My Conquest is the Sea of Stars
Disclaimer: I don't own the SW or El Hazard, as much as I wished to.
Warnings: Rated R, NC-17
Prologue
Warm yellow sun cast its gentle rays on the world of El Hazard. With the rays descending, the plants awoke, basking in the solar radiation. Alongside the flora, most creatures of daytime woke, opened their eyes, stretched out whatever extremities they might have possessed and set out to their blissful, yet simple existence, no matter how strange or outrageous, all of them bowed before the mighty orb the planet swung itself around, not unlike in a waltz.
All living beings craved the sun and welcomed it, but there were always exceptions to the rule and what bigger exception could there be than that of human nature? In millenniums the human race had evolved past their primal ancestors, supressing their instincts and trying to climb past each previous generation, challenging the universe at every turn, but in the end, they were creatures of nature, no matter how they resisted, their biological clock ran without halt.
Katsuhiko Jinnai was no different from an average man, despite his lofty ambitions and the status he had achieved here, despite having only arrived on the world almost three years ago. He who had not even finished his secondary education and never had worked for a salary, had wound up as the greatest warlord El Hazard had ever known, but even then, there were setbacks. One or two superweapons later, his victory was grabbed from him under his nose and the very empire he had conquered in this short span of time was destroyed, as if a god had snapped his fingers. Most believed that he was defeated, reduced to the annals of history and living in squalor, while trying to hide from mercenaries and others who wished him brought before the Alliance War Tribunal. His enemies had mostly forgotten his existence, and this was their greatest mistake.
Only one person, Makoto Mizuhara, the man instrumental in the defeat of Phantom tribe and by extension Bugrom Empire, had his doubts of what his former childhood friend had wound up. He was very well aware of the willpower the warlord had in spades and remained cautious. However, he too fell in the false sense of security after the second year had passed, for Katsuhiko was a very prideful and boastful person. It would be very uncharacteristic of him to remain underground if he was defeated as like himself, very hard headed.
Katsuhiko groaned as the first rays of sun shone through the heavy black blinds of the chambers and through the almost transparent drapes surrounding the bed. At first he refused to acknowledge the light in his realm of darkness and half awoke, the God-Emperor of Bugrom weakly snapped his fingers and let out a small breath of satisfaction as the blinds shut completely, returning the room in pitch black darkness.
The young man stretched out in the large pile of pillows he was lying in, only to realize that he couldn't fall asleep as much as he wanted to.
Rolling around and fidgeting, the sleep eluded him, and only other pair of arms could stop him.
"Mmm…I didn't realise you had energy left after yesterday's performance" a sultry voice whispered in his ear as his head now rested sandwiched between two large, warm pillows "While I dislike that we lost, these anniversaries…almost quite make it worth it"
This was his Queen, no ,his Empress- Diva of the Omnipotent Bugrom Empire, a singular being in her own right and completely his.
It was she who had been the foundation of his meteoric rise to power and the first woman he had known so well inside and out.
Diva allowed herself a smug grin as it was a rare sight for her to render him so adorable as the human rested on her chest.
Katsuhiko, did not intend to let the favour be unreturned and soon enough Diva gasped in pain and pleasure, letting go of her lover and most favourite subject.
She did not have enough time to form a thought as he immediately captured her lips in a typical Jinnai fashion- forcefully, passionately and most importantly lustfully.
It was safe to say that the pair did not leave the loyal chambers for some time, until the Phantom Tribe maids arrived with breakfast as in accordance to the unspoken rules of the palace.
Now that the Grand Marshall had been made presentable he was in the right state of mind to survey the progress they had made in the years.
It was supposed to take decades just to establish a new proper hive for the Bugrom and their new client race, but under mixture of pure genius and luck, they had made leaps in technologies and experienced a population boom as the mass cloning was undertaken, not too dissimilar to the birth of Bugrom. However, most of their advancement came from the discovery of untapped bio-drones buried into the Desert of the Ancients. With them came a new caste of more independent warriors more suitable for leadership purposes, which were dubbed Sparatoi, in a reference only the Grand Marshall understood.
The palace now was one of the many spires littering the Bugrom territories as the true hive stretched throughout the land, several kilometres deep into the planets crust. This of course was another precaution against the Eye of God, which had been his downfall previously.
