As the Royals believed Aron to be dead, his younger brother, Davil, ascended to become the 65th Menzi emperor. He carried on as best as he could, but he was no soldier. He was an administrator. He had run Arin’s government for him so that he could play soldier. Even as a Warrion Commander, his Warrion had been the least active of them all. He now relied on his brother and his grandfather to be the field generals of the last two Warrions. They must do what he could not, fight on against the Admiralty.
The Admiralty stepped up the pressure on the beleaguered forces. Just when things were looking really bad, a call came through. Karron Zindar, a warlord in possession of an estimated eight percent of the galaxy wanted to meet with Davil. Davil went to the meeting personally.
“We were expecting Arin. This is a meeting for Emperors only.”
“My brother was killed at Starion III. I am Emperor now. I would like to dedicate our efforts for a united from to his memory. I would like to think that his dream did not die with him.”
Karron Zindar had been elected to chair the delegation from the Rebel War Lords. She was in possession of the largest number of planets among that group. Once, she had been a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy until about a month before the coup. She held no love for Keeth. Keeth had no love for female officers. More than once, simply due to her gender, he had tried to keep her from advancing up the ranks.
She spoke first. “I was very sorry to hear the news of the demise of your brother. There are not enough young and attractive men for us, losing such as him. I am still willing to hear what deal you are offering.”
It made some sick sense to Davil that all war lords wanted to be considered to be emperors. He did see how they could believe that, since no one was in charge of this very mad galaxy, they had as much claim to their titles as He or Keeth did. He was at peace with his decision that, if being equals would bring together a coalition, then he was for it. If that coalition could somehow shorten this war, then full speed ahead and damn the blasters. He was determined to sell his brother’s dream no matter what.
They were able to agree that by a secret coded message, all the new Empires would simultaneously attack toward Capital City. The tricky part was getting all of the various parties to agree to the concept that any captured territory would then become free and independent and could pick their own form of government when the fighting was done.
Finally, it was the arguments of Davil, the administrator that won them over. He was able to show that his plan was the only fair way to end the old Empire. He convinced them that the way their Empires had come to be was the same chance that all other people deserved. Everyone wanted the chance to have their own wants and need met.
Freedom was the cry raised by Davil and his many supporters within the Council of Emperors, as they were collectively known. They won over Emperors one by one and eventually prevailed. Davil couldn’t help wondering how many of them would go along with these lofty plans when the final blows were struck. He hurried back to Base 5, hidden on Vars IV to find that they were under heavy attack.
Using the masking device invented by Pedra, Davil snuck five ships into the base. It was clear that the base could not be saved. He began to gather the people into the buffer. He sent the people out as fast as he could to other masked ships in space. Davil was one of the last ones off planet when a wave of Marines tried to break through. During fierce fighting his was badly wounded. He told the Medicos to patch him up there and not to say anything to anyone about his injuries.
He led the last squads to fight there. They fought off the Marines, then, simply appeared to disappear. Davil was one of the last people to disappear. When he arrived at Hazy Point, Baraz saw his bandages and immediately had him sent to the hospital.
Davil was in surgery for the rest of the night. The next morning, the family heard the news. If he had been sent to the hospital right away, it might have been a different story. In his present condition, the doctor could not say how long he might last.
Davil lingered for nine months. He was able to attend meetings by being stored in his ship’s buffer. This gave them time to consolidate the deals between each of the other Emperors in the Council. No final date was ever set for the big push, but all knew that it must come before the Admiralty found out where they were hiding at Hazy Point. This was his greatest contribution to the war effort, and he knew he would be honored for it if they could just hold on long enough to bring his and Arin’s dream to fruition.
“Poppy, how are we doing?”
“We are comfortable enough here. We are very close to another break through in several key projects. If we can perfect them in time…”
“Time…always if there is time.”
“…as I was saying.” He showed a set of drawings on a Davil’s screen, “This project, in particular, should render then Admiralty’s advantage in numbers mute…nil. Pedra calls it an anti-field generator. It scrambles the signal of jump reorganizers. The completion of this project is so close to being completed that I can almost taste them.”
“Your confidence encourages me, Poppy.”
“Your aunts are working feverishly in the Tech-labs. Any day now the call will come for you to view these marvels.
Devil smiled gently at his dear grandfather. He could feel his life slowly slipping through his fingers like the sands blowing around outside the view ports. “I have every confidence in you, sir. Please tell my dear aunts that I wish them all the best. I am tired now…”
Davil slipped quietly off to sleep. As the old man straightened the covers over his grand son that it was becoming clearer every day to the General, both as leader and as a grand father, that Davil’s courageous little brother would have to end this fight. Every one could see that Davil did not have the strength to do it.
The next time they met, the emperor said softly, “My time grows shorter, Poppy.”
“What can I say, son. You are a brave man. You are too intelligent for me to argue this point. It kills me a little each time I see you slipping away. Our family has lost so much these last few years as it continues to shrink.”
“Baraz is a good soldier, Poppy. You have trained him well. I know you will take good care of him.”
“Fifty years ago, I pledged to give my life to protect the Crown. I will give my last breath for that end.”
“I know, Poppy. Please call Baraz for me…” The last words in his sentence were lost in a fit of coughing.
On Baraz’s eighteen birthday, Davil abdicated the Throne. He knew that Baraz would make a better Emperor that he could ever hope to. Every one argued against it, but he could not be persuaded. He also wanted to hand the Scepter to his heir himself as he knew that this time was growing short. He died two days later in his sleep.