Imperium Galactica

by capt-chris

The Emperor has been assassinated, as have his sons. The dead Emperor's young nephew, originally destined for the admiralty and not the throne, suddenly finds himself as the heir apparent and, as a result, his life is in danger. The story chronicles his ascension to the throne, quelling of a civil war, and leading the defence of humanity against an alien menace.

IMPERIUM GALACTICA

IMPERIUM GALACTICA

By Christopher Langridge

FA-SHOOM!

He looked down and saw the red, open wound.

"You shot me..!" he muttered,

"Yes." The assassin agreed, "The hand of the people strikes at the heart of tyranny!"

"GUARDS!"

"They've abandoned you, old man. Your reign of terror and this Empire are at an end!"

The assassin closed in for the kill, and the Emperor knew no more.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Someone was banging loudly on a door; it was the door of the Emperor's nephew, Chrizla Mundi. He got up, put his dressing gown on and walked to the door.

"Who goes there?" he demanded,

"It is I, sir, General Kuros!" the voice answered. Chrizla let him in, but was surprised to see he was accompanied by armed soldiers.

"What is going on?" Chrizla asked, confused,

"My lord, the Emperor is dead, and so are his sons!" General Kuros answered. He motioned to his escort and they began securing the home and keeping watch at the windows. "We must get you to safety!"

"Why me?"

"You are the last surviving member of the Imperial Family…" That statement hit Chrizla like a tidal wave, and he had to sit down.

"But… who?"

"High Prelate Ridolfus. He also had help from a few members of the Senate."

"But he's a monk of the Order of Nebulus, a loyal servant of the Empire; he wouldn't do that!"

"He has. The guard found him sitting on the throne with blood on his hands; the Emperor was at his feet."

"Who else?" Chrizla asked,

"Marcus Leviticus, Indiria Daras and Uriel Valga" Kuros waited for Chrizla to respond, but after he got nothing he started to make a move. "Sir, we must get you to safety, the guard barracks ought to do."

"But, does this mean..?" Chrizla ventured,

"Yes, my lord, you are the new Emperor of the Imperium Galactica!"

Chrizla stood up and a look of intense shock swept across his face, this was slowly replaced by wide-eyed realisation;

"So… let us tell the galaxy… that the galaxy has a new Emperor!"

General Kuros threw a cloak over Chrizla's head and escorted him out of the building. They boarded an idling APC, which promptly sped off to the guard barracks.

"Sir, would you like a SitRep on the Empire's current status?" Kuros asked,

Chrizla thought for a moment, "Yes, I hope it's not too bad…"

"I'm afraid it is…" Kuros apologised, "Since they've learned of the Emperor's death, several of the Outer Colonies have rebelled and attempted to secede. The majority of the military personnel remain loyal, but a few high-rankers have convinced themselves that they should be the next Emperor."

The APC pulled into the barracks and the reinforced titanium doors secured themselves. Kuros and Chrizla exited and walked towards the HQ. Suddenly there was a high-pitched wining noise.

"What's that?" Chrizla asked,

Kuros hesitated for a moment, then it quickly dawned on him what the source was; "GET DOWN!" he ordered, planting himself on Chrizla to protect him. "RETURN FIRE!"

Several guards took up position on the walls and began firing down at the anti-imperial hostiles.

"Get inside, sir. Out of the firing line!" he jostled Chrizla inside.

Two high-ranking military personnel saw their new Emperor, and moved towards him to pay their respects.

"Majesty…" Admiral Vindex bowed,

"Your highness…" Captain Draxler of the IGS Cahudhri saluted.

"Gentlemen," Chrizla began, "I believe now is the time for the customary giving of bribes and promotions." He turned to Vindex, "For your loyalty to the Imperial Family, I hereby promote you to the rank of Grand Admiral and make you Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Navy."

"Thank you, sir!" Vindex saluted,

"And to you," he turned to Draxler "for your loyalty to the Imperial Family, I hereby promote you to the rank of Commodore and give you command of the Imperial Guard Wing of the Navy."

"Emperor." Draxler nodded, curtly,

"And you, Kuros;" he turned to Kuros, "I herby promote you to the rank of Field Marshal, make you Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army and award you the Hero of the Imperium Galactica medal, for your timely rescue."

"My Lord!" Kuros saluted.

"Right!" Chrizla clapped his hands together, "This Empire's not going to sort itself out, so let's get moving!"

A few hours' worth of detailed SitRep, and a couple of glasses of SynthAle, later they were ready to co-ordinate consolidation operations.

