at Stevens with his one amber eye and the other a startling electric blue beneath the long scar streaking across it. “Now Mr. Stevens, I am going to explain to you how I feel about murderers.” Whatever improvement Prince George’s image needed Jeufre and Artorius’ apprehension and delivery of Steven’s much beaten body to the police effectively delivered it. By the time they left for Coruscant Artorius and Jeufre had gained invaluable and dangerous reputations and Prince George was still being endlessly thanked by the Earth leaders for his help. Upon their return Empress Tikaris abdicated the throne to Prince George and Artorius was finally able to relinquish his safety to the care of Alisander and he took up the protection of Liwan shortly after when he was named as the heir to the throne. As they entered the palace Artorius looked at the named carved into the walls, noting more than a few that belonged to soldiers he had once fought with at one time or another before the fall of the republic and as they climbed the steps and walked passed the great marble statue of Adrian on her gredan that now sat in the great entryway he saw her two children standing there, Jeufre not far away keeping watch over them, keeping an unspoken promise he had made to Adrian to take care of them. The five of them were bound to protect the royal family and the empire they ruled for the rest of their natural lives and as he walked up the grand staircase Artorius added his own silent promise to Adrian that he would protect the things she had died for and protect the man he knew she had loved until her dieing day. After all, she had named her son Jacen.



DayDreamer	Apr 17 2008, 11:28 PM Post #11
yeah i love jonas brothers..got a problem Posts: 216 Group: Members Member #15 Joined: December 5, 2007	hmm..interesting..



LionHeart	Apr 18 2008, 04:50 PM Post #12
Entropy Posts: 1,909 Group: Elite Members Member #14 Joined: December 3, 2007	thanks I'll put up the next one later today



LionHeart	Apr 18 2008, 08:01 PM Post #13
Entropy Posts: 1,909 Group: Elite Members Member #14 Joined: December 3, 2007	Chapter V A.C. 443 Prince Jonathan looked excitedly about him as they entered the palace. It was just after his tenth birthday and he was finally moving to live in the palace on Coruscant to be under the protection of Captain Artorius. For some reason the heir to the throne was never chosen until they were ten years old, an old tradition that Jonathan did not understand. Nevertheless he was still excited to meet the legendary Captain and see the palace. He had spent his life on a remote planet far away from Coruscant so as to keep him safe until his presentation to Artorius. They passed through the great palace gates and Jonathan read a few of the names etched into the stone commemorating the soldiers that had died defending it. As they entered the massive entrance hall Jonathan’s eyes were wide with excitement and anticipation, Lamorack trailing just behind him as he had for the past decade. Jonathan gaped at the massive marble statue of Captain Adrian Sorden and turned to rap Lamorack’s vambrace to get his attention. “Lamorack! Isn’t that Captain Sorden?” “Yes.” “I heard the Sordens are the best soldiers in the Empire, is that true?” Lamorack, who was used to Jonathan’s constant pestering merely shrugged. “I am not sure your highness. They are exceptional soldiers, it is true, but I do not know if they are the best there are.” “The blue eyed ones are.” Jonathan said confidently as they climbed the stairs. “Blue eyed ones sir?” “Yes!” Jonathan said excitedly. “Everyone knows the blue eyed Sordens are the best soldiers, even better than the other Sordens!” “And why is that?” “Because Captain Adrian Sorden herself had blue eyes of course.” “Oh.” They continued up the stairs where Helis was waiting for them along with a major or two. He bowed and welcomed them to the palace, informing them that Artorius was waiting for them in a room in the east wing. Emperor Maximus II, Jonathan’s father, nodded and followed Helis, calling back to Jonathan to keep up. As they walked Jonathan noticed that one of the majors accompanying them was named Sorden. Jonathan rapped on Lamorack’s vambrace again, making him fight the urge to roll his eyes with exasperation. “That major’s name is Sorden!” “So it is. He is one of your father’s attendants at the palace if I remember correctly.” “Does he have blue eyes?” “I can’t say I know your majesty.” Jonathan frowned slightly, then turned to Major Sorden and ordered him to take off his helmet. Major Sorden paused for a moment, clearly confused by the order, and then obediently took off his helmet, revealing that he did indeed have blue eyes. Jonathan then spent the next five minutes or so thrilled with this newly discovered fact and started assaulting Major Sorden with questions, apparently trying to decipher if he lived up to Jonathan’s expectations of blue eyed Sordens being the best soldiers in the universe. “Why did you order him to take his helmet off your highness? You could have just asked him what color his eyes are.” Jonathan shrugged. “I could