All this time they prepared for the second attempt of their conquest and while most were fairly confident that they could win, Jinnai had insisted on waiting at least a year more to develop the sufficient numbers to destroy the Alliance and most importantly Roshtaria, which incidentally was where all his enemies resided.
Despite claiming most important posts in the Empire, Katsuhiko did not perform a whole lot of administrate work, he delegated and relegated these tasks to various secretaries and hive overseers. His august self, concerned himself the most important matters, the vision of the recovering empire and the war that was brewing.
His office was set in the same floor as his chambers and offered him a magnificent view to the River of God, which shone azure in this beautiful day. It was rather utilitarian with few luxuries, such as an elevator to the kitchens, a music player and terminal connecting the other hives.
Sitting at the desk with tea in a nearby mug, he set out to work.
The Sparatoi, and Groucho who were in the room, made scarce of themselves and stood guard outside.
Katsuhiko looked through his daily routine and cracked his finger joints, allowing his grin grow to its natural size.
Contrary to popular opinion among the Earthlings, Jinnai was not so obnoxious to believe that it could only be won through raw force of arms and that's why the past years, the Phantom Tribe, in addition to agreeing to be his chief researchers and valued allies, were in charge of their spy network.
It might have been reckless and dangerous to give them such prominent roles that could very easily undermine all his hard work, but they shared a kinship, built upon bitter anger against the victors of the previous war. The Bugrom had also promised them something no country had in the past- equality and their own country after the war had been won. So the once ostracized people now had developed a sense of belonging and a true belief in their leaders, however eccentric they might have been.
Katsuhiko thanked whatever deity watched over him as there were few messages and attachments added to his agenda.
Inspect hive Omega.
Expand the spy network.
Meet with the Commanders.
Give the address.
Only the last item on the list gave him any joy as it made him feel more like the leader he was, instead of sitting through meetings and checking papers, which made him feel more like a CEO, which actually wasn't half bad, but it was hard to return to such mundanity after almost conquering the world. Nothing had ever trumped that feeling of adrenaline he felt as he saw his troops marching through ruined streets of whatever unfortunate country stood in the way of Bugrom war machine.
Remembering his first conquest and Diva's reward afterwards truly brought a smile on the young man's face.
In the end even he, Katsuhiko Jinnai, fell a victim to the laziness and postponed his visit to hive Omega and summoned his generals to his office.
This left him with a considerable free time, which created another problem: what would he do now?
A part of him entertained to visit Diva or plot more destruction, but in the end the sense of responsibility created by his tenure as the Student Council President of Shinonome Highschool won out and here he was preparing his speech, while through the speakers an instrumental piece of Roshtarian music played.
It was no Mozart, Lizst or Chaikovsky, but it would do for now.
He tried to write his speech, but the eloquent words never came no matter how he tried. The speech remained unwritten, sheets of paper, smeared with ink and crumbled into balls had started to pile up in the trash bin and it was not long before Groucho had come in to take him to prepare for the address of the Empire.
As he stood in the dressing room, looking at his old school uniform, he was hit with a sense of nostalgia as it was when he had first spoken with Diva, surrounded by Bugrom and completely out of his depth.
This cheap navy-blue uniform with the insignia of his school had accompanied Katsuhiko to the places he had never thought imagine. The farthest he'd gone with it previously was in an excursion, but having been in a parallel dimension and a different planet altogether, he wondered how the uniform, and he with it, had made it back in one piece.
He had grown out of it, it had had a good run, but the time had come to part with adolescence and start anew.
This time dressing and being an adult.
Katsuhiko opened the closet and smiled as he set his eyes on his parade uniform. He was quite proud of it, having designed it himself, naturally.
It was a sharp looking suit and cape combo, all white with a black shirt and a purple tie, only thing that remained of military influence was a the golden pauldrons and the chain, that was meant to fasten the cloak around his neck.
Never before had clothes fit so well to his narrow frame and the cloth felt wonderful, the silks came from Diva's own Bugrom artisans.
The Grand Marshall, Chancellor, God-Prophet of the Bugrom Empire, cast a glance at himself in the mirror and the reflection fired back the same grin. Not a hair was out of place, the only thing missing were his medals.
He lightly clapped and Zeppo, along with Marx marched in the room and saluted, before kneeling and presenting the contents of the boxes to him.
