The Dark Mage

Chapter 11: Prince Darius's Revenge

      After waiting for the end of the Selenese Civil War, prince Darius's patience finally paid off. Neither the Confederate Republic of South Selene nor the Selenese Empire had the will to defend themselves from him as he contemplated what he might do to them. Darius, the deformed Valkyrie prince, then remembered how perhaps rather than waste the lives of his Valkyries bombarding the Selenese from orbit in his stolen Andrew Jackson class dreadnoughts and destroying any spoils he might gain, he would rather negotiate with queen Ariana and use force only if necessary.

     And so, prince Darius met with queen Ariana in her royal court as she sat on the throne of the Selenese Empire. And on her throne, she looked at Darius from a position of authority dressed in her elegant robe with her silver crown and dark hair cascading down to her waist. And even though Ariana's elegant robe was quite modest, Darius could still see she had an athletic frame. Queen Ariana then asked Darius with confidence, "What brings you to my royal court out of anyone you could have asked? Have you come to ask me for a date, because if you have, I am not interested. Why have you really come to me, prince Darius?"

     Prince Darius then said in a cocky tone, "I have come to make your queendom an offer. I see what the civil war has done with your queendom, and if I were to follow in my drunken father's footsteps, I would have destroyed the remnants as part of a pointless conquest for vainglory. But I am not my father, and I seek peace in exchange for those Valkyries under my care to become citizens and to rebuild your queendom."

     Queen Ariana then laughed, "A Valkyrie not wanting war and conquest? Since when did your culture ever make anything of value rather than pillage and being a parasite on the achievement of others?"

     Prince Darius then looked into queen Ariana's eyes, "You see... I am not like most Valkyries and was disowned by my father for not chasing after pointless bloodshed while he sacrifices nothing. Unlike them who engage in drunken outbursts for pleasure and prostitutes, I was studying the ways of your queendom's great philosophers as well as those of the Szolsurans such as Euthyphthra, Euripus, Thessalonius, the 9-tailed Amenhotep, and even the great Kitsune mystic Victor Kitsune. So, I am well acquainted with ways other than vainglory and conquest. And perhaps it has not occurred to you that my willingness to negotiate rather than destroy the queendom and confederacy is a sign I am not like those primitive Valkyries following their immediate visceral desires."

     Queen Ariana then playfully rested her chin on her scepter with a Byzantine cross on it while contemplating Darius's inflated ego. Queen Ariana then said, "If your Valkyries desire to become my citizens, they will need to first swear allegiance to my queendom and conform to our ways and customs. If they will not do this, they will not be treated as citizens but as invaders."

     Queen Ariana then looked downward towards Darius from her throne before saying, "Do you understand clearly my terms, prince Darius? Are you willing to accept my terms? If not, take your Valkyries with you, and leave my queendom at once."

     Prince Darius then mockingly bowed with his deformed spine and said, "As you wish. I just hope you still have that Tanuki Natalia with you, but I see you don't. So, I'll be leaving."

     Prince Darius then left queen Ariana's palace with his Valkyries and rejoined his commanders aboard one of the stolen Andrew Jackson class dreadnaughts. Prince Darius then gave the order to his commanders, "Target all space force military targets in both the Selenese nations now that the Tanuki girl and her friends have destroyed Ironhenge. Motivate both queen Ariana and the dictator of the confederacy to negotiate."

     Darius's commanders then did as they were told and had their stolen Andrew Jackson class dreadnaughts bombard all space force instillations from orbit. And with Ironhenge destroyed in the Selenese Civil War, both the Selenese Empire and Confederacy of South Selene were completely defenseless. Darius then left a video message for both the dictator of the Confederacy of South Selene and queen Ariana that said, "To the rulers of your respective nations. I have no interest in destroying you, but perhaps the destruction of your orbital defenses will serve to motivate you towards the right decision. Now, you can either cooperate, or in the next 23 hours, I will have my commanders pick new targets for orbital bombardment. Make. Your. Choice."

     And the Confederacy and Selenese Empire seeing no other choice, they immediately surrendered to prince Darius to buy time for their next plan of action. Meanwhile, Natalia, Buck, and Titania just had their plans to return to Kansas foiled with Darius's orbital bombardment.

--------------

Did you know this?

Andrew Jackson class Dreadnaughts (AJD): AJD's and their abilities to make a Star Wars analogy are roughly the firepower of an Imperial II star destroyer. However, unlike an Imperial Star Destroyer, AJD's are much more balanced in their armaments and actually have point defense weapons to render missiles and small star fighters ineffective against them. Their weapons placement is also more evenly spread out across the outer hull of the AJD as opposed the Imperial Star Destroyer it took inspiration from. This makes it so there is not a safe direction in which to attack the AJD. However, unlike the Imperial Star Destroyer, the AJD does not have a docking hanger for star fighters and is often accompanied by a carrier and other support ships with the main role of the AJD being anti-capital ship combat and orbital bombardment. And because of its limited role, it depends on cooperation of support ships to be effective.