have, but I wanted to see for myself. And besides, he’ll do anything I tell him to do anyway, so it hardly matters.” “Right…” Lamorack muttered. He fell back slightly to talk to Helis, moving just out of Jonathan’s earshot. “So what is this one like?” Helis asked, eyeing Jonathan. “He is irritating, self-centered, arrogant, controlling, and about a thousand other things that Artorius hates.” Helis chuckled quietly. “Yes, I had heard that. Well, it is no loss if Artorius does reject him, he can always choose someone else. Though I think it is safe to say that Artorius will take one look at him and outright eliminate him. He’s been known to do it before.” Lamorack nodded. He wished he knew how Artorius made his decisions though. Somehow all Artorius had to do was look at the candidate in question for a minute or so and then he would make his decision. And so far he had never been wrong. When they entered the large sunlit room where Artorius was waiting Jonathan stopped and stared, looking up at Artorius with awe. He had heard the stories about the Black Captain, and knew nearly all of the nicknames he had acquired over the last two centuries. The great demon was everything the stories had said he was; a massive black monster with great leathery wings and a long whip-like tail and sharply pointed horns. He even had the scar and different colored eyes and a sword that was nearly as tall as Jonathan and as Jonathan came in the demon leveled his gaze on him, his eyes piercing through him it seemed to his very soul. Maximus pushed Jonathan forward to stand in front of Artorius and cleared his throat and introduced Jonathan in the formal, traditional way to present him to Artorius for acceptance or rejection as heir to the throne. “Captain Artorius, may I present my son, Prince Jonathan.” For a few seconds there was silence as Artorius regarded Jonathan and they waited for his response. Finally Artorius bowed his head slightly to Jonathan, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. “Greetings Prince Jonathan, I offer you my protection.” Jonathan gulped and bowed his head in like manner, just like his father had showed him and gave the proper response. “Thank you Captain Artorius, I gladly accept it.” And with that Prince Jonathan officially was the heir to the throne. Maximus smiled proudly and the soldiers in the room clapped, but Helis and Lamorack could only stare at Artorius in disbelief. After things had settled down and Artorius was alone Lamorack went to talk to him, trying to decipher why Artorius had chosen Jonathan. “I don’t understand Art; do you know what that boy is like?” “Of course I do.” Artorius replied mildly as he watched Jonathan. “He is an arrogant little snot, everyone knows that.” “Then why did you choose him?” Lamorack asked in confusion. Artorius’ eyes narrowed slightly as Jonathan started ordering the soldiers around again and Lamorack looked at Artorius expectantly, now more confused than before. “He has potential.” Artorius said simply. “Potential? For what?” “For good.” Artorius replied. “And for evil.” He thought to himself. Jonathan rapidly proved himself to be one of the most irritating people Artorius had ever met. At first he tried to order Artorius about as he did everyone else, but soon discovered that to be painfully futile. Artorius simply would not do as he was told. He either outright refused to do so or just ignored Jonathan or acted as if he were deaf to everything he said. This frustrated Jonathan to no end and he tried, without success, to find a way to make Artorius do what he wanted. “I am the son of the Emperor and the heir to the throne; you must do as I say!” Artorius looked at Jonathan from his seat on the floor mildly and narrowed his eyes slightly. “You are heir to the throne Jonathan because I decided so, and I can easily remedy that.” Jonathan fumed at that, stomping a foot in aggravation. “Why do you never use my title then, if I am the heir as you say?” “You were born with your title as a prince that does not mean you act like one.” Artorius replied. “And until you do I will not use your title, nor will I do as you tell me.” After that Jonathan tried appealing to his father for help, since his father as the Emperor was Artorius’ lord and master and Artorius would do what he said at the drop of a hat. However Maximus offered Jonathan no help in the matter, telling him that he would have to earn Artorius trust and respect himself. That did nothing to improve Jonathan’s mood but he knew defeat when he saw it and afterwards gave up trying to force Artorius to do anything, instead satisfying himself with just trying to remain on good terms with him. One morning a few months after Jonathan’s arrival he bounded over to Artorius’ sleeping form in the corner of Jonathan’s room and tried to shake him awake, bellowing in his ear. “Wake up Artorius, it’s Christmas!” “Whatsa Chrissmas?” Artorius mumbled, rolling over to spare his ear from Jonathan’s tirade. “You know, Christmas!” Jonathan said excitedly, tugging at Artorius’ collar impatiently. “Presents, food, all that stuff! Now get up, Dad says I can’t