Fear the Empire Read online

  “Impress me.”

  The statement took her by surprise. “Excuse me?”

  He sighed with annoyance and turned back toward the view of the city. “Do you see all of this? This technological monument of innovation? This brief glimpse into the future of our world?”

  “I do, your royal highness. I will admit, I was in awe of what I saw as I entered your domain.”

  “All of that is because of me. My mind. My super-intelligence. And yet here you are, claiming to have something to offer me.”

  “I believe I do, yes.”

  A slight smirk curled the side of his lips. “Of course I'm aware of you and your company... which now no longer exists, correct?”

  She felt her body firming, her anger building, but she tried to remind herself why she was there. She needed him. For now.

  “I am no longer the CEO of MajesTech.”

  “And this is because of the actions of your late husband, yes? Rumor has it that he nearly succeeded in assassinating the Zharkovs single-handedly.”

  She smiled. “I cannot confirm nor deny these rumors.”

  The Emperor nodded. “You must understand, this was a bitter-sweet event for me. On one hand, two of my biggest rivals were wiped out in one fell swoop. Imperator Padamir's death caused confusion in the Empire... confusion that my forces have taken liberal advantage of. And the demise of your company has left a hole in the marketplace, one that I plan to fill once I take the throne and re-open trade negotiations.”

  Esmeralda squinted. “I fail to see the bitter in this event. Perhaps you could enlighten me?”

  “You see, I'm a proud man. I wish to see my enemies fall by my own will. I wish to succeed by my own actions, not by the luck of the draw.”

  Esmeralda smiled. “I can assure you, luck had nothing to do with it.”

  “So you say. But what else could it be? Certainly it was not your own brilliance. While you may have stumbled upon some rather impressive technological breakthroughs, you are still a being without super powers, hindered by the boundaries of human intelligence. I hold within my mind a luminescent intellect, a mental precocity that is unrivaled, even by the man who passed this gift onto me. Yet here you are, standing before me, offering me your services.”

  Esmeralda took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. For such an intelligent man, he apparently lacked all understanding of tactfulness.

  She nodded and replied, “You are correct. I believe I have something to offer you that can assist you in winning your war at an accelerated speed.”

  “And so we return to where we began...” He folded his arms across his chest. “Impress me.”

  She smiled, lifted her left wrist, and pressed a button on her watch. As she did, she heard the hum of a laser pistol behind her head. The Emperor's servant was holding the barrel to the back of her skull.

  “Is this what you rely on in order to protect yourself from assassination attempts? Perhaps you need my help more than you think.”

  The Emperor nodded his head and the servant placed the pistol back in his suit coat, but Esmeralda turned toward him.

  “No, no. Shoot me.”

  The servant looked stunned by the request, but did not move.

  Esmeralda rolled her eyes. “Please order your servant to shoot me.”

  “What madness is this?” The Emperor looked befuddled. “I have no time for jokes. You need-”

  Esmeralda was out of patience. She grabbed onto the servant, dug her hand in his suit coat, and retrieved the laser pistol herself. As soon as the weapon was in her hand, alarms blared throughout the palace. Security drones buzzed into the room, screaming orders at her. But she ignored all of it. She just turned the gun on herself, and pulled the trigger.

  The laser blast bounced off the invisible force field around her body and ricocheted into a wall. The drones attacked, firing stun blasts at her, which also reflected off the invisible bubble surrounding her body. The Emperor watched in amazement, his mind soaking up everything he was seeing, and in an instant, he spoke a single command.

  “Halt.”

  The drones froze and the blaring alarm fell silent.

  “That is my force field technology.”

  Esmeralda smirked. “You need better security on your databases.”

  “But you miniaturized it.”

  “You are smart.”

  “But how...?”

  “It took me a week to design this, your royal highness. I'm still working on exactly how to power it. Right now I can only keep the field up for about twenty minutes before the whole thing burns out, but given time...”

