“Where is Maxwell now?” Xaleyp asked. “What dormitory is he in?”

“No idea.” Lina shrugged. “What’s the matter?”

“The Emperor told me that Maxwell Worthshire and I were the only two tested that they thought could use the sword.” Xaleyp saw the look of confusion Mian gave him out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored it. “I’d rather use it to make sure no one has it than to let it fall into the wrong hands.”

“But you don’t even know what Ire was talking about,” Lina said. She patted the floor next to her, inviting him to it. “Sit back down and let’s talk this through. It could have been something completely different.”

“I’m almost there.” Mian’s eyes with twitching as she used her CAM. “Hyperia doesn’t mess around when it comes to their firewalls and encryption, but I’m close to the dormitory log.”

Xaleyp stared at her in disbelief. Hacking into a secure military database was punishable by death. He had met her just a couple hours ago, and she was risking her life to find someone for him? Who was this girl?

“Got it. I’m sending the file to you now.” As she said the words, a new message with an attachment appeared on his CAM. His bunk was in Dormitory 765, near the opposite side of the station module they were in. “I say we go talk to him as soon as possible.”

“There is no we. I have to do this alone.” Xaleyp shook his head. “If I end up having to use the sword, I don’t want to hurt either of you.”

“Xaleyp, we’re going to come with you, whether or not you like it.” Lina pushed herself up. “You shouldn’t do this alone.”

He started to issue a rebuttal, something to convince them to stay, when a new message came through on his CAM, this one from the Emperor.

Why did the Emperor want him back already? Did something happen, something to do with Maxwell? He tried to reply, but it came back with an error, not allowing him to message the sender. They must have an encryption lock to keep intruders out of the Emperor’s CAM.

When he looked back at the pair of them, they were staring at him.

“As much as I hate to say it, that’s going to have to wait a little while. The Emperor wants to see me again.”

“What’s going on?” Mian asked.

“No idea, but I’ll let you know if I find anything out.”

Xaleyp spun around and ran towards the door before they could try to change his mind. Some people in the dorm glanced at him and shouted as he passed, but he ignored them, quickly finding his way back to the assembly hall, encountering almost no one in the corridors. The lift to the carrier was still in place with a single guard standing outside of it.

“Ah, Cadet Vah’Aris, the Emperor is waiting.” The guard made a gesture towards the closed door. “He said he has a little surprise for you.”

Xaleyp felt his throat tighten as the door hissed open, letting him in. He entered, and it shot upwards. What kind of surprise was waiting for him up there?

When the door opened, the guards were unconscious and tied on the ground. A bang echoed from the opposite side of the room followed immediately by a bullet ricocheting off the wall next to his head. He flinched and ducked down, trying to hide behind anything and only finding the wall of the lift.

“You missed your chance, whelp.” It was Ire’s voice. How was the man here? The guards arrested him. “You could have had all the power you desired, but you hesitated. Now it’s mine.”

Another bullet slammed into the wall of the lift, the small piece of metal landing with a clatter next to him. Xaleyp looked towards the far side of the room. The Emperor was sitting in his chair, seeming to be rather calm. A boy about Xaleyp’s age held the sword up to the older man’s neck. He had blond hair and was tall but lean. The runes running over the blade were a deep, blood red. Both of the chairs on that side of the desk were knocked aside, tipped onto their backs. Ire was looking in Xaleyp’s direction, a pistol aimed at him. What did he walk into?

“Make one more move, and I’ll end you.” Ire took a deep breath. He pointed at the Emperor with his other hand. “I’ve worked far too hard, for far too long, to be stopped by the likes of you. The Hyperion Empire is officially under new leadership.”

“Maxwell,” the Emperor said, ignoring Ire, “I understand what you’re going through. You’ve been told by the Colonel that this is your only choice. I’m sure he’s threatened you, or your family, or your friends, and has made you feel like if you don’t do this, he will destroy you. And it doesn’t help that the sword must be telling you great things, amazing things. It is more important to look past that, and look within yourself. There is always a choice, no matter what anyone else says.”

