Star Trek: A Hero Among His People
Bajor, Alternate Universe.
He stood upon the rock as though he was a statuette. His Energy Rifle held in his right hand, and his sword held in his left.
A man ran across the grass and over to the man standing on the rock. "General Maros, our men are ready. We will strike on your word,"
General Koogan Maros stood still upon the rock, his tall muscular body not moving a millimetre. "Inform Colonel Trontius that we are to strike in the coming minutes. His contingent is to join the battle ten minutes after it has begun."
"Yes General." The Bajoran replied, and then ran back in the direction from which he had come.
Maros looked up for the first time in a half hour. He looked straight ahead of him. Almost a mile away from where he stood, there was an army of two thousand Bajoran's. It was a large army. Maros' army only consisted of eight hundred men, and Colonel Trontius' of two hundred and fifty.
They were outnumbered, like usual. In all the battle's Maros had fought over the last year, he had been outnumbered and yet come out victorious.
Maros looked up to the pale blue sky and closed his eyes. "For Rowren!" He yelled.
"For Rowren!" The soldiers behind him shouted back. Moments later Maros and his army were running down the hill, charging towards the opposition army.
They had caught their targets by surprise. There was not enough time for the opposition to charge down Maros' army as they were almost upon them.
It had begun.
Maros' first victim was a middle-aged man. His sword pierced the man's stomach, and then Maros shot him in the chest; sending him flying off the sword.
Two men ran at Maros, with their swords raised in front of them. There was not enough time for Maros to raise his rifle and shoot them down - he would have to fight them with his sword.
Just before the soldier's swords were about to make contact with his chest armour, Maros dived forward. His arms glazed the swords, but did not bleed. Before the two soldiers had a chance to turn around, Maros' sword struck off both their heads.
He turned around, searching for his next target. He saw one man severing the head from one of his soldier's bodies and so charged him. But before he could reach his target a laser beam shot towards him, missing his head by mere centimetres. He fell to the ground, dropping his weapons. His target ran over to him with his sword raised high in the air but before he could bring it down into Maros' chest he was shot. His body fell to the floor.
Maros quickly got to his feet and picked up his weapons. He turned around to see whom it was he now owed his life to. The man he saw was tall with black hair that went down just past his jaw. It was Colonel Kikan Trontius.
Both men nodded towards each other and then went their separate ways, searching for more soldiers to kill.
The battle lasted more than two hours, with both sides losing many soldiers, but like usual it was Maros' opposition who had lost the most.
**********
The sky had turned from a pale blue to a dark grey within hours. General Koogan Maros was walking at such as pace that it was hard for Colonel Trontius to catch him up.
"Koogan, slow down." Trontius yelled, but Maros seemed to not hear him. "Koogan, slow down!"
Maros then stopped. He stood still for a moment and then turned to face the approaching Bajoran. "What is it Kikan?"
"I believe it is I who should be asking you that question. What's wrong Koogan?" Trontius asked, breathing slightly faster than he usually did.
"The Senate are going to get us all killed. They have been making our numbers smaller for the last year. If they keep giving me armies of this size we will lose to those whom resist us." Koogan responded, but Trontius got the impression that Koogan was responding to his own thoughts more than he was to Trontius' question.
"The Senate must have their reasons Koogan."
"Can we be sure of that? For a year they have been cutting our numbers without any reasoning. How can I be expected to lead a war when I do not have the men to do it? The people are Bajor are losing faith in the Senate and are deserting their faith in Rowren to become believers in those make- believe prophets. If this keeps up we will become outnumbered by the end of this year.
We have lost almost seven hundred men today Kikan. We only came with eight hundred and fifty! Don't you see how close we were to defeat?"
"But we were not defeated Koogan, we were victorious!" Trontius exclaimed with pride.
"But how long until it is our enemy that is victorious and we are the ones decapitated in a wet field?
Trontius looked down at the wet and muddy ground. "I suppose you're right."
"I am right, and I shall be convincing the Senate of this as soon as we return home." Signalling that the debate was over, Koogan turned away from Colonel Trontius and carried on walking in the direction he had been going before he was distracted.
**********
A giant stone building stood in the middle of the city of Osibon. It reached higher into the sky than any other building in the city, but was also a lot older than any other building in the city. The giant stone building was the home of the Bajoran Senate. In the middle of its out wall there were two large wooden doors. These doors stood taller than most homes in Osibon.
The doors opened, flooding the dark room with sunlight before the doors closed again. A man dressed in a cloak had entered through the doors, and was now walking straight across the room. He walked for a further minute, and then stopped. A beam of light came down upon him, making him visible to everyone who was present in the room. Seconds later eight more beams of light came down from the ceiling, illuminating eight Bajoran's sitting in a jury box look-a-like.
"Why do you summon us General Maros? " One of the Bajoran's asked.
Maros removed his hood from his head, revealing his face to the other Bajoran's. "I summon the Senate because of our war with the believers in the Prophets."
"And what of it?" Another Bajoran asked.
"You have been cutting down my numbers over the last year. I am now in the position of not having enough men to wage your battles. I lost almost seven hundred men three days ago, I was only given eight hundred and fifty men to start off with. The enemy outnumbers us, if I am not given a larger army the enemy will begin to attack Osibon. There are Bajoran's changing side day after day. I cannot be expected to win this war for you if you do not give me the men I require." Maros pleaded to the Senate.
A man dressed in a black robe entered the room from the side of Maros. He wore his hood over his head, but Maros knew who he was - Colonel Hakan Troklin.
