Author Note
Hi Everyone,
I'm sorry that I was gone for a really long time.
I'm afraid that I was moving amongst other things and a lot of my personal time was absorbed by that.
I am now able to give a lot more time to writing this story, and will now be writing a fully planned part 7!
With that said, I hope you enjoy part 7 which is called "The Imperial Palace".
Thanks,
Cbehrills
THE IMPERIAL PALACE – THE IMPERIAL GUARD
The Imperial Guard Headquarters
From the outside the imperial guard headquarters looks about as intimidating as is possible. A hexagonal building, each of the six outer walls is guarded by the subordinates of one of the guard's mighty generals. Each wall is stony and black like an old castle but laced with thin jagged lines of a different and unique material. A dark yellow glow comes from this material, a glow so dark and ominous that it seems to make the surroundings themselves darker. With each wall the size of a mountain, guarded by thousands of mighty warriors, any attacker of such a building would have to be either very brave or very stupid.
The imperial palace as a structure is massive, an indoor space spanning a small central part of the continent, everything within is the safehouse of Furst Jonas. The imperial guard headquarters occupies a large part of that space, straight to the North of Furst's own private residence, the imperial core. Unlike the rest of the environment, this place is no luscious garden nor is it a rolling hill, the surroundings of the imperial guard HQ are bleak by design. Grassy planes have been stripped away and the green hills have been replaced by grey stones. This place is not designed for the sake of its inhabitants. This place was designed for Furst Jonas, to house his own private defence force.
The imperial guard was created for that very purpose, to be Furst Jonas' personal army. The military's purpose, albeit tenuous, is to protect the citizens of Homeworld. The imperial guard does not share that goal and would happily watch Homeworld burn to save their almighty dictator. Each member had been stripped of their true ambitions long ago.
At the very centre of the imperial guard headquarters one level below the ground there is a lounge. That lounge may be the room that fewest people have ever entered. Ever since the lounge's creation only two servants have ever served the patrons and only seven patrons have ever existed. These seven individuals are the six generals of the imperial guard and their leader, the head general.
One such general returns to the lounge one day, having been out to receive his report and returns with no information of interest. But what he doesn't realise is that one report will go through this room today, a report with repercussions beyond what he could ever have imagined.
Odion is his name. General Odion. A slender man, with dark hair and a neatly trimmed moustache. To those who knew nothing of divine energy and immortality, he would appear 35 years old, which is roughly when he made his breakthrough. He enters the generals lounge with his usual pristine uniform. Gold and silver are the colours of an imperial guard general, colours that look bright dazzling and important. He looks around to see that only one of his colleagues is present, General Rana.
General Rana is a similar age to Odion, but their natures are very different. Regardless, all the generals get along with one another. Rana also dons the same uniform as Odion, gold and silver. Both generals wear the same tag around their neck, standard issue to justify their name and rank. With her dark purple hair and skin a few tones lighter than his own, Rana is easy to pick out of a crowd. Nevertheless, as she turns around her familiar freckled face comes as a welcomed sight to Odion.
"Welcome back, I assume there is nothing to report for today" she asks?
"Nothing to report today, nothing to report any day" Odion sighs in reply, "It's only natural, you would have to be stupid to try attacking the emperor. An imperial guard is not necessary".
"It never existed in the days of Endou Akashi's rule" Rana muses, "I wonder why it exists now".
"The common theory amongst the military and lower ranks of the imperial guard is that our current emperor is unpopular with some unwise citizens. But you and I know that isn't the real reason, Rana. The real reason is control".
"Control?".
"We are the most elite fighting force in the empire, on par with any aristocrats. Unlike the military, our forces have access to divine abilities. Our forces have access to training manuals. Our only limit is our own potential, unlike the military who are limited by their resources".
Rana takes a drink from the glass in front of her, averting her gaze from her colleague. "What exactly is your point Odion? The only people who could stand up to us are aristocrats, and they mostly support Furst anyway".
