Chapter Six

"So father, in spite of the fact that I once served you I must inform you that you are now my servant. Do you understand this?" Laertes asked. "Of course I do, it is what Archimedes made clear to me before I returned to your life," Coriolanus answered. "Then I have an assignment for you that will prove if what Archimedes has said about your-improvements-holds water or if it has been exaggerated," Laertes said.

"I am prepared to do what I must to prove myself to you as I had once been required to prove myself to my father before I could ascend to what was once mine," Coriolanus replied. "Very good, now let us begin: there is an important supply base I need protected from rebels who would sabotage my efforts to aid the civilians affected by their violent attacks meant for me. I will give you the coordinates then expect you to hold out for two weeks which will be long enough for the rebels to give up and sabotage lines more easily defended than this one," Laertes said. "You have at least eight supply lines with the same purpose, what makes this one so special?" Coriolanus asked.

"This is the one that is essential for the others ones do continue to exist, without it the others have nothing to give to the innocent civilians who will then surely aid the rebellion in their efforts to destroy me. And as you guessed, that is something I cannot have happening while I am still the King of the entire Erebus system," Laertes answered. "Then I will obey my lord's command and return victoriously," Coriolanus said with a practiced bow. "I will expect nothing less if you wish to prove Archimedes right in his intriguing claims of your capabilities as a warrior," Laertes agreed.

From the artificial eye he had inserted into Coriolanus, Archimedes watched the events of his plan unfold before him. In the end, the rebellion I helped create may be destroyed but what does it matter so long as I destroy the King and bring the attention of the Jedi? I know Darius Othone does not want me yet but maybe he will after I complete my plan he thought. He hoped that would be the case since the representative of the Jedi Order was already here and Archimedes needed their attention if he was to continue with his plans for the Republic.

And the only person he had to thank for orchestrating all of this was that Muun with the breathing mask that covered half his face. It was a pity that such an otherwise perfect man would have such an imperfection that led to their only communications being in holographic transmissions on secure channels. But still, he had to wonder why the Muun would want Laertes destroyed and what benefit it would do him. Unfortunately, he had voiced this before and had only received the promise of knowing with time.

From high above, on the balcony of his headquarters, Darth Maul looked out at the rebellion's capital and was disappointed by what it amounted to in comparison to Laertes' city Sparta. In fact, it was a piece of shit by comparison though he never cared to say so aloud to his fellow Councilmen. The streets were littered with trash, feces, and urine stains from the local drunks (six of whom Maul had had to kill when they agitated him and two of whom he had severely maimed to make an example of them), and near-completely naked women who often offered themselves to men who would leave them beaten, bruised, and/or bleeding when they were through for merely enough credits for a scrap living. The worst part was that it never changed no matter how much time passed and Maul wished he could simply end the rebellion and have it over with.

Unfortunately, he could not do that until the Council decided to trust him with their information on all the major outposts and supply lines they had. Makes little if any difference whether they decide now or decide in two months though. The rebellion won't last more than a year with the way this is presently going Maul told himself repeatedly. Unless they had something planned that they didn't want him to know until it was too late to stop it.

For four days, Coriolanus had been camped out at the outpost on which his son had requested his supervision. Though now the cybernetic servant of Archimedes that would eventually turn on his own son in exchange for regaining his throne, Coriolanus found something familiar about this particular place and about the way the people looked at him whenever he passed by. He wasn't quite sure what it was but he was indeed sure it had something to do with his past but how? When Archimedes had awakened him, he had no memory of anything that had happened to him except for Claudius' betrayal and escaping the top of his tower just in time for the explosion to burn most of his body and force the amputation of his arm, hand, and lower body.

He thought about all that had happened to him until a young recruit, fresh out of school by his look, told him that three dozen rebels were approaching from the north pass. Using the artificial eye, he spied the rebels but he also spied a bigger group amassed in South. "That's not all we're in for," he said before mentioning the southern group to the young soldier. "What do we do, sir?" he asked.

"Deal with the southern passage, I'll handle the northern one. Besides, the north was meant to be a distraction for us at any rate," Coriolanus answered. The sergeant did as he was told with both speed and efficiency, strengthening the resolve of his fellow soldiers as well as himself. Using his eye yet again, he retraced the rebels and aimed so that he could shoot them down but instead of pulling out a blaster, he simply extended a clenched fist and watched as it began to glow until it released a bolt that was fatter but faster and deadlier than a regular blaster bolt.

