For 35yrs the border between the Human Empire and Gorgonzola Empire as remained mostly peaceful. The citizens for the Human Empire of this border region are loyal to the last man, woman, and child to the Empire. It was on one of these worlds that gave birth to a legend. The world of Apollo 6 is one of the harshest worlds within the Empire. One so harsh that only it could claim to be the birth world of James J. Owens, the most feared of Death Dealers. A world that is even now poised to give birth to a new legendary warrior. One who shall be baptized in the blood of the Empire’s enemies. Robert Wolff youngest great grandchild of James Owens’ sister Cecilia Owens.

Maiha looked out the view port from the stern dorsal observation pod. She had spent the last three days in this garden searching for some kind of inner peace. As much as she wished she had Ryuk to talk to he wasn’t available. Talking to the AI aboard the James Owens just wasn’t the same. It just didn’t have the same feel. Maiha sighed as she looked towards the Zen garden. “Maybe it is time to retire Ryuk from active service? The James is more than capable of replacing Ryuk as the new Empyreal Seat of Power.”

“If I may interrupt your Majesty. My brother may be getting up there in years, but he is still capable of his mission.” The voice was eerily similar to the voice of a man dead to the universe for close to 40 years.

“It’s not that James. It’s just that you don’t have the history that I do with Ryuk. We just have certain.” Maiha paused as she searched for the right words. “Oh, I don’t know.”

“It’s called familiarity, your Majesty. Something that you and I don’t have.” The powerful AI said with a chuckle. “He was your primary AI for over thirty years. Other than your DDAI that is.”

‘He has a point there Maiha. I mean outside of me and Charley you always went to Ryuk when you had a major problem, we couldn’t help you with.’ Dee De told Maiha with her own chuckle.

‘You always did seek out Ryuk’s consul when faced with a political policy problem or economic problem. Though the problem is not with going to James that is the problem Commander. It is his voice.’ Charley said right behind Dee De. ‘It sounds too much like your old voice.’

Charley’s analysis of the situation hit me out of the blue. He was right. Hearing my voice from the ‘grave’ did have a habit of upsetting me. “James could you do me a favor. Could you change the pitch and tone of your voice.”

“Ah, I see. Give me a second.” The AI said before coming back to me in a voice that sounded nowhere near my old voice. “Is this better Majesty?”

“Thank you, James. Much better.” Maiha sighed in unexpected relief. “Sorry about asking you to do that for me. It was just that well.”

“I sounded far too much like your grandfather. My apologies. My builders thought it would be a fitting tribute.” James told her kindly.

“They never planned on me using you as a Dowager transport big guy. Hell, I never planned on leaving Hades once I retired. You just had the bad luck of being the nearest available Shinigami. I am the one who should apologize.” Maiha corrected the AI politely. She sighed and then chuckled. “I yanked you, your crew, and your battle group from your assigned duties for what could very well be a crazed Chestnut Chipmunk chase.”

“From what my older brother has told me, your Majesty. You are not one who is prone to the chasing of the wild fury tailed rodents of Lore VST. May I know what has brought us to the birthplace of the man called Death?”

“That is such a profound word. Birthplace. Such a simple word to hold such power and influence. Did you know that of all the planets within the Empire this world had given birth to more heroes and Death Dealers than any other save Hades. Apollo six is a harsh planet, James.” Maiha sighed once more as she looked down at the blue green planet rotating below. “And down there right now, is a young man that very well maybe my direct blood cousin.”

“A lost family heir. In this age? I find the odds of that happening to be impossibly high to calculate. Why I doubt that even with all Shinigami AIs working together could we actually calculate the odds.” James stuttered.

“Trust me big guy. I know what you’re saying. Dee De and Charley have been trying to run the numbers sense we took off from Hades. Believe me those numbers are far too long to even contemplate. Yet that is exactly what I’m facing. A lost family heir to the Owens Clan.” Maiha grunted.

Before the ship’s AI could say more the door to the elevator opened. Maiha turned to face the woman who exited the car with a smile. “Thank you for coming Reverend Mother. It has been awhile.”

“No more than twenty-two months, three weeks, and four days, K?hai. Not that I’ve been keeping track.” Reverend Mother Katsumi chuckled as she crossed the garden. “I find the distraction from my Courtly duties welcome. How may I be of service to my Empress? What has you of all people jumping on the nearest Shinigami and dragging its battle group across half of the Empire?”

“I may have a cousin on Apollo six.” Maiha could have taken a shit on a temple alter and had less of a reaction out of Katsumi. “Yup, you heard me correctly old friend. Down there on Apollo is a lost Owens.”

“When do you plan to land the James?” Katsumi asked deep in thought. “Or are you just going to take the Dragon’s Wing down?”