open presents unless you come too.” He tugged harder at Artorius’ collar, trying to get him to his feet but Artorius’ bulk was too much for him to budge and Jonathan’s feet slipped and he landed on his back, staring up at Artorius’ amber eye, which was cracked open slightly. Jonathan scowled up at him, his hand still holding on to Artorius’ collar and occasionally tugging fruitlessly at it. Finally Artorius decided to give in and slowly got to his feet, pulling Jonathan up with him so that Jonathan was holding to his collar and dangling six inches above the ground. “You can let go now Jonathan.” Jonathan relinquished his hold, fell to the floor with a thump, and dashed for the door, jumping from one foot to the other impatiently as he waited for Artorius to stretch lazily and follow after him like some impossibly large and nightmarish dog. He had not woken up enough to stand fully erect, instead walking on all fours and yawning hugely, revealing his large and impressive set of teeth. Upon reaching Jonathan’s large pile of presents in his parents’ room Artorius flopped back onto the floor, curling up and going back to sleep and ignoring Jonathan entirely even when Jonathan decided to use him as a reclining cushion as he opened his presents. “Good morning Artorius.” Maximus said as he sipped his coffee, watching Jonathan as he sat down next to Artorius. “Good morning my lord.” Artorius replied, using his quota of polite and intelligible speech for the morning. “And how are you?” “Wan breffast.” Artorius replied, sniffing at the smell of Maximus’ coffee. Once Artorius did finally manage to get his breakfast and coffee he mixed a generous amount of brandy into his coffee and tried to enjoy it while Jonathan started pestering Helis into eating the mushrooms from his omelette. Helis for once was refusing every instruction Jonathan gave him, while still staying polite at the same time. Finally Artorius managed to spare him from Jonathan and from the mushrooms and Helis gave him a look of infinite gratitude as he escaped from the breakfast table. Years later, when Jonathan was nearly thirty, his father’s health began to fail and Jonathan found a woman who was willing to marry him. Artorius found that endlessly fascinating, since the Lady Catherine did not seem to be out of her mind, and yet for some reason she seemed to actually be in love with Jonathan and wanted to marry the man. Soon after Jonathan’s thirtieth birthday he married Catherine and Emperor Maximus II died, leaving Jonathan as the new emperor. The power he had received made Jonathan more arrogant than ever and more controlling. As soon as he took the throne, he started to try and impose his will on Artorius, convinced that now that he was the emperor Artorius would obey him without question. Unfortunately Artorius did nothing of the sort, especially since he now no longer was Jonathan’s protector and Alisander was. The tension between Artorius and Jonathan grew until Artorius and his brothers began to worry that Jonathan would do something drastic. Despite his father’s warnings, Jonathan did not understand how important Artorius and his brothers were, much less what they really did. As far as he was concerned they were nothing more than his irritating babysitters. Publicly Artorius and his brothers did little to show how they protected the royal family, but in secret they foiled many assassination attempts and other threats without Jonathan’s knowledge, especially Artorius. Until Jonathan produced a child Artorius was free do go wherever he pleased and spent most of his time with Jeufre hunting down criminals and rebels. He tried his best to convince Jonathan that their presence should not be taken for granted and that they were far more than large furry shadows that followed him everywhere. Jonathan did not believe him however, convinced that whatever merit Artorius and his brothers had as soldiers and protectors had long since faded and that they were by no means capable of what they had done at the battle for the palace gate more than two hundred years prior. Artorius wanted nothing better than to have an enlightening argument on the subject with Jonathan, but Jonathan’s attitude toward him made him hold his tongue, lest Jonathan finally loose his temper and do something stupid. There was a law, irrevocably decreed by the first emperor, George I, that the emperor or empress could without trial banish or exile Artorius and his brothers from the empire whenever they pleased. Artorius for all his foresight had not been able to prevent the law and had only been able to create a counter measure for it, creating a stipulation in the law ensuring that Artorius and his brothers could only be banished or exiled for the length of the emperor or empress’ reign and their successor could not impose the sentence again without a trial. Artorius knew about the law, but so did Jonathan and Artorius had a bad feeling that Jonathan was very close to imposing it. If he did, he would be leaving himself dangerously vulnerable and Artorius would be forced to do nothing to protect him from his own foolishness.



