Welcome to the finale of The Will of Revenge! Without further ado, let's get into it, shall we?

Epilogue

October 4, 2166

22:02

Imperial Palace, Sura, Ereca, Erecan Dominion

"Very well then. It's your choice."

Jikai terminated the connection and the drone recording him stopped. He said all he had to say to the woman on Flare Prime. And he was going to make sure that all he said would come to fruition, no matter how long will it take. As he told her, Zorzal failed him. But Jikai would not fail, no matter what.

For now, he decided to forget about this sibling feud. He returned to his throne and took a seat, closing his eyes. He started thinking about everything that transpired these past few months. He would never say it out loud, but he believed that Zorzal could do it. His troops received training and expertise from the best Erecan sources. Equipment, some of which was produced based on blueprints smuggled from Milky Way by Laconians while the rest was given straight from Dominion's reserves, was of top quality. Clones, designed to be the backbone of his army, were unnumbered and he could field as much as he wanted. Billions upon billions of zichsz were pumped into the war machine and the plan designed by his compatriots actually seemed to be totally foolproof.

And yet, they still lost.

Even after the first month of the conflict passed and the plan was not complete in the expected time frame, it was nothing surprising. Not every plan survives the first contact with the enemy. But after that, the amount of mistakes made by SoS command that was reported to him simply shocked him. A failed attack there, some moron thinking he's invincible to missiles there. All of this piled up. And even though Sons were making progress, the war seemed to drag on without end. City after city fell, sure, but what about the speed that was promised? Sons simply did not account for the pure will to fight of the enemy. And sometimes, that is more than enough.

Jikai was one of the few that held the hope till the very last minute. When after failures in Flareian System Sons decided to throw their entire fleet at the Andromeda Branch, everyone thought that it was over. Nothing could possibly stop Sons at this point. At least until the Intergalactic Gate reopened and instead of Laconian and Galactic Concordance reinforcements, UNSA and their allies came and simply routed SoS fleet and sent them packing. Next, they simply proceeded to delete months of progress in just a few days. As of now, there was no regular units or fleets within enemy space. According to the last reports, there were still some SoS agents that managed to run away and hide, most likely ordered to cause as much chaos as they could. What will come out of this, he had no clue. But he knew that sooner or later, some results from that will come.

Following the defeat, he called Zorzal. He expressed his disappointment about what happened and Zorzal listened. He agreed for everything Jikai decided. In the following months, all Sons of Sadera's units were to sign contracts and be incorporated into Erecan Dominion Armed Forces. Zorzal would still hold the title of Emperor of Sons of Sadera, but he would respond directly in front of Jikai. No more autonomy. Every action has to be accepted and confirmed by the Emperor himself. Zorzal agreed. Through their whole conversation, the leader of SoS seemed tired and as if he didn't want to talk anymore. Maybe it was just because he was tired by the war? Or maybe because something changed in him? Whatever it was, he was sure that Zorzal would be back to his old self sooner or later.

He looked towards the window. Behind it, life continued as usual. Citizens of the Dominion lived their lives as usual. Propaganda fed them all the worst things about the Alliance. Even though a war on a large scale was fought, it happened at the edge of Dominion-controlled space, so only pieces of information reached the ears of the people and even then only after being chewed by the appropriate services and media outlets. It was weird how sometimes, people can live relatively close to a conflict and yet not even think about it.
"Enjoying yourself?"a voice asked.

Jikai sighed. He knew the owner of this voice.
"As much as I can, Destrus."Emperor said, looking at the owner of the voice.

Standing there was another Erecan. Destrus. Back in the day, when Jikai was still a prince, he could easily call Destrus per 'wingman'. Whenever the young prince went, the son of captain of Palace Guard would go with him. They tended to go crazy when they were younger. But since then, they both changed. Jikai was an Emperor now. And Destrus…well…

Sometimes, Jikai wasn't sure if he still could Destrus an Erecan. His face was adorned with a red mark, trailing from around his right eye to the top of his head. He was dressed in a suit of metallic armor in mix of black and gray that by itself made him stand at the height bigger than the Emperor. His left hand was adorned on the end with a spiked ball which, by his will, could detach and he could use it as a flail. He was a really great warrior, but since he got this 'upgrade', as he called it, he was even more terrifying. On his back, he had a plasma riffle strapped.

He also had a certain responsibility.

