CHAPTER 7: DARK INTENTIONS
On board the Derelict, Zeitar was standing at the head of a long banquet table. Seated with him were several of the best officers in the Empire. Juno was there, along with Ackren and several members of the bridge crew.
"I welcome all of you to the Derelict," said Zeitar with a big smile. "We have gathered not only to commemorate our victories against the Cluster, but our eventual capture of XR-4."
"Hear, hear!" chorused the guests.
"Now, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our guest of honor," said Zeitar, gesturing towards a nearby door. The door opened, and when the "guest" entered, the room went dead quiet.
"It seems I arrived earlier than planned, gentleman," said Angmar, his eyes glowing from inside his helmet. "I wanted to surprise you with my arrival, and it seems I've succeeded."
The Emperor snapped his gauntlet-covered fingers, and Elkenah entered in behind him, her head bowed. "I even brought us some entertainment." He took a seat right next to Zeitar, and the other officers took their seats. Turning to Elkenah, he said, "Come now, dear, sing us a song. It will help the food go down easier."
Obediently, Elkenah began to sing a beautiful melody, as beautiful as she was…and just as sad. All she hoped was that her voice did not betray the tears threatening to escape her sorrowful eyes.
After the banquet, everyone was in the Derelict's conference center. Angmar was at the head of the circular table, with Zeitar sitting on his right, and Elkenah sitting next to Zeitar. She was watching the young Grand Admiral with the same fear she gave to Angmar (and with good reason), but he didn't seem to notice, partly because he was completely ignoring her.
"I must protest against this idea," said one officer, namely one of Zeitar's generals. "Until we bring at least a full fleet into the Earth system, we are not in a position to use military force on the planet. They may be primitive, but I've heard that these particular humans are a hardy breed. They may be more dangerous than we realize."
The officer he had spoken to, the female lieutenant from Juno's bridge crew, smiled and shook her head. "The humans may be dangerous to one scout, or maybe a task force, General Craven, but with all due respect, they pose absolutely no threat to a full-sized, battle-hardened Satsujin army."
"What of this 'Global Robotic Response Unit' we have in our reports?" asked Ackren. "I've been able to determine from my studies of Earth that the planet is protected by a highly-sophisticated female battle robot known as XJ-9, although the human populace commonly refer to her as 'Jenny.'"
"So, the planet is guarded by one robot," snorted one of Zeitar's other commanders. "That is nothing for us to worry about."
Juno finally spoke, and although he was lower in rank, he shot a glare at the other officer. "I think it is a problem, especially when this just happens to be the robot who overthrew Queen Vexus' rule of the Cluster three months ago, not to mention she did it practically single-handed."
"Plus, there is a very big possibility that she has aligned herself with some powerful allies," said the lieutenant, and she paused and gave the other officers a dangerous stare, "…Among them, our target, XR-4."
The room became as hushed as death. Not a soul moved as the truth of these words sunk in. These were some of the most hardened officers in the entire empire, but just the very notion that XR-4 might be in leagued with the Earth's defense forces had them nervous. They all had, after all, actually witnessed XR-4's fury with their own eyes, so they knew full well what may very well happen.
"Oh, don't be so worried, gentleman," said Zeitar, grabbing everyone's attention. "Even if this defender of Earth is being aided by XR-4, it does not change the fact that he will soon be in our position, solidifying our position as the universe's greatest intergalactic power." He looked over to Angmar. "Isn't that right, my lord?"
Angmar chuckled as he opened the front of his helmet just enough to get his misty Leviathan Chardonnay to his lips. After taking a quick sip, he closed back up and said, "Of course, Grand Admiral. After all, we are the Satsujin Empire." He stood up and raised his glass. "The most powerful nation in existence!"
The other officers cheered and raised their glasses, their fighting spirit renewed.
Xander shot up in bed, his breathing hard, his heart pounding like a drum, and feeling light-headed. He put a hand over his forehead and tried to calm down as the images from his nightmare replayed themselves:
"No, Xander, don't do this!" cried Jagger, trying to frantically limp away, his severed left leg still bleeding profusely at the knee.
Xander made no signs of having heard him, nor did his face change from the terrifying mask of incurable rage as he hurled another laser blast, blowing off Jagger's right arm and leg all at once.
Jagger screamed in agony and fell before turning around to face the nightmare that had hunted him to this, one of the deepest areas of the planet's core. Whimpering like a child in the dark, he managed to flatten himself against a thick mass of piping, never once taking his eyes off his approaching attacker.
"How dare you beg," said Xander, his voice seemingly devoid of any soul whatsoever. "How dare you beg for your life, you scum! Not only did you kill thousands of innocent people, and set this planet itself to die, you took the life of your own sister, the one I love! YOU KILLED MY BELOVED, YOU HELLSPAWN OF A ROBOT!"
"No, I didn't mean to!" Jagger pleaded desperately as Xander prepared another laser blast…the final blow. "No, I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
"The decision is no longer yours to make," said Xander. "Regret your decisions after I send you to the pits of Hell!" Then he fired, right into Jagger's face, and everything vanished in a flash of light.
"I only wish this was a nightmare," he said. "Just like I wish my last battle with the Satsujin was a nightmare. But, I'm afraid these scars are real, and they may haunt me forever."
"Xander, what is it, honey?"
Xander looked down at the concerned face of Dianna, who was lying right next to him. "I'm okay, Dianna. I just had a nightmare," he said, lying back down.
"I know, I heard you talking in your sleep," said Dianna. "That fight with my brother must have really scarred you."
Xander closed his eyes. "It's mostly the fact that I killed him so casually, without any mercy or hesitation. I did it without soul, and now I'm afraid I'll do it again."
Dianna put her arm across his chest and pulled herself close against him. "I'm not worried, because I know you're not really like that. You'll always be the strong, brave, yet caring and sensitive boy I fell in love with," she said.
"Thank you," was all Xander said before taking her in his arms and going back to his much-needed sleep, this time with more pleasant dreams.