"Show me the worst trouble spots." Chrizla ordered,

"Here," Grand Admiral Vindex moved three sections of galaxy to the centre of the holocom and magnified them. "The Murzac Sector, the Akyazi Belt and deepspace station Terrok Nor. Grand Admiral Messerach has taken control of Terrok Nor and is using it as a stronghold until he can secure his position as Emperor; in the Murzac Sector, Chancellor Viiv has taken control of the munitions factories & the shipyard and has dug himself in; in the Akyazi Belt, the Jez'Kaar Resistance have gotten a foothold and are attempting to secede the planets."

"TREASON!" Field Marshal Kuros cried, banging his fist on the console,

"Bastards…" Commodore Draxler swore.

Chrizla thought for a moment, "Alright, send three squadrons of the fleet to the areas, put a full detachment of marines onboard each ship. Offer one chance to surrender; if they refuse, massacre them."

"Aye, sir!" Vindex agreed,

"Command the squadron to Terrok Nor yourself, Vindex. I know you've got some old scores to settle with Messerach."

"Thank you, sir." Vindex saluted and went to get underway.

"Kuros, co-ordinate the anti-rebel operations here; I want them executed, all of them!"

"Sir!" Kuros saluted and left the HQ.

"What of the Guard Wing?" Draxler asked,

"Keep them in-system, but on regular patrols; I don't want anyone taking advantage of the political situation."

"Aye, sir." Draxler saluted and left, too.

"Emperor!" a young crewman, ran towards his master, "The old man's nephew has been proclaimed his successor!"

"What!?" the would-be Emperor Messerach cried, "I thought Ridolfus had killed them all! What's going on?"

"Long-range sensors have picked up a heavily-armed squadron approaching from home; I think they mean to kill us, sir…"

"DAMN!" Messerach cursed, "Alright, RED ALERT! BATTLESTATIONS!" the lights went down and the room was filled with a red glow. Klaxons sounded on all decks, sending crewmen scurrying for their posts and crashing into one another.

"ETA?" Messerach requested,

"Fifteen minutes at current speed." Another crewman reported,

"How many ships?"

"Twelve in all, with a full fighter wing each."

"Incoming message!" a lieutenant announced,

"Onscreen!" Messerach ordered.

The emblem of the Imperium Galactica fuzzed into being onto the screen and faded out to reveal the aged-before-his-time features of Grand Admiral Vindex.

"This is Grand Admiral Vindex of the Imperial Navy, you are ordered to surrender at once and prepare to be boarded!" he demanded,

"Grand Admiral!?" Messerach laughed, "Know this, sonny, while there is still breath in my lungs I will defend this station!" he cut the transmission.

"Good," Vindex said to himself, "I wanted it that way… Fire."

Every ship in the squadron fired their lasers, torpedoes, missiles and rockets at the station.

"Shields are down to 43%!" an Ensign read off his display,

"WHAT!?" Messerach demanded, "RETURN FIRE!"

The station fired its own weapons systems at the ships, who responded in kind.

"Shields are down!" the Ensign cried, "Marines are being teleported aboard!"

True to his words, a group of marines materialised before their eyes,

"You rebel scum!" the officer leered.

Messerach dived for cover, grabbing his telecaster off the table. He blindfired several shots over the table and managed to hit one of the marines in the chest; but a marine he hadn't noticed crept up behind him and put his stratocaster to his back.

Messerach knew his time was up and allowed himself to be executed.

"Grand Admiral Vindex reports that Terrok Nor is now back under Imperial control and the traitor Messerach has been executed." Kuros reported,

"Good. Any news from the Murzac Sector or the Akyazi Belt?" Chrizla asked,

"None yet, but Commodore Draxler has reported strange readings coming from Caldun Cluster."

"Strange how?"

"His Science Officer believes that it emanates from the old nuclear research base on Asteroid ΣΔΩ234."

"Did we leave any hardware there?"

"Records show that enough was left to construct a few small atom bombs. But without the nuclear material, they're useless."

"That's good to know. Tell him to keep monitoring and inform us of any further developments."

"Yes, sir."

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion outside.

"REPORT!" Chrizla ordered,

"Data's coming in now!" Kuros read, "The rebels have breached the outer defences and the troops are getting slaughtered!"

"DAMN! Recommendations?"

"They'll have breached the inner sanctum before we could mount a counterattack. Follow me to the teleporter; we must get you off the planet!"

Chrizla followed Kuros to the teleporter and he tapped co-ordinates into the computer. The teleporter activated and they were whisked away to another teleporter on what Chrizla recognised as the Emperor's personal flagship.

"Welcome aboard the Thorin, Emperor." The Teleporter Chief greeted him.

