The Sovereign Warlord

Roughly two decades after achieving space flight, humanity is a newcomer to the Milky Way and its galactic community. Attacked without reason, humanity tries to defend itself from extinction.

I

He admired the view from the balcony of the communications tower.

The word was that the emperor sent him personally, or so the grunts were told. No one knew his real name, nor the purpose behind his visit. Except for his reputation and the fact that he was the embodiment of the emperor`s mercy. See, he rarely spoke about it, but he possessed the rank of Sovereign Warlord. The final promotion one can reach in the military, a rank that has been achieved only a handful of times since the empire`s beginning over millennia ago.

It belonged to everyone`s knowledge that he was the right hand of the emperor, they didn`t need him or any of their superiors to tell them that. His armour was a revelation in itself. The cuirass shined of silver as the sun made contact. The Warlord`s face possessed numerous scars as a result of his conflicted life. The helmet worn by those before him had experienced punishments in previous wars due to its cuts and bumps. Installed into the cuirass underneath his neck was a tiny shield generator, which constantly delivered pulses of energy on the surface of his body to block incoming projectiles. The silver gauntlet on his right arm had illustrations of wars between two armies carved into it, with the Sovereign Warlord in the middle and the emperor hovering above in the skies. The silver gauntlet shielding his left arm showed carved figures of women breastfeeding children, and women teaching children how to become adults.

This is what General Provectus saw as he approached him, hungry for answers. “Tell me what you`re doing here.” The Warlord looked over his shoulder. Not impressed by what he saw, he returned to look at the view. “You are in no position to demand such answers, General.” Standing in the middle of the balcony motionless, Provectus silenced for a few seconds, as if trying to gather his thoughts. Before he could make an answer, the Sovereign Warlord turned to him. “I`ve seen the looks your men have given me. Some of distrust, some of uncertainty, most of admiration. They know whom I am, which means you do too. You do well to remember that before questioning me again.” The general poked at some soldiers guarding an elevator. “I have no intention to disrespect you, but those men, all the men stationed at this tower is my responsibility. I care about their well-being.” Closer now, the Warlord laid his hand on the man`s shoulder. “Of course, but what you`ve got to understand is that they`re merely resources, expendable. They can always be replaced.” Provectus wrenched his shoulder free and commented with a hint of worry in his voice. “You make it sound like they`re about to die.”

After shifting his focus towards the guards, the Warlord formed an unpleasant smile. “Correct. I`ve been tasked to make this tower function as a diversion to split the human fleet in half. Once they pick up the signals after its activation, they`ll send a few ships to investigate.” The general shook his head. “That`s goddamn suicide!”

“Maybe, but it`ll make it easier for our fleet to punch through their armour and decimate their forces. For us, however, it`ll be a good death.”

“Are you crazy?”

“No, I`m merely doing my duty, and so will you. Activate the tower. Let the humans come. And once they`re here, don`t go quietly.”

                                 

II

The outside of the tower provided the garrison with useable positions. To General Provectus` surprise, it turned out the Warlord wasn`t admiring the view from the balcony at all. He scanned the area for potential positions to station troops.

“You thought of everything, didn`t you?” General Provectus questioned as he examined his rifle. Meanwhile, the Warlord leaned on a table that had a holographic map of the localities hovering above it.  “I`ve divided your men into three platoons minus the snipers. They`re on top of the tower, as for the infantry, they`re scattered at key points around the tower to prevent flanking attempts.” After studying the map, General Provectus shadowed his eyes in a salute. “Where do you want me, Sovereign?” After removing the map with a simple push of a button, the Warlord started to walk towards the battlefield. “You`re in charge of the platoon around the back of the tower, get there immediately. I suspect the humans will be here soon.” 

After a few minutes of running across the landscape, the Sovereign Warlord could see the camp of his units. And not a moment too soon, the unmistakeable smell of fresh plasma quickly became apparent, even before he walked past the tents. “Several dropships dead ahead!” A lookout cried. It`s time. He thought to himself as he started to pick up the pace.

As soon as the enemy ranks came within firing range, his men defended the camp like a lion mother protecting its cubs. Plasma rifles started popping, automatic plasma guns snapped the armour of the incoming vehicles, and screams of the wounded from both sides followed shortly after. “They`re species are weak and undisciplined! Never has this galaxy seen finer soldiers than us! Keep firing!” Barked the Sovereign Warlord as he picked his targets.

It didn`t take long before the humans proved overwhelming, they leaped over the barricades and swarmed the Warlord`s forces like a colony of ants. As the enemy continued to push, the Warlord`s sword moved upwards from its sheath and shined in the sunlight. A soldier took notice and made an attempt on his life, constantly pulling the trigger of his pistol as the terrifying alien stomped closer. The energy pulses from his shield generator blocked the shots, using this to his advantage; the Warlord grabbed the soldier by his throat and lifted him up in the air. Not even in need of his sword to finish the job, the Sovereign`s gaze sharpened as he clenched his fingers " resulting in a shriek and a crack underneath the victim`s head.