“Just the Dragon’s Wing and a small escort. For some unknowable reason civilians tend to panic when they see a Shinigami’s contrail.” Maiha chuckled as she thought about the last time, she made an unannounced landfall in Ryuk. Three quarters of the Hades PDF turned out ready for a fight.

“Very true, my Empress. Even after thirty years me and siblings are still too rear of a sight among the Empyreal Fleets. Only amongst the Death Dealer Combat Fleets are we seen with any regularity.” James told Maiha. “For some unknown reason, the thought of one of us landing means there are at least eighteen Combat Divisions hot on our heels howling for blood.”

“That’s because there are at least eighteen combat divisions of pissed off Death Dealers hot on your heels not to mention a full accompanying combat fleet, James.” Katsumi chuckled. “Death Dealer Battle Groups are not known for making friends when they’re coming in hot. They have a nasty habit of making problem people disappear.”

“In more ways than one.” Maiha giggled as she thought about the Death Dealer battle cry. Then taking a breath she called out. “Death is delt by our hand!”

“Never have six words held more meaning for those who are guarded by the wolves of our society or terror for the enemy. I fear that this time though they may fall upon deaf ears, k?hai.” Katsumi grunted.

“Not so much deaf ears but the ears of the indifferent, sempai. The people of Apollo six are a breed apart. That planet breeds warriors the likes of which no other planet can. The people of Apollo are a harsh and ruthless people. They take no prisoners and spare no lives. They truly believe that they are on their own out here at the ass end of the Empire. They are a rude, crude, sociably unacceptable society. There is no love for the High Families on that planet.” Maiha pointed out the observation doom towards a tight grouping of seven stars. “Of all the planetary systems in the Empire only the Highlands System is this close to the Gorgonzola Empire. Those seven stars mark the boundary between our Empire and theirs. They are just over thirty-nine lightyears away. Just over twelve parsecs or two hyperspace fold jumps for the Gorgonzola Main Battle Fleets and their Grim Reaper Battle Divisions. There is nothing between the Cheeseheads and this planet but the occasional deep space patrol by the Empyreal Navy.”

Maiha turned and looked down at the planet below. “Sense the time of the of the Great Shattering, Apollo six and the Highlands Systems have been the second most contested sector in Human Controlled space. Only Milmides on the border between USSR, the Human Empire, and the Balzac Imperium has been more contested. Only the tri-corner sector has more Empyreal Navy units than this thrice be demand slice of space. Over the last two-thousand years Apollo six has changed hands seven times. The last time was during the First War of Succession four-hundred-thirty years ago when Count Páidín Ó Gairbhshíth and his twenty-seventh Onslaught Division took the system back after fifty-three years under Cheesehead rule. The memory of those fifty-three years of tyranny have been turned into blood-soaked legend. A legend that has fueled a hatred for the Cheeseheads that is unmatched throughout the Empire.”

“A fitting birthplace for the man previously called Death.” Katsumi grunted. “And his family. A hard planet for a harder, yet honorable man.”

“I learned how to be honorable while earning my Imperial Blacks.” In a voice that was only audible to Katsumi Maiha talked to someone other than her beloved first wife Matsui of her life before the Death Dealers. “I grew up running the back streets of Kingsport. The biggest pile of villainy on all of Apollo six. I broke the law the first time when I was only eight. I stole two loaves of bread and a pound of sliced ham to feed my family. When I was eleven, I broke a man’s arm with a piece of rebar who was trying to rob my mother of her paycheck. I killed my first man three years after that in a street fight for control over the local blockhouse. I was no fracking angel or samurai warrior Katsumi. I was a street thug doing whatever it took to survive that hellhole. If it hadn’t been for Judge Collen Marks and a Military Recruiter, I would most likely have been dead by the time I was nineteen.”

“I take it that your parents weren’t around to raise you and your sister?” Katsumi asked of Maiha quietly.

“My mother worked fulltime in a Sanguine Grog bar. She got herself killed while trying to break up a barfight fight between three Burgundy Akagnghengite crystal miners when I was fourteen. As far my father goes that sorry shack of shit was a star sailor who showed his face every two or three years spent a few months at home before blasting off on the first outbound freighter. The last time I saw his worthless ass was just before my seventh birthday. He was walking up the boarding ramp for a tamp freighter outbound for Teatania Prime with a load of Akagnghengite crystals. I was pretty much left to raise my kid sisters on my own.” Maiha stood stock still as she glared down at Apollo 6. In a voice barely above a whisper chocked with regret. “I should never have left Cecilia behind.”

“She would have been what fifteen, sixteen years old?” Katsumi asked gently.

“She was barely thirteen, when at I joined the Empyreal Army at fifteen. The local Army Recruitment Command found an aunt and uncle for me in Dornwich to take her in until she was old enough to be on her own. I sent more than half of my paychecks home until Black November when Dornwich became nothing more than a hole in the ground.” Maiha answered Katsumi bluntly.

