Chapter Two: The Emperor

 "Your Eminence! I have terrible news!" an anxious man ran down the grandiose corridor towards a massive set of double doors framed by large columns. Four guards helped to move the massive iron doors open as the man rushed closer, inside nearly a dozen guards drew their arms ready for an attack. The man slammed a folder onto a large war table in the middle of the impressive room, "Stuart! What is the meaning of this?! You should be more than aware how important this meeting is, you can't just barge in here!" President Carter Peterson shouted embarrassedly as Stuart glanced at the others sitting around the table, representatives from each of the continent systems were there. There was; Prime Minister Olivia Kingsley of the Lancelot system for Europe, Chief Untaku Kannan of the Camlann system for Africa, President Xing Shun of the Celidon system for Asia, Presidente Javier Jacquez of the Hy-Brasil system for South America, Prime Minister Arlo Bailey of the Caliburn system for Australia, and finally the head scientist Isaac Von Hohenheim of the top-secret Hyperborea system for Antarctica. Each one turned their attention to Stuart, President Peterson felt a cold sweat rolling down his back. "Why have you interrupted my meeting?" a loud, deep, calm voice rolled from behind the table of representatives. "What could be more important than the expansion and completion of my utopia? More important than conquering a feral and savage land? Please tell us what is so important…" Stuart gulped as ice ran through his veins, he glanced over at President Peterson, but he just continued to stare straight ahead into space trying to remain calm. "W-well your Excellence it would appear that a reb-rebel g-group has committed an act of tt-terrorism on the Avalon supply line" Every hair on Stuarts' body stood on end from the electricity building in the room, he stared nervously at the Supreme Emperor Tobias Krane, knowing that the moment his eyes closed there was a good chance they wouldn't open again. Finally, his body succumbed to the urge, and to Stuart's pleasant surprise they reopened. But that lasted only a moment before the room and the occupants in it turned upside down, and he was somehow looking at the bottom of the table and himself standing there. Krane had merely flexed a finger and a thin steel wire, practically invisible to the naked eye, removed Stuarts' head from his body. "Peterson." President Peterson flinched and whimpered at the sound of his name and the feeling of a small wire tightening around his neck, he didn't dare to turn to face the Emperor. "Yes, your Eminence!" Every second ticked by like an eternity and the silence was almost deafening. "What did this fool speak of? Is there a pest in my garden?" Petersons' eyes grew wide and began darting around the room as if looking for something or someone to say anything that might save his life. "Your Highness, if I may?" Carter glanced to his left where Prime Minister Arlo was kneeling before the Emperor, the wires around his neck loosened enough that he no longer felt them digging in. "Your Excellency, must we lose our rationality due to the actions of worms? A single supply line can hardly be counted as a loss for an entire system, it would take less than a month to be restored and made operable again." Krane slammed his fist down and all the guards in the room were shredded into a fine red mist. "It's not about the time or inconvenience! It's about the fact there is someone, or a group of people that believe they can stand up to ME!!" As the Emperor shouted and grew angrier all the windows in the room shattered, the floor and large meeting table split in half. "And THAT! Will not be tolerated. Peterson." Krane's voice dropped back to his normal icy cold volume. "Return to your system, restore it, and put an end to this rebel group promptly and maybe, just maybe this blunder won't be the cause of your death." The wires around Carters' neck vanished and he glanced over at Arlo still kneeling. Bailey glanced over at Peterson and flashed a grin that said, 'you owe me'. "Bailey. You've got backbone to speak up against me, ensure I don't have to remove it for you." The Prime Minister shivered rather peculiarly, "I meant no disrespect to your Eminence, I only desired to aid in protecting your vision for your utopia. I merely believed you could still make use of this pawn before you discarded it." Krane tapped his foot, "Quite the silver tongue, very well I will concede this time and recognize you aren't a complete fool… stay behind I wish to speak with you. Everyone else, begone." The other representatives bowed and rushed out of the room stepping through the mess that was once the guards. Krane rose from his throne and his face was finally visible in the light. He was a man that appeared no older than forty, though no one knew his true age it was known that he has been in power for at least three hundred