The first box contained his medals Katsuhiko had been awarded in his service and while they were not so many he had seen some officers wear in parades back home, the few he had were truly special and as the Bugrom weren't materialistic species, the medals symbolised his worth to them, that couldn't be measured.
In return he truly cared for them, even if they weren't the brightest bunch and those he had named were almost his children after the campaigns they had been through. Other Bugrom, regardless of their strain were jealous and also wanted to be named as those six soon became known as heroes to all and were the only case of augmentation to Sparatoi class.
The Grand Bugrom Medal glistened in the artificial lighting of the dressing room and the man enjoyed the comfortable weight as the medal settled on his chest. Other medals were pinned to a violet sash fastened in a fashion like the royalty.
While the medals were the most important thing of his dress uniform, the contents of the other box were nothing to scoff at as Katsuhiko gazed at a beautiful sabre and a beam pistol, both pitch black with silver accents.
After he fastened the holster of the sabre and pistol around him, the Grand Marshall finally felt ready. As he left the dressing room with a hellacious grin along with the two Bugrom, the rest of his loyal retinue awaited him.
Together as they had gone before the group walked toward the elevator that would carry him deep underground, to the Hall of Queen and his loyal legions.
Hall of Queen was the pinnacle of Bugrom ingenuity and design and despite the loss of the original hive and the hall, this one was even greater in every aspect. The colour crystals that made Diva's throne now surrounded the walls, illuminating the enormous space. Floor tiles shone in the violet shade, signature to the higher castes of species, leading up to the dais of their Queen, who now sat in a much higher throne, giving a much more unreachable visage.
Katsuhiko should have been prepared for this, but he had never gotten quite used to the loudness the Bugrom created when they gathered in such masses. Even the walls were covered and to his amusement the few high ranking Phantom Tribe spokespeople that had arrived here were extremely uncomfortable by the numbers and proximity of the Bugrom.
Diva sat like a proper demonic empress in her throne, with an amused smirk on her face that promised another 'surprise' mating after he was finished, this made the man to sigh. Was she in heat? Could Bugrom even go in heat?
She was surrounded from all sides by Sparatoi Praetorian guard, carrying multiple beam weapons and pikes, which allowed some semblance of space for the Queen from her adoring subjects.
All eyes were upon on him as he made his presence known on the path to her throne and the buzzing increased and the cheers. Katsuhiko walked slowly with poise and clear intent, face completely smiling and waving his minions. Each step that took him closer to the throne, the more a certain kind of nervousness tried to creep in, but he was far superior to allow this to faze him.
When reached the beginning of the steps to Diva's throne, the chatter died down and Katsuhiko was certain that he could hear a pin drop. He kept his head down and waited.
This was another of Diva's rituals as she had started thinking up these strange traditions just to entertain him. Katsuhiko noted as this was more growth of her part as when they had first met she was far less active, deigning others to act and plan in her stead, it was commendable, and he waited the moment when she would ride into battle with him, but baby steps right now, baby steps.
If only his father could see him now, he sneered.
It was not that his father was a bad man, he was just a common office drone and a spineless worm. Katsuhiko detested worms and the fact that he had never tried to defend him from his mother or sister.
As for his mother, Katsuhiko didn't know, maybe she'd be proud, maybe she would disown him, who knew, and he was past caring as of now.
Diva's soft, almost silken hands cupped his face, brought out the budding conqueror out of his inner thoughts and made him look up.
It was no mistake of who adored him the most, her very being seemed to shine.
"My children and dearest allies" she turned from him and addressed the attendees, her voice regal and commanding. While the event was translated to the less than lucky that couldn't.
"Three years ago, we both suffered a grave defeat, we lost our homes and loved ones" Diva continued with steel and authority in her voice, if only she knew how proud of her he was right now.
"We were forced in exile and the world thought us defeated. The miracle worker had failed. Punishment for such failure is death, but how could we sentence so harshly our bravest soldier, who risked life and limb, commanding from the front lines and never stopping once. Returning to the Hive only when he had subdued the legendary demon god Ifurita, our greatest boon and our doom. Katsuhiko Jinnai deserves forgiveness and each year as we grow more in number and power, let us show him that we Bugrom value our heroes!" Diva praised him and slowly rose him to a standing position, never letting go of his face until he stood eye to eye with her.
His brown ones peered into her amber ones and, Katsuhiko knew what came next.
