Chapter 206: Return of the Queen

Exiting hyperspace at the edge of the Ryloth system, Elara stood on the bridge of her own ship, the Nemesis as Seraphine stood next to her. Waiting close by, just a few minutes’ jump via hyperspace was hundreds of thousands of ships preparing for an invasion.

All these forces were gathered together for the plan that the two of them had come up to honor Malrik’s wish. They would come to the planet and demand a meeting with the current leadership. Once they were face to face with the current leadership, they would demand that they restore Seraphine ancestral right to the throne.

If they refused, which is very likely, then they would launch their own invasion of the planet and seize power from the nobles. Once that happens, Seraphine will officially be restored to the throne of the Kingdom of Rylothis and a war will be waged against those who stand against her.

Supporting her would be 50 million Gen’Dai marines, 10k Empyrean Guards, 20k Balance Keepers, and 5 Force Scions. The Balance Keepers, Empyrean Guards, and Force Scions were present in case of a Killik attack against them. Daimon may have approved of the plan, but Elara’s safety was his main concern.

She would be monitored and protected at all times and any sign of Aruun or anybody else will prompt the Balance Keepers to do whatever they needed to do to get her back to Veldari safely. The Balance Keepers were prepared to sacrifice their lives if they needed. The Emperor gave them an order, and they would uphold it no matter what they had to sacrifice.

Daimon would also create a Force Portal to her location as soon as something like that happens.

As the Nemesis approached the planet, Rylothis military forces had swarmed the ship and were about to get aggressive until they saw the emblem on the ship. That’s when they contacted their command and within minutes got different orders.

"Imperium ship, please state your business here in Rylothis." came a voice over the comm.

Elara pressed a button on her command chair to respond. "This is Queen Elara of the Veldari Imperium. I am here to meet with your leaders on a matter of utmost importance. Tell them to organize such meeting and prepare for my arrival." announced Elara.

The voice on the other end went quiet. He knew that what he just heard was not somebody asking for a meeting but giving an order. He had dealt with the Imperium before, and he knew not to play around with them as they could wipe them out in an instant, if they so choose.

He relayed what he heard to his superiors and then waited for a response. The response took a couple of minutes, he assumed because they were preparing themselves for the meeting.

Once the response came back, he was happy that his superiors didn’t try and fight back against this. "The Government has agreed to speak with you, please proceed to designated coordinates in orbit and then take no more than three shuttles to the second waypoint on the surface."

"Roger that," responded Elara as the coordinates came in. She transmitted them to the ship’s helmsman who started navigating towards the first one.

As the ship traveled through space towards the planet, civilian traffic was stopped by security ships as the Nemesis was too big to allow it to travel through the traffic. It was also to prevent other ships from getting to close as this was the Queen of the Imperium whom they were escorting here.

As the ship slowed down at the first waypoint, Elara and Seraphine were already in the hanger bay.

Elara looked at Seraphine who was a little nervous. "Don’t think about it too much okay." she said placing a hand on her shoulder. "I’ll be right there with you alongside my guards."

"Oh, I’m not worried about that. I just have a feeling that a lot of blood will be spilled today." Elara wanted to say something, but she decided against it since Seraphine was going to have to overcome this herself if she was going to be queen. The first mistake of being a leader is assuming blood wouldn’t be spilled. You could be in a time of peace, and there would always be blood spilled. That’s just how the universe worked.

"Just remember what I told you." was all Elara said as the two boarded their shuttle.

Minutes later, they landed at the palace and were escorted to where the Prime Consul and other government members were waiting for them.

Sitting in the room, the Prime Consul wondered what this emergency meeting was about. He hoped it was them coming to talk about the Killiks and the Imperium potentially giving them some help in case they do get attacked. He had seen the footage from circling around on the holonet, and he did not want to have to experience that.

Moments later, the doors were opened and in walked Seraphine, Elara, and their guards. From their appearance, he could tell that these were the Balance Keepers apart of the Imperial Guard. Unlike normal Balance Keepers, the ones in the Imperial Guard were the best of the best who were identified by the Daimon to serve as his stewards, protectors, and more.

He envied Daimon a lot. He was a man who had all the power, but he didn’t use it to conquer the galaxy. Instead, he just developed his empire and let the people live in paradise while the rest of the galaxy were mostly forced to fend for themselves.

