The Imperium

THE IMPERIUM

A SHORT BY

PM BARNES

Published by
PM Barnes
at
Smashwords
Copyright© 2015
PM Barnes

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W
hen those that had
the means to, left Earth, all that remained were those who had been
struggling since long before technology had allowed for life on
other planets. As the rich made their way to New Eden, the people
of Earth suffered a catastrophic loss.
With all commerce ceased and governmental structure eroded, they
were in a battle for just their basic necessities.
Along with economic strife, they also had to deal with a loss of
faith. With the discovery of new planets, those on earth were
forced to face the fact that they were no longer on top and the
hard truth that they were not the only beings in the universe.

The period that followed after the mass
exodus, was the darkest time that Earth had ever witnessed.
Chaos reigned and those who were left, did whatever they could to
survive.

After some time of this, a beacon of light appeared in the form of
General Tollis.

When the others had left earth he had stayed,
believing that he could assist in lifting his home planet back up
to its rightful place in the galaxy. He had eased humanity away
from the brink of disaster. He offered structure, joined nations
and brought back economic stability.
The Imperium was formed and he went about setting up a governmental
structure and creating a military force, which once again, gave the
people something to be proud of and aided in restoring hope.
Even with weapons that were not as advanced as their foes, they
still managed to be a formidable force and went about seizing other
planets and attracting allies to their cause.
Taking help from those who were willing to join efforts, they were
able to create a military that demanded recognition.

With advanced logistical information being
provided by the Asatora Logicians, who hailed from the planet
Asatora, they were able to use their vast military forces to
orchestrate fierce battles against those whose technology was
superior to their own.
In addition to that, they commissioned the Rubicon free-riders, a
group of what many referred to as madman, who were capable of
getting the job done in situations where tactical strategy alone,
would not do. Filled with more guts than glory, the free-riders
were often called upon to do the missions that were thought to have
a low chance of survival and were outside of normal militarized
campaigns. While they were hard to control, they were also
incredibly effective.

As earth made its way out of the darkness, it
could not be denied that its underbelly had been showing since back
before the advances that led to the exodus.
It was understood that there would always need to be entertainment
for the citizens and also a place in which to send the dregs of
society.
The Gladiator Slave Soldiers were a throwback to an earlier time.
The games represented an outlet that was sorely needed in a society
that still possessed remnants of its dark history. In addition to
that, it provided a place to put those that were captured during
battle, but had put up a fight that was worthy of more than just
death. It also operated as a second chance for soldiers who had
failed to gain

citizenship through their service and a
placeholder for those who were not fit to circulate about the
general society. If a Gladiator fought with honor and distinction,
they could be lifted out of slavery and earn a spot in the Imperium
military.

Above all, the Imperium believes in honor and
merit. Values that have been present on earth since the early days.
In return for a place in this new era of earth's history, one only
needs to exhibit a desire to be a part of progress.

Many of Earths basic values have not changed.
Merit still reigns and those who prove themselves, are guaranteed a
spot amongst the citizenry of the Imperium.

People who remember the dark days well, make a point to teach their
children about the importance of service and a strict accordance to
the values that make up the collective ideals of the Imperium.
Instead of it being a burden, the idea of performing ones duty is
looked upon with reverence.

From the time that a child can walk, they
understand what their place is and know that one day, they too will
serve the greater good of Imperium.
Special attention is paid to instilling pride in the people of
earth and in what earth represents and in doing whatever it takes
to maintain her current position, while elevating her to the top of
the chain.
For many families, this concept is passed down from generation to
generation, with each group of soldiers and good citizen's begating
the next. Creating more people with more zeal and more desire to
prove themselves and uphold the values of the Imperium.

The structure that General Tollis put in
place, allows so that all men and women, regardless of who your
family was before the exodus or during those dark days, has the
opportunity to be respectable and to be part of the movement
uplifting earth to where she belongs.
Those who came from families that only a generation or two ago were
without honor, now have a chance to hold coveted places as citizens
of the Imperium.
General Tollis and his ideals have created a universal cohesion
that the people of earth have never experienced before. With
religion having been cast aside, many people look up to him as
their one true savior. His image and legacy have brought many
families into the light. He has been capable of instilling passion
in the masses and creating the kinds of soldiers who consistently
go above and beyond the call of duty.

Nowhere is this as true as it was in the case
of Tiberon Auus.

A lot of people like to talk about the good old days, back before
the world went to shit. For my family, there never was any. All
that happened when people began leaving our rock for another was
things went from bad to worse.

My ancestors had been farmers, people who
worked the land. As the climate began to change and the planet
suffered, they were forced to move around, picking up what little
work they could.