"Exactly" Odion declares loudly, "If someone could defeat us there is still no chance they could defeat the emperor himself. He doesn't need us for his safety, he needs us to make his life easier, to around and put all the little people in check".
"Don't you think that we're a little overqualified to intimidate farmers?".
"We are indeed, that's why you and I only need to read several reports each day and can spend most of our time relaxing in the generals lounge".
Satisfied that he has made his point, Odion shouts at the servant on active duty. With a complete absence of manners, he demands the same drink that he usually favours this time of the year and receives it in an exceptionally quick timeframe.
"The thing is Rana, if the emperor can ask people as strong as us to intimidate people for him, there is clearly nobody who could oppose him, is there?".
"I suppose you are right, still it seems like everything is not going to plan lately".
This declaration grabs Odion's interest. Things not going to plan is unusual in the empire controlled by Furst Jonas. The emperor is a genius and all the greatest organisers in the world work under him. Plans are made, and plans are kept to, that's how the Furst empire is operated.
"Did you hear about the breakout incident in the laboratories?" Rana asks.
"Oh yes, I did hear something about that. A terrible mess, it's not like the laboratories to make a mistake like that".
"No, it isn't, but even the best of us can make mistakes, and I heard that this mistake is likely to be quite costly".
This information comes as a great surprise to Odion. He knows that serving under the emperor there are six royals, each royal oversees a significant land mass and certain operations of the empire. Each royal has an imperial guard general who reports directly to them. The laboratories are controlled by a royal, by a mighty king, and the general reporting to that king is Rana herself. If Rana is talking about high-level discipline at the laboratory, something very out of the ordinary is happening.
"Costly to whom?" Odion asks.
"The very highest level of authority" Rana declares.
"Your information" is correct confirms another general as he returns from his series of daily reports.
The newcomer is a general in the imperial guard who goes by the name General Dodi. Dodi enters showing his usual range of emotions, none. Never has a military leader been so deadpan, so dead behind the eyes. Yet despite that, he enters with his hair died red and a single thin braid draping over his right shoulder. It seems to Odion and Rana that he lost that bet against his subordinates, changing his hair from its natural dark black colour.
"Have you found out more information about the escape?" Rana asks.
"I have not been given any specific details, but I have been given a high priority message from my colonels" Dodi replies.
"What did the messages say?".
"The message said that Weiss Max is to be summoned to discuss the incident personally".
Odion leaps to his feet, his chair falling away from him and hitting the ground loudly. Hearing the name Weiss Max is a true shock, not just because of his identity, but because of the name. Civilians are not allowed to use their family name. In the military even, generals are not allowed to retain their name, they go through intense psychological programming to forget their family. In the imperial guard, generals are given the luxury of retaining a family name, but they dare not use it.
Apart from the emperor, only six people can use their family names.
The six royals!
That means that discipline is being handed out to one of the emperor's six most powerful subordinates. An incident of this magnitude is exceptionally rare, happening only once every ten years at a push.
"King Weiss?" Odion asks.
"Of course, King Weiss" Dodi groans in reply, "Who else could I have been talking about".
"Royals are hardly ever summoned personally; this breakout incident must be more serious than we realised".
"It's significant enough that I'm going to have to pass the message onto our superior" Dodi admits, "The message said that the Head General of the Imperial Guard herself must be the one to bring King Weiss to answer the summons".
"Then you had better go and tell her" Rana says, gesturing to the platform at the centre of the general's lounge.
Dodi nods, takes a deep breath and walks forward onto the platform. At the centre of the platform is a small podium, upon which is a single button. He delicately raises his arm and presses the button. The second he does so the platform begins to slowly rise. As the floor raises, Dodi is taken away from his comrades and rises the equivalent of two flights of stairs.
As the platform stops, Dodi finds himself looking at the back of his commander.