’If I had that power,’ he thought as he was imaging what it would be like.

One of the nobles cleared his throat as he saw the Prime Consul lost in thought while the Queen sat across from them.

"Oh, excuse my manners your majesty Queen Elara. I am Prime Consul Ulaarin of the Kingdom of Rylothis and I would like to welcome your majesty to Rylothis." He then turned to the person sitting next to her and hesitantly did the same.

Everyone knew who Seraphine was as the people of the Kingdom wouldn’t let her name or image disappear from history. Despite the government trying to censor it, the people have managed to always spread information about the Princess across the systems. This was due in large part of the Imperial Intelligence Directorate. Daimon knew that one day Seraphine would return to take her rightful place because she was too kindhearted. He knew she couldn’t resist the urge to want to see her people thrive.

It was just unfortunate that such a time had to come at the expense of his son’s health.

"Now I won’t waste much of your time her Ulaarin," she said, completely ignoring his title as in her eyes, he no longer held that position. She motioned to one of the Balance Keepers who stepped up and projected a small hologram for all to see. "Effective immediately, Princess Seraphine is here to reclaim her birthright and will be appointed as Queen of the Kingdom of Rylothis. She has received full support from the Emperor himself and the Order of the Balance Keepers have been tasked with executing his will and assisting the Princess in all matters from here on out. Any objections will be met with force, and rebellions will be put down." Ulaarin was speechless. He didn’t know what to say after hearing such a bizarre announcement.

He was basically being kicked to the curb by the Imperium whom he only had good relations with. "Surely this is a joke?" he asked since there was no way this could be real. If this was a joke, then it was a pretty good one. If not, then this might be his last day alive.

"The Imperium doesn’t joke around when it comes to things like this. Can we hear your answer, if not then we will take that as your refusal and carry out the Emperor’s will."

"This is preposterous!" yelled one of the nobles. "The Princess has lost her claim after she abandoned her people hundreds of years ago. She had her chance and she ran away instead of helping her people. She has no right to the throne anymore."

"I must agree," said another noble. "The Imperium is overreaching with this announcement. I suggest we meet with the Emperor directly to discuss this."

Despite completely overlooking her and wanting to talk with Daimon directly, Elara turned and looked at Seraphine since it was time for her to decide how she wanted this to go.

Seraphine saw the look Elara was giving her and knew what she had to do. She grabbed one of the lightsabers from her hilt, her husbands, and she ignited, prompting the guards to try and aim their weapons at her. But the Balance Keepers had frozen them in place, making them unable to raise their weapons at all.

Seraphine pointed her blade at the Prime Consul and spoke, "If you won’t surrender, then I will have no choice but to take matters into my own hands." She leaped across the table and delivered a palm strike to Ulaarin’s chest, force pushing him into the wall and rendering him unconcious.

The other nobles all stood up, but the Balance Keepers had already moved in and subdued them.

"The Houses will never bow to you who abandoned the Kingdom so long ago. Nor will the people." shouted one of the nobles as their faces were forced into the floor.

"That is fine with me. I will force them to comply one way or another." she said as the Balance Keepers dragged the nobles out of the room. Once they were gone, she and Elara had started the next part of her plan. They both walked to the old throne room, and she took her seat on it while they started a broadcast to the entire Kingdom.

She announced her ascension to the throne, promising the people a golden age and a thousand years of prosperity. She also apologized for abandoning the people for so long and promised to set things right. She said a few other things too but kept the speech short.

In a matter of hours, people had taken to the streets in support of the Queen with supporters of the Prime Consul also taking to the streets. This resulted in mass riots and chaos as some local authorities who were corrupt and feeding off the hands of nobles refused to stop it.

And then, a few officers from the defense force for Rylothis tried to attack the palace and subdue Seraphine. But their attack was quickly thwarted by the Balance Keepers and this resulted in the Imperial marines descending across the capital to restore order.

After a few days had passed, the capital was secured, but out of the 8 great Houses, only 2 came to submit while the others formed a rebellion. Thus, the war began with Seraphine using what she learned in the Imperium to lead her forces against the tyrannical nobles.

She managed to overcome her fear of bloodshed as her resolve to bring peace to her people allowed her to see the path forward.