After a brief tour, Chrizla was escorted to his royal quarters, lavishly decorated in the most priceless artefacts available in the Empire, and a few from outside. It was a monument to the ostentatiousness and excessiveness of the Imperial Family; this room alone probably cost more than the entire ship. He looked over the data files on the ship: the Leviathan Class IGS Thorin, last of her class, commissioned 25th October, 2322, Imperial Era. She began life as flagship of a large taskforce in the Imperial Navy, but after the Imperium/Dazzak war of 2358 most of the Navy was obliterated. She was the last surviving Leviathan and the most powerful ship in the galaxy at the time, so she was presented to the Emperor as his personal yacht. After 200 years of chauffeuring royalty, she was decommissioned. But the Civil War of 2569 saw her brought back into service and she fought in no less than 13 battles, the only major damage she sustained was after a group of destroyers got the better of her. For her diligence and numerous battle honours, she was refitted and presented to the new Emperor as his personal warship, rather than yacht. It was now May 16th, 3124 of the Imperial Era, so she had been in service for almost 800 years. Thanks to countless refits and upgrades, she was still the most powerful ship in the galaxy, had taken part in a dozens of minor conflicts in the centuries since the Civil War, and she was about to see further action; in this, the Second Civil War. Chrizla knew she was more than capable, but he hoped he wouldn't be the Emperor under which this piece of history saw its last battle. He hoped she would see her first Millennium.

"Emperor, you are needed on the Bridge." The comm squawked at him,

"I'm on my way!" he responded.

The turbolift hummed to a stop and the door slid open with a whirr of hidden machinery, Chrizla stepped out onto the spacious Bridge and looked around. The whole room was painted in military blue, with some patches of light purple on consoles and panels. To the left and right of the massive viewscreen at the front of the room were doors leading to the construction and R&D departments. The Captain was sitting in the centre of the room, with a semi-circle of consoles in front of him. The Navigator and Weapons Officer were at the front, with similar consoles, though straight. The viewscreen displayed a tactical overview of the star system; it was dotted with the moving representations of other starships, celestial bodies, comets, asteroids and the nebula on the far side of the system.

"My lord, Commodore Draxler is hailing us." Captain Bracca informed him,

"Onscreen!" Chrizla ordered. The emblem of the Imperium Galactica fuzzed into being and faded out to reveal the worried face of Draxler. "What news, Commodore?" Chrizla asked,

"Emperor." Draxler greeted, "I have received word from Grand Admiral Vindex that the Jez'Kaar Resistance has escaped our forces in the Akyazi Belt and are passing into his sector. He requests permission to engage."

"Granted. What news from that squadron?"

"They say that their cruiser was disabled and several destroyers were obliterated. The Jez'Kaar were using Dazzak ships!"

"Dazzak!?" Chrizla exclaimed, "They were forbidden to develop their military forces, what the hell happened?"

"They apparently had been developing new weapons, in secret, and testing them inside the Kutrozi Expanse. That was why our sensors were never able to pick anything up; you know what the Expanse is like."

"Indeed." Chrizla agreed. The Kutrozi Expanse was a region of unstable space where the common Laws of Physics did not apply. A nebula surrounded the entire region which contained an energy field that no-one had developed sensors forceful enough to penetrate. All expeditions to the Expanse had ended in disaster, with several ships badly damaged and some never seen or heard from again.

"They must have been developing the hardware left in there by us and integrating their own technology." Draxler postulated,

"And you're saying that the Jez'Kaar have been in contact with them and have struck up a mutually beneficial relationship?" Chrizla asked,

"It would appear so, sir, yes."

"Tell Vindex to use extreme caution when dealing with them, I don't want a repeat of what happened to the first squadron."

"Aye, sir! Draxler out." His image disappeared.

"My lord," Captain Bracca began, "I suggest that we move to a better location; our position is vulnerable to attack."

"What do you suggest?" Chrizla asked,

"The nebula, sir. We will be undisturbed there and will have a better view of the sector."

"Make it so." Chrizla turned to leave.

"You heard the Emperor!" Bracca ordered his crew, "Set course for the Collus Nebula. Rig for maximum speed!"