"What do you need?"Jikai asked.
Destrus smiled. That smile was still the same as Jikai remembered.
"You should know very well, old friend."he replied."Mistress is calling you."
"I should've indeed know."Emperor nodded.

He stepped off of the throne and followed Destrus. They left the throne room. Guards didn't react, they knew who Destrus was very well. They walked past the portraits of previous emperors, their millennia old eyes looking right at him and judging him. They were all great leaders. Jikai always wanted to be like them, especially like his father. While his father didn't expand the Dominion's borders a lot, he still did and that was what mattered.

As they walked, Emperor walked past the portrait of him and his family. He stood there, proud, with his wife Sirija, their sons, Mirik and Ioren, and daughters: Yuera, Xari, Lima and…

No. She was not his daughter. Not anymore.

They walked down the corridors until they reached less attended part of the palace. People that came here were mostly just the maids and other people responsible for keeping the building presentable. Jikai came here often, though. For a single reason.

They stopped in front of a wall. Destrus looked at the portrait of some forgotten nobleman to his left and moved it with his spike-ball hand, which he could use with surprising carefulness. Next, using his other hand, he pressed a red button. Soon, part of the wall slid up and disappeared, revealing an elevator.

"Let's not make her wait."Jikai said.
"Indeed."

They stepped in and Destrus pressed another button. The door slid closed and the elevator proceeded to quickly descend deep, deep under the Imperial Palace. To a place only Jikai and few other people knew about. He and Destrus didn't talk to each other.

Finally, after a few minutes, they were finally at the bottom of their journey. The elevator door opened and they stepped into a dark, square room. Destrus stood at the elevator, while Jikai approached the middle of the room and…knelt.

"My Lady."he said.

Something happened. A number of points on the wall started sliding out, forming a shape. They waved and waved, as if they were alive or made of water, not metal, until they finally formed the desired shape.
"Welcome again, Emperor Jikai."a feminine, metallic face on the wall said.
"I came as you asked."
"Good to know that you still know where your loyalties lie."The face smiled."I've heard about what happened. The war didn't go as planned?"

Jikai winced. Must she really play this card?

"Unfortunately."he said."Zorzal's forces were defeated. And without it, we have no access to the Conduit."

There was a moment of silence. The face on the wall just looked down at him. He could feel it's look on him. It's been nearly twenty five years since she contacted him and since he was doing her bidding. Even his old father, Emperor Emeritus at the time it happened, didn't know that his son was actually serving someone else. And it was for the better. At least his father died thinking, that he left the Dominion in the hands of his son.

The face huffed.
"Doesn't matter."she said."Everything is already in motion. A motion that cannot be stopped."

Jikai looked up at the face.
"Do you mean…?"

"Yes. My Enforcers have found the Second Pillar. After nearly a century of searching since the discovery of the First, but that only gets us closer to our goals."

Our goals, she said. Jikai knew that it were her goals. But he was included in them, so he didn't complain.
"What if looking for the other two will take as much time?"he asked.
The face laughed.
"Don't fret, my loyal ally. Together with the Second Pillar, we found some data regarding the Third and the Fourth. We believe this data to be the locations of the other two. So this search might end soon. But still, it will take a few more years before that happens."

Jikai nodded.
"I will continue helping you."

"I expected nothing less."

"But tell me, my Lady. What happens, once you have all Four Pillars?"

For all the time he served her, helping her in searching for the Four Pillars, she didn't really tell him what he planned to do with them. She said something about 'regaining the lost legacy', but nothing more. Normally, he would back off from a deal like this. But one look at Destrus made him think twice about doing so. Destrus was his old friend, yes. But now, he was completely devoted to the Lady. One her order and Destrust would act according to his name and destroy Jikai and everything he held dear.

The Lady's face smiled.
"Since you've been serving me for so long and with such devotion…"she said."…I think I can tell you."

Jikai waited for the answer.
"When I will get the Four Pillars, I will regain the lost legacy of my people. And when that happens, the universe will once again know my name."

And with that, the face disappeared.

XXX

AND CUT!

This is it everybody. The Will of Revenge, second part of the TWR Trilogy, officially comes to an end. I would like to thank everyone who decided to take their time and read it. I thank everyone who decided to leave a review, follow and favorite, I really appreciate it. Your support is what truly makes me going and keeps me motivated. Without you, I would never be able to come this far. It's all thanks to you.

Now that another installment in the series is done, I'm taking a short break. But expect me to return with a new adventure…this Winter.

Goodbye and thank you once again. Until next time!