“Maiha earlier you said something about a Judge Collen Marks and a Military Recruiter. How did they save your life?” Katsumi asked Maiha trying to get her off the painful memories surrounding Black November.

“I got busted breaking and entering the wrong home. Namely Judge Marks’ home. While I sat in a holding cell, he contacted the local Recruiters. Only the Army Recruiter showed up at my arraignment. That was one-hundred-and-nineteen years ago only the Army would take someone like me. I was a smart mouthed fifteen-year-old high school dropout with a criminal record and no adult to sign for me.” Maiha chuckled as she thought back to that time. “I should have read the fine print on that contract. The requirements for joining the Death Dealers was a hell of lot looser back then. They took everybody. But then again they were trying to rebuild their numbers after their devasting loses in the last war with the Balzac Imperium.”

“I remember that terrible time. I lost one of my fellow War Brides during the defense of Prometheus Station on Astea. The Imperium Bloody Ravishers were only turned back thanks to the sacrifice of seventh and tenth Death Dealer Regiments. It’s not surprising that the Imperium learned to fear their battel cry.” Katsumi sighed as she thought about her dead sister War Bride. “Katya always swore that nothing could stop a pissed off Death Dealer. Though that doesn’t explain how you ended up wearing the Imperial Blacks of the Death Dealers. By all rights you should have been restricted to noncombat MOSs and duties because of your age.”

“There is a funny thing about Apollo six Judges concerning their powers of judication and the punishments they can hand down. If they get it into their heads that they don’t like someone, and if the conditions are right. They can sentence an individual to the frontlines during an invasion or a minimum of five years up to life in the military.” Maiha chuckled. “All with the pounding of a gavial. Not even the corrections department or Ministry of Defense can overrule them.”

“By the Goddess that is a very effective way of curbing the criminal element if I do say so myself. How was it you ended up in the Death Dealers?” Katsumi asked Maiha with a sly smile.

“Like I said I should have read the fine print. All I saw was a contract for five years with the options for advance training. Well there was this little line that said if I graduated in the top five percent of each training class I qualified for the next level of training. I doubt that Judge Marks and Staff Sergeant Mooney knew they were actually handing me my greatest desire. I just had to bust my ass to get it. Which I fracking did with flying colors.” Maiha chuckled as she remembered those words so carefully crafted to deceive a brash street-smart young man.

“Though at the time I didn’t realize it. You see at the time I was stupid, and prideful. That pride and stupidity wouldn’t let me settle for anything less than being the best. I pushed myself to my limits. I had to graduate in the top five from Basic Training at Camp Lee. Following graduation from Basic, I got sent to Jump Infantry school where I made Super numerator at the lovely Camp Saarlouis. Then it was off to Scout Sniper training at Camp Bragg. There I showed an aptitude with sniper rifles and for being a sneaky rotten bastard graduating first in my class. From there I got booted up to the Ranger Indoctrination Program at Camp Lympstone. Twenty-four weeks later of back breaking, soul crushing, bloodletting, training I graduated from RIP. I graduated sixth and believed that my training days were over.” Maiha gave a soft chuckle at that memory.

“The next thing I know I’m getting one of the original Mark one Omega/Assault class Death Dealer AI’s shoved in my head. After that it was another fourteen months of the hardest and meanest training known to man. In the hell that is lovingly known as Death Dealer Q-course or as Death Dealers call it Robin Sage. I earned my Imperial Blacks and Special Operations Star with the second highest rating in all of Death Dealer History.” Maiha sighed heavily fighting back the tears as the bittersweet memories from that time in her life from so long ago came flooding back.

“I had a short stop at Camp Knoxx for Basic Armed Power Suit pilot training where much to my shame I graduated with one of the lowest ratings to ever come out of that base. I barely qualified to wear the Crossed Sabers of an APS pilot.” Maiha chuckled as she realized that four of her greatest accomplishments in combat were when piloting an APS. “Following graduation, I was on to my first unit. The next thing I knew I was landing on Cerberus seven. I may have been a fresh-faced kid of seventeen at the time, but I was no innocent soul. The Cerberus Campaign was my trial by fire.”

“Then just three short years later at the Battle for Ruatha Heights on Pern during the so-called Holder Conclave Wars. The legend of the ‘Man who killed Death’ was born in blood and fire.” Katsumi surmised then chuckled. “A legend that only grew over the next forty some years. Tell me Maiha, why didn’t you ever go home? You would have been welcomed as a true Hero of the people.”

“I always believed that I had nothing to go home to. My baby sister Anna died when she was only six from Winter Malaria. I was nine at the time. It was the first time I ever saw death up close. During Black November, I was twenty-four on my second enlistment, and stationed on Soliv Prime dealing with the Wingnuts at the time. The last I heard from my sister Cecilia she was still living in Dornwich going to university when the Cheeseheads blasted the city with a one-ninety orbital strike.” Maiha sighed. “Everything I read from the reports said there was no survivors.”

