A murmur ran through the crowd, and Xaleyp very clearly heard some of them questioning whether it was right to publicly assassinate Tober and Seth. Part of him wondered the same thing as he stepped forward to Ardus’ outstretched hand, the handle of the gun pointing towards him. Another part of him, which screamed as loud as it could, told him that they deserved it, that they were not worthy to keep living. It told him that Seth took his parents away from him, and that Tober was responsible for the death of Lina, and for those crimes they deserved to pay retribution. And this voice formed a pit of rage in his stomach, making him forget entirely that Ardus was himself a cog in the machine that helped take his parents away from him.

Xaleyp stepped forward, a determined fierceness in his eyes, as the man with the briefcase did the opposite, returning to his place near the Chancellor. He wrapped his hands around the handle, and Ardus released it. The gun was much heavier than he anticipated, and it caused his arm to lower faster than he expected.

Ardus cleared his throat, returning his attention to the crowd as Xaleyp stood there awkwardly.

“Your government has fiercely debated this course of action, as it sets a horrible precedent for what we can do in the future. By executing them, it sets us down a dangerous path towards totalitarianism and anarchy. However, we must consider this: If we simply let them return to their planets, return to their governments after promising to change their ways, what would keep them from reneging on those promises, from reverting to their old ways and continuing to wage war?” Some of them nodded their head or muttered their agreement, while still others seemed unconvinced. Ardus, undeterred, continued, “This is the only way for us to guarantee peace in our lifetimes. While it may not be our first choice of what to do, it is what must be done to ensure that this war comes to an end.”

With the final words, he ignored any further dissent and turned to Xaleyp. He made a gesture as if to say, “Go on,” and pointed with an open hand to Emperor Seth Drake.

Xaleyp hesitated for a moment, looking down at the gun, then up at Eve, who kept her eyes firmly on Ardus, a fierce gaze boring into him. Something within him screamed again to not do it, to not play Ardus’ game, and he was sure that Eve would tell him the same thing. But this man had hurt him, had kept his parents from him, had tried even to kill him, so why didn’t he deserve his punishment?

Seth continued to pull and tug at his bonds as Xaleyp approached, the rattling echoing loudly with each movement. He foamed at the mouth, spittle flying in every direction, before finally somewhat relaxing when he saw Xaleyp standing in front of him.

“Do it,” he whispered, his mouth twisting to a sinister grin. He laughed loudly, opening his mouth as wide as it would go and throwing his head back against the pole. “I’ve been watching you ever since you were a child. I know you’ve always welcomed power, have always sought a way to acquire it, and now this is your chance to get it. Prove to the galaxy why they should listen to you, why they should follow you on your path of righteousness or whatever you’re calling it.”

“I couldn’t care less about power.” Xaleyp knew the sentence was a lie as soon as he said it, but it made him feel slightly better about the entire situation by trying to deny the real reason for his agreeing to this. He held the gun up with a shaking hand, pointing it at Seth’s head.

“If you’re going to execute me, you can at least wait until I’m dead to pile bullshit on me.” He laughed again, the shrill noise piercing the air. “You may as well get it over with and give me the death I’ve waited for patiently for years now. Of course, would you have agreed to do this if your parents were here, watching, waiting, criticizing your every move?”

Xaleyp’s arm slightly lowered with the words, and it felt like a knife was stabbed into his chest and forcefully twisted side to side. The assembled crowd began to mutter about what was taking so long, and Xaleyp clearly heard Ardus tapping his foot. Eve was watching him carefully now, her eyes pleading with him.

“Ah, struck a chord, have I? It’s too bad that you never really got the chance to know them, but I’m sure they’ll go on about their lives, desperately yearning to see their only son again someday.”

“Shut up,” Xaleyp hissed, his voice coming out barely above a whisper and his hand shaking violently. “I once liked you, wanted to do whatever you said to get closer to taking down Tober because of what they did to Lina. But the more and more I learned, the more I wanted to end you, to ensure that you would never hurt anyone again. Now, I have so much more than you could have ever given me, and I know that my parents are out there, just waiting for me to find them.”

“But there are two questions you should be asking yourself: First, with what you know about me, can you honestly say that Ardus is any better?” He held up a finger as best he could with his hands chained to the ground and followed it with another. “Second, will you find them?”

He stressed the last four words, spit flying from his mouth and hitting Xaleyp’s cheeks with each syllable. As he sat there panting like a rabid dog, a calm demeanor suddenly overtook his face.

“Xaleyp,” Seth whispered, noticeably calmer and saner than, “please remember the favor I asked of you.”

Before he could reply, the foaming and growling Seth Drake returned, straining against the chains once more. Xaleyp held the gun up again, his hand shaking and forcing him to hold it steady with both.

Without waiting to try to talk himself out of it, he pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed through the plaza, instantly cutting off any muttered conversations that were ongoing as they watched on in both horror and surprise. Flashes clicked around him as the drones soared dangerously close overhead, getting a shot from every angle.

Seth’s body sat upright for a moment before slowly slouching over and down to the side, a single hole in his head. His eyes and mouth were both wide open as he hit the ground unmoving. Before Xaleyp could move, Ardus turned to the crowd, a shadow of a smile on his face, and spoke clearly.

“Honor. Bravery. Loyalty. This was the creed of the Hyperion military which they once upheld for countess generations. Seth Drake showed that he had abandoned these ideals, and for that, he paid the ultimate price.”

