8 False Prince of the Garghonov Family

As we neared the Palace gates I noticed a golden inscription on them. It says:

"The Gargoyle residence"

Just that. On the gates of the secondary Imperial Palace of the greatest Imperium ever to exist there is an inscription that would be more suitable for a minor noble or merchant family.

And it's not even their family name, but their opprobrious family nickname. They actually carry it with pride since it was first given to the founder of the dynasty, the one that brought them to power.

Sebastian VI Ghargonov. The most powerful man of his time.

We entered the Palace grounds without a problem. Until we came up to an enormous man who loudly greeted us:

"Hey there, Lucian! Long time no see! What made you come back after such a long time on your little vacation?" He said the last word with a lot of sarcasm. I could feel the grip of the guard holding me getting tighter.

'Yay, I'm about to see some guy-guy action.' I thought for myself.

"Gregory." He whispered the name with such hate that I felt my ass freeze from the coldness. I'm the only one who heard him so I whispered to him:

"Let go of my arm and you'll never see him again. What do you say?"

I kinda expected to get beaten up by him on the spot for trying to bribe him.

"How was it, then? Won't you answer your old friend and your superior?"

'Now I get it. This Gregory is a tyrannical superior officer, probably a prefect. Let's help those poor ten thousand underlings of his. Hehe.'

"Ok. Make it look like you overpo..." Lucian started to give me approval and a bit of advice on how to make it look accidental. I just tossed him over myself and he hit the ground with such force that he lost conscience. Then I pulled out his pen in the same move and transformed it into a pike. I stabbed it directly towards the tyrannical prefect.

He wasn't there.

My mind started working and I crouched next to the unconscious guard's bag and pulled out a pen out of my pocket. I transformed it into an assault rifle and then dodged the incoming giant.

'He moves quite fast for an average human being without gene modification and no additives except external equipment. I fought against God forsaken aliens of New Srentos, rebellious cyborgs of Aquan-Tyrek and even scarier species I can't even name. Yet, a chill goes down my spine when I fight my old countrymen and I cannot let out my real strength out. Why is that?'

"You dumb idiot! You think you can attack an Imperial guard on Imperial ground and survive?! FOOL!!" He roared and leaped at me with a Warhammer in his hands. I rolled to the side and burst of bullets at him. He landed near Lucian, his hammer hitting the ground and smashing a hole in the pavement.

I sighed.

"Why do you have to be so loud, Gregory?"

He nearly tripped over his own feet when he heard me use his name.

"How do you know my name, you bastard?!" He roared again after he regained his composure. This didn't surprise me. How could a single taunt stop an Imperial Guard?

He closed in on me at a horrifying speed. It is unbelievable how fast that guy is, he has over three and a half meters. He is a giant even by Gronosian standards.

I started laughing. He was taken aback by my reaction to a charge that would rout a smaller army.

He stopped.

Boom.

He fell, brainless.

Looks like I took part in guy-guy action. Shit.

I was soon surrounded by a shield wall. Whole fight had only taken less than a minute. And they already mobilized more than a hundred guards within that time.

So sick.

And then a strong demanding voice boomed all around us.

"GUARDS!!!AT EASE!!"

Even I nearly lowered my weapon because of the strength that this voice has. A real commanding voice that doesn't need messengers to command on the chaotic battlefield.

A voice of a Garghonov.

"Who are you, young man?" A sturdy man in his sixties asked me in a simple yet dangerous voice.

"I am Shorty. And I..."

"I DIDN'T ASK YOU WHAT DO YOU WANT!!!" He boomed again. I nearly shitted my pants from the sudden noise.

'This situation is getting increasingly annoying.'

"Now. What do you need from my guards?" He lowered his voice back to normal again. Such a demanding person.

"I have information that the Emperors are in the mood to talk with me." I spit out my words fast before he interrupts again.

"Emperors?" He lifted his eyebrow questioningly.

"Don't play me for a fool, Prince Sebastian. Because I don't like to be played around with." I scratched the back of my head, put on my most charmingly vicious smile and said.

"And next time advise your father to send the Guard to get some important figure to the chatting room. Those Nameless assassins are not up to the task. Waste of money to put it a little better." I added.

'Let's see if this way works. If not, well, then I can always just fulfill the task from the Core and get to my dreamland.'

My bittersweet smile and my casual behavior sure had to be scary to them. I am dancing on the razor's edge, yet I'm smiling like I'm the boss here.

Madman's smile. I think that's how they call it.

"Well then, Shorty. Why don't you come with me? My father and his father-in-law are waiting for you." Sebastian then smiled as somebody told him a mild joke, not too funny, not too lame. Just perfect.