“With a blast radius four-hundred-square-miles the KT-one-ninety orbital strike bomb is a city-killer of the first order.” Katsumi just nodded her head in understanding. “You had no idea that she might have been else on the planet at the time. Thanks to the reports you had no reason to going looking for your sister. Have you been able to download any information on your sister following the Black November attacks?”

“It’s taken me the last three days to gather what I’ve learned but it’s enough that I’ve been able to piece together where she was at the time of the attack and what became of her in the following years.” Maiha sighed. “I really should have gone home to look for her. I just didn’t want to face the fact that she was dead really.”

“Where was your sister and what happened to her?” Katsumi asked politely. Hoping that she could distract Maiha from the dark thoughts that threatened to consume her at the time.

“When the attack came, she and a few friends from her meteorological class had gone north to the Farmingroy Snow Fields to study the Azure Sheet glacier. They hid out in the mountains until the all-clear was sounded thirty days later.” Maiha sighed heavily. “After that she just kind of dropped off the grind. What I do know is that she had a son and two grandchildren thanks to her obituary. My sister was seventy-eight when she dead from Forest Illness. Her son died in a mine collapse at sixty-two. Her grandson died at twenty-three in the line of duty as a Forest Ranger saving a group of backpackers before he got married. Her granddaughter joined the PDF after graduating university. She and her husband died defending the Sky Reach orphanage. That is the last thing I have been able to find on my family. So, you can see why I’m confused about how a member of my family went unknown to me or OECH.”

“Then I suggest that we waste no more time on contemplating the situation with only half the intel.” Katsumi grunted. “Time to hit get some dirt under our feet Wave Dancer. Along with some answers.”

Camp Rampage, 12th Airborne Ranger Battalion, 43rd Airborne Border Division: 1345

I couldn’t believe this bullshit. For three days now I’ve been sitting around doing nothing. Every time I tried to find out what was going on with my situation, I got the same answers. Wait and see, or its above my clearance. Even that jackass Lieutenant General Heiner Finkel wouldn’t tell me what was going on or who I was supposedly related to. He wouldn’t even explain why I had to have the three-man Death Dealer detail. He would only say they’re there for my protection. I wanted to ask where all this protection was when I was dealing with the Hidden Vipers or other street gangs.

Three days of nothing, then all of a sudden, BANG. I’m being escort to some out of the way hanger on the back side of the base’s spaceport and airfield. When I asked my three guard dogs what was going on. They only said that my cousin landed two hours ago. Once again, I’ve been left in the dark. As we approach the hanger, I spot something that makes me think twice about meeting this unknown cousin. The Royal Family Crest hanging over the hanger bay door.

“Captain White any chance of you letting me out here?” I asked him.

“Sorry, no can do, Rob. I got orders to escort you to your cousin.” White chuckled. “I can tell you this much. Whoever your cousin is, they have some major pull. Not any High Family can use that hanger.”

“Um sir, I think we got a bigger problem on our hands than we thought.” Lieutenant Howard pointed over at the shuttle in the hanger then asked. “Top please tell me that isn’t the Dragon’s Wing?”

First Sergeant Doobs grunted and nodded his head as he sat beside me in the backseat of the Y-12 Marshal Armored Car. “I’d know that black, red, and gold paint scheme anywhere LT. It’s the Dragon’s Wing alright.”

“Care to fill me in on who that shuttle belongs to?” I asked.

“Rob, if you know any courtly manners, I suggest you brush up on them.” Captain White told me. “And do it fast.”

I had no idea of what courtly manners were and no way of learning them on such a short notice. “Why do I suddenly have the feeling I’m screwed?”

“Don’t ask us Rob.” Top Doobs said as he placed his hand on my shoulder in a friendly manner. “She’s your cousin after all.”

“She? She who? Just who does that shuttle belong to?” I demanded.

Lieutenant Howard turn in her seat to face me. “Rob that is the personal shuttle for the Dowager Empress Maiha Nakatoma. Death’s Own Daughter.”

“I think I just pissed myself.” I look down at the crotch of my pants. “Yup. I peed myself. Captain White just kill me now.”

“Too late now Rob. She’s already spotted us.” Top Doobs said as he pointed to where two middle aged women were standing. One of them wore the robes of a Reverend Mother and was the taller of the two. The other women I could tell was of Japanese descent. She was the one that scared me more than anyone or anything else the hanger. Not even the 45-ton V3-P5 Viking Panzer scared me as much as it pointed its main gun at the Y-12 as it pulled to a stop. “Okay Rob just a small piece of advice. Don’t piss off the Panzer pilot.”