"Why do you complain? Did you not win your battle?" Troklin asked, his low menacing voice echoing around the cold room. Maros turned his head to face the man who had been trying to take his position for three years.
"That is not the point Colonel. We lost more men than we should have, the enemy had more than double the amount of men that we had. Only our belief in the great Rowren led us to victory." Maros claimed. He didn't know if the Senate could sense it, but there was a lot of hatred between General Maros and Colonel Troklin.
When both had been boys, their fathers had been the most famous soldiers in the history of Bajor. Hakan and Koogan even used to play together, while their fathers were away on campaigns.
But when Hakan and Troklin were teenagers, and their fathers aging heroes, Lixious Troklin killed Jokken Maros in his sleep. Troklin had then replaced Maros as the Senate's General. Troklin died nine years later when believers of the prophets executed him.
It had never been proven that Lixious Troklin had killed Jokken Maros, but Maros was certain of it and he was even more certain that Hakan Troklin knew the truth. Since that day neither had been friends with the other.
"Then is it not possible that your belief in the great Rowren will carry you on to countless more Victories?" Troklin asked. Troklin had always been a thorn in Maros' side since Maros had become General. Maros was fully aware that Troklin wanted his position, and that he would do whatever it took to get it.
"Even Rowren is not that powerful." Maros claimed. The Senate started to talk to each other in surprise. Hakan walked over to Koogan.
"Are you losing your faith in Rowren?" Hakan scowled, face to face with Koogan.
"Of course not, but faith can only take you so far." Maros turned away from Hakan and faced the senate. "I am here to request more forces. I want to be able to outnumber the enemy on the battlefield. My sources tell me that the enemy are building more advanced fighter aircraft. If this is true, they will be able to attack any city they wish. We need to be one step ahead of them always."
"Request denied General," one of the Senator's said, "the Senate does not have the spare men you require."
"This is an outrage! How do you expect to win in our fight if you wont give me the forces I require?" Maros shouted.
"Our belief in Rowren will lead us to victory, General. The enemy believes in false God's, we believe in a real God. Please leave us."
"You're making a mistake." Maros told them, before turning away. As he turned away, he saw Colonel Troklin smiling. For Troklin, this was a great victory. The more Maros disagreed with the Senate, the closer Troklin came to taking his position.
Two minutes later Maros was standing outside the building, awaiting Colonel Trontius arrival.
**********
Koogan Maros' house was a small cottage. It was surrounded by empty grassland, with a forest nearby. The forest was actually where the City of Osibon ended. Koogan's home had been built by his father many years before.
The weather was terrible. Rain was coming down heavily, and the night sky was hidden by grey clouds.
Maros was sitting in his large wooden chair, reading a book that his father had given to him. He had read this book eight times, but Maros still felt as though the book was new when he read it. Only the lit fire in the corner of the room provided light for Maros to read.
Maros had only been home for five hours. He had spent almost all of this time making love to his wife Lionna. However, he hadn't told her of how the Senate were reacting because he didn't want her to know that the Senate were not as great as the Bajoran people were being led to believe.
For generations his family had been faithful believers of the Senate and their ways, so why would the Senate not even consider what Koogan requested? Koogan did not know, and from the Senates recent actions he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
Koogan's son, Jespon, was asleep in his bedroom. He was not yet aware that his father had returned home. Koogan was certain that his son would become just as important to Bajor as he and his father had been.
"Move one more step and I will kill you." Koogan told an unseen pair in the room.
"He's good." One of the men said.
"That he is. The prophets have once again chosen well." The other man said with pride.
"Prophets?" Koogan asked, energy rifle pointing into the shadows where the two men stood.
"Yes, the Prophets."
Maros quickly got up from his chair, throwing his book to the ground. "How dare you people come into my home? I should kill you this very moment."
"Then why don't you?"
Maros could not answer the question. For some reason he could not kill these two men. He wanted to kill them, but something inside of him was stopping him from doing so. The two men walked out from the shadows and immediately the light from the fire revealed their faces.
One of the men had short black hair, and was of medium build. The other man had a shaven head, but you could still make out his blond hair. He had a scar running downwards past his eye.
The man with black hair approached Maros. Maros still had his weapon pointed at the man, and yet this man was not afraid.
"I am Didik Kooton and this man is Crusias Oki. We were sent here by our leaders-"
"To do what?" Maros asked, cutting in on the man's sentence.
Kooton smiled, "To show you the power of the prophets."
"The Prophets do not exist, they are just a myth." Maros told the men, confident of what he spoke.
"If they do not exist then what is this?" Kooton signalled to Oki, who then pulled something out from behind him. The object was covered with a cloak, but the cloak was not there long. Oki removed the cloak instantly to reveal an object covered with Ancient Bajoran markings. Something from within the brown casing was glowing, but Maros did not know what it was.
"What is it?" Maros asked, transfixed by the glow that the object was giving off.
"It is one of the few orbs that the Prophets left us. This particular one shows you the future." Kooton told General Maros.
"You lie." Maros said to the men, laughing at the same time.
"Do we?" Kooton asked, before signalling for Oki to open the casing. Moments later the room was engulfed with a bright white light.
**********
Maros did not know what was happening but he was being shown images of something. He couldn't make out everything that he was being shown, but what he did see he didn't like.
The decapitated bodies of the Bajoran Senate lay sprawled over the floor of the Senates Building. One man stood in the middle of the room with a bloody sword in his hands. Maros couldn't make out who the man was because he wore a hood over his face.
The images changed.
A planet, surrounded by golden-coloured ships.