  “We could adapt it to my robot army. My forces would be-”

  “Invincible.”

  “I could walk right up to the Grand Citadel and sit on the throne without a single Zharkov being able to even touch me.”

  “True. But I'm sure we can figure out a better way to deal with them. A more... painful outcome.”

  The Emperor's eyes flared with delight. “I will have my revenge for what they did to my father and mother. My wife. My son.”

  “We have the same enemies. If I'm to succeed, I'll require your protection.”

  “You are safe in my domain. Nothing can hurt us here. Not anymore.”

  “I'll need supplies. A lab to work in.”

  “Of course.”

  She stepped closer to him and spoke slowly, with deep intent in her words. “I will give you what you need. We will both have our revenge. ”

  The Emperor licked his lips. “How long?”

  Esmeralda shrugged her shoulders. “I'm not sure. Days? Weeks? It all depends on what I can learn from your technological advances.”

  Esmeralda could see disappointment in the Emperor's eyes. She sighed, knowing he was like all little boys who were promised a new toy. He wanted it now.

  “Here,” she said, swiping her hand across her watch, causing holographic blueprints to appear in front of the Emperor. “A little something I cooked up when I couldn't sleep last night.”

  “What is it?”

  “An improvement to your current model of robot soldier.”

  He studied the plans for a moment, a smile growing on his face as it all came together. “Are these proportions correct? The diameter of the head is-”

  “Oh yes.” She gave the Emperor a wink. “Trust me, your royal highness... size does matter.”

  12

  MAKSIM

  The missile strikes were first. They launched from somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, miles away from shore, and beat down against the Western coastal cities of the Fatherlands. It was an unexpected move, one which only their most paranoid military strategists had conceived. No one expected the Neo-Nipponese to give up on their slow, yet steady advance across the Eastern border. To secretly move naval vessels around the entirety of multiple continents, only to attack from two fronts, seemed like a long strategy to attempt. But it had paid off.

  When the robot armies emerged from the sea, marching on two legs, rolling on tank treads, and rising out of the water with hovering jet engines, there was nothing left for them to attack. The missile strikes had decimated the cities, turning the bustling epicenters of thousands of work camps into nothing but corpses and rubble. The mechanical soldiers walked freely over the devastation, advancing upon the Fatherlands without so much as a single shot fired.

  But when Maksim rocketed toward the earth, the impact of his muscled form sent out a concussive blast that shattered thousands of the metallic men. The reaction time of the rest of the army was instantaneous. Energy blasts from advanced weaponry lit up the ground and skies with a strobe-like effect that was hypnotic in its horrific beauty. He lashed out with his fists, decimating the larger craft that fired rockets and missiles at him, which he would catch in mid-air and hurl right back at them. He smashed into the ground, over and over, causing shock waves and earthquakes that rolled over the soldiers that walked upon the ground.

  As the battle continued, his armor was torn fr
om his body by the constant barrage of gunfire and explosions. His cape burned from his shoulders, falling from the sky in a rain of ash. He stood naked among the wreckage of robots, still throwing his fists into the wall of metal that continued to rise from the sea. Hours past, his muscles ached as his endurance waned. He dug deep, finding a well of energy that he called upon to continue his fight.

  He was the Guardian of the Empire. He needed to stop this force from taking more innocent lives. He needed to stop them from marching further into the Fatherlands. He needed to end this battle before they could overwhelm him. But he knew that was all just hopeful battle frenzy. They had already overwhelmed him. In the corners of his vision, he saw the squads of tanks flanking him. He saw the aircraft that flew over the cloud cover, advancing past him, a singular force that was trying to stop an entire army. His own soldiers wouldn't arrive on the beach for at least another twenty minutes, and by then, it would be too late. At best, they could clean up his mess, possibly stop a northern advancement, but in the long run, it would be meaningless. There were just too many of the mechanical enemies.

