We Resolve this with Violence

Chaos overtook the throne room.

From the blast point, a flurry of bullets ripped across the floor up the walls. Any noncombatant in the room ran for their lives while the soldiers dove for cover as the line of death reached for them. A moment later, twenty men burst through the opening and started shouting. The Emperor struggled to get up. The blast had hit him the hardest, and his men, still in shock, were too late to offer up resistance as the Earthlings took the palace by gunpoint.

"Alright, everyone guns down, the lot of you!" Captain Anderson shouted. "Secure the target, now!"

"Uh, right away, sir!" Warrant Officer Daniel picked out the familiar face and approached with four men. "Over here, Sam."

"Captain…" Sam's breath was gone. He did it, she thought. Despite the punishment he was sure to receive now, Reynolds came for his daughter.

Sam attempted to make a break for it, but a force struck her from behind, and she was slammed to the ground. Kalin's hand held her by the neck, his body pulsing with rage-fueled zaps.

Anderson pointed his sidearm at him. "Hands off!"

Kalin glanced around. The Earthlings were lining up against the bulk of the royal guards, but Szeer was completely cut off, being watched by the rear guard. They didn't realize it, but they both had a hostage.

Anderson aimed for the head. "Give us the girl, or you won't leave this room alive."

"Is this how we're doing this? Compliance by gunpoint?"

"I'm not the one threatening to kill a child."

"That statue back there. The one you just blew into smithereens. My wife helped create that monument. She blessed it with holy fire. You don't care about that?"

Anderson stepped forward. "I don't."

Kalin's grip tightened around Sam's neck. The Pandemians outnumbered them six to one. He could sense their fragile morale. They couldn't take them in a straight-up fight, but her story and their equipment frightened him. Sam wasn't lying. They were better equipped than Devol.

"Have them all point at me," Kalin stated. "I'll let her go then."

Anderson's confidence soared. "All eyes on Sam!"

And his men complied. True to his word, Kalin released his grip, and Sam was free. The girl fumbled forth, seeking the safety of the armed men. A few steps later, she would be free. Their distraction only lasted a split second, but enough guards read Kalin's ploy as the moment to strike, and a volley of rifle fire struck the Earthling line. Several toward the front fell to their knees, wounded. One was dead on the spot. Kalin was ready to pounce, about to launch into their formation and fry them all at once, when the Earthlings squeezed the trigger, and the room became a warzone.

The Earthlings ripped through the crowd in seconds, causing a rout. Attempts were made to use the pillars around them or hide behind their shields, but the special rounds of ammunition blew through their defenses and the guards behind them. Men tumbled, tile cracked. A piercing scream overtook the room as Princess Uzalu saw waves die before her before Yapul and company whisked her out.

Only Kalin strode forth, shaken but not broken, as his reflexes proved faster than the panicked attackers' full auto. He retook Sam as a hostage and also as a human shield. As expected, the soldiers couldn't risk shooting the target, but Anderson called his bluff. Anderson's pistol reached out, aiming right at Kalin's head, but Kalin disappeared as he pulled the trigger. The commander blinked, unsure if he blasted the man away when a jab from underneath him knocked the gun from his hand.

Kalin's engagement was perfect as he pushed Sam back toward his men. Anderson, off-balanced, stared down at the Pandemian with contempt, reaching for his knife, but his planned duel was cut short as Kalin grabbed his face. With full electricity in his palm, the Pandemian zapped Anderson several thousand volts before grabbing his body armor and lunging at the others with him as his new meat shield. The Earth soldiers tried to line up a shot, but the Pandemian was too quick, and Kalin initiated a game of tag where everyone he could get close to either got a debilitating bolt or was killed outright by a shot straight through the heart.

A fresh wave of Pandemians swarmed the throne room, emboldened by their Captain's tenacity. They charged the distracted Earthlings and stabbed them with overwhelming numbers, their sandals trampling over the dead and wounded. The shooting halted as the two sides descended into a desperate melee.

