A Royal Privilege: A Jupiter Ascending Fan-Fiction: Book 3

Chapter 13: The Battle Lines

Jupiter walked from Famulus's room, shaken to her soul. She pondered that conversation which left more questions than answers. Glancing at Caine, who was waiting by the doorway, she asked, "You heard that? Famulus still believes me to be pregnant."

"Yeah, I heard," he said. Jupiter turned from him. Caine followed, reaching out, wishing to embrace her.

"Don't touch me," she shouted with a raised voice.

"I would never hurt you," he promised.

"But you could hurt Famulus?"

"That's different. She's a Splice." Jupiter looked at him, mortified. "I mean... a Splice who tried to kill me," he backtracked.

"How are the sentiments behind your words, any different from the men who did that to her?"

"I would never do that," he confessed. "That, is an intimate act used to slowly torment, when it's faster to simply shoot her in the head."

Horrified, Jupiter rebuttaled, "The fact that you can casually state, I'd simply shoot her in the head, frightens me! What did you do in The Legionnaires?" He didn't answer. "Are we back HERE again, Caine? Where I ask a question, and you refuse to answer? Letting me know that whatever you did, was pretty fucking terrible."

"Don't ask me, Jupiter. Please don't ask me. So, I don't have to lie to you."

"My god, what did you do?"

"Only what I was ordered to," he replied.

"Which was?" Caine remained silent. Emotions pooled in Jupiter's eyes. "Did you ever do... that?" She demanded, pointing in the direction of Famulus's Room.

"No. I never did that," he promised. "NEVER! Please believe me!"

"You know a lot about women. About how our bodies work in that department."

"Yes, because of Jams! Because of Sonia and Peach. Kara and Megs," he listed. "Along with several hundred other women I've known over the centuries. Not because I ever—"

"So, when you were a soldier in the Legion, you've never participated in doing... that?" she asked, point blank.

"No," he replied, firm in his convictions. "That wasn't us," he added.

Jupiter stepped back from him, appalled. "So, you knew this was going on, and frequently?"

"It's a tactic in war. The Legionnaires were sent in to bring a planet's population down—drastically. Once our job was done, if the company was still met with resistance, that's when they'd send in a specialized force to handle the other things." He took a breath. "It's a tactic that works, along with several others to make men surrender or talk. Why did you think I shot those men? Because I knew exactly what they were going to do to you! Did you think I wanted it to be YOU lying in that hospital bed? I would kill a million of them dead, before I'd let that happen!"

"Still, you let this go on." She turned her head, not able to look at him.

"How could I stop it? The moment I went against my Alpha, for NOT FOLLOWING ORDERS, I ended up in Dead Land Prison for 50 years!"

She lowered her eyes, and with a heavy heart realized... "It's The System."

"Yes," he confirmed. "And it's this same system that allows you to be a Queen and me to be a surf. When the rich find a planet with the resources they want, the indigenous population is FUCKED! Unless that planet is lucky enough to be owned by the Abrasax Family. That way, when the mass murdering takes place, it's done humanely. With everyone being unconscious, overseen by administrators, sanctioned by the Council, and witnessed by the Aegis." Jupiter couldn't speak, because there wasn't anything to refute. "In the Legion," he continued, "you follow orders, or you're put down! Those were my choices."