  As he threw another tank into another squad of robotic soldiers and watched the explosion of metal shrapnel fly through the air, a rocket slammed into his head. The blast deafened him for a moment, and he became lost in the ringing silence of the battlefield. More strikes of energy weapons pummeled his body, but he just stared through the gray cloud of debris. It rose from their marching feet and explosive attacks, choking out the violent scenery. It was nearly a blessing, a covering so that he couldn't see the extent of his loss.

  What could he do? He was only one man.

  Just as he was readying his mind for the inevitable retreat so that he could warn the advancing Imperial soldiers of the Neo-Nipponese troop locations, he heard a sound. At first, he thought it might have been an alarm, or perhaps a trumpet, but as the ringing in his ears faded, he heard the distinct sound of a roar. It sounded like the roar of a giant, but he soon realized that what he heard was the sound of a hundred-thousand roars, all rising in unison.

  He shot into the sky, pushing himself toward the sound, his heart racing in anticipation for what that noise meant, and when he rose up over the fog of war, he saw what his heart needed in that moment. He saw hope.

  The aquatic-hybrids of the Therian army lashed through the water, tearing apart the robotic army that still marched from their underwater location. The aviary-hybrids flew through the sky like lances, ripping apart the wings and engines of the flying robotic vehicles. Armies of four-legged animal-men rushed over the hillsides, plowing into the robot soldiers that marched through the destroyed city streets. The wild abandonment of all the Therians was intoxicating. They howled and cheered, letting out both song and primal screams as they thrashed against the metal forms. They were barbaric, yet organized, seeming to know strategies instinctively, instead of needing communication between the thousands of troops. They worked in unison, but with a savageness that made them appear berserk in their bloodthirsty fighting technique.

  Maksim shot down toward the beach where the brunt of the battle was being fought, and joined the menagerie of fish-people and horse-people that fought the oncoming robots. He plowed through the tightly formed squads, allowing the packs of animal-soldiers to take out any stragglers. After only a few minutes, he stopped to survey the battlefield, and saw the piles of wreckage left from the decimated Neo-Nipponese forces and smiled.

  His mother was right. The Therians were unrivaled warriors. And their sudden appearance fighting alongside the Empire could only mean one thing: His niece was pregnant. And that single unification was already turning the tide of war, yet just as he let that smile settle into place, another noise rose over the sounds of battle.

  The blast of an air horn was multiplied by a thousand, shaking the ground as it let loose across the land. Maksim's hair was blown back by the concussive blast, leaving no mystery as to the direction it came from. He turned toward the sea just as a massive robotic form rose up, casting waves of water to each side of its immense shoulders. It continued to stand, towering over the beach as its legs fully extended. The humanoid-shaped robot was covered in a protective shell, and each limb was carrying massive amounts of weaponry. As its arms rose, rockets spun from its shoulders, twisting through the air in chaotic patterns that pummeled the soldiers on the sand below. Pieces of bodies were flung in every direction, leaving blackened craters along the beach. When the robot's arms fully protracted, beams of energy the width of a city block shot out from its palms, striking the ground and burning the earth below into cinder. The arms slowly moved, waving the beams across the battlefield, disintegrating anything in their path.

  As the loss of life multiplied exponentially, Maksim shot toward the robot with his fists leading the way. He slammed into the chest of the machine, denting the shell, but unexpectedly bouncing from its protective armor. He turned his flight back toward the mechanical monster and struck his fists against it more methodically, bashing them in the same exact spot, trying to wear down the metal. As the dent caved in more and more, the metal straining to resist the strikes, Maksim turned his gaze over his shoulder and saw the Therian army being wiped from the face of the earth. His fists beat against the armor with renewed vigor, trying to beat the number of lives lost behind him that multiplied every second.

  Finally, his fist punctured the metal, bending it inward enough for him to see yet another shell. His stomach sank deep into his belly, the air releasing from his lungs like a deflated balloon. He knew, eventually, he would stop the giant robot, but like everything in the war, it would be too late. There would be too much death, too much destruction. There would be too much lost for anything to be considered a win.

