PALE GREEN STARS (RATCHET X OC)

BEHIND THE DEVIL'S EYES

Chapter 32 ~ Behind the Devil's Eyes

The room was definitely not like the one at home. Firstly it didn't have a separate door for the council to enter. It wasn't nearly as large as the one back it home either. The grand council room was large enough to allow the public to observe sentences and public meetings if someone wished to. And instead of a bench that housed all twelve members so they could look down on the accused. The medium-sized room only contained an oval table with a built-in projector in the middle of it. And twelve chairs, some broken and some toppled over, weren't big and luscious. Rather they were small and if I had to guess slightly uncomfortable. The skeletons in the room filled the chairs six of the chairs or I supposed at some point did. On account of a couple of them laid on the dusty and dried blood-stained floor.

"It's hard to pinpoint how they've died," I said, examining the skeletons. "And as always I can't tell when, but if I had to guess it was around the time of the fall."

"But they are grand council members right?" Asked Ratchet.

Surveying the room at each victim it's easy to pinpoint the same cog and wing patch on each of the uniforms on their chests. Though many things have changed over the years, a few things haven't. One, women weren't allowed to be part of the grand council or any high position like a general for example, which is utterly ridiculous if you ask me, and the mark of the councilmen. An eight-pronged cog with a pair of wings. I nodded confirming his suspisions.

"But why are they here?" Clank asked. "And is this every one of the council members?"

As I'm standing up I'm making sure to not miss any details. Anything that might explain what had happened. "Looks like a disagreement that ended in a fight to me." Ratchet said.

A fair point to say, but that didn't seem right to me either. The council has always comprised of twelve members, but only six bodies were here. But if I remembered correctly who was still alive after the fall then that would mean...

"No..."I said as the wheels in my head began to turn. " this was planned. Look, almost half of the chairs are filled by the victims. The only ones who are not accounted for were my father, your father, the three council members that survived, and our current leader Brashir McCoy."

The moment his name left my lips, dread started to seep in. Aside from my father and Kaden, the other four made it to Kiada. But over the course of these past twenty-three years, those three members died. Unexpectedly. The only one that was investigated was the very last councilman out of those three. His wife had found him dead with a blaster in his hand.

It was deemed a suicide, on account of survivors' guilt, but no note was ever found. And now out of every member, only Brashir remained. The esteemed savior of the lombaxes and ruler for the past twenty-three years.

"The same guy who's been in power all this time?" Ratchet asked, drawing my attention. I nodded, but I still couldn't even utter a word. Even if the unthinkable was true. I couldn't just jump to conclusions, even if I've never liked the guy. But the way all of these valiant men have died. This wasn't mercy, it was murder. Cold-blooded and unremorseful. A shiver ran through my spine as I thought of the victims' families. How did they react knowing their husbands, sons, or even brothers never made it? Or worse MIA?

All at the hands of one person.

I took a deep breath trying to remind myself that I still had no evidence to convict Brashir of such a thing. "Let me be wrong." I thought over and over again. "Please let me be wrong."

But then Clank's and Ratchet's voices broke through my thoughts. And for once I wish I hadn't been listening.

"It seems the cameras have been destroyed by a blaster." Clank had said.