The first soldier to go down lost his entire head to its power and collapsed with his neck completely gone and the wound near-instantly cauterized by the searing heat of the bolt. Coriolanus took no time to examine that before proceeding to do the same thing to the next soldier that was closest to him though the man was still meters away from reaching his position. The rebels had come through the pass hoping for a victory but instead, they managed only to land in a slaughter as they would soon discover when all of Coriolanus' soldiers were able to focus on the main army while Coriolanus himself dealt with the distraction. Twenty more of the distraction squad were slaughtered in the same brutal way as the first man before the rest decided to retreat despite leaving their comrades to their deaths against Coriolanus' focused, experienced, superior soldiers.

Victory was his but Coriolanus had a strong feeling that this would be the only victory he would achieve. After all, it took the rebels four days to come up with such a force and it wasn't likely they would be able to come up with it again judging by what Laertes had said about their weakening influence, funds, supplies, and able-bodied men for their cause. It was originally Laertes' intention to just slowly melt the rebellion away so as to show that the power of the monarchy lied not only in its military but in its King's ability to patiently test the strength of his enemy and see if he could wear them out before going on the attack. However, Coriolanus' suggestion to just finish them off now that they were too weak to do little more than protest and protect their bases from his military might.

Laertes liked that idea and said that he already had been brewing military strength for a pronged attack that would involve attacking at least half of the bases in simultaneity so that no general in the rebellion could send help to his comrades without risking an opening in his own defenses and possible defeat. "Once I destroy enough bases that way, there will be only one thing for them to do: abandon all bases beside their capital one and hope their united numbers will give them some chance against me. It's then that I intend to wipe them out… all of them," he added. "But why?" Coriolanus asked.

"I have been polite to the leaders of the rebellion for too long and have offered too many chances at diplomacy. They deliberately spat in my face at all of those chances thus making their choice, now all I have to do is merely grant them their wish for death. I will leave a trail of blood in my wake that says to any other dissidents that I am a benevolent King to those who treat me with the respect of my office but dangerous to those who do not," Laertes answered. Coriolanus could somewhat relate to that, remembering how bloody his own rise to power had been long before he met Laertes' mother.

It was during one of those battles that one of his enemies gouged out the eye that was now replaced by the prosthetic one Archimedes had given him. Smiling, he liked that at least one of his sons had some behavioral resemblance to him though he felt that the Coriolanus Draco who had fathered, Juliet II, Laertes, Helena, Claudius, and Ophelia had long died. In his place was this cyborg with only one desire: gain some measure of revenge against Laertes and Claudius for their betrayal against him. And it was about time he was given the chance to begin his quest for revenge if anyone was to ask him how he felt about finally being this close to his son for the first time in more than a decade.

Archimedes didn't know how many bases Laertes intended to attack but that didn't matter. He knew Maul intended to turn over all the confidential information the rebellion stored straight to the King once he had access, destroying the rebellion within a matter of weeks rather than months. If he didn't somehow manage to warn the Generals of what Maul was intending to do to help Laertes, it would be the undoing of his plans as he would have to move a lot sooner than he would've wished. However, there was no way to convict Maul of treason until the mysterious warrior laid his hands on the information and Archimedes had no way of knowing if that happened from his base in the mountains since the rebellion trusted no one to the point of even blocking his transmissions.

This would mean having to return to the rebels' base and literally have one on one contact with the very Generals that had forced him to leave: Montesquieu and Octavian, the ladder of whom was the current leader of the rebellion Archimedes had created. Just then, he had received a call from the Muun who had inspired him to create the rebellion in the first place. "Archimedes you look hurried, am I keeping you from some pressing matter?" he asked. "Yes and no mister, it's just this Zabrak named Maul has joined the rebellion and become one of the Generals on the Council but I get the feeling he's going to destroy the very rebellion I created before I can even complete my plans," Archimedes answered.

"Allow him this victory, the rebellion was never meant to overthrow Laertes whether I made you think so or not. Nor were you meant to live this long and see it blossom and rotting," the Muun said calmly. "What the hell are you talking about, Muun?" Archimedes inquired. "I will tell you but unfortunately, you'll have to cancel your flight after hearing this unless you'd like to die much sooner than I wish you to do that for me," the Muun assured him, like a coaxing parent goading a child with a treat that was never there to start with.

Montesquieu went to visit the chambers of the Council's latest addition to tell him good news. It had been long and hard but in the end, the move to do what had been done was worth it. And the Zabrak had no idea the surprise he was in for when Montesquieu told him what he had to tell him. "Yes, how can I help you?" Maul asked after answering the door.

"Maul, I have great news that you will be more than eager to hear," Montesquieu said. "Then let's hear it," Maul replied. "You have been allowed access to all of our confidential files and can withdraw the information for any purpose you so desire," Montesquieu shouted. "That is good news indeed," Darth Maul said, surprise visible on his red and black face.