The guards then moved without a word. They went back to their respective posts and let the Prince lead me to the Emperor's cabinet.

We walked in silence.

A man in a black military uniform, an unkempt beard, and a scared face. And a man with a brand new blue uniform, clean face and, most important of all...

Hair.

I thought he will take me to the main building but he took me to a shed. An Imperial shed.

"Impressed?" He asked me with a smile.

"Actually I am. Who would think that Imperial sheds are so rundown?" I answered in a fake impressed tone.

"This is no shed, it is my residence." He laughed. I laughed together with him.

A two-meter tall man laughing at a three-meter tall man's living place. Haha. So funny.

He opened the doors and gestured me to come inside. And I did.

Then I remembered something.

"Are the Emperors hiding in here? I think we have a common topic to discuss."

"You think? Well, you should continue thinking since it works so good for you." He scoffed.

After a short pause, Sebastian threw a bomb at me.

"I am the Emperor of Pangras."

'How could that be!? Shouldn't the old Emperor Crass be just a hundred years old?' my mind started overheating. I thought of many ways this situation could happen. One of them being assassination.

"Well, should I call you Your Majesty now?" I wondered.

"No, of course not. And you're gonna tell me everything you know about the plans the Core has for our planet." he waved his hand and then pretty much ordered me to talk.

"And what if I don't or can't talk about that?" I lifted a brow.

"You die." Emperor shrugged and smiled.

"Well then. What do you want to know?" I smiled and thought:

'Life's good no matter how bad it is.'

"What happened at the Wimros' SF base?" He started lightly with a question he knew the answer to.

"You were attacked by a previously prepared force of cyborgs that was hidden under the base. Their chief of staff was legate Arnold. His rank in the Core's army is lieutenant. Second in command was a former centurion Mark Harckson, his real name and rank are Second lieutenant Jay Grayson. The future plans are the same as always, as far as I know, that is. I spent time doing this and that for their army for the last fifteen years." I answered sincerely.

"At least you noticed that I know the answer to this one." He smirked.

"Well, Sebastian, I know that Aurelius Imp survived. As did everyone in those four squads that were alive when I left." I shrugged."So he could've reported the happenings of that incident. It's not the big deal of info."

"And what did you exactly do for them in the outer space?"

"I told you already. Running around and doing some dirty work for them."

"What planet did you last visit as a soldier of the Core?" He continued throwing questions at me at a constant speed, as soon as I answer one he asks another.

"That should be Mirith."

"Mirith? Never heard of it. And trust me, I know every single planet we have in our Inquision and I've heard of many others outside of it. So where is it?" He asked with surprise. He really mustn't know any details about Mirith. It is completely destroyed ten years in the future and he could get a weird idea of saving it from Core's assault.

"There's nothing special about it, it is just like Khoto, barren. No valuable resources, only hard to kill aliens." I explained the situation with not a very honest explanation. It is rich in very rare resources, some of which can only be found there. It is at least fifty times bigger than Gronos and its population is proportional. They were on their way to start space traveling to send the excess population away.

That would mean a colossal force even stronger than Gronos would arise. The Core eliminated the threat by doing a preventive strike. They tossed a nuke into the core of the planet and then salvaged the remains for valuable resources.

Brutal, yet effective.

I was sent to reckon the potential they got for fast expansion through their respective galaxy. When I got there by warping I saw that they were already starting the engines of their shuttles and spaceships. I sent a message to my coordinator and he commenced the attack.

In the next fifteen days, the planet was no more.

"What are you thinking about now, Shorty?" My silence intrigued Sebastian. He then threw another bomb at me:

"Do you know your name?"

It struck me like lightning. I am not sure of my name. Anne mentioned Max. But it is a nickname at best. It could be derived from many names.

'Let's just play it as it is.' I sighed and said:

"My name is Shorty, your highness. other names do not matter."

"Oh, but they do matter my dear new friend. You don't know it and I do. That's why I have the upper hand in this conversation. And that's why you'll do a job for me." Sebastian pointed a finger at me and smiled.

I started laughing. I laughed for ten or so minutes. When I finally stopped laughing, I sneered.

"I do not need to do a job for you. And I most certainly am not inferior to you in this conversation."

"So you still associate yourself with the Core?" He seemed flabbergasted by my behavior.

"No. I do not. They gave me one last task before they let me go, so I'm basically a free man now." I shrugged.

"What's the task?" He raised his eyebrow and asked with some real curiosity.

"Watch your family, Emperor. Watch your family." I said and went for the doors.