Meanwhile, in the Murzac Sector, Chancellor Viiv was preparing himself for the attack he knew was coming. Unlike Messerach, he did not want to be Emperor; he believed in a Republic. That thought in itself was treasonous, but he did not care; he had the resources, he had the supplies and he had the firepower to last a siege and he intended to win, for the people. His headquarters were on the planet Ren'Vaar, a once thriving metropolis that had experienced a massive comet impact just before the end of the Common Era and had entered an ice age. It was now a frigid, barren ice world, with only a few surviving structures and even fewer remaining indigenous life-forms. The HQ was located at the old harbour of the largest continent, a structure so old it had seen some of the first wooden vessels belonging to its long-extinct civilisations. It, like the rest, was completely surrounded by ice fields and colder than the dark side of an outer planet's moon in winter. If you were to look down, through the ice, you would see long-dead transports and their cargoes; a constant reminder of how the incident had come without warning.

"Chancellor!" a Lieutenant reported, "We're detecting an invasion force coming in on bearing 00.0!"

"Bit earlier than I expected," the Chancellor admitted, "But no matter… Order the planetary guns to fire as soon as the fleet is in range!"

"Aye, sir." The Lieutenant responded.

As the first warship crept into range, the guns began firing. The force of the pure energy bolt forced the cannon back into its housing as the shot flew out. It flew through the atmosphere at three times the speed of sound and accelerated even faster as it entered the vacuum of space. It struck the first vessel amidships and it exploded in a blossom of flame leaving a gaping hole in its hull. The first battle of the Civil War had begun.

"Emperor!" Captain Bracca's voice came over the comm.,

"Yes Captain, what is it?" Chrizla responded, sleepily,

"Our forces in the Murzac Sector report that they have encountered heavy resistance on planet Ren'Vaar and are requesting emergency support!"

"I'll be up in a minute." Chrizla promised.

"Report!" Chrizla ordered as he left the turbolift,

"Admiral Jessop reports that they are outnumbered and outgunned. They've lost the bulk of their fleet to the planetary defence net and are taking heavy losses planetside."

"Set course for Ren'Vaar, engage JumpDrive!"

"JumpDrive!?" Captain Bracca questioned. JumpDrive was once the most commonly used form of faster-than-light travel, but due to advances in safety features and propulsion technology it had become obsolete centuries ago. It was still the fastest way of getting from Point A to Point B but was fraught with dangers, minute calculations and uncertainties; if you got one calculation wrong by so much as a nanounit, the time dilation effect would occur and you could arrive weeks after you intended.

"You heard me, Captain." Chrizla confirmed, "Engage JumpDrive."

Captain Bracca looked nervously down at his consoles and brought up the old JumpDrive controls. He keyed in the destination and told the computer to calculate trajectory, speed and course. He paused with his finger above the engage confirmation and held his breath;

"Engaging JumpDrive, sir…" he announced, lightly tapping the touch-sensitive panel.

The space in front of the Thorin began to ripple and pulsate; red circles appeared and began to open up a hole in the space-time continuum for the ship to travel through. With the gaping void now complete, the Thorin shot through and became lost inside a myriad of kaleidoscopic illusions and colossal bolts of what appeared to be lightning. This incredible display stunned and amazed the crew who stood in awe at viewports and sensor displays. On the Bridge, too, the same awe had struck the senior officers who stared unblinkingly at the massive viewscreen.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Captain Bracca commented,

"Yes, it is…" Chrizla and Kuros agreed in unison.

The whole ship remained like that for several minutes until the Computer chimed in:

"Approaching destination. JumpDrive disengaging."

The Thorin materialised out of an apparently fluidic portion of space and came to a gentle halt in orbit of Ren'Vaar.

Chrizla moved towards the turbolift,

"Well, come on!" he ordered, "Jessop needs our help!"

"Are you sure that's wise, Emperor?" Kuros pleaded, "We can't risk your safety!"

"This Empire's not going to sort itself out, and if the new Emperor is viewed as a coward it's not going to last very long, is it?"

Kuros couldn't argue with that and he agreed to let Chrizla come, albeit reluctantly.

"Chancellor!" the lieutenant cried, "The Thorin has just Jumped into orbit, the Imperials are receiving reinforcements!"

"DAMN!" Viiv swore, "Send a detachment of marines to intercept them, I don't want them forming up with the others!"

"Aye, sir!" the lieutenant saluted and ran off to carry out his orders.

Then Viiv heard something that made his blood run cold, it was the unmistakable synthesised roar of the Imperium's most effective ground unit, the Mobile Command Centre, more affectionately referred to as "Earthshaker" due to its habit of causing extreme seismic-style vibrations. This leviathan of a beast was well over 100 feet tall and walked, yes walked, on stilts. It armed stem to stern with the most powerful lasers fit for planetary use and had never been defeated.

Viiv got his PortaScan out and pointed it in the direction of the roar. His worst fears were confirmed: the Earthshaker had come to Ren'Vaar, and his time would soon be up.

