The Last Emperor of SEL Five

Embattled, he has one last surprise

His Excellency, Constantius Origami Shotwell Aloysius Messiah, the Seventh, peered at the screen. He had already destroyed six enemy destroyers but three of his were out of action and he had less to spare. His Excellency was the sublime, born of the direct line of the founder of the Lin who ruled the Sun Earth Lagrange Point Five, that precarious point of stability opposite the Sun from Earth. He was also the embattled, surrounded, his territory reduced to this last Lagrange point orbital and his final fleet.

And one last surprise, the planet cracker. One push of the red button on his screen and His Excellency could obliterate all within half an AU, most importantly the Kagan navy surrounding him. His Excellency would perish in white light but so would his enemies.

A flash, two more enemy ships destroyed and only one of his left. An explosion, his last ship. His Excellency prepared the orbital for boarding by sealing all the inner bulkheads while leaving his mechno army in the outer corridors to meet the boarders.

His Excellency watched as a wall blew outward and a hero emerged leading his helmeted invaders against the mechno soldiers. With shots back and forth, the invaders shrunk in numbers but so did the mechno soldiers. The firefight was brief before the invaders retreated and mechno soldiers counter attacked.

Autonomy and always counterattack, two lessons learned in the long history of war, His Excellency thought.

It was a trap! The mechno soldiers were destroyed, and the hero and his ragged squad victorious. The enemies swarmed up the corridor to attack the last stronghold, his Excellency’s lair.

He heard pounding then cutting at the wall. His Excellency prepared to end the world.

“See you in hell, you Kagans!” he screamed as he pushed the red button on his screen.

An explosion threw His Excellency against the wall. Pain, black noise, then nothing.

His Excellency sees a body being shaken. He realizes the body is his and he feels the pain all over.

“You okay? We didn’t expect the door to blow. Pressure differential,” a deep voice says.

His Excellency blinks in the intense light. Above him is a giant, two meters at least. Focusing, His Excellency sees lots of hair. Facial hair, nose hair, eyebrows, a head full of hair.

“Who are you?” His Excellency whispers.

The hairy giant shouts, “Sorry, we didn’t think this old orbital was inhabited. What you do? Cross wire a VR to life support? How long you in there?” He points to the now open life support pod.

Sitting up, His Excellency looks down at his pale hairless body, the skin twisted and pruney. He then looks up at the black haired giant.

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to end,” he says.