The Warlock, the Witch, and the Empire

Chapter 18 (+18)

Imperial Preator Cruiser Blackheart

Warning! This chapter is very dark. Not for the faint of heart. If you have the strength to look into the abyss, then come... and gaze into the DARK SIDE....

After the stomping victory over the rebels in Mantle, Imperial forces were hard at work turning the story around, even with control of the media.

After the entire city of Mantle was confirmed completely destroyed, the people that were in the floating city now officially being called Atlas in terms of a city instead of a kingdom were starting to question what was happening in order to do such a thing. Imperial control immediately made up the story about how terrorist rebels managed to use the so called 'Speech of Freedom' to incite a full-blown riot citywide in order to spread domestic terrorism throughout the continent of Solitas by starting the spread into Atlas city, had imperial forces not intervened. By confirming that everyone was involved in a city-wide rebellion that was intent of removing them from their comfy spots in Atlas city, most people were reluctantly accepting of the news given to them, as even the elites of the city were questioning if destroying the entire city of Mantle in a flood was a wide decision.

Nevertheless, what was done was done, and so the people had to accept the fact that they had cut ties with Mantle officially, with even a few people that had relatives in Mantle openly criticizing the Imperials moves in reacting to the rebellion, with Ironwood himself containing them 'for their own safety'.

With all that said and done, there was only one last loose end to tie up before they could make their global empire official: Vacuo.

During their inconvenience with Mantle and the few days it took to calm and organize themselves from the fallout of it all, the desert kingdom had been reluctant in their answer to joining their growing empire, the mounting pressure nearing eruption point. Though thanks to his probe droids taking a stealth approach, the Warlock learned the Vacuo's academy headmaster Theodore, had been secretly stealing Imperial tech gifted to them to start building up a rebellion of their own with their own weapons and munitions, and even developing their own personal shield generator to prevent an orbital bombardment like with Mantle.

After learning of what happened in Solitas, (Y/n) was quickly given a reply from Vacuo in the form of the entire kingdom announcing its own rebellion against the Imperials and stating that they would fight to the end to maintain their freedom.

Just another ember to douse before it turned into a flame of war.

Salem: "It seems that we have one last annoyance to take care of." She commented as she stood beside him in the bridge of the Blackheart, taking a break from the twins as she left them in the care of the nursing droids (Y/n) had built for this occasion.

And among them were everyone else in their group. Hazel, Tyrian, Cinder, Vernal, Adam and Ilia with a few White Fang members, and Admiral Maldice with the Hunters. Watts had decided to stay behind in Atlas city and aid Ironwood in progressing their new tech to improve the floating city, while Emerald and Mercury had taken a break to recover from the shock of what they had witnessed down in Mantle, Emerald most of all.

Anyway, they were currently watching Headmaster Theodore make his announcement on the holonet they had on hand with the rest of the crew able to listen in.

Theodore: "Today marks a day that will either be the beginning of our downfall, or our road to freedom. Ever since this kingdom was founded, it has not been perfect in terms of order and security, but it still maintained its freedom and individuality with a myriad of people and cultures to protect it. And now, this Galactic Empire comes out of nowhere and seduces the other three kingdoms into giving up their cultures and freedoms in exchange for the 'security and order' they preach of endorsing. Well I say to you, Vacuo will not be fooled!" He spoke with fiery defiance in his tone. "Vacuo has stood with beliefs of individuality for many decades before we all came along, even during the Great War of Remnant. We will not stand idly by and watch as our beloved planet falls under the heel of the jackboot pressing down on our collective throats! On this day, I and many other a Vacuoan stand today as rebels to the Empire that seeks to tame us and our lands for their own selfish needs! Join us, fellow Remnantians that aren't fooled by the Imperials silver tongues and fancy toys, as we fight not only for our lives, but for our future as well!" He sparked about, with the crowd cheering in support of his speech.