The Galaxy

Democratic buildings were all dull, grey structures, Brutalist architecture, reaching to the skies like alien monoliths, standing silent and dormant. It was meant to remove all the beauty in the world, and replace it with what the Dux deems filthy degenerate trash like those monoliths. To burn it all down was one of the Dux's pastimes when he was bored. And, indeed, that was exactly what he was doing when he ordered the execution of Order 291, which involved the destruction of an entire city with the use of orbital bombarding.

The Imperial Starship Flames of Wrath and Mercy drifted through space gently, like a massive, gigantic sentinel, awesome and beautiful. From afar, it looked like a very terrestrial Gothic cathedral, with tall, pointed roofs, pillars, flying buttresses, and bulletproof stained glass windows. Statues lined the side of the ship, with guns in the spaces between the statues. At the front of the Flames, however, was a massive, large-calibre gun capable of firing a tungsten rod at Mach 10, as well as a massive beam of laser with very little diffusion. Its power was first shown to the Democracy in 3205 during the Battle of Alpha Centauri, when the entire fleet was lined up horizontally, and allowed for the power of the massive cannon to be realised, as when the lasers were fired, the entire 100-ship fleet turned into debris, floating eternally through space.

This time, however, the guns weren't pointed at a fleet, nor was it prepared to fire a laser. It was now prepared to fire a tungsten rod at Mach 10, towards a massive mining city floating through space within a massive asteroid. The Dux made sure that all the non-combatant citizens were all evacuated; he wasn't a murderer. However, before it could be taken, the massive city, a great economic venue responsible for producing 12% of the Democracy's weapons in the Sol System, was immediately retaken and reoccupied by an entire army. To save some time, it was decided that the ISS Flames of Wrath and Mercy would instead just completely obliterate the asteroid city, but not before he had the leader of the previous army watch him. The Democratic general was brought to the bridge, nearly incapable of basic Human functions like the moving of muscles thanks to the nervous machinery on his neck. All he could move were his eyes and his head, nothing more.

As the enemy general was wheeled into the bridge by a junior officer, he had to wait for the Dux, who purposefully made him wait a long time. The wheelchair was facing the entrance to the bridge. For an hour, he waited, alone, unable to move. He was suffering, his tears welling up. His basic rights to even moving his body were taken away. That was when the doors opened.

From the darkness emerged a man. He was a remarkable-looking man, suave in style, but having the face of a hard man. He had a white peaked cap atop his head, and a light blue uniform to match. The light blue uniform looked like it was from the 18th Century, with a red collar with golden filigree, shiny buttons, and gold tassels. He also wore a Sam Browne belt, as well as fringed epaulettes. However, he was not as terrifying as the man who followed closely behind him.

Standing at nearly two metres, a silhouette emerged from the darkness, a long, flowing cape that reached the man's ankles. Every step he took clacked against the steel flooring on the bridge. His cape was as red as blood. He wore a grey suit very reminiscent of a knightly suit of armour, except it was more articulated, more intricate, more complicated, allowing for more movement. And, unlike knightly suits of armour, his was matte grey, refusing to give off a shine. Three massive plumes at the top of his helmet was the most prominent feature of the helmet, coloured as red as his cape. This was a man who must not be messed with, was the immediate thought of the disabled general. The armoured man walked in front of the general, while the uniformed man walked towards the end of the bridge, looking out into space, into the massive asteroid that was also a city.

The armoured man suddenly sprouted a sort of appendage from his back, slender and small, almost like the leg of a spider, but more articulated. It crept its way to the nervous machinery, and soon, the general found himself able to move his mouth, his face, and his arms. However, that was all that was granted to him. The general wiped his eyes. "How does it feel to be trapped in your own body?" asked the armoured man in a deep and distorted voice. The general shook his head. "Painful," he replied.

The armoured man grabbed the wheelchair and moved it to the end of the bridge, beside the admiral. "You see that city you defended? The city of Nores?"
"Y-yes," replied the general.
"That city has been evacuated, and is now filled with your comrades, who plan to defend it. I understand the significance of this city, and I understand why your comrades fought hard to defend it. However, I no longer want it. Now, I spit on it. I spit on its name, and I spit on its significance. Prepare to witness the awesome power of the Flames of Wrath and Mercy."

At first, the general thought that the 'flames of wrath and mercy' was an allegory for something. Some poetic or spiritual significance to the Imperial culture. That was not the case. The armoured man looked to the admiral, then nodded. The admiral turned around and raised his voice, saying at the top of his lungs, "Prepare to fire!" The various people in the bridge gave out reports of energy levels, of loaded rods, of energy output. In less than a minute, the gun was prepared to fire. That was reported, too. "Fire!" was the admiral's reply. And so, in what seemed to be such a little amount of time, a massive hold was drilled dead centre of the asteroid, right below the city. At first, nothing happened, but a split second later, the asteroid began to break into a cloud of dust and rubble. The city was rocked, and the outwards force split the city into little pieces. The biodome shattered, and the vacuum of space sucked out the oxygen, and with it, the soldiers, the buildings, and the vehicles. In less than a second, and entire army had been wiped out. From the distance, it wasn't even dramatic, not in the slightest. It was like shooting a pistol at a rock.

However, the general could only watch as his comrades drifted in space. The appendage once again reached for his collar, and again, disabled the man. The young officer from early on emerged from the bottom of the bridge, then began to push the man's wheelchair away.

The armoured man, none other than Dux Lionheart himself, walked towards the uniformed admiral, then observed. Suddenly, from the dark emptiness of space, he saw a blue light, too dim to be a star, too close, as well. An engine firing up. The Dux could now see it. "Admiral, enemy ship at our twelve," he said. The admiral acknowledged this when he saw the light, as well. "Ship to our twelve!" he shouted; "All frontal guns, bear front!" The three turrets at the front adjusted, as seen from the rather tall command tower. They all aimed at the blue thing. "Guns ready to engage!" somebody shouted. "Fire!"

A massive green beam of directed energy fired in the path of the machine, followed by a salvo of guns. The explosions of the powder couldn't be heard from the command tower, but the massive amount of recoil, along with the smoke and the flashing, could be seen. Massive high explosive rounds fired and hit the enemy ship, but the autocannons from the smaller turrets fired armour piercing rounds at great succession, unlike the massive two-gunned turret, with two massive 500mm guns on the turret.

The enemy ship was destroyed, but even then, he gave the order to attack the ship, search for any survivors, kill any who resist, capture anyone who doesn't. The Dux has a lot of interrogation to do.