She pressed her lips chastely to his forehead as a sign of absolution and slowly sauntered back to her throne, before allowing the messenger to announce his address.
"ALL HAIL THE GRAND MARSHALL OF THE OMNIPOTENT BUGROM EMPIRE! ALL HAIL THE ALL-TONGUE GENERAL, TAMER OF IFURITA! ALL HAIL THE HERO!" the uncharacteristically deep voice of the small bug rang out and the crowds went wild, the cheering and clapping escalated to a level when he could no longer hear his thoughts.
Some of the dignitaries clapped with them, a rare phantom tribesman cracking a smile.
Katsuhiko, however knew how to do this and simply raised his arm and clenched his hand in a fist and immediately the Hall of Queen went silent as a grave, only indication that they were listening were the shaking of antennae.
Terrific.
"For ages our people have been hunted. Phantom tribe robbed of their country time and time again, before our despicable enemy tried to destroy them for good. They cast the Bugrom in the same pit as insects scuttering under their beds and their arrogance knew no bounds. They repeatedly show that they are not worthy of the power they are given as their only way to grasp their power is an indestructible weapon that cannot be stopped. They are powerless without it. We brought them to their knees, I with my army, you my Phantom Tribe, by showing how powerless they are without their precious weapon." Katsuhiko relished in the outrage his audience generated at the simplest facts and waving his arm, bringing his cloak to flow behind him, the man continued
"If there was justice in the world, we would be feasting in Roshtaria, in the throne room, while the princesses would grovel before our very feet. In this world justice is absent but does that mean we have to give up?!"
"NO!" the crowd exploded and with the corner of his eye, Katsuhiko could see most of the Phantom Tribe shouting as well. He threw his arm in front of himself and pointed to the masses gathered before him.
"Let us make our own justice! Let us be the judge, jury and executioner! El-Hazard is within our reach! We must just wait when an opportunity presents itself and then fall upon the capitol of Roshtaria as lightning and destroy our sole obstacle-The Trigger of Destruction" he rallied the crowd, wildly gesticulating.
"It is an ugly thing without good, it just destroys and destroys, a true shield for weaklings to hide behind. We will crush those who looked down upon us, no, we will obliterate them! Their descendants will remember this for eternity, that we crushed them, and we won't kill them!"
Outrage sparked in the masses and the buzzing started to remind him of a hornet's nest.
"For what good is humiliation if you won't force them to live through it and suffer?"
Silence reigned again, and he then knew that it was time to go in for a kill.
"They will know what we feel, but we won't be so kind to leave them an out to turn the tables like we are going to! There is no other path for us than total victory! Believe in me and believe in yourselves for through me our beliefs shall shape reality! NEXT YEAR WE MARCH!" the Grand Marshall finished and once more the crowd was ecstatic, and Queen Diva had stepped down from her throne and approached him, hips swaying and only one thing on her mind.
Immensely satisfied with himself, Katsuhiko offered his elbow to his queen, who gracefully accepted it and slinked her own arm through it. The pair was about to proceed back to the royal quarters when the door was blasted open and two exhausted Bugrom messengers crawled towards them.
"What happened?" Diva asked sharply, and the messenger could wheeze out a few buzzes, but then quickly fell due exhaustion.
Katsuhiko thought about it had said and slowly started piecing together what he had heard. Daggers, ships and bow. That didn't make sense because no hive was near water and the tunnels were impregnable from outside.
What if the last word meant something different.
It was 'Bow'
What would be similar to a bow when talking about ships.
Wait…A bow
Abow
Abov
Above!
Ships dagger above…
His blood ran cold, Katsuhiko had expected everything since his arrival on El-Hazard, but an alien invasion was not on his list.
Somehow it was Mizuhara's fault!
STAR WARS:
MY CONQUEST IS THE SEA OF STARS
The SSD Executor under the command of Sith lord Darth Vader is hunting Jedi in the unknown space, when an anomaly in force draws the Dark Lord to the strange world. El-Hazard is a world in conflict between the Free Kingdom Alliance and the Bugrom Empire under the leadership of the sinister Katsuhiko Jinnai, while the kingdoms are led by the valiant Twin Princesses Rune and Fatora Venus. The arrival of the Galactic Empire sets in motion a chain of events that will be felt for the millennia.