But the next was an even more disturbing image. It showed a man, Maros, surrounded by some kind of creatures who wore grey leather uniforms. Koogan Maros was chained up, wearing no clothes. One of the creatures was holding something in his hand, which he then thrusted into Maros' stomach.
The images kept changing until finally Maros was back in his home.
**********
Maros dropped his energy rifle to the ground. He was sweating, and panting.
"Do you believe?" Kooton asked the now sitting Maros.
"Is that the future?" Maros asked, not answering Kooton's question.
"Yes, well to be precise it is the future events that you are to play apart in."
"The Senate, they were all dea-" Maros did not have time to finish his sentence because Oki cut in.
"You can not tell us what you saw. The Orbs are only to be used by the Emissary; no one else. The Emissary must not tell us what he saw." Oki told him.
"Emissary? I am not your Emissary. Why did you come here?"
"We were sent here by our leaders. You are to lead us in our battle against the Senate of Bajor. It is your destiny to lead Bajor into a new age." Kooton told the confused Maros.
Maros stood up, picking up his energy rifle as he did so. He pointed it at Kooton. "You are lying to me. Leave, now. If I ever see you near my home again I will kill you."
Kooton nodded, and then he and Oki left the house. Koogan pulled the door closed and walked back to his chair, picking up his book as he did so.
**********
"Why do you stand before us Colonel?"
Troklin pulled his black hood from his face to reveal his pale white face. "I come with bad news concerning General Maros."
"Has he been killed in battle?" A voice echoed around the room.
"No, General Maros still lives. What I am about to reveal to you is far worse than his supposed death. Four nights ago, General Maros met with two believers of the Prophets!" Troklin, with his low croaky voice, shouted.
The room filled with loud whispers, and Troklin couldn't help but smile.
"Can you be certain?"
"Very certain. After you, the Senate, turned down the General's request for more men I had him followed. My servant came back with these." Troklin took an electronic pad out of a pocket in his cloak, and held it out in front of him for the Senate to see. He pressed a button on the bottom, and almost immediately beams of light shot out from the pad, melding together to show images. "The two men you see leaving the General's home in this image are the two believers of the Prophets that I mentioned a moment ago. We know who they are because of the records we obtained when General Maros' men stormed a Prophet building.
The man with the shaven head is Crusias Oki. He is the best pilot that our enemy has. The other man is Didik Kooton, he is one of the more valuable members of the opposition."
For a further three minutes no one spoke. The room was silent, until one man spoke up.
"I demand that General Maros be stripped of his rank!"
"I second that!" Another man shouted out.
Troklin took a step forward, putting the pad back in his pocket as he did so. "People of the Senate, I will take care of the traitor Maros but only if you grant me a wish."
"What do you wish?"
"To be made General of Bajor. Give me all the men we have and I will make sure that people like Koogan Maros regret ever turning their back on Rowren!" It was make or break for Troklin. If the Senate turned him down, he would never have a second chance.
"We will grant you your wish. All of our military powers will be at your disposal. But you must put an end to the life of Koogan Maros."
"I will. I cannot thank you enough. I will do what those before me have failed to do; put an end to the farce that are the Prophets!" Troklin quickly turned away from the Senate and made his way to the exit of the building. His father had rid the Senate of Jokken Maros, and now he had rid the Senate of Koogan Maros.
If there was only one thing that Troklin was certain of, it was that a lot of blood was about to be shed.
**********
Koogan Maros, unaware of what had just occurred in Osibon, was in the middle of a charge towards an army of Believers of the Prophets. Once again he was outnumbered. His army consisted of seven hundred men; the opposition of one thousand.
Just as he was about to shoot down a soldier running towards him, Koogan appeared in a new place outside of the battle.
The place he was in was a bright white. He could see no floor, he could see no sky; just a bright white.
"You are The Maros?"
Koogan quickly turned to face a man walking towards him. The man had the same appearance as Koogan's father, but he had died years beforehand. "Father? How can this be?"
"The Maros believes you are his father." Another voice said, with no emotion at all.
Koogan turned to face someone with the same appearance as his friend Kikan Trontius. "Kikan? Where are we? Why are we not in battle?"
"I am not 'Kikan'." The man replied.
"Then who are you?" Maros questioned.
Both men walked around Maros, not taking their eye focus off him at all. "We are the Prophets."
"How can this be? You do not exist, this is an illusion." Maros raised his hand to aim his energy rifle at the man who appeared to be Kikan Trontius, but his weapon was no longer in his hand. "What have you done with my weapons?"
"The Maros not believe."
"The Maros will not accept what stands right before him."
"How can I believe in something which does not exist?" Maros questioned.
"The Maros did not listen to what he was told by those two men. The Maros should have listened."
"What do you mean?" Maros asked, now starting to believe what these creatures were telling him. "What do you want with me?"
"The Maros is the being that we have chosen to be our Emissary."
"But why? I do not believe in the Prophets. I have even killed hundreds of men because of their belief in you."
"The Maros is the being who will lead Bajor into a new age."
"But how?"
"We can not tell The Maros how he will bring the New Age upon Bajor."
Maros stood still, silent for at least thirty seconds. "I do not understand. You have confused me."
"The Maros must return to his home this very minute."
"Why? What is going to happen at my home?"
"We can not tell The Maros what is about to pass."
"Tell me!" Maros shouted at them, but then they had gone.
**********
Maros stood still in the battle, unsure of what had just happened. He noticed his arm holding his energy rifle in the air, but before he could shoot the approaching man he was knocked down by a five hundred pound man.
