Phantom drop ship, Calypso Four, March of 163 AL.
Salem sat in the copilot's seat beside Augustus while Briarios and Soluna stood behind their chairs. All of them looked through the windshield with expressions of anger, horror, or a combination of the two.
Speaking frankly, the Jarls were glorified police commissioners; their job was to police and safeguard their star system, leading a small army of in its defense under the authority of the Empire. Outside of war time they served as governors, seeing to the welfare of the citizens within their borders. They were elected by the people, and they were free to govern as they wished within the fairly strict letter of the law. The empire's guidelines generally suggested a Jarl's office should be located in a small building in the center of the capital city on any colonized world in that Jarl's star system, small being a relative term; they were usually slightly taller than most other buildings in the city, often functioning as city hall. The "office" of Jarl Osmand of the Calypso system was a palace that rivaled Salem's own. It towered over the rest of the buildings and was adorned with massive banners and murals depicting the man in regal gowns. It was visible from the base of the skyhook, almost twenty kilometers away.
The capital city of Calypso Four was everything Machinae culture despised. The streets had none of the normal advertisements, only signs portraying Osmand as the city's "Oberjarl," meaning King of Jarls. The walls were painted with murals of "His Holy Majesty, the Oberjarl." On each street corner stood a shrine to the Oberjarl and banners declaring his power. Colonists stood in lines along the streets, bowing to the statues and leaving offerings of food and money at the shrines as they did for the gods. Salem was disgusted at the thought that any Machinae would bow to another man, or that another man would brainwash his people in this way. Machinae society was nothing if not stubborn and proud; his people didn't revere any mortal man like this. Salem knew better than anyone that the respect and admiration of the masses was something that had to be fought for; this level of devotion just wasn't given willingly, not by his people, and most certainly not to men like Osmand Rott. The citizens here had been brainwashed, and somehow it had gone unnoticed by the other colonies. He silently prayed that this was the only colony like this in the Calypso system. He hadn't even finished the thought before they flew past a banner that made his jaw drop; "Your Holy Majesty is the one, true God. All other gods are falsehoods, worship of the heathen gods is punishable by death."
"How are they not rioting in the streets?" Briarios asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, "Why would the people worship him like this? Why would they worship anyone like this?"
"I don't know," Salem shook his head, he almost smiled to himself as they passed the blasphemous banner, "But I'm glad your mother isn't here, she'd rip Rott's head off before I had the chance to question him."
As they approached the palace a landing pad extended to meet them, they flew in and landed without incident. Salem unbuckled his seat restraints and stood, grumbling as he shoved past his son and daughter and out of the open rear hatch of the drop ship. Almost as an afterthought he grabbed a rifle from a rack on the wall; he knew there was only one way this was likely to end.
Soluna and Briarios took the hint and similarly armed themselves, following their father as he stomped his way toward the large, solid oak doors that towered over them. Augustus stayed behind to guard the ship; Salem grew more and more certain their visit would end violently with each passing second, they'd need a quick escape. The first thing Salem saw as he slammed the doors open was a colossal elevator flanked by two golden fountains spraying what appeared to be molten silver. Statues of the self-proclaimed god stared down at them as they crossed a marble floor veined with gold. Their footsteps echoed through the throne room, a woman who appeared to be Osmand's secretary crossed the room hurriedly from a door across from the elevator. She was flanked by guards, both of whom were armed.