“You know something Captain White. That is one piece of advice I DON’T need.” I bitched as I climbed slowly from the Y-12. As I slowly approached the Dowager Empress, I could feel the eyes of every Death Dealer and the sights of that APS on me every inch of the way. I heard the slight hum of PPCs charging. That was all the warning I needed to know that if I took one threatening step towards this small Japanese woman. There wouldn’t be enough of me left to put in a cigar box. When the two Hell Hounds raised their Anti-matter Rifles, I stopped dead in my tracks. I may not know much about military grade weapons, but I know those monsters. At this range they can’t miss, and the only thing left of me would be a shadow on the ground. I slowly raise my hands to shoulder height. “Let’s take it easy here people. No need for the street cleaners. This is your game, I’ll play nice.”

“Reynolds, McCoy, put them away. I doubt the young man will do anything stupid. In fact, I think he wants answers more than a fight right now.” The Reverend Mother ordered the two guards behind her and Empress Maiha. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as they lowered the Anti-matter rifles. At least with the PPCs there’ll be something to bury. “Stone, Horn, Gray, put away those PCCs. The rest of you stand down now.”

“Thank you, ma’am. If I could, I would kiss you right now. I have no desire to test the limits of my luck against that kind of firepower.” I said as I lowered my hands to my sides. I bowed to them both from the waist. “Empress it is a great honor to meet you.”

“I doubt that young man. No one likes being dragged in front of the Empress without a reason.” The Reverend Mother told me with a sly smile. “I imagine you’re wondering what is going on?”

“You can say that again sister.” I snarked.

“I imagine you’re wondering what is going on?” Empress Maiha snarked back with a smile that was vaguely familiar. I know I’ve seen that smile some place before. The question was where. “Why don’t we have a seat and get down to the reason behind all the secrecy.”

I want to say frack no, but this is the Dowager Empress I’m dealing with here. You don’t tell someone like her no. Well at least not without a damned good reason. I followed her and the Reverend Mother over to a small table off to the side. I waited until they had seated themselves before siting down myself, much to the displeasure of the bodyguards. Not that I gave a shit. Like Father Mike back at the orphanage was fond of saying. ‘Everyone is the same in the eyes of the God.’

“Well played cousin. Very well played.” Empress Maiha said with a grin. At my look of total confusion, she gives me a toothy smile. “Most people would have waited for me to tell them they can sit down.”

“The way I figure it Empress. You told me to join you off to the side. That implies I was already given permission to sit down.” I answered honestly. Then shrugged my shoulders. “Not that I give a shit one way or the other.”

“By the Goddess! He is a breath of fresh air, Majesty.” The Reverend Mother laughed. “He reminds me of your grandfather.”

“He definitely does have grandfather’s attitude towards High Families and Nobles, Mother Katsumi.” The Empress told the Reverend Mother before looking me in the eyes. “Though I can see the fire of my great aunt in his eyes.”

“Okay hold on here your Majesty. In the past four days I’ve had a Judge, a Police Captain, a OECH Inspector, a Death Dealer Captain, plus a bunch of other people tell me that I’ve got some kind of tie to the Owens clan. That I can believe to a point because of my great grandmother Cecilia Owens. I know that she had a brother named James J. Owens who became some kind of hot shit hero in the Death Dealers.” As I talked about my great grandmother, I thought I saw a shadow of pain cross the Empress’s face. “Did I say something wrong? If I did, then I’m sorry.”

“No child. You said nothing wrong.” Reverend Mother Katsumi said coming to my rescue. “You see you have just confirmed something very painful for Empress Maiha. You see your great, granduncle James, was her grandfather. They are one in the very same person First High Lord of the Death Dealers James J. Owens. The man they called Death.”

I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head. I know that I’ll need a backhoe to get my jaw out of the floor. “Sorry, but are you saying that I really am related to the First High Lord of the Death Dealers James J. Owens? This isn’t some massive screw up on the part of the OECH?”

“This is not a mistake. This is not a joke. This is all very real.” Empress Maiha practically declared with an air of finality. She stood up and looked to the Captain of her bodyguard. “Clear and lock the room, Captain.”

“I’m sorry your Majesty but that is impossible. Only the personal quarters aboard the Dragon’s Wing can be totally secured.” The man answered back without moving an inch from his place beside the shuttle.

“I’m surrounded by a full company of Hell Hound Jump Infantry Death Dealers, surrounded by a two full lances of Fire Support APSs, surrounded by an entire Death Dealer Division.” The Empress said through gritted teeth. “AND YOU CAN’T CLEAR AND LOCK ONE FRACK BUILDING!?”

I thought the Empress was going to kill the man for disobeying her orders. You can imagine my surprise when the Captain just shrugged his shoulders saying. “Not happening ma’am. You personal quarters on the Dragon’s Wing or no deal. Those are your choices, Majesty.”

“Empress he’s just doing his duty. Behave yourself or I’ll tell your wife you’ve been bad again.” The Reverend Mother warned the Empress.

