had already climbed to his feet.
The Premier was unmistakable to Yen, who had grown up watching propaganda films about the atrocities committed by the Terrans in that man’s name. Though he was still clothed in full military uniform, overburdened with superfluous medals and decorations, and bedecked with a flowing violet cape, the man before Yen looked significantly older than the one that had appeared in the videos. His cheeks seemed fuller, but his skin sagged from the bone. The once dark, wavy hair had become intermixed with grey and looked wild as thought it had not been brushed in quite some time. The Premier, from what Yen could tell, had aged terribly since the start of the war.
The Lieutenant rushed into the room ahead of Yen in order to announce his presence. “His Royal Premier, may I present to you General Vance, commanding General of Ravalos.”
The Premier eyed Yen warily. “I don’t have a General Vance in my cabinet,” he said, his voice still strong.
“No,” Yen said, “you don’t.”
Yen’s first bullet slammed into the side of the Lieutenant’s head, spraying blood and gore over the General sitting beyond him. Dropping his pistol, Yen felt a rush of energy. As Yen raised his hands, the world around him was encompassed in violent psychic winds as the large table flipped upward. It came crashing down on the left side of the room, crushing three of the Generals who were unfortunate enough to sit on that side. Weapons appeared in the hands of Yen’s soldiers, who opened fire with immaculate accuracy. Terran guards and technicians collapsed in bloody heaps around the room as they tried to run for cover. As Yen advanced confidently into the room, he heard roaring gunfire from the hallway as his soldiers cut down the complacent guards near the bunker’s entrance.
A few of the remaining Terrans returned quick bursts of gunfire, as they dove for cover. One Yen’s men collapsed as a round caught him in the chest. The soldier’s wrist slammed into the ground as he fell, shattering the casing of his bracelet. In a whirlwind of melting flesh, his body shifted back into that of an Uligart.
One of the Generals saw the transformation and yelled orders to his men. “They’re not Terrans! Kill them all! Kill them…”
Tired of hearing his yelling, Yen slashed through the air. Blue light coalesced into a blade at his fingertips, cutting cleanly through the General’s neck. The stunned look still on his face, the Terran’s head bounced across the floor.
Tossing aside Generals as though they were bothersome insects, Yen continued his advance toward the Premier. Though his Generals cowered behind any cover they could find, the Premier stood defiantly in front of his chair, staring at Yen as he walked casually through the room. Stepping over the body of one of the officers, Yen stopped only a few feet away from the Terran ruler.
“I can’t believe it’s really you,” Yen said as the din of combat slowly faded in the room. Most of the Terrans lay dead, matched by a handful of Yen’s soldiers sprawled near the doorway.
The Premier smiled. “Congratulations. You have caught me. So what now? Do I got and stand trial? Do you make a public spectacle of my capture?”
Yen returned his smile. “You completely misunderstand, Premier. You’re never going to leave this room.”
The Premier’s face dropped as his voice took on a hard edge. “Kill me if you wish, but realize that killing me won’t put an end to this war. There will always be another Terran willing to lead our people to freedom. The Terran Empire will never bow down to the will of the Alliance.”
“There’s no one left,” Yen said, shaking his head. “Earth is destroyed. Your Fleet has been defeated. The rest of the Terrans will be led like animals to the slaughter. There is no more Empire left to defend. With your death, so dies the Empire.”
“Then do your worst,” the Premier spat.
“Oh, I intend to.”
Yen lifted the Premier off his feet, dragging him higher until he hovered nearly twenty feet off the floor. The Premier squirmed against Yen’s psychic grasp, but was helpless as he was turned in the air until his body floated parallel to the ground. Yen ensured the Premier faced downward so that he could watch Yen’s preparations. Reaching over, his hand sheathed in blue energy, Yen broke free one of the massive table legs, leaving one end a jagged metal spear. Turning the leg so that its point jutted upward, Yen positioned it directly below the Premier’s floating form.
“So dies the Empire,” Yen said again before releasing the Premier. The Terran, to Yen’s amazement, didn’t utter a word as he fell. His body slammed into the metal table leg. The spear point tore through his ribs, shredding the organs underneath, until finally severing his spine as it exited through his back. With a gurgle, the Premier’s head dropped forward as blood spilled from his lips. Yen crouched down beside the Terran, savoring the look in the dead man’s eyes.
A gunshot broke Yen from his revelry. Burning pain shot up his back, searing from his right hip. Reaching back, Yen was stunned to see dark blood on his fingers. Someone had shot him!
“We have a runner!” one of the guards yelled. Yen turned to see one of the Generals bolting from behind cover and running down the hallway.
Yen cursed as his hip screamed in protest when he tried to stand. Blue light filled the hole in his lower back, as his energy deadened the pain. Turning, enraged, Yen sprinted into the hall in pursuit in spite of the ache that still cut sharply through his attempts to heal the wound. The guards in the hall were caught by surprise as the Terran General rushed by. They barely had time to raise their weapons before Yen rushed past them as well. Yen lashed out angrily with unrestrained psychic energy, but the elusive General dodged behind the clutter in the halls. Boxes exploded from Yen’s attack, but the Terran still continued his escape.
The General rushed past the outer doors and into the intense sunlight. Furiously wanting only revenge, Yen chased after him. As Yen broke out of the shadows of the overhang, blood sprayed across his face. He staggered backward, staring at the gaping hole in the General’s chest. The Terran stumbled a couple more steps before collapsing into the red sand. Looking down at the blood that now smeared his uniform, Yen noticed his soft pink hands. He was still in disguise as a Terran General. Not wanting to be shot by mistake, he pushed the red button on his bracelet. Though the button was pushed, Yen didn’t change back to his regular self. The pink hands remained! He slammed his fist repeatedly into the bracelet, but to no avail. He remained Terran. Slowly, he raised his head and looked toward the distant sniper.
Yen stared into the distance in stunned disbelief moments before a round slammed into his skull. Yen’s vision exploded into a thousand pinpoints of light as consciousness began to ebb away. Slowly, he collapsed to the ground next to the Terran.
He didn’t know how long he remained unconscious. Vision came and went. Faces of his soldiers appeared above his face one moment, only to be replaced by different faces the next. Eventually, as consciousness began to return, a new face appeared above him. Silver hair framed her face, which glowed under the triple suns. The light filtered through her soft hair, accentuating the red and purple tattoos that ran across her skin.
Keryn crouched down by Yen’s side and whispered softly to him. “You’re a remarkable man, Yen Xiao. Even now you fight against the inevitable, using your psychic powers to keep yourself from dying.”
She ran her hand over the still intact side of his face. Keryn shivered slightly as she looked to the far side of his head, where saw the pulsating brain. Except for Yen’s blue psychic bubble, the sensitive organ was exposed to the harsh elements.
“There was a time I truly did love you, you know?” she said as Yen coughed, bubbles of blood forming on his lips. “But it was young love. It was never meant to last. I came to understand that over time, but you never did.
“In some ways, I blame myself for never setting you straight. Maybe, if I had, you would have never strayed down such a dark path.” Keryn stopped stroking his hair and her face grew serious. “And you did go down a very dark path, Yen. You killed innocent people to appease your own newfound sense of Godhood. You played with people’s emotions and then proceeded to ruin their lives.”
Tears formed in the corners of Keryn’s eyes. “You toyed with
She used the back of her hand to wipe away the tears. “I won’t give you the satisfaction of seeing me cry, Yen. I’m stronger than that; stronger than you ever realized. I spent years of my life fighting against the monster
