Darkest before dawn
Chapter 5
Revolt
There are those among who believe that my greatest weapon is fear. This is not true. Fear is intangible, is unnerving, is weak. The true strength of what I teach comes from the unshakable darkest corners of your mind. it is shocking, freezing, and silent. My victims cannot piss themselves for they have forgotten how. They go to scream but not even a squeak escapes their gaping maw. My greatest weapon is not fear. It is dread. Fear comes from the heart. Dread is a force that stops the heart.
-Nex Ado initiation speech to new recruits.
Milky Way Galaxy: Outer Rim
Vespir: Capital City
Earth Day: April 03
Thud. Thud. Thud. The sound of boots and mechs marching towards the heart of the city streets could be felt from miles away. There were some who could almost confuse the not quite sound with that of their own heart. The beat of their hearts silent and in the background but not as steady; not as strong. After a time, it became quite clear that this was not a dream. The palpable dread causing a pain deep in their chest that was almost too much to handle.
By midday the sizable mechs could be seen in the distance. Shortly after that the rows and columns of troops marching in perfect sync was sighted. Those that lived in the outskirts tried to hide while watching the scene unfold before them. Nex was tempted to kill a few just to make a point, yet he knew that would not do. The greater message was in the precision, the power, and the size of the march. If he were to abandon that then it would demean the message as a whole. The mind is a great weapon to those who can wield it properly. For if the enemy thinks that defeat is inevitable, then your victory is inevitable.
Nex's sensors picked it up a moment too late. A sudden spike in energy preceded the shot that was meant to kill him. The plasma blast burst upon the ground in front of him spreading out from its point of impact. The resulting superheated wave drained most of the power from his shields and lowered the mechs energy reserves to half. Nex ripped the staff off of his back as he spun towards the tank slicing one end of the staff into the air and thrusting the other end in the same direction. The resulting wave of telekinetic energy launched the tank into the air before a second assault threw it backwards.
The weight differential of the tank caused the back end to rise slower than the front tipping it backwards as it sailed through one building at the end of the alley and into several smaller homes behind it. It settled on its top as it teetered back and forth. Several men scrambled out of the wreckage of the tank. Many of them young men but one distinctly older trying to maintain his cool and show perseverance. That show of calm ended abruptly coincidently at the same time as his life when an ion pulse from the orbital strike satellite vaporized a sizable crater around his vehicle.
Nex tapped a few commands on his wrist console before stating, "Legate Varn, you are to secure the perimeter of the town. If you see any signs of other plasma tanks then you are to use the ion cannon to destroy them. Anyone caught trying to flee is to be killed on sight."
"Yes general," the legate replied.
Legate Varn motioned for the rest of the units to move out back the way they came. He redistributed the mechs and split the units up to cover the main exits from the town as ordered. When the troops were out of sight Nex secured the staff on his and could see the familiar streak of a solo pod descending through the upper atmosphere. One of the locals decided that the show of force was not show enough and fired a primitive projectile weapon at Nex. The bullet bounced off his shields and off into the distance. Without even looking Nex held out his right hand in the direction of the gunshot.
The woman who fired the shot felt only a tug as she was yanked from her feet and launched towards Nex's open hand. It was over in a second. One moment she was standing there defiantly, the next her neck was breaking in Nex's palm while her body continued in the same direction removing itself from her lifeless head. A severed head on the ground next to a streak of blood leading to a smear on a wall was all that was left of her. Nothing would stop him from completing his mission. Life is meaningless unless it's used to serve Alesia.
Nex went to continue down the street as a chilly female voice came through his comms on a private channel saying, "What is thy bidding my lord?"
Nex chuckled to himself as he replied, "Captain Sicarius, gather up 14 citizens and take them to the capital building in the city center. 9 male, 5 female, half children, and make 1 pregnant."
Without skipping a beat Sicarius stated, "It's going to be hard to make one pregnant when I don't have the right equipment if you know what I mean, my lord."
Nex looked towards her and she shrugged before setting off towards the residential sectors of the town. He continued towards the heart of the city with his close call never leaving his mind. 'Why her' he asked himself. Amann knew that she was his protégée. The most talented of the recruits. The one with the biggest knack for destruction and greatest talent for mental warfare. She also shared his sense of humor. Nex believed Amann must think that they were having an affair with how much time he spent on her training. Yet Amann couldn't know that there was no way he would have an affair with her. Not her and not because of some sense of honor or duty to his wife, but because she was his daughter.