The man smothered Maros on the ground. Koogan was struggling to breath, but that did not stop him from fighting the man.
With a flick of his wrist, Koogan's sword flew up into the air and came back down into the fat mans back. Blood spurted out of the man's mouth and onto Koogan's face.
Covered with blood, Koogan pulled himself out from underneath the lifeless body. He picked up his energy rifle and pulled his sword from the dead body that lay on the floor.
Forgetting what the Prophets had told him, Maros moved onto his next target.
**********
Lionna Maros, Koogan Maros' wife, was inside her house while her son Jespon played with his sword in the field just outside their cottage.
Lionna was a beautiful woman. She was reasonably tall for a woman, and had chestnut brown hair that ran down just past her shoulders. She had a very nicely shaped body, something Koogan always told her.
Lionna was busy preparing for Koogan's return. He had said he would be back the next day, so she was making the cottage a nice place for him to come home to.
As she was about to put Koogan's book away, her son ran into the room panting.
"Mother, mother! There are dozen's of men approaching from the forest." The young child told his mother.
"Is your father with them?" She asked, hopeful that he had returned home early.
"No. But I think I saw Colonel Troklin with them."
"That's General Troklin now Jespon." Came Troklin's low voice. Lionna and Jespon jumped with fright as Troklin entered the room, with three more men behind him.
"You've been told never to come here Hakan." Lionna bravely told Troklin with her sweet gentle voice. "Wait, you said General?"
"That's correct my sweet." Troklin replied, running the back of his hand down her cheek. She slapped his hand away. "Is that any way to treat the man who represents the Senate?"
"You lie, Koogan is General." Lionna shouted at Troklin. Troklin's smile quickly changed to a sad face, and he turned away from Lionna.
"Poor Lionna, unaware of the crimes that her husband has committed." He said, as he walked towards the door.
"Crimes?" Jespon repeated, standing in front of his mother with his sword raised towards Troklin.
"Meeting with men who believe in the Prophets." Troklin replied, turning back to the two Maros'. "Think of the shame his father would be feeling if he were with us now."
"YOU LIE!" Jespon screamed and ran at Troklin with his sword raised up in the air ready to be swung at Troklin's neck. Just as Jespon was about to swing his sword, two of the three men raised him from the ground and took the sword from his hands.
Troklin, ignoring Jespon, walked back across the room to Lionna who was screaming for the men to let her son go. Troklin put his hand over her mouth, telling her to be quiet. "If only Koogan had thought about his family before turning his back on Rowren and the Senate. His family must pay the price for his mistakes." Troklin shouted out for more men to enter the room, and with them they bought rope.
**********
"You summoned me here?" Maros asked the people of the Senate.
Maros had been summoned to Osibon before he had had the chance to return home after his victory in battle. He didn't know why, but the Senate wanted to talk with him urgently.
"We did."
"Why? I was told I would be allowed to return home before I had to report back to the Senate."
"Koogan Maros, you were seen meeting with people who are known to fight for the Prophets."
"What? How do you kn-"
"You are stripped of you rank of General and are sentenced to death."
Maros could hear people gathering behind him; more than likely guards. "What are you doing? They came to me, I told them to leave!"
"ENOUGH!" One of the Senate shouted at him. "General Troklin, please take him to a cell. He will be executed in public tomorrow at midday."
"Troklin!" Maros shouted, turning around to face the man.
"To think that the Maros Bloodline will end with a traitor like you." Troklin said, snarling at the man who had once been his leader.
"En-Lionna, Jespon! What have you done to them?" Maros shouted at the man. Troklin only answer was a smile. Seconds later, Maros was being held either side by Troklin's guards.
"NOOOO!" Maros screamed and pushed the men off him. He pulled his energy rifle from his cloak and shot the men who had held him. He turned to shoot Troklin, but he had disappeared.
More guards came towards Maros but eh shot them down. He ran down the long dark hall towards the doors. He had dozens of men chasing him, but he managed to get out of the building.
He ran through the town, with the men still chasing him. Every few seconds he turned to shoot them down, but there were too many of them now. People came out of their homes to see what was happening, but all they saw was the once hero of the people being chased by the Senates most trusted guards.
Maros knew where he was headed. Trontius was waiting in a shuttle for him, and that's where he needed to go. He could finally see the shuttle, with Trontius inside. "Kikan, open the door!" Maros shouted down the path at Trontius. Trontius opened the door and thirty seconds later Maros was in the shuttle.
"Koogan, what's happening? Why are the Senates guards chasing you?"
"Just take me home, NOW!" Was all Maros said, and for the whole journey towards his home he was silent; not answering any of the questions his friend was asking him.
**********
"Let me out." Maros told Trontius.
"But Koogan, we're in the air."
"DO IT!" Maros screamed at him. A moment later the door next to Maros opened, and Maros threw himself out.
He landed in one of the fields close to his home, and as soon as he hit the ground he was on his feet again. He ran for the seven minutes it took to get to his cottage, but as soon as he got to the cottage he stopped dead and fell to his knee's.
Trontius, who had now landed the personal transport shuttle, came running down the field towards Maros not knowing why Maros was acting strange.
"Koogan! What's going on?" He asked the man as he approached him. Koogan was silent and on his knee's. "Koogan, what's wro-" It was then that Kikan saw what it was that Koogan was staring at. "My God."
Hanging from the roof of the house were the lifeless bodies of Lionna and Jespon Maros.
Koogan did not move, he just knelt on his knees and stared at the hanging bodies of his wife and son.
----------------------------------------
To Be Concluded In Star Trek: A Hero's Wrath.