"Direct the guns to the Earthshaker!" he ordered, knowing full well that any defence against it would be fruitless. The troops pointed their turrets at the Imperial advance and began firing. The shots barely scraped its duranium-alloy armour and it kept coming. Several of the troops turned and ran, but Chancellor Viiv stood his ground; he mounted an abandoned turret, and took the only chance he had: he aimed at the ice.

"The rebels are retreating, my lord!" Kuros reported, gleefully. Chrizla looked at his scanner screen at the ice below the Earthshaker's stilts,

"Are you sure this stuff is going to hold?" he questioned, "How deep is it?"

"It's mostly 9ft deep, but there are places where it is as shallow as 4. We should be fine."

"You'd better be right, Kuros. The last thing we need is the Imperium's greatest weapon swimming in sub-zero water." He saw one of the turrets shooting the ice in front of them, "Why's it doing that?" he asked,

"Someone probably left it on auto-fire; it's just slumped over, that's all." Kuros assumed.

Chrizla zoomed his display onto the turret, "No, I believe that it is doing that intentionally. Chancellor Viiv is at the controls!"

"WHAT!?" Kuros zoomed in his own display, "Persistent little buggar, isn't he?"

"What? You're the last man standing when all your men have abandoned you? I'd call that honourable. He's a noble warrior."

"That honourable little buggar is about to be the end of us!" the pilot announced, "Hold on to your hats, we're going in!" true to his words, Chrizla heard a great cracking noise and felt the ice give way beneath them.

"FOR THE EMPIRE'S SAKE, DO SOMETHING!" Kuros ordered,

"Aye, sir." The pilot agreed; he began wrestling with his controls. "Come on baby, pull yourself out!"

The sight of the Imperium's deadliest weapon floundering did much for the morale of Viiv's troops and they returned to his side. It was truly an odd, yet wondrous image. The front stilts of the Earthshaker were embedded in the ice to the joints and it looked like the pilot was struggling for control. The troops began to cheer.

"It's not over yet." Viiv warned, "We've got more marines to deal with now."

"TAKE UP YOUR POSITIONS AND FIRE!" the marine commander ordered as Imperial death squads began rappelling from open shafts in the Earthshaker's underside. The death squads were revered as the Imperium's most effective fighting force and this, the dreaded 330th Legion, known as Saul's Hammer after its first commander, was the best and had the highest kill:death ratio of any unit in the galaxy.

Saul's Hammer spilled from the floundering Earthshaker and took cover behind chunks of ice thrown up by its collapse. Their battle suits were not well insulated, so they felt the blistering cold, but they did not care. They had been bred and trained for this purpose, and this purpose alone; this is what they lived for, and they enjoyed every second of it.

"Pick your targets; weapons free, men!" Colonel Tigh, their present commander, ordered over their secure comm channel. They disengaged the safeties on their elite, custom-made stratocasters and let loose a barrage of laser fire, picking off rebel marines with every well-placed shot.

Back onboard the Earthsaker, Chrizla was watching the battle from a viewscreen,

"If we get out of this," he began, "Make sure they all get medals."

"I'll see to it!" Kuros promised, assisting the pilot with the controls; or, more accurately, getting in his way.

"Come on you bucket of bolts!" he ordered, "PULL OUT!"

Then, all of a sudden, there was a great groaning noise and they all felt the Earthshaker drop further into the ice.

"I think she heard you." Chrizla informed him, looking at a damage report screen, "The knee joints have just cracked!"

"HOW!?" Kuros roared,

"The sub-zero water." The pilot sighed, "It damaged the metal on the stilts. The MCC was never intended for this sort of environment." He explained, apologetically.

"We need to get the Emperor to safety." Kuros demanded,

"There's a hovercraft in the hold, we can get away on that." The pilot informed them.

Chancellor Viiv watched as the hovercraft shot from the cargo bay doors in the side of the Earthshaker. He saw what he recognised as the bulk and bald head of General Kuros, a man with a large helmet whom he guessed was the pilot and a young man in a cloak who he had never seen before. As he watched the hovercraft glide towards a cave, it dawned on him that the cloaked figure must have been the old Emperor's nephew, Chrizla.

The old Emperor's nephew! He thought,

"Fire on the hovercraft!" he ordered,

"TARGET THE HOVERCRAFT!" the commander ordered; the troops responded with a barrage of laser fire in the general direction of the cave, the mouth of which promptly collapsed as the hovercraft glided into it.

"DAMN!" Viiv swore, "We'll have to cut them off, tell you men to take up positions by the other cave entrance in the harbour. That's the only place they can come out."