DayDreamer	Apr 29 2008, 10:29 PM Post #14
yeah i love jonas brothers..got a problem Posts: 216 Group: Members Member #15 Joined: December 5, 2007	Quote: “He is irritating, self-centered, arrogant, controlling, and about a thousand other things that Artorius hates.” HAHAA..got a little tear in my eye over that..truly good..ahh..the humor..i hope that was meant to be funny...



LionHeart	Apr 30 2008, 05:25 AM Post #15
Entropy Posts: 1,909 Group: Elite Members Member #14 Joined: December 3, 2007	oh that was definitely meant to be funny Here's the next part... Chapter VI A.C. 463 Artorius gritted his teeth in frustration and tried not to grab Jonathan by the neck and throttle him. He had been trying for the past hour to convince Jonathan of the threat of a rebel attack, but Jonathan refused to believe him. Artorius had been watching the rebels grow in power for the last ten years and had been trying to convince Jonathan to let him go and eradicate them but it was to no avail. Jonathan trusted Artorius no more than he ever had and since none of his intelligence officers knew anything of the rebel forces he refused to believe Artorius’ claims. Artorius was more insistent than ever due to the fact that the empire’s 250th anniversary was the next day and Jonathan was planning on going on some ridiculous balcony to watch the parade, his wife at his side. There was some relief in the fact that Jonathan’s daughter Aeris would not be on the balcony with them since she was still a small baby, but no matter how hard Artorius tried he could not convince Jonathan that more security was necessary. He even brought Alisander to help him plead his case but even that had no effect. Jonathan was simply too stubborn and arrogant to believe that anyone would dare attack his royal person. “You are signing your death warrant Jonathan, please listen to me!” Artorius insisted, but Jonathan brushed him off. “As I have told you numerous times Captain, there is more than enough security in place for this event without your paranoia inflating it. I assure you we will be perfectly safe.” He looked up at Artorius from the papers he was inspecting and narrowed his eyes warningly at him. “And remember Captain, you, and your lieutenants are to stay well out of eyesight, I don’t need you five creating a scene.” He looked back down at his papers, waving a hand at Artorius and Alisander to leave. “You are dismissed.” Artorius’ fist shot up, ready to smash into Jonathan’s head but Alisander caught it just in time and with a great amount of effort pushed it back down and pulled Artorius from the room. After they left Artorius stormed through the halls, fuming at Jonathan and his idiocy. When the parade started Jonathan and Catherine were standing on the balcony watching the parade go by, waving and smiling as Artorius and his brothers hid in the shadows. He and the others were well out of eyesight but close enough to do something should trouble arise. Everything seemed alright, but something was nagging at the back of Artorius’ mind; there was something out of place, something that was going to go terribly wrong, he just could not figure out what it was. Midway through the parade it happened; a sniper’s shot tore across the street just as Jonathan turned away and missing him hit his wife squarely in the chest. A moment later she fell to the ground and the soldiers started scrambling to find the sniper as more shots came flying at the balcony. Alisander pulled Jonathan roughly to the ground and yanked him back into the safety of the building. Meanwhile Artorius and the others went after the snipers. In the interest of time Artorius threw caution to the winds and jumped from his position on a nearby rooftop and flew down the street creating somewhat of an uproar as Helis and Jeufre ran down the street and Lamorack tore through the building where the first shot had come from. “Jeufre, watch the bottom, make sure he doesn’t escape through the lower windows!” Artorius yelled through his communicator. He landed on the roof of the building with a thud, having spotted a man running down from the roof a moment earlier. Artorius tore down the stairs after him, drawing his sword, and trying to drive him into a dead end. Finally on the third floor he cornered him, smashing through the locked door, and throwing the man back to the floor. By the time he got to his feet again Artorius’ sword was at his throat and the man looked slowly up its length at the characters engraved along it and finally up at Artorius’ face, swallowing nervously. “What does it mean?” The man asked, referring to the characters, trying to decipher what language they were from, much less what planet. “You’ll soon find out.” Artorius replied, drawing back his sword and burying it in the man’s chest in one swift motion. A moment later Alisander’s urgent voice came through Artorius’ communicator, calling him back to the building where the emperor had retreated. Artorius left the rebel’s body with some stormtroopers and quickly flew back to where Alisander and the emperor were. Upon arriving he soon noticed that things had taken a turn for the worse, as all his brothers were there and Jonathan