The blade sunk slightly deeper into the Emperor’s neck and a trickle of blood appeared around the tip. Max said nothing. If Xaleyp could just get up there, he could stop it. One assault rifle was lying on the floor. Ire was looking away from him and at the Emperor. Now was his chance, but he would have to be quick.

With a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he leapt out of the lift and dropped to the floor. His hands wrapped around the gun, one towards the barrel and one at the trigger, and brought it up. A ping sounded in his head as the CAM marked Ire as a target. He aimed for the man’s gun hand and pulled the trigger before he could react. A bang echoed in the office, and Ire yelled in pain. He gripped his hand with the other in an attempt to stop the blood seeping out and doubled over. The gun clattered to the floor, skidding away from the Colonel. Xaleyp threw the rifle down and charged across the room, heading for Maxwell. He didn’t want to kill him, just disarm and restrain. The other boy turned, pointing the sword at him and holding it in both hands. Xaleyp dodged around it with a sharp intake of breath, narrowly avoiding the slicing attack and crashing sideways into Max.

They both fell to the ground, the sword knocked out of Max’s grip and sliding across the floor, and a gash of hot metal floor followed in its wake. Xaleyp recovered first and was on top. He felt Max’s nose crack under his fist before a kick to his inner leg threw him off. Xaleyp scratched and pulled at any spot that he could get ahold of on the other boy, feeling skin and hair ripping and tearing under his fingernails. They grappled one another, rolling across the ground and Max getting over Xaleyp.

He straddled Xaleyp’s chest, putting his knees on either side to keep him in place. The boy was too strong for Xaleyp. He hadn’t paid nearly enough attention during unarmed training, and now he was paying the price. A flurry of blows rained down, punch after punch hitting Xaleyp’s face. His nose broke with a sickening crack, and a gash opened up underneath his eye. Thick and warm blood oozed down his cheek, and he could do nothing more than let it run. He felt dazed as each hit landed, his consciousness slowly fading.

With an enormous effort, Xaleyp pushed the other boy off him and to the side, allowing him to stand. His vision blurred from the repeated blows, he could barely stay on his own two feet. He managed to connect one fist with Max’s stomach, but it didn’t seem to have an effect. A knee crashed into Xaleyp’s midsection once, twice, three times, each harder than the last. A crack sounded from within. He doubled over and an elbow came down hard on his back, making him bend over further before an open palm hit his already broken nose, sending him reeling. He stumbled backwards, tripping over the chair and landing on top of it.

Max was quickly over top him again. A brutal kick to Xaleyp’s side made him yelp in pain. He caught the next one coming and twisted Max’s ankle, sending him to the ground. Xaleyp pounced, trying to pin the other boy’s shoulders to the ground but failing. He was promptly back on the ground, staring up at Max.

Two gunshots rang out and they both stopped to look for the source of the noise. Ire was standing there, his gun in a bloodied hand, with two bullet holes in his chest. He staggered for a moment before hitting the ground with a thud, unmoving. The Emperor stood behind the desk, a pistol in his hand.

“Right then. That’s enough of that.” Three more guards ran in, their rifles trained on Xaleyp and Max. One of them cautiously moved over to the body of Ire and kicked the gun out of his grasp. Another walked over to untie the two now conscious guards by the lift. “Take the one with the blond hair and have him detained until further notice.”

“No!” Max yelled out, the first words he said. His voice was a higher pitch than Xaleyp expected, almost shrill. His legs kicked out as they lifted him into the air. “You can’t do this. They tricked me, you have to believe me.”

The third guard dragged Ire’s body out of the room by the arms, a blood trail following it out. Xaleyp simply sat there, staring at the scene. They had been training him for this for years, to kill, to possibly be killed, but when it came right down to it, he still felt like that little boy back in the mountains, and the fragility of life scared him. In training, they always made it seem so easy, like when he used to ride a bike as a kid. He could have ended the fight before it began if he just used the gun, but how was he expected to kill another human being in cold blood like that, as if it were nothing more than an insignificant little bug to stomp the life out of?

Even when his own life was on the line, he just couldn’t do it.