“Oh, alright damn it! Just once I wish I didn’t have to deal with over thirty damned handlers and overzealous bodyguards. Come on let’s use the damned shuttle.” If I didn’t know better. I would have sworn that the Empress was actually pouting about having to use her personal quarters on the shuttle. “Come along cousin. What I have to say is only for the ears of family.”

I didn’t know what was going on but followed the Empress and the Reverend mother inside the shuttle. Once we were behind what had to be a 3in. think armor plated door the Empress pressed a button on her desk. I heard the heavy thud of deadbolts and pneumatic seals engaging. The Empress gave me a kind and friendly look before sighing heavily.

“We have come to a crossroads Robert. Before you lays two paths. One path will lead you on a grand adventure. The other will lead to a life of obscurity on a backwater planet. The choice is yours to make.” Empress Maiha began. “You can give me your answer once you have heard what I have to say.”

“Yes ma’am. I just don’t understand why you couldn’t have told me whatever it is outside in the hanger.” I asked her.

“Tell me what exactly were you told about your great, granduncle James Owens?” the Empress asked me softly.

“Not much really. Just that he left my great grandmother with an aunt and uncle when she was thirteen. He had joined the Army at fifteen and left Apollo six. Never to be heard from again except in news bytes from some far-off battlefront in the Empire. Then during the Cheesehead Black November attack he was killed on Soliv Prime fighting the Velmaro Consortium. That’s it. That’s all anyone in my family knows about my great, granduncle James. Grandma Hanna and grandpa Senan sure as frack didn’t know anything about the man. If they did, they would have been the first ones to exploit the family connection.” I almost spat on the floor as I thought about my father’s parents. “Worthless damned High Families sycophants.”

“Let me guess. They would have used the connection to the First High Lord for either political or monetary gain.” The Reverend Mother asked with a knowing smile. I just nodded my head. “There shall always be those who seek to gain through favoritism that which should be earned through honest labor.”

“Hun?!” It must have been the look of total confusion on my face or the one syllable question that got the Empress laughing. At least she showed mercy.

“What the Reverend Mother is so eloquently saying. Is that for some people. In the words of the locals. It is not what you know, but who you blow.” The Empress wisecracked causing my jaw to slam through the floor plating of the shuttle. “Trust me cousin. If your grandparents on your father’s side had tried to suck up to James J. Owens, they would not have liked the outcome. I can tell you honestly that you and he have a lot in common. He too was a man of few words. He had very little to almost no use for the sycophants that hang around the High Families.”

“Excuse me, your Majesty. How is it your know so much about James Owens and what he means to me?” I asked her in real confusion this time. I was tired of pussyfooting around the topic of who James Owens was to the woman and me.

“For starters please sit-down Robert. Because what you’re about to hear is going to be hard to believe.” Katsumi said as she pointed towards an empty chair. I did as the Reverend Mother asked. I was more than a little confused by the sudden change in attitude by the two women. She turned to the Empress. “This is your last chance to backout Maiha.”

“No, he of all people deserves the truth.” The Empress said before she turned to look me in the eye. “Before I start you need to understand that what you are about to hear is sealed under an Empyreal Death Decree. You need to understand Robert that this story begins just over thirty-seven years go on the planet of Hades. It started with a tired old man wanting to say goodbye one last time to long dead friends. That man was James J. Owens. Widow, father, the very First High Lord of the Death Dealers, businessman, and your great, granduncle.” She took a deep breath. “That man was me.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. There was no way that this woman could be James Owens. There was no way she was related to me. This had to be a mistake and the reason for the Empress stepping aside for Emperor James was simple. She had finally gone totally crazy. I needed to get out of here before things got too far out of hand and I lost my head. “Excuse, your Majesty but I’m not buying that. Not even for a dollar. If you’ll just open the door and let me go. I promise to tell no one about this.”

“Sit down, boy!” The Reverend Mother snarled. I looked over at her and realized that I wasn’t leaving this shuttle alive. “You know nothing of the real world. If you think that living on the streets of Apollo six has prepared you for a life in the greater world, you’re sadly mistaken.”

I slowly sat back down. There was something deadly about this holy woman that suddenly set all of my alarm bells to ringing. I’ve seen my fair share of killers running the streets. Yet none of them held a candle to this woman.

“Do you even know what an Empyreal Death Decree is?” I didn’t really understand what an Empyreal Death Decree was, but I didn’t need a building dropped on my head. If I talked, I was dead. End of discussion. There would be no courtroom hearing. Just an Empyreal Executioner if I was lucky, most likely an assassin’s blade stuck between my ribs and a shallow grave. “Good. I can that you’re not totally stupid. Good ahead and continued Maiha.”