Shoulder length ginger hair concentrated slightly on one side of her head gives Dodi a view of the distinctive single earring that his commander always wears. The commander's uniform differs slightly to her fellow generals, gold lined not with silver, but with red. Her uniform marks her not only as a general but as the Head General of the Imperial Guard.
This is the Head General, Safura.
"Head General, I have news from the palace core, King Weiss Max is to be escorted there immediately" Dodi explains, wasting no words.
Safura is sat cross legged in the centre of a large courtyard, a courtyard that Dodi has been raised up into. Upon being called she stretches her arms high into the air, telling herself that meditation is one of her least favourite ways to cure boredom as she does so. Having fully stretched her arms, she stands up and turns her attention to her legs, stretching each in turn so that she is ready to go.
"King Weiss Max?" she asks in a gentle voice, "Are you certain, it's been a long time since a royal has been summoned to the palace?".
"I am certain Safura" Dodi says, "The message was passed to me by reliable sources. Are you reluctant to do it?".
"King Weiss makes me uncomfortable" Safura admits, "All the royals were selected because they are bad news, but more than any of them he makes me nervous. There is something inhuman about him".
"I assume you will be heading that way anyway?".
"I will head there immediately" Safura says.
Without another word on the subject, she walks away from Dodi and towards a metal construct. A perfect circle with a tiny arc embedded in the floor beneath her, a circle which she could walk through. As she rests her hand on a pedestal next to the circle, the metal structure begins to fill with a transparent energy. This is a portal, and it is beginning to activate.
"You will inform anyone who asks for me that I am carrying out important duties and am not to be disturbed" Safura declares.
"Yes, Head General".
With that understood, Safura steps forward into the portal and disappears to carry out her orders.
The Laboratories
In the common area of the laboratories is a grand portal through which any number of people arrive. There have been visits from the imperial guard, sometimes even imperial guard generals. There have been visits from the finest scientists from across the kingdom, including Furst Jonas before his rise to emperor. Today however, as this portal activates, it is Head General Safura who steps through it.
Safura steps forward into a dome shaped building with transparent outer walls. Through the transparent walls Safura sees the many other domes that surround this central one, each of them dedicated to a particularly area of science. Everything in the laboratories is pristine, impeccable. The floor is a brilliant white, polished to such a degree that it could easily be used as a mirror. This is the empire's most perfectly kept scientific facility.
Upon seeing that his latest visitor has arrived, a greeter runs over to the portal and politely bows to Safura.
"Welcome Head General Safura. It is a pleasure to see you General Safura".
"It is good to see you too" Safura responds with a nod, recalling in the back of her mind that she has spoken with this greeter several times before. To have survived this long he must be in King Weiss' good books.
"Have you come here to enquire about any particular experiment today?" the greeter asks, "Or perhaps one of our scientists is working on something confidential for you, I could go and get them if you give me their name".
"That won't be necessary, I haven't come here to speak about research today".
"Then this is a social visit, General?".
"I'm afraid it isn't a social visit either" Safura admits. "Would you tell me which dome King Weiss is currently working in?".
The greeter's face loses all colour as he hears the mention of his boss. Even to those closest to him King Weiss is not a pleasant man to deal with. "You want to speak to King Weiss? I must advise against it general, he has been in a foul mood since…".
"You don't understand" Safura raises her hand as she interrupts, "I am not the one who wants to speak to him. It is the emperor who wants to speak to him".
Upon hearing that, the greeter quickly changes his tune, "He is in the energy experiments dome, behind you and slightly to the left".
"Would you be willing to take me to the corridor he is working in?".
"General Safura I…".
"Don't worry, he won't hurt you when I'm here".
"But… you see I…".
Safura is as sympathetic as always, an attribute she has become famous for in her time as the leader of the Imperial Guard. "Don't worry young man, I am an emissary of Furst Jonas himself. The emperor is in command here. You are safe with me, I assure you".