Kalin fought gracefully in the haze of the melee when he felt a puncture hit him in the shoulder. He felt Anderson's breath on his hand.

"Fucking die!" Anderson coughed, his arm swinging for another stab.

Kalin caught the knife and struggled with the singed commander, still fighting despite all of the damage done to him. A prayer was offered. Kalin muttered to himself in the melee."My Lord, bless this hand." Kalin aimed for the hole outside. "With mine hand, give me revenge. Burn like your words do. Begone!"

Anderson was already dead before he fired, his face melted clean off in the intense heat, and as his corpse left Kalin's glowing grasp, the battle paused to see the light, and the Pandemians disengaged. Whatever the light touches would die.

Kalin unleashed his lightning bolt. It shot through the dense melee, electrocuting men on both sides, out the hole in the wall, and straight through the two Albatrosses holding fast outside. Both immediately short-circuited and crashed into the garden. The rear gunship got hit through one of its fuel tanks, and the resulting explosion blew a chunk out of its side along with sensitive components in the other's wing. The resulting damage caused the melee to a break and a standoff. Kalin headed his vanguard, standing against the line of guns."Your birds are dead, Earthlings," Kalin said. "Surrender now or die."

The table had turned in their favor, and Kalin stood ready to eliminate the remaining soldiers when a new volley of fire reignited the hostilities. The Earthlings were green, unprepared for the deadly conflict they were mired in, but they were drilled well enough to reload under pressure.

"Call for an organized retreat," Daniel said. "Get the third albatross landed for immediate extraction."

Behind them, Sam made a break for the hole in the wall. Her escape went unnoticed as the fight escalated behind her when she jumped out into the courtyard over the rubble. The coast seemed clear until she realized she had jumped with someone.

"Guards!" Shouted Szeer, panicked by their proximity. "Get out here!"

Sam immediately kicked him in the balls. It wasn't the smartest move for sure, but it came naturally.

"I'm sorry, my lord!" She cried.

“Help…me…”

Three of his guards followed behind and made a run for them. Szeer's hand reached for his shortsword, ready to prove his mettle as a warrior, too, but Sam pulled it out first. The long halberds stabbed and slashed at Sam, but her wits and weapon kept them at bay until she was thrust back to the edge of the castle.

Sam felt time slow down, watching all three men shoot for the killing blow. She wished this was a nightmare or that someone would save her, but that moment wasn't coming. Therefore, it had to be her. She couldn't solely rely on Snu and the others. The fight for her life was hers.

Sam grabbed the poles under her arm, and with a swing and a pull, the royal guards were tossed in all directions with their poles discarded behind Sam. Now unarmed, they pulled their sidearms, a few rudimentary pistols, but a flash of Sam's sword cut the fingers off two of the guards and the wrist of the third. The act was painful for Sam. Once again, she was dismembering those she promised peace to, but peace would be made as the guards were gunned down instantly by an Albatross. The third squad arrived with a new batch of men.

"Hold it right there!" The sergeant barked. His rifle pointed toward Szeer. "Hands where I can see them!"

The Emperor complied immediately, his eyes darting around to find an exit strategy, but none could be found. They were in the Emperor's private garden, so there were no easy ins or outs for commoners to reach. Meanwhile, eight Earthlings, carrying the wounded, emerged from the breach ready for extraction. The Emperor was trapped.

Sam ran into the third squad, and they immediately took her in and escorted her to the Albatross.

"There you are, ma'am!" The sergeants said, aghast at seeing how messy the girl had become. "Hop aboard. We'll get you back to your dad."

Sam agreed and buckled in, though the moment she did, guilt overtook her. Her dreams had been shattered, and a hundred men were dead because of her blunder. That was the cost of this diplomatic mission. She would've made this world better if she didn't speak so carelessly.

Suddenly, the comms turned hot. "Disengage all craft! I repeat, disengage! Mass relay jammers have been activated. You have ten minutes to lay low! I repeat, lay low! The EVO are in system!"