Assassination Nexus Part 1

[Eric Moreau]

Assassination Nexus
Part 1

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Cadeyrn straightened up as the sound of footsteps echoed through the ancient stone hallway; the sounds were coming from around the corner. Someone was approaching the Emperor’s chamber. His hand instinctively reached down to his holstered energy weapon, a repeater pistol mark IV…very effective at close and long range. Cadeyrn is a part of a long line of Imperial Guards; a member of his family has been in charge of protecting the lives of the Emperors of the Dynasty for the past 200 years, as the steps grew closer Cadeyrn’s hand silently wraps around the handle of his weapon and prepares to pull it out, lightning quick. A rather large man wearing a red and yellow robe turns the corner; Cadeyrn recognizes the man as Grand Advisor Dirksha. One of the Emperors many advisors, the puppeteers of the Emperor some would call them.

“I want to see the Emperor immediately.” Dirksha exclaims.

“The Emperor is resting. He does not wish to be disturbed. Come back later.” Cadeyrn replies.

Dirksha attempts to move towards the door but Cadeyrn steps in front of the door blocking his path.

“Get out of my way you insolent fool! I have to speak with him; it is an urgent matter…if you don’t let me…if you don’t get out of my way this instant you’ll find yourself guarding the sewer entrance! That I promise you, I’m the Grand Advisor and you shall let me pass, besides the Emperor won’t live forever you know, and who do you think will be left in charge when he dies huh?”<br>
Cadeyrn steps aside and opens the door, the pompous Dirksha steps through, once he’s passed Cadeyrn smiles to himself. The fat slob’s threats mean nothing to him, Dirksha and his fellow advisors have allied themselves with Lord Nabius in an attempt to remain in the circle of power once the inevitable happens, once the Emperor dies. They do not however realize that Lord Nabius will never gain control of the Dynasty. The Dynasty does not need another pampered Lord as its leader; the current Emperor was bad enough. The people do not need to suffer under another royal, the Dynasty needs a new leadership, one that will pick up the crumbling pieces of the Dynasty and patch them up…a leader that will return the Dynasty to it’s former glory. That leader is I, Cadeyrn thought to himself as he entered the Emperor’s chamber behind Dirksha. The life of an Imperial Guard might have been enough for his grandfather and father, but Cadeyrn was going to be more…much more. Once the Emperor dies, he will take the power and rule the Dynasty and no one will be able to stop him. Such a thought would not even have crossed his mind a week ago, but now…he had been contacted by…allies, they had convinced him that the Dynasty would crumble if another member of the Mirk family were to rule for another century. These allies promised to back him in his coup, Cadeyrn did not doubt their power and resources, he had seen this for himself. Yes, he would be Emperor and he would have all of Jealan’s advisors publicly executed. The thought brought another smile to his face.

As Dirksha approached the Emperor’s bed, Cadeyrn close behind him, the frail figure of the Emperor could be seen lost in the ocean of blankets on the bed. The sunlight shining through the half open curtains of the room, a slight breeze flows through the room.

“Emperor…” Dirksha whispered, the Emperor stirred but did not wake.

“Emperor…” Dirksha whispered again this time a little louder. The Emperor’s eyes shoot open and he sits up and screams.

“Raise the shields you idiot before we take on boarders!”<br>
The Emperor sits in bed looking puzzled for a moment; he looks around the room, focuses on Dirksha’s face then moves on to Cadeyrn’s, a look of confusion fills his face. Then as if switching personality all confusion washes away from his face and it becomes rigid projecting no emotion.

“What do you want Dirksha? I’m a busy man! What am I doing in bed, I have far too much work to do.” Jealan exclaims as he pulls off the blankets and swings his legs over the side of the bed. He reaches over into the nightstand next to his bed and pulls out an injector and quickly stabs himself in the thigh with it. His daily dose of Triagene, an age renewal agent…keeps old age at bay. The Elite members of the Dynasty have been using the drug for years, prolonging their lives for several decades. It has only one major side effect, sooner or later after a few decades of constant use it actually becomes a toxin inside the user’s body slowly poisoning him and turning his brain to mush. The sad part is, the drug is highly addictive and even though the user knows it’s slowly killing him, he cannot stop himself from injecting it into his body on a daily basis. Cadeyrn has no respect for those who use this drug, arrogant idiots is what they are, greedy for more years of life, all the more so they can make those under them miserable for a longer period of time. As far as Cadeyrn was concern the slow agonizing death by the toxin was well deserved to all those who were arrogant enough to defy nature and her will. At first when Jealan had begun demonstrating the symptoms of the poisoning his advisors had tried to take the Triagene from him and deny him the injections. He had flown into an uncontrollable rage, eventually the advisors relented, no doubt in fear of being executed.

Day by day Cadeyrn watched the toxin do it’s work, witling away the Emperor’s intelligence, some days he was his old self…brash and intimidating, while others were spent weeping uncontrollably on the floor of his chambers. On some days the Emperor’s mind became pliable…open to suggestions from Cadeyrn, who thanks to his constant proximity to the Emperor knew how to tell when the Emperor was in such an open mind frame. Cadeyrn took full advantage to push his agenda; whatever Cadeyrn told the Emperor to do, he would, to the frustration of his advisors of course. Cadeyrn could also see that the Emperor’s death was close at hand, the appearance of his old personality came with less frequency and he was more and more confused. In preparation Cadeyrn had found himself twenty men that swore loyalty to him and to his coup. It had taken many months to search out and casually recruit the soldiers that would be open to his idea and leadership. But he had found them and had arranged for them to be transferred to strategic posts inside the palace. His father had served Jealan for fifty years before retiring, he would not be happy with the actions Cadeyrn would take upon the Emperor’s death that is for sure. He would understand, the man Cadeyrn’s father had served had died long ago when the Emperor had taken the first injection of Triagene…all that was left was an empty and dying shell, an unnatural husk with the person inside slowly dying. Rotted to the core Cadeyrn thought to himself…and soon the Dynasty would have a leader worthy of their admiration.


[glow=green,2,300]To Be Continued…..
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