“You always did have a way of getting the most stubborn of students to pay attention, Katsumi. Please never change.” The Empress said to the Reverend Mother before turning to back to me. “Tell me Robert how much do you know about the First-Generation Death Dealers?”

“Only that until the Second-Generation came along, they were the meanest, toughest, deadliest, and most highly trained of all Empyreal soldiers on any battlefield. There was no exceptions.” I answered honestly. “But then again everybody knows that ma’am. Why?”

“Have you ever heard of a Secondary Configuration?” The Empress asked me with eyes that burned with real fire. I gulped and slowly nodded my head. In the last few years, the truth about the First-Generation Death Dealers and the Secondary Configuration Process had reached the general public. “Do you know why the Secondary Configuration is still feared?”

“Because the Secondary Configuration process was extremely unpredictable and produces almost unstoppable killing machines. Nobody really knows what caused the Secondary Configurations just that they happened under the most extreme conditions. Usually right before a Death Dealer died.” I answered honestly with what I had heard from the Death Dealers that had come by the orphanage to help out. They were all Second Gens though.

“Very good, Robert. Though that is not totally accurate. The High Command had always known what caused the Secondary Configurations. They also knew which type of DDAIs were most likely to undergo the process. There were only two types of Death Dealers that ever underwent the process. I was one of them. You see back when I went through the original processing to become a Death Dealer. I was fitted with the Omega/Assault class AI.” The Empress sighed. “All Omega/Assault DDAIs had a secondary program hidden from their users. This program went by the name COBRA.”

“Let me see if I got this right. This COBRA program was responsible for the Secondary Configurations.” The Empress and Reverend Mother both nodded their heads at my guess. “Doesn’t that violate some civil rights bullshit?”

“Not in the legal sense. You see every Death Dealer signs away certain rights when they agree to become partnered with a Death Dealer AI. In later years, the COBRA program was removed after the reports of controllable Secondary Configuration reached the High Command. Unfortunately, it was too late for a great number of Death Dealers already in the field. James J. Owens was one of those Death Dealers. No let me correct that I was one of those unfortunate Death Dealers. My COBRA program laid dormant for eighty years. That is until just over thirty-seven years ago.” The more the Empress talked the more I realized that this wasn’t a mistake, and it wasn’t a nightmare. This woman really was my great, granduncle James.

“Excuse, ma’am. But I know that when a Death Dealer musters out their Ais are placed in a permanent hibernation mode. Why wasn’t yours?” I asked her.

“What do you know about the Hades Rebellion from thirty-seven years ago?” She asked me with a knowing smile. I spent the next twenty minutes going over what I had learned at school about the Hades Rebellion. “Very good, Robert, exactly what would be placed in the textbooks. What isn’t in the textbooks is this. The Emperor Sha Dan knew of the unrest in the High Families and where they planned to make their first moves. Those Death Dealer Divisions that fought in that war were already on station. They were only waiting for their forward operations officer to land on Hades. There was only one problem. The Emperor wasn’t expecting an older DDAI to arrive in system first. There was an activation signal being broadcast at the jump gates. One that would reactivated any retired Death Dealer AI coming through the gate. That signal was meant for someone else, but I was the one to trip the signal first. After that I underwent a Secondary Configuration because of a heart attack. When I landed on Hades Prime it was in the middle of a boiling pot of civil unrest with a liberal sprinkling of rebellion.”

I couldn’t believe how flippant the Empress was about one of the three major turning points in recent Human History. The way she talked about her part in the Hades Prime Rebellion forced me to realize that she was telling me the truth. When she finished all I could do was sit there dumb founded. She had left me with only one conclusion. Empress Maiha Nakatoma really was First High Lord of Death Dealers James J. Owens. The man called Death. Though most importantly the man who was my great, granduncle.

“Tell me something, ma’am. Why didn’t you ever come back for my great, grandmother?” I asked her. “Why did you leave her to believe that you died on some backwater hellhole?”

“Now that you’ve realized that I’m telling the truth Robert. Let’s dispense with the formalities. Just call me Maiha when it is just us.” Empress Maiha told me bluntly. “As for letting my sister believe that I died on some backwater hellhole that was never my intention. What do you know about the Black November Cheesehead attack?”

“Only what they teach us in school and my mom told me about great grandma’s part in the attack.” I answered honestly. Maiha waved for me to continue. “Okay the Black November attack was just over one-hundred years ago. It happened during the last Border War with the Velmaro Consortium. They came in hot, landing at Dornwich, Onowood, and Hilmouth. For the next twenty-nine days they raided the research labs at Bear River College in Onowood, Blue River University in Hilmouth, and the Da Vinci Institute at Dornwich. Nobody knows exactly what they were looking. It was also one of the bloodiest raids in our history. The units that landed at Onowood and Hilmouth lost more than half their numbers. Mostly due to partisan attacks from the local populations of both cities. When they left Dornwich was hit by a massive bomb from orbit in retaliation for the partisan attacks.”