  There was yet another sound that ushered a shift in the battle. This time it was a resonating melody that announced an arrival. A high-pitched moan that caused a feeling of both sadness and content. A sound Maksim had never heard before.

  At first, when the massive shape erupted from the surface of the ocean, Maksim was sure it was another giant robot. He gasped at the idea of this new model of soldier, an entire wave of apocalyptic machines built for the destruction of the Empire. But under the metal armor that cast aside the waves of the ocean was a grayish-blue flesh. Massive eyes looked up at the robot as the creature's song shuddered through the air.

  It was a whale hybrid, the size and scope of which Maksim could barely comprehend. The female warrior's body was that of a blue whale, but she reached out with human-shaped arms, yet they too were the size of her body.

  The whale-woman's massive spear, a weapon the size of a skyscraper, impaled the robot's right shoulder, breaking the limb from its body. She struck the robot's chest with the blunt end of the spear, sending it reeling backward. Maksim spent no time hesitating with his own attack, launching himself at the stumbling robot. His own impact took the machine off its feet, sending it crashing into the ocean on its back. The whale-woman twirled her spear in the air, sending a rush of wind from its spin that felt like an approaching storm, before driving the point of the spear into the robot's head. The explosion that followed cast the ocean to the side and giant waves crashed against the beach. The whale-woman let out a whimpering song that bellowed her triumph.

  Maksim landed upon the beach, and looked up at the monstrous creature towering over him. The warrior-woman's voice echoed inside her own mouth.

  “Zana sends her regards.”

  Before he could respond, the whale-woman crashed back into the ocean and sunk below the surface of the water. When he glanced around, he was surrounded by the dead soldiers of the Therian army, as well as the living, who were systematically dispatching the few remaining robot forces.

  They had won, but at what cost?

  “Guardian!” a voice howled across the beach, turning Maksim's attention toward it.

  He saw the proud stature of Dominus Mastodon's son, Luca. He was flanked by an elite guard, whose eyes darted around the beach, watching for any
more attacks. When the elephant-lion-man neared him, his eyes looked Maksim up and down before raising a single eyebrow.

  “You Zharkovs dress strangely for battle.”

  Maksim glanced down at himself, forgetting his own nudity after such an abrasive battle. Luca motioned to the guard at his side, who unclasped his own cloak and offered it to the embarrassed Maksim. Maksim nodded his head in thanks and swung the cloak around his shoulders.

  Luca glanced around the battlefield with a strange pride. “It seems we arrived just in time. Your niece's pregnancy was fortuitous for you.”

  Maksim didn't like the boy's attitude toward losing so many soldiers, but decided that moment wasn't the right time to confront him about it.

  “I thank you and the forces of Therian for your help on this day, but how did you know to come to the West coast? Your help was requested on the southern shore of Neo-Nippon. Not even my own army was able to arrive in time.”

  Luca's trunk blew out a trumpet-like wheeze and a smile flashed underneath, his lion teeth large and yellow. “I mean you and your army no disrespect, but we won't be following your Zharkovian strategies in this war. It was obvious to us that the Neo-Nipponese army would attempt something like this. We were only surprised they waited so long.”

  Maksim felt foolish. This was exactly his own plan. Use the Therians to attack Neo-Nippon from the other coastline in order to split their forces. Emperor Oshiro had only beaten him to the punch.

  Luca must have seen the realization hit Maksim, because he chuckled and said, “Leave the war to us, Guardian. You take care of your Empire. Deal?”

  Maksim's brow furrowed. “Neither of us can win this war alone. We must work together.”

  Luca glanced around the battlefield again. “We shall see.”

  Maksim wanted to step forward, to make this son of a Domini learn his place in the Empire, but he soon saw his own army crest the top of a hill to the north. The lights of their armored battalion glowing in the falling light of the late afternoon.