"OK" the greeter reluctantly nods, knowing he can argue no further, "Please follow me".
The greeter silently leads Safura through the largely abandoned corridors. The general gazes at each door as she goes past, noting the tiny dark window in the middle of each of them. The window is at just a little below the head height of an average person, matching the stature of Weiss Max. Safura learnt a long time ago not to look through any of these windows, because you will never be able to forget what you see on the other side.
Eventually, the greeter leads Safura to yet another empty corridor and points down to the end. "King Weiss is down the end".
"Thank you for bringing me here" Safura says as she hands a single yellow coin to the greeter.
His face lights up so much it practically glows, the Head General is generous as always. "Thank you for your generosity my general, please let me know if you need anything else".
Despite the greeter's apparent eagerness to please, he quickly runs down the corridor, getting as far away from his boss and the general as he can.
Safura slowly walks to the end of the corridor, a bead of sweat rolling down her head as she does so. In the Imperial Guard, she answers directly to Furst Jonas, a man who everyone rightly fears. However, Weiss intimidates her in a way that even Furst doesn't, every encounter with him is a source of anxiety, especially when you have bad news.
Safura gets to the end of the corridor and nudges open the door to the room the greeter told her of. Inside she sees a dark-skinned man with grey hair and an unkept grey beard that has long since grown out of control. Up around the man's ears is the high-collar of his blinding white lab coat. This man is without doubt Weiss Max.
"King Weiss Max!" Safura calls out officially.
Max looks over his shoulder. "The Leader of the Imperial Guard dares to interrupt my experiments, I will see you demoted for this, you won't quickly be forgiven!".
"Forgive me my king, but I have been ordered here by the emperor himself".
This naturally grabs Max's full attention. He turns around fully, dropping everything that he is doing despite how important it seemed just a moment prior. Safura works hard not to laugh at how quickly he changes his tone. That is something that only the name Furst Jonas can do to people.
"Furst ordered it?" he asks.
"I believe that he wants to have a full discussion with you regarding the breakout incident" Safura replies.
"Is he blaming me for it?".
"I dare not assume to understand the superior mind of the Emperor Furst Jonas. I also dare not contradict his orders, even if it offends one of the royals".
Max turns around and begins to fidget with his pens and his papers. "Very well, later today I shall go to the imperial palace and…".
"I'm afraid, my king, that I have been ordered to bring you there straight away!".
For a moment Max cold eyes fixed on Safura with hatred. If looks could kill, Safura would have been dead the moment she entered the room. This look though, this look almost makes Safura wish she were dead. Still, she holds her ground, there is a man far worse that she must satisfy at all costs.
Max calms down quickly as he recalculates his situation, "… if those are the emperor's orders then that's fine, let's go".
Together the two of them walk back through the corridors. Max delights in looking through all the windows as he passes, seeing the latest results of his sick and dastardly experiments. Safura once again does her best to ignore them. As the two of them make their way back to the common area, Max adjusts the destination set by the portal personally.
Both step through the large metal ring.
Together, they move to the imperial core.
The Imperial Core, the Throne Room
Two individuals stand near to the throne, just steps away from it. One is a dark-haired, young-looking man wearing comfortable but regal robes coloured blue, red and gold. The other is a fair-haired, thirty-something woman dressed in a high-neck blue shirt.
"Do you believe the breakout incident to be his fault?" the woman asks.
"Only an idiot would believe anything else, he is responsible for it after all" the man replies, "It was an order from the heavens themselves that he must care for what is in that laboratory".
"Then he was a fool to contradict those orders".
As the woman finishes speaking, the doors to the throne room fly open. Two enormous doors at least twenty meters tall and made of a material solid and weighty. As she pushes open doors that normally would never budge, Safura concludes they are likely made from a material of such luxury that only Furst himself would understand.
As the doors open, Safura steps inside ahead of King Weiss and stands at attention. She announces herself officially.