Bajor, Alternate Universe.
He stood upon the rock as though he was a statuette. His Energy Rifle held in his right hand, and his sword held in his left.
A man ran across the grass and over to the man standing on the rock. "General Maros, our men are ready. We will strike on your word,"
General Koogan Maros stood still upon the rock, his tall muscular body not moving a millimetre. "Inform Colonel Trontius that we are to strike in the coming minutes. His contingent is to join the battle ten minutes after it has begun."
"Yes General." The Bajoran replied, and then ran back in the direction from which he had come.
Maros looked up for the first time in a half hour. He looked straight ahead of him. Almost a mile away from where he stood, there was an army of two thousand Bajoran's. It was a large army. Maros' army only consisted of eight hundred men, and Colonel Trontius' of two hundred and fifty.
They were outnumbered, like usual. In all the battle's Maros had fought over the last year, he had been outnumbered and yet come out victorious.
Maros looked up to the pale blue sky and closed his eyes. "For Rowren!" He yelled.
"For Rowren!" The soldiers behind him shouted back. Moments later Maros and his army were running down the hill, charging towards the opposition army.
They had caught their targets by surprise. There was not enough time for the opposition to charge down Maros' army as they were almost upon them.
It had begun.
Maros' first victim was a middle-aged man. His sword pierced the man's stomach, and then Maros shot him in the chest; sending him flying off the sword.
Two men ran at Maros, with their swords raised in front of them. There was not enough time for Maros to raise his rifle and shoot them down - he would have to fight them with his sword.
Just before the soldier's swords were about to make contact with his chest armour, Maros dived forward. His arms glazed the swords, but did not bleed. Before the two soldiers had a chance to turn around, Maros' sword struck off both their heads.
He turned around, searching for his next target. He saw one man severing the head from one of his soldier's bodies and so charged him. But before he could reach his target a laser beam shot towards him, missing his head by mere centimetres. He fell to the ground, dropping his weapons. His target ran over to him with his sword raised high in the air but before he could bring it down into Maros' chest he was shot. His body fell to the floor.
Maros quickly got to his feet and picked up his weapons. He turned around to see whom it was he now owed his life to. The man he saw was tall with black hair that went down just past his jaw. It was Colonel Kikan Trontius.
Both men nodded towards each other and then went their separate ways, searching for more soldiers to kill.
The battle lasted more than two hours, with both sides losing many soldiers, but like usual it was Maros' opposition who had lost the most.
**********
The sky had turned from a pale blue to a dark grey within hours. General Koogan Maros was walking at such as pace that it was hard for Colonel Trontius to catch him up.
"Koogan, slow down." Trontius yelled, but Maros seemed to not hear him. "Koogan, slow down!"
Maros then stopped. He stood still for a moment and then turned to face the approaching Bajoran. "What is it Kikan?"
"I believe it is I who should be asking you that question. What's wrong Koogan?" Trontius asked, breathing slightly faster than he usually did.
"The Senate are going to get us all killed. They have been making our numbers smaller for the last year. If they keep giving me armies of this size we will lose to those whom resist us." Koogan responded, but Trontius got the impression that Koogan was responding to his own thoughts more than he was to Trontius' question.
"The Senate must have their reasons Koogan."
"Can we be sure of that? For a year they have been cutting our numbers without any reasoning. How can I be expected to lead a war when I do not have the men to do it? The people are Bajor are losing faith in the Senate and are deserting their faith in Rowren to become believers in those make- believe prophets. If this keeps up we will become outnumbered by the end of this year.
We have lost almost seven hundred men today Kikan. We only came with eight hundred and fifty! Don't you see how close we were to defeat?"
"But we were not defeated Koogan, we were victorious!" Trontius exclaimed with pride.
"But how long until it is our enemy that is victorious and we are the ones decapitated in a wet field?
Trontius looked down at the wet and muddy ground. "I suppose you're right."
"I am right, and I shall be convincing the Senate of this as soon as we return home." Signalling that the debate was over, Koogan turned away from Colonel Trontius and carried on walking in the direction he had been going before he was distracted.
**********
A giant stone building stood in the middle of the city of Osibon. It reached higher into the sky than any other building in the city, but was also a lot older than any other building in the city. The giant stone building was the home of the Bajoran Senate. In the middle of its out wall there were two large wooden doors. These doors stood taller than most homes in Osibon.
The doors opened, flooding the dark room with sunlight before the doors closed again. A man dressed in a cloak had entered through the doors, and was now walking straight across the room. He walked for a further minute, and then stopped. A beam of light came down upon him, making him visible to everyone who was present in the room. Seconds later eight more beams of light came down from the ceiling, illuminating eight Bajoran's sitting in a jury box look-a-like.
"Why do you summon us General Maros? " One of the Bajoran's asked.
Maros removed his hood from his head, revealing his face to the other Bajoran's. "I summon the Senate because of our war with the believers in the Prophets."
"And what of it?" Another Bajoran asked.
"You have been cutting down my numbers over the last year. I am now in the position of not having enough men to wage your battles. I lost almost seven hundred men three days ago, I was only given eight hundred and fifty men to start off with. The enemy outnumbers us, if I am not given a larger army the enemy will begin to attack Osibon. There are Bajoran's changing side day after day. I cannot be expected to win this war for you if you do not give me the men I require." Maros pleaded to the Senate.
A man dressed in a black robe entered the room from the side of Maros. He wore his hood over his head, but Maros knew who he was - Colonel Hakan Troklin.