My once proud great-great grandfather went
from plowing fields and tending animals to working in a dark
windowless factory. Many others were forced into the same fate as
jobs outside of manufacturing parts for Apex, became virtually
non-existent.

He passed this legacy of helplessness and
factory work on to his son, my great grandfather and the downward
spiral continued, until Apex eventually moved their operations to
one of the found planets, they had coined, "New Eden."

If the new planet, they had taken up was
Eden, then what earth had become after that, can only be referred
to as hell.

With over 90% of the population out of work
and no hope of future economic growth, panic set in and earth
became an endless wasteland, filled with desperate people
committing desperate acts.

When I was young, my father would tell me a
story of how my great uncle, who had lost his leg in a manner that
no one would speak of no matter how many times I asked, had to fend
off a band of marauders who had come to take my great grandmother
and grandfather, who was only a small boy at the time. Apparently
these kind of raids were fairly common. Often bands of riders would
come into a small community and snatch up young boys to groom into
future members of their crew and the women for reasons that only
became obvious as I got older.

Great grandfather, who was a tracker, had
been off on a job attempting to make what little he could, to take
care of them all.

My great uncle had a prosthetic leg,
something I understand to be a primitive version, of what we have
available now, and an old gun that had been handed down for
generations.

As my father told it, he (my uncle) had no
idea if any of the 6 firing cartridges (which were referred to as
bullets) would even work. Lucky for him (and us all) they did.

As it goes, toward the evening one night, as
my great grandmother was putting my father down, they heard the
roar of motorcycles approaching and the loud hoots and hollers of
men. My great uncle had told my great grandmother to get into the
basement with my grandfather and not make a sound.

At this point, my father would switch the
narration to my grandmother's point of view and say that as she
huddled there in the dark, clutching her son in one hand and a
knife she had grabbed from the kitchen in the other, she was
mentally preparing to fight until the end, should the men make it
to where they were hiding.
From the basement, she could not hear much of what was going on
above. But, after some muffled conversation and some stomping, she
heard two loud bangs. The bangs had startled her as well as my
grandfather, who began to cry. She cooed him as best she could, but
he would not be silenced. She knew that their position would be
given up.
As she heard footsteps approaching the door, she laid my still
crying grandfather down behind her and got into a fighting stance
with the knife.
When the door to the basement opened and what little light they
used in the house, spilled down, all she could see was the
silhouette of a man.

Then my great uncle had called down to
her.

She had dropped the knife, grabbed my
grandfather and gone upstairs to hug my great uncle. After the
emotions had died down, she asked what had happened and ran to the
door to see a man lying half in and half out of the house, with a
small pool of blood spreading around him.

Six men had come to the house that night. My
great uncle killed one and wounded another. He became somewhat of a
legend in our small community after that. Many people would come
by, bringing offerings of food and drink, just to hear the famous
tale and see the spot on the wood were the blood had stained
it.

My great uncle and father, along with other
men from the community, had formed a watch group of sorts after
that. Standing guard with their primitive weapons of knives
attached to long sticks, prepared to fight to the end if the need
so arose.
With the word out that we also possessed an ancient weapon and were
not to be tampered with, the fear of being raided became almost
extinct in our little corner of the world.

Through my great uncles act of bravery and my
family's subsequent assistance in keeping the peace, we began to
drop the cloak of destitution and shame and rose into the warriors
who we were always destined to be.

When word that the great General Tollis had
begun to amass an army arrived, my family was one of the first ones
to sign on. General Tollis spoke of gaining back our planets once
fine glory. He was greatly respected by everyone the world over and
was highly revered in my family.
He had already started the process of unifying all of us left on
earth, into one nation. This unification allowed us to begin to
organize and create an infrastructure again. Manufacturing popped
back up, along with farming and education. In addition to that, as
we begun to heal and come together, we put a stop to the pillaging
and crime that had plagued us as a planet for almost a century.

He brought back the light and gave us
something to be proud of again. He saved us all from the edge.

The stories of how he helped to restore our
glory became part of the fabric of my early years growing up.
Everyone in my family before me, who could serve, did, including my
mother who had lost her left eye in the war.
As a young boy, all I ever dreamed of, was the day that I too could
join the fight and continue the tradition of excellence that had
become my family's legacy. Many of the games that we played as
children were in preparation for the future, where we would one day
take up arms and join the fight to make our planet proud.

When the time came, I was lucky enough to be placed in a Principli
squad, with three of my childhood friends. Christolis, Shadra and
Delphine. We had lived near each other our whole lives. Everyone in
the community knew that we were inseparable.
After finding out that we would all be placed in a squad together,
it was assumed that my father had something to do with it. Truth be
told, he did pull string so that we could all serve our time
together.