"Head General Safura of the Imperial Guard, presenting King Weiss Max at your request your highness!".
Weiss Max steps inside and lowers his head politely to the gentlemen in red, blue and gold robes, "I answer your summons my emperor".
With jet black hair and piercing eyes to match. The young man in the robe is what most would consider to be a perfect human specimen. If one were to give him a physical inspection, there is not a single part of his being that could be improved. He is perfect not only by design, but because it is the will of the heavens. To be here is his destiny, to judge lesser beings is his destiny.
The twenty-something year old man ignores the two newcomers and walks over to his throne, sitting in Homeworld's most comfortable and prestigious seat, as is his right.
This man is Furst Jonas.
"Safura, despite the circumstances it is as always a delight to see you" Jonas says.
"Thank you, my emperor" Safura replies, her head still pointing forward perfectly.
"Your uniform is well kept as always, and while that little diamond earring isn't part of standard attire, I approve".
"I appreciate it my emperor" Safura says calmly, "This earring is of great sentimental value to me".
Jonas nods, "You have completed your duty as required, you may return to the imperial guard headquarters at once".
Upon being given this order, Safura leaves immediately. A room with not only King Weiss in it but Emperor Furst as well is terrifying. If one puts a foot wrong in a room like that, they will be killed and disposed of. The Emperor and the royals are the gods of this world, one doesn't offend them and survive, that is the law.
As Safura leaves she shuts the door behind her and Max walks forward.
"My emperor, there has been a big misunderstanding here, the incident in the laboratories was not my fault" Max protests, "I left certain responsibilities to my subordinates and they failed to do what was required of them. I have killed those who let you down, I have seen to it that their associates have been disciplined as well. There is no way this could happen again so…".
"Bow" Jonas demands simply.
Max immediately bows from his waist, silencing himself.
"Identify yourself formally".
"King Weiss Max, here at your service my emperor".
Jonas looks to the fair-haired woman at his side. "Petra, you too hold the distinction of being a royal".
"Yes, my emperor" Petra answers.
"Tell me, do you believe that I wish to hear excuses from a royal who serves me?".
"No, my emperor, one such as yourself values not effort but results".
Jonas pays no further attention to Petra. She has done nothing wrong right now but ultimately, she is just the same as Max. Petra, Max and all the royals who work for Furst Jonas are his servants. The fact that they are given privileges does nothing to absolve them of their responsibility to him, a responsibility shared with every other citizen of Homeworld.
"It is as Petra says Max, I don't value your efforts, your attempts to blame others, or your excuses" Jonas declares, "I value the results you bring to me, and I have had some very disturbing reports recently".
"The breakout incident my emperor?".
"Of course, the breakout incident" Jonas tuts impatiently. Max is supposed to be intelligent. "You would be wise not to ask me any more stupid questions".
"I apologise".
"I want you to personally confirm the reports I have received Max. You have already confirmed that there has been a breakout, but I hear that it is worse than that. I heard that our most valuable experiment got away. Can you confirm this?".
"… yes, my emperor, I can confirm that the most valuable experiment got away".
The silence in the room is terrifying for Petra as she watches the collision between Jonas' will and Max's incompetence. Jonas seldom shouts when he gets angry, his fury is the silent sort, the sort that hurts the most. If Furst decides that he is frustrated with you he will kill you, unless you are useful. If you are useful, the emperor has enough control over this world to make your life much more difficult. At this point, for Petra and all the royals, the slightest hint of Furst's frustration is enough to drive them mad with worry.
"In that case you are going to tell me the whole story Max" Jonas decides. "You are going to tell me how you plan to get the experiment back".
"… and you better pray that your plan is to my liking".
Unbeknownst to Furst Jonas, someone far more important than the experiment is heading in his direction. Far to the South, a man he helped to create has managed to do the impossible and get inside the walls of the imperial palace.
He is now on a collision course with Uzumaki Naruto.