Ardus made a salute to Seth’s lifeless body, which the Chancellor, the two suited men, and all of the Vanguard Ascendancy soldiers copied. Regardless of how they felt about the man, they still wished to show him respect in death.

After a moment of silence, Ardus gestured Xaleyp towards Tober, who now appeared slightly worried and subtly tested the strength of his bonds.

His footsteps seemed louder and heavier than before, and the distance to Tober seemed insurmountable until he found himself suddenly on top of the man. He pointed the gun at Tober, his hand shaking even more than before as he held it up.

“Do you have anything to say to me?” Xaleyp asked when the man simply sat there silently staring up at him. “Any final words?”

“I know that nothing I say can change the past, can get you to change your mind on what you want.” Tober’s head bowed slightly as he resigned himself to his fate. “Do I wish things turned out different, that I could have gotten a chance to prove to the galaxy what I and the Praes Dominion were capable of? Of course, because no one wants to die before they can achieve their life’s work.”

A tear came to Tober’s eye which he quickly blinked away before continuing.

“I do just want to warn you that the threat Ciovyr poses is real, and you should do whatever you can to keep him from taking over. There are times where my memory is blank, that I don’t remember doing something or going somewhere, and I fear that he has been able to control my brain. Please, just make sure you take care of my people when I’m gone.”

With the final word, he turned his chin upwards to the sky, inviting what was to come. Xaleyp, however, hesitated. If Ciovyr could be controlling people, that would explain how the man in the sewers at Nevermoor Hold had acted, the two men sitting in the park in New Alexandria, Caster’s behavior just outside of Lissinius’s office. All of them could have been controlled by Ciovyr, then was anyone safe? Was he able to trust that any of the people around him were secretly controlled by the alien race?

He shook his head to clear it, suddenly aware of all the people still watching him silently standing there. With a deep breath and his brain protesting against it, he pulled the trigger, feeling the recoil travel up his arm.

Tober’s body fell much the same way as Seth’s, toppling over sideways with his mouth and eyes open slightly. Xaleyp stared at it for several seconds, his mind racing at a thousand kilometers a second, before he slowly turned away and returned to Ardus. He took the gun back, placing it back in the metal briefcase, and walked to the center of the stone barrier. Ardus placed his hands on it, his fingers wrapping over the edge, and addressed the crowd.

“Believe it or not, the galaxy is now one step closer to peace, one step closer to a unified people that will stop at nothing to achieve greatness. We must constantly strive to push ourselves to be better so as to improve the lives of those who are coming after us and prepare them for the future. Please, go home now and remember this day as the day that the galaxy began its path to freedom and unification.”

The crowd slowly began filtering away, none of them talking above muttered whispers to one another as they went. Ardus turned to Xaleyp, placing his hands on the younger man’s shoulders.

“When we first met, I promised you something: the ability to go to Stariek to find General Grimaldus and get revenge for your friend Lina’s death. Time and time again, I have put that off for my own selfish purposes, but no more. Now that this is all settled, you have my blessing to take a frigate and squadron of soldiers to hunt down the Arcadian general and enact your vengeance. But, first, we must officially declare war against Arcadia, following the proper channels and going through the Siatian Senate to draft the declaration.”

Xaleyp’s heart did somersaults at the thought of finally being able to get revenge, but his stomach sank as he considered the implications of war with Arcadia.

“No,” Xaleyp said, shaking his head. Ardus stared at him blankly, prompting him to continue, “As much as I want to get revenge for what they did to Lina, I don’t want anyone else to get hurt besides those who deserve it. There has been enough fucking death in this game of chess, and it’s time that we stopped this endless cycle of violence.”

Ardus said nothing for several moments before slowly nodding his head, releasing Xaleyp’s shoulders.

“Very well. Then we shall do what we can to repair our fleet and bolster our forces for defensive measures under the Siatian Concord.” He wrapped his arm around Xaleyp’s shoulders, leading him to the path they had followed up and gesturing for Eve to follow. “Now that we can put all of this behind us, I do have a surprise for you. I have been working on it for the last couple weeks now, and I’m excited to announce that I found your parents. Unfortunately, I cannot in good conscience let you go to them at this time.”

Xaleyp’s heart leapt for a moment then immediately sunk to the pit of his stomach as Ardus finished the sentence. He began to pull himself away from the man, wanting to do nothing but pound into his stupid face, but he held Xaleyp tight.

“I cannot let you go to them, because I’ve arranged for their transport here. They should be arriving within the hour, and the Helios-Two will carry you to the spaceport to meet them there.”

Xaleyp stopped moving at once, ripping himself free from Ardus’ grasp. He could hardly believe his ears. His parents were on their way here to Siatia, and he was actually going to meet them for the first time in almost a decade. How much had they changed? How much had he? Would they even recognize him, or him recognize them? What should he say? What should he do?

As all of those questions and more spiraled through his head, a Vanguard Ascendancy soldier, their face obscured by their domed helmet, walked up to him with a piece of paper.

“Excuse me, sir, but you dropped this,” said a female voice as she held it out to him. When he tried to refuse it, she redoubled her efforts, forcing him to take it. “Trust me, you do not want to lose this.”

With the final word, she walked away, disappearing into the throng of other solders as Xaleyp looked at the paper with Ardus and Eve watching on in mild curiosity.

Xaleyp, you are to go to Stariek immediately.

We are expecting your presence.

A Friend.