"Why do you complain? Did you not win your battle?" Troklin asked, his low menacing voice echoing around the cold room. Maros turned his head to face the man who had been trying to take his position for three years.
"That is not the point Colonel. We lost more men than we should have, the enemy had more than double the amount of men that we had. Only our belief in the great Rowren led us to victory." Maros claimed. He didn't know if the Senate could sense it, but there was a lot of hatred between General Maros and Colonel Troklin.
When both had been boys, their fathers had been the most famous soldiers in the history of Bajor. Hakan and Koogan even used to play together, while their fathers were away on campaigns.
But when Hakan and Troklin were teenagers, and their fathers aging heroes, Lixious Troklin killed Jokken Maros in his sleep. Troklin had then replaced Maros as the Senate's General. Troklin died nine years later when believers of the prophets executed him.
It had never been proven that Lixious Troklin had killed Jokken Maros, but Maros was certain of it and he was even more certain that Hakan Troklin knew the truth. Since that day neither had been friends with the other.
"Then is it not possible that your belief in the great Rowren will carry you on to countless more Victories?" Troklin asked. Troklin had always been a thorn in Maros' side since Maros had become General. Maros was fully aware that Troklin wanted his position, and that he would do whatever it took to get it.
"Even Rowren is not that powerful." Maros claimed. The Senate started to talk to each other in surprise. Hakan walked over to Koogan.
"Are you losing your faith in Rowren?" Hakan scowled, face to face with Koogan.
"Of course not, but faith can only take you so far." Maros turned away from Hakan and faced the senate. "I am here to request more forces. I want to be able to outnumber the enemy on the battlefield. My sources tell me that the enemy are building more advanced fighter aircraft. If this is true, they will be able to attack any city they wish. We need to be one step ahead of them always."
"Request denied General," one of the Senator's said, "the Senate does not have the spare men you require."
"This is an outrage! How do you expect to win in our fight if you wont give me the forces I require?" Maros shouted.
"Our belief in Rowren will lead us to victory, General. The enemy believes in false God's, we believe in a real God. Please leave us."
"You're making a mistake." Maros told them, before turning away. As he turned away, he saw Colonel Troklin smiling. For Troklin, this was a great victory. The more Maros disagreed with the Senate, the closer Troklin came to taking his position.
Two minutes later Maros was standing outside the building, awaiting Colonel Trontius arrival.
**********
Koogan Maros' house was a small cottage. It was surrounded by empty grassland, with a forest nearby. The forest was actually where the City of Osibon ended. Koogan's home had been built by his father many years before.
The weather was terrible. Rain was coming down heavily, and the night sky was hidden by grey clouds.
Maros was sitting in his large wooden chair, reading a book that his father had given to him. He had read this book eight times, but Maros still felt as though the book was new when he read it. Only the lit fire in the corner of the room provided light for Maros to read.
Maros had only been home for five hours. He had spent almost all of this time making love to his wife Lionna. However, he hadn't told her of how the Senate were reacting because he didn't want her to know that the Senate were not as great as the Bajoran people were being led to believe.
For generations his family had been faithful believers of the Senate and their ways, so why would the Senate not even consider what Koogan requested? Koogan did not know, and from the Senates recent actions he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
Koogan's son, Jespon, was asleep in his bedroom. He was not yet aware that his father had returned home. Koogan was certain that his son would become just as important to Bajor as he and his father had been.
"Move one more step and I will kill you." Koogan told an unseen pair in the room.
"He's good." One of the men said.
"That he is. The prophets have once again chosen well." The other man said with pride.
"Prophets?" Koogan asked, energy rifle pointing into the shadows where the two men stood.
"Yes, the Prophets."
Maros quickly got up from his chair, throwing his book to the ground. "How dare you people come into my home? I should kill you this very moment."
"Then why don't you?"
Maros could not answer the question. For some reason he could not kill these two men. He wanted to kill them, but something inside of him was stopping him from doing so. The two men walked out from the shadows and immediately the light from the fire revealed their faces.
One of the men had short black hair, and was of medium build. The other man had a shaven head, but you could still make out his blond hair. He had a scar running downwards past his eye.
The man with black hair approached Maros. Maros still had his weapon pointed at the man, and yet this man was not afraid.
"I am Didik Kooton and this man is Crusias Oki. We were sent here by our leaders-"
"To do what?" Maros asked, cutting in on the man's sentence.
Kooton smiled, "To show you the power of the prophets."
"The Prophets do not exist, they are just a myth." Maros told the men, confident of what he spoke.
"If they do not exist then what is this?" Kooton signalled to Oki, who then pulled something out from behind him. The object was covered with a cloak, but the cloak was not there long. Oki removed the cloak instantly to reveal an object covered with Ancient Bajoran markings. Something from within the brown casing was glowing, but Maros did not know what it was.
"What is it?" Maros asked, transfixed by the glow that the object was giving off.
"It is one of the few orbs that the Prophets left us. This particular one shows you the future." Kooton told General Maros.
"You lie." Maros said to the men, laughing at the same time.
"Do we?" Kooton asked, before signalling for Oki to open the casing. Moments later the room was engulfed with a bright white light.
**********
Maros did not know what was happening but he was being shown images of something. He couldn't make out everything that he was being shown, but what he did see he didn't like.
The decapitated bodies of the Bajoran Senate lay sprawled over the floor of the Senates Building. One man stood in the middle of the room with a bloody sword in his hands. Maros couldn't make out who the man was because he wore a hood over his face.
The images changed.
A planet, surrounded by golden-coloured ships.