years. His eyes shone a bright gold making it difficult to look him directly in the eye, his hair was jet black with a crimson undertone as if it had been soaked in blood. Standing at six foot seven with a build that would put a dog to shame, and strong cheekbones and jawline he was quite the imposing sight. He wore a satin gray Italian suit that masked his imposing frame that doubled as top of the line nanotech and holographic armor. "Come with me" Krane turned and began walking down large steps behind the throne and into a set of automatic double doors to a glass elevator. The doors shut behind Arlo and the lift began moving up, "I want to know what it is you see when you look out into my garden. What you think others see." Arlo glanced up at Krane then looked back out over the scene stretched before them, "It's glorious sir, it truly is… but ultimately what my eyes always settle on is the wall. The border, the fact that there is an area that your world still hasn't touched. And if I'm being honest, your highness, it keeps me up at night. I believe that every citizen, including myself, wishes for your domain to be boundless and to touch every corner of the globe!" A slight grin was visible on Krane's tight lips, "Perhaps you're merely telling me what you know I would like to hear, but if what you speak is true; why does opposition still exist? And more importantly, why haven't they been eradicated yet?" The elevator reached the top floor, and the doors opened to a gaudy foyer with a desk in between a split wrapping staircase. A beautiful woman stood up from behind the desk and rushed over to them, "Elizabeth, send a cleaning and restoration crew down to the meeting hall. The entire room sustained damage and there are several corpses that need to be disposed of." The woman quickly pulled a phone out and began dialing a number, "Of course sir, it will be restored before the day is over." The woman hurried away, her salacious curves swaying as she did. "Well, your excellence, to answer your question it would seem the tenacity of a cockroach cannot be overlooked. We've erased existences, demolished crumbling burnout cities, and massacred hordes of rebels but they keep coming back through the cracks!" Krane sighed, "Trust me I've been dealing with the cockroaches for centuries now, it used to be much worse before I convinced them to start blowing each other up with their nukes. That helped to reduce their population and give them less habitable environments, but it seems I did indeed underestimate the tenacity of the insects." At the top of the stairs the room opened back up into a large living space with an open floor plan and vaulted ceilings. A massive chandelier hung above the living room; it was currently turned off but the light coming in from the end-to-end wall of windows refracted off all the small shards to distribute light to every corner of the room. They walked down another hall to a large wooden door midway on the right which revealed a beautiful study with a large mahogany desk in the back near the large window, a sectional couch in the middle, and all of the walls had been converted into two story bookshelves. A balcony was installed all the way around the room with rolling ladders both on the first and second floor to access each shelf. The ground was also strewn with towers of books haphazardly stacked that they had to weave through. The emperor pulled two glasses from a cupboard and poured a couple shots of Irish whiskey into each. "Now the Irish, or the people that used to be called the Irish, can make some liquor. Their entire culture used to be built around it, here have a glass." Krane handed Arlo a glass as he continued speaking about the issue at hand. "I believe I've been too soft and lazy in my approach to this thorn that has been in my side for too long. It's time I started razing these wastelands to the ground and rebuilt them in my image. I'm issuing an order to each of you to mobilize your troops and begin leveling these sites, immediately." Krane took a generous sip of his drink. "Of course, Sir! It will be done post haste!" Bailey followed suit but tried to hold back a cough from the burn in his throat. "Excellent. Separately, how would you feel about moving up in status and becoming one of my chief advisors? It isn't often I find someone with the same vision as I and even less often that they are actually competent." Bailey was baffled, "It would be an honor sir, one I don't believe I deserve but I will do my best to live up to expectations." Krane chuckled, "It may have sounded like a question but there was only one choice for you, and I know you will live up to expectations because if you don't there will be nothing left for you to live up to." Arlo stirred at the emperor's comment, "It would be my utmost pleasure to perish by your hand should I fail you." Krane began laughing and clinked glasses with Bailey, pleased with his subject's loyalty.