was looking at them with unmasked fury. Once he spotted Artorius his anger seemed to increase, something Artorius did not think possible. “You! You knew this would happen, didn’t you?!” His brothers looked at him, almost as one, waiting for his answer. “Please lie, Artorius, for once, please lie!” Alisander thought desperately. He had a bad feeling that this was going to end up much like the last time Artorius had refused to lie about something, not until it was too late and the two of them had suffered dearly because of it. Artorius paused for a moment regarding Jonathan thoughtfully, then his face hardened to an all too familiar stone-like quality and Alisander felt his stomach sinking. “I did not know that your wife would die Jonathan, if that’s what you mean. But I did know that the rebels would attack. Why do you think I tried so hard to warn you? If you had listened to me this would not have happened.” Jonathan’s face turned a dangerous shade of red as he seethed at Artorius, barking out his accusations and anger. “So this is all your fault! You knew, and you did nothing!” He looked accusingly at the five of them, apparently forgetting that he had not allowed Artorius and his brothers to do anything in the first place. “You all betrayed me…” Alisander stepped forward, trying to calm Jonathan and salvage the situation as much as possible before he did something rash. “My lord we did not betray you! We tried to protect you but you refused to…” “Silence!” Jonathan roared, cutting him off. Alisander clamped his mouth shut and stared down at the floor. So much for that… Jonathan glared at them viciously, pointing at the door with one shaking finger as he ordered them out. “You are banished. All of you. Now get out. GET OUT!!” For a moment they just stood there in stunned silence, and then one by one they turned and left, Artorius pausing for a moment by Jonathan, then storming out after his brothers. “It was your fault she died Jonathan. All…your…fault.” Artorius and his brothers took a shuttle and left the palace without a trace within a few hours, pausing only long enough for Artorius to appoint Lieutenant Yuy as captain until Artorius’ return. Jonathan sat at his desk fuming for a long time. Deep down he knew he was wrong and Artorius and his brothers were innocent but his pride would not let him admit it just yet. Of the two snipers one had been brought back alive and he had freely confessed to being part of the rebellion and proudly admitted to attempting to kill the emperor. Still Jonathan could not swallow his guilt and pride and admit that he had been wrong. He was hurting a lot and he wanted to take it out on something, and Artorius and his faithful lieutenants was far too easy a target to pass up. A month after Artorius’ leaving Lieutenant Yuy came to Jonathan’s office with a somewhat large metal box tucked under his arm. Despite Artorius’ appointing him the temporary captain of the guard he had not taken to wearing the captain’s uniform, instead preferring to wear his silver lieutenant’s shoulder pauldron on his right shoulder. He put his delivery on Jonathan’s desk and handed him the code cylinder that opened it. “This was found with your father’s belongings your majesty. It had a note saying it is part of your inheritance.” Jonathan thanked him and Yuy left the office, leaving Jonathan alone with the rather uninteresting looking box. He put the code cylinder into the lock and opened the box to find an old security hologram cube inside along with a note from his father and an old datapad. In the note his father explained that the hologram was footage from the old imperial lab which had once resided within the palace before it was destroyed and converted for other purposes. The contents of the footage, his father explained, were an old family secret and Jonathan as the new emperor must keep it safe at all costs. Along with the first note was a second, to be read after Jonathan had watched the security recording. As Jonathan watched it he became increasingly agitated and guilt and wonderment overwhelmed him. When it finished he sat back in his chair, trying to digest it all. It all made sense now, especially after reading the contract written on the datapad and signed by Artorius, his brothers, and the first empress. He felt incredibly foolish now for never realizing who and what they were and what they had been doing for him and his family for all these years. It had seemed somewhat strange when he was in school and when he was doing a report on the fall of the republic Artorius had given him a detailed explanation of how it was done and when Jonathan asked him how he knew so much about it he had replied: “I was there Jonathan, of course I know.” And there was the old story of how Jeufre had held Captain Sorden in his arms as she died and how he had cried for her. Now he understood why. Jonathan picked up his father’s second note and as he read it his heart sank and he wondered how he was going to get himself out of this mess he had created for himself. “Keep the wolves close to you Jonathan, if they leave your side they will not readily return.”


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