“I see that the educational system on Apollo six needs an overhaul.” Maiha snarled. The main reason for her displeasure was that as an educator herself now she found the total lack of coverage for that dark period in the planets history deplorable. “Remind me to have a discussion with the local OECH before we leave for home, Katsumi.”

“Am I missing something here cousin?” I asked in confusion. I was still having problems with grasping the fact that the Empress was really my great granduncle James. Let alone being relate to her.

“Nothing you need to worry yourself with right now cousin. What did your mother tell you about your great grandmother?” Maiha asked me.

“Well, this is more family lore than anything else. According to mom, Grandma Cecilia and her boyfriend at the time led a small band of resistance fighters during the Black November attack in the Farmingroy Snow Fields region outside of Otowood. I’m not really sure this part is true, but they say that her boyfriend at the time was a former Death Dealer. Who was honorably discharge after being wounded on Cerberus six. Anyway, mom said he was the one to teach my great grandma how to fight the Cheeseheads. Mom didn’t know his name; I don’t think anybody really does. The one thing that we do know for sure is he died during an attack on a Cheesehead fuel depot on the tenth day of the raid.” I told her trying to remember all that mom had told me about my great grandmother. “That and he was also my great grandfather.”

“It truly seems that the blood of more than just one hero runs through your veins and soul young man.” Reverend Mother Katsumi said to me kindly. “Do you know what happened to your great grandmother after the raid?”

“She took a position in Kingsport with the local weather station following the raid. She wasn’t able to go back to college because of my grandfather. After that it my mom and uncle. She spent her last years raising my mom and uncle after grandpa died in that mine collapse saving half his crew. She died before I was old enough to know her.” As I told Maiha of great grandma Cecilia’s life I saw a sadness come over her like a great cloud of darkness.

“Alone. She died alone and it was my damned fault for not double checking that report.” Maiha snarled as she slammed her first into the nearest wall. She slowly looked over at me. “I’m sorry for all that your family has gone through Robert. None it should have happened. I should have been here for my sister and her family.”

“What could you have done? You were a Death Dealer. You had your duty to the Empire. She had her duty to my family. I do have to ask one question. Why didn’t you double check this report you’re talking about?” I asked Maiha. I had to know this one answer if nothing else.

“What do you know of the bomb that was dropped on Dornwich?” Katsumi asked me quickly. As if she was testing me.

“Nothing really. Just that it is one of those bombs that has to be dropped from orbit.” I answered honestly.

“The bomb that was used to destroy Dornwich was a KT-one-ninety orbital strike bomb. They’re designed to do one thing and one thing only. Kill cities with one strike. The standard blast radius is just over four-thousand square miles. There are heavier KT orbital strike bombs that can obliterate even large areas. The one thing all of these bombs have in common is this. Nothing survives within the blast radius.” Maiha told me with a certainty that can only come from a lifetime of military experience. She looked down at her folded hands and sighed. “When I heard that the Cheeseheads dropped a one-ninety on Dornwich. I knew that my sister was dead.”

“You didn’t know that she was more than four-thousand miles away.” I said before sighing. “You had no reason to think otherwise. After all she was still in school and should have been at university in Dornwich. Not trapsing through the frozen Farmingroy Snow Fields.”

Maiha just nodded her head as she looked me in the eyes. “And now we come to the choice you must make Robert. Leave Apollo six and live a life of relative normalcy on the Isla of Sky, Home World of the Owens clan or join the Empyreal Army to the wider universe.”

“Before I give my answer why do I have to join the military? Why can’t I just sign on with a freighter crew?” The way I figured it I should have more than just the two choices.

“The answer is simple, Robert. You are the last living descendant to the Owens bloodline, the last true descendant of Stephen Owens, and only you can claim the title of the Wallace.” When Maiha told me that I was the heir to the Wallace I almost shit my pants. “Someone that every last High Family in the Human Empire would kill to get their hands on. Your relatives on Isle of Sky would lay waste to entire planetary systems to get you back.”

“I know this is going to sound stupid. Just who are these relatives?” I asked fearing the answer to come.

“The Owens Clan, the alpha and omega, of the most feared pure human warriors in all of history. The Blood Line Warriors. Genetically breed to be faster, stronger, and more intelligent than any other human in history.” Maiha answered bluntly. “Men and women who were breed and trained for one purpose. To dance the Endless Waltz of War.”

I could only think of one thing at hearing who my relatives were. “Can this day get any fracking crazier?”

The door to the shuttle compartment burst open as one of the bodyguards rushed in. “Empress Maiha there is an inbound Gorgonzola attack fleet.”

The Reverend Mother Katsumi turned to look me in the eyes. “A word of advice my new student. Never tempt the fates. They tend to fulfill your wishes.”

-----tbc-----