But the next was an even more disturbing image. It showed a man, Maros, surrounded by some kind of creatures who wore grey leather uniforms. Koogan Maros was chained up, wearing no clothes. One of the creatures was holding something in his hand, which he then thrusted into Maros' stomach.
The images kept changing until finally Maros was back in his home.
**********
Maros dropped his energy rifle to the ground. He was sweating, and panting.
"Do you believe?" Kooton asked the now sitting Maros.
"Is that the future?" Maros asked, not answering Kooton's question.
"Yes, well to be precise it is the future events that you are to play apart in."
"The Senate, they were all dea-" Maros did not have time to finish his sentence because Oki cut in.
"You can not tell us what you saw. The Orbs are only to be used by the Emissary; no one else. The Emissary must not tell us what he saw." Oki told him.
"Emissary? I am not your Emissary. Why did you come here?"
"We were sent here by our leaders. You are to lead us in our battle against the Senate of Bajor. It is your destiny to lead Bajor into a new age." Kooton told the confused Maros.
Maros stood up, picking up his energy rifle as he did so. He pointed it at Kooton. "You are lying to me. Leave, now. If I ever see you near my home again I will kill you."
Kooton nodded, and then he and Oki left the house. Koogan pulled the door closed and walked back to his chair, picking up his book as he did so.
**********
"Why do you stand before us Colonel?"
Troklin pulled his black hood from his face to reveal his pale white face. "I come with bad news concerning General Maros."
"Has he been killed in battle?" A voice echoed around the room.
"No, General Maros still lives. What I am about to reveal to you is far worse than his supposed death. Four nights ago, General Maros met with two believers of the Prophets!" Troklin, with his low croaky voice, shouted.
The room filled with loud whispers, and Troklin couldn't help but smile.
"Can you be certain?"
"Very certain. After you, the Senate, turned down the General's request for more men I had him followed. My servant came back with these." Troklin took an electronic pad out of a pocket in his cloak, and held it out in front of him for the Senate to see. He pressed a button on the bottom, and almost immediately beams of light shot out from the pad, melding together to show images. "The two men you see leaving the General's home in this image are the two believers of the Prophets that I mentioned a moment ago. We know who they are because of the records we obtained when General Maros' men stormed a Prophet building.
The man with the shaven head is Crusias Oki. He is the best pilot that our enemy has. The other man is Didik Kooton, he is one of the more valuable members of the opposition."
For a further three minutes no one spoke. The room was silent, until one man spoke up.
"I demand that General Maros be stripped of his rank!"
"I second that!" Another man shouted out.
Troklin took a step forward, putting the pad back in his pocket as he did so. "People of the Senate, I will take care of the traitor Maros but only if you grant me a wish."
"What do you wish?"
"To be made General of Bajor. Give me all the men we have and I will make sure that people like Koogan Maros regret ever turning their back on Rowren!" It was make or break for Troklin. If the Senate turned him down, he would never have a second chance.
"We will grant you your wish. All of our military powers will be at your disposal. But you must put an end to the life of Koogan Maros."
"I will. I cannot thank you enough. I will do what those before me have failed to do; put an end to the farce that are the Prophets!" Troklin quickly turned away from the Senate and made his way to the exit of the building. His father had rid the Senate of Jokken Maros, and now he had rid the Senate of Koogan Maros.
If there was only one thing that Troklin was certain of, it was that a lot of blood was about to be shed.
**********
Koogan Maros, unaware of what had just occurred in Osibon, was in the middle of a charge towards an army of Believers of the Prophets. Once again he was outnumbered. His army consisted of seven hundred men; the opposition of one thousand.
Just as he was about to shoot down a soldier running towards him, Koogan appeared in a new place outside of the battle.
The place he was in was a bright white. He could see no floor, he could see no sky; just a bright white.
"You are The Maros?"
Koogan quickly turned to face a man walking towards him. The man had the same appearance as Koogan's father, but he had died years beforehand. "Father? How can this be?"
"The Maros believes you are his father." Another voice said, with no emotion at all.
Koogan turned to face someone with the same appearance as his friend Kikan Trontius. "Kikan? Where are we? Why are we not in battle?"
"I am not 'Kikan'." The man replied.
"Then who are you?" Maros questioned.
Both men walked around Maros, not taking their eye focus off him at all. "We are the Prophets."
"How can this be? You do not exist, this is an illusion." Maros raised his hand to aim his energy rifle at the man who appeared to be Kikan Trontius, but his weapon was no longer in his hand. "What have you done with my weapons?"
"The Maros not believe."
"The Maros will not accept what stands right before him."
"How can I believe in something which does not exist?" Maros questioned.
"The Maros did not listen to what he was told by those two men. The Maros should have listened."
"What do you mean?" Maros asked, now starting to believe what these creatures were telling him. "What do you want with me?"
"The Maros is the being that we have chosen to be our Emissary."
"But why? I do not believe in the Prophets. I have even killed hundreds of men because of their belief in you."
"The Maros is the being who will lead Bajor into a new age."
"But how?"
"We can not tell The Maros how he will bring the New Age upon Bajor."
Maros stood still, silent for at least thirty seconds. "I do not understand. You have confused me."
"The Maros must return to his home this very minute."
"Why? What is going to happen at my home?"
"We can not tell The Maros what is about to pass."
"Tell me!" Maros shouted at them, but then they had gone.
**********
Maros stood still in the battle, unsure of what had just happened. He noticed his arm holding his energy rifle in the air, but before he could shoot the approaching man he was knocked down by a five hundred pound man.