After tossing the body aside, the Sovereign Warlord proceeded into the carnage. Cutting left and right as he walked past the oblivious soldiers fighting those under him. “Focus fire on their leader!” Ordered a female voice from somewhere in the battle. The Warlord couldn`t care less about where it came from, because the order had already started to take effect. Three men standing shoulder by shoulder aimed for him. And once they had him in their sights, wasted no time in letting their guns speak. As a response, the Warlord pulled a plasma rifle from his back and directed it towards the trio. Dhack! Dhack! Dhack! And blood sprayed from their faces as they dropped to the ground. “Kill these abominations, and leave their corpses to the wilds!” Demanded Sovereign with his sword pointing at the dead.

“Sir, we must pull back! Or else they`ll wipe us out!” Terror in his eyes, one of the men guarding the elevator earlier stood next to him now. Judging by the crimson paint on his chest, the warlord gathered he was also a sharpshooter. The blood in his hands boiled like a pot of water. “I do not care about your worthless lives! And I will not retreat because of some petty feelings of fear. Fight or die!” The Emperor`s right hand didn`t get to take a next shot.

A painful noise occupied his ears.

The ground under his feet shook.

A yellow orb emerged from some trees nearby.

Everything turned dark.

                        III

The Sovereign Warlord awoke to a massive grave.

Corpses dotted the camp, and their blood painted the sand in purple. The stench of burned flesh plagued his nose. With it came a spear of guilt that thrust his heart for every heartbeat. Should he have ordered the dead to pull back so that they could`ve lived to see another day? Did he make the right decision by sacrificing them for the fleet? He found comfort in thinking that preserving the fleet saved a lot more lives. Regardless, feeling like the dead stared at him, judging him, and screaming at him for sending them to the afterlife without a second thought. It was a feeling he couldn`t describe. What he understood at least, was that they were the lucky ones. They weren`t alive to feel the aftermath of the explosion.

He attempted to pull himself back on his feet, but he simply lacked the power to do so. A crack on the cuirass exposed his chest, and out from it poured the purple of his blood. Its warmth made his cuts and wounds feel like they were burning, reminding him of the times he was caught in the crosshairs of flamethrowers. Powerless, broken and empty. The Sovereign Warlord stopped resisting the unavoidable, and with a thump on the ground, he decided to return to his sleep.

“Commander, over here! This guy is alive!”

A pair of humans stopped in front of him. The two had green uniforms and assault rifles in their hands, yet they differed from one another. The female, appearing as the leader of the pair, had no helmet covering her head. Her hair was red and fashioned into a ponytail. She had dark eyes and olive coloured skin, Arabic origins maybe? The other was a male, no doubt about that. While he had a helmet, the few strands of hair sticking out next to his ears confirmed he had brown hair. The scars on his lips and forehead suggested the man had seen his fair share of fights. And the most outstanding feature had to be his eyes, as the left was blue and the right was green.

“Can you talk?” The woman asked.

“Yes.” Said the Sovereign Warlord quietly, as he slowly looked upwards to meet their eyes.

The man pointed his gun at him, but the woman grabbed its barrel and lowered it. “Relax, this is a unique opportunity.” She explained. “I need to know, why are your kind attacking us?”

“Does it matter?” The Sovereign Warlord spat. The woman looked at her partner for a few seconds, and then turned to the alien with her eye brows raised. “Your people have killed millions of humanity already, and you`ve conquered Pluto. So yes, it matters.”

Hatred in his eyes, the Warlord`s hands clenched as the anger began to erupt like lava from a volcano. “Because you`ve got no spot as a member of the galactic community. You are a danger, a blight on this galaxy.” Uncertainty in her eyes, the woman asked. “What do you mean?” After delivering a few laughs, the Warlord finally replied. “Ever since your species gained intelligence, you`ve been at constant war with each other. The battles of that Holy City of yours, the world wars, empires rising and falling. You can`t even accept your own religions! You tell me, human. How are you supposed to function as a peaceful member of our galactic community, when you fail to keep peace among yourselves?” Her mouth already opened, the woman was about to answer, but the man came her in forestall. “Maybe you`re right, but still, does that give you the right to commit genocide on us? You could`ve found another way.”

“The only way to get rid of parasites is by eliminating them.” Said the Warlord simply. The soldiers looked at each other and nodded. They raised their guns and had the about-to-kill look on their faces. Next to Sovereign lied his sword. He grabbed it.

A survey party was dispatched to check for survivors. Once they reached the Warlord`s camp, they were met with a sight that made their hands turn to their mouths. A man`s helmet was broken in half with each part pierced into his throat. A few meters away from him lied a red-haired woman. Her body motionless, her eyes soulless, a sword had found its way through her chest. And right next to her lied an alien in silver armour, with a knife up his chin.

Not many moments later, above in the skies, they could see the burning wreckages of their fleet`s ships falling from orbit. Mars falling into the enemy`s hands with them.

Author's Note

Feel free to point out anything! :)