The man smothered Maros on the ground. Koogan was struggling to breath, but that did not stop him from fighting the man.
With a flick of his wrist, Koogan's sword flew up into the air and came back down into the fat mans back. Blood spurted out of the man's mouth and onto Koogan's face.
Covered with blood, Koogan pulled himself out from underneath the lifeless body. He picked up his energy rifle and pulled his sword from the dead body that lay on the floor.
Forgetting what the Prophets had told him, Maros moved onto his next target.
**********
Lionna Maros, Koogan Maros' wife, was inside her house while her son Jespon played with his sword in the field just outside their cottage.
Lionna was a beautiful woman. She was reasonably tall for a woman, and had chestnut brown hair that ran down just past her shoulders. She had a very nicely shaped body, something Koogan always told her.
Lionna was busy preparing for Koogan's return. He had said he would be back the next day, so she was making the cottage a nice place for him to come home to.
As she was about to put Koogan's book away, her son ran into the room panting.
"Mother, mother! There are dozen's of men approaching from the forest." The young child told his mother.
"Is your father with them?" She asked, hopeful that he had returned home early.
"No. But I think I saw Colonel Troklin with them."
"That's General Troklin now Jespon." Came Troklin's low voice. Lionna and Jespon jumped with fright as Troklin entered the room, with three more men behind him.
"You've been told never to come here Hakan." Lionna bravely told Troklin with her sweet gentle voice. "Wait, you said General?"
"That's correct my sweet." Troklin replied, running the back of his hand down her cheek. She slapped his hand away. "Is that any way to treat the man who represents the Senate?"
"You lie, Koogan is General." Lionna shouted at Troklin. Troklin's smile quickly changed to a sad face, and he turned away from Lionna.
"Poor Lionna, unaware of the crimes that her husband has committed." He said, as he walked towards the door.
"Crimes?" Jespon repeated, standing in front of his mother with his sword raised towards Troklin.
"Meeting with men who believe in the Prophets." Troklin replied, turning back to the two Maros'. "Think of the shame his father would be feeling if he were with us now."
"YOU LIE!" Jespon screamed and ran at Troklin with his sword raised up in the air ready to be swung at Troklin's neck. Just as Jespon was about to swing his sword, two of the three men raised him from the ground and took the sword from his hands.
Troklin, ignoring Jespon, walked back across the room to Lionna who was screaming for the men to let her son go. Troklin put his hand over her mouth, telling her to be quiet. "If only Koogan had thought about his family before turning his back on Rowren and the Senate. His family must pay the price for his mistakes." Troklin shouted out for more men to enter the room, and with them they bought rope.
**********
"You summoned me here?" Maros asked the people of the Senate.
Maros had been summoned to Osibon before he had had the chance to return home after his victory in battle. He didn't know why, but the Senate wanted to talk with him urgently.
"We did."
"Why? I was told I would be allowed to return home before I had to report back to the Senate."
"Koogan Maros, you were seen meeting with people who are known to fight for the Prophets."
"What? How do you kn-"
"You are stripped of you rank of General and are sentenced to death."
Maros could hear people gathering behind him; more than likely guards. "What are you doing? They came to me, I told them to leave!"
"ENOUGH!" One of the Senate shouted at him. "General Troklin, please take him to a cell. He will be executed in public tomorrow at midday."
"Troklin!" Maros shouted, turning around to face the man.
"To think that the Maros Bloodline will end with a traitor like you." Troklin said, snarling at the man who had once been his leader.
"En-Lionna, Jespon! What have you done to them?" Maros shouted at the man. Troklin only answer was a smile. Seconds later, Maros was being held either side by Troklin's guards.
"NOOOO!" Maros screamed and pushed the men off him. He pulled his energy rifle from his cloak and shot the men who had held him. He turned to shoot Troklin, but he had disappeared.
More guards came towards Maros but eh shot them down. He ran down the long dark hall towards the doors. He had dozens of men chasing him, but he managed to get out of the building.
He ran through the town, with the men still chasing him. Every few seconds he turned to shoot them down, but there were too many of them now. People came out of their homes to see what was happening, but all they saw was the once hero of the people being chased by the Senates most trusted guards.
Maros knew where he was headed. Trontius was waiting in a shuttle for him, and that's where he needed to go. He could finally see the shuttle, with Trontius inside. "Kikan, open the door!" Maros shouted down the path at Trontius. Trontius opened the door and thirty seconds later Maros was in the shuttle.
"Koogan, what's happening? Why are the Senates guards chasing you?"
"Just take me home, NOW!" Was all Maros said, and for the whole journey towards his home he was silent; not answering any of the questions his friend was asking him.
**********
"Let me out." Maros told Trontius.
"But Koogan, we're in the air."
"DO IT!" Maros screamed at him. A moment later the door next to Maros opened, and Maros threw himself out.
He landed in one of the fields close to his home, and as soon as he hit the ground he was on his feet again. He ran for the seven minutes it took to get to his cottage, but as soon as he got to the cottage he stopped dead and fell to his knee's.
Trontius, who had now landed the personal transport shuttle, came running down the field towards Maros not knowing why Maros was acting strange.
"Koogan! What's going on?" He asked the man as he approached him. Koogan was silent and on his knee's. "Koogan, what's wro-" It was then that Kikan saw what it was that Koogan was staring at. "My God."
Hanging from the roof of the house were the lifeless bodies of Lionna and Jespon Maros.
Koogan did not move, he just knelt on his knees and stared at the hanging bodies of his wife and son.
----------------------------------------
To Be Concluded In Star Trek: A Hero's Wrath.