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Chapter 1 – From Mercy to Justice
“Brother, I told you to keep an eye on the pope. He turns into a child when he’s near them,” my brother says.
“Yes, brother, I know.”
My brother, Celesto, and I are supposed to be the pope’s guards. Two people specifically picked out because of our skills. You wouldn’t know that if you looked at us now since we look like fools. The pope is such a tall and muscular man that you’d think it would be impossible for us to lose sight of him. It’s probably those old tricks that he learned as a child.
“There he is!” Celesto says.
Celesto shows me what he sees from his viewpoint as it pops up on the screen. My specially designed helmet allows me to see both in front of me in many directions and I have the same for the eyes in the back of my head, and yet, I didn’t see the pope?
“He seems to be having fun with the kids,” I point out.
“That’s because he is one. I’m going to need an extra set of arms to pray for him more.”
“The Kingdom of Heaven does belong to the children-wait. Do you see those people?”
I switch the vision on my eyes to clearly see four people on the rooftops below us sneaking towards the pope.
“I see them. You take the two on the right. I’ll take the two on the left.”
“Got it.”
We take out our rifles and make our extra arms form into a rifle to knock out our targets with knockout rounds then bring them down to the pope. Both the children and he are shocked by our sudden appearance.
“Oh, don’t be afraid, kids. The man in red is Brother Cremiso and the man in blue is Brother Celesto,” Pope Dolce V says.
“Excuse me, your excellency, but you can’t keep doing this, especially when people like this come after you,” Celesto says.
“That’s why God gave you two to me. You’re like my guardian angels and you’re doing a wonderful job.”
“Tch. What should we do with these four?”
“Call for the guards to pick them up for interrogation.”
“Interrogation? These men were meaning to kill you.”
“So? God is merciful and I will follow His example.”
“Okay, I understand.”
While Celesto calls for the assassins to be picked up and interrogated, the two children cautiously approach me. One is a boy and the other is a girl.
“Brother Cremiso, this is Valoro and Veraca. They’ve been entertaining me with their stories of adventure through the city. It’s okay, you two. You can talk to Brother Cremiso. He’s a good guy,” Pope Dolce V says.
Valoro points to my mechanical arms and asks, “Are those really your arms? Were you born with them?”
“No, these are mechanical arms that can transform into whatever I want them to, but mostly I have them in a prayer position since I’m always praying for the pope,” I answer.
“Why do you look so scary?” Veraca asks.
“To intimidate the enemies of God. This appearance is inspired by the seraphim with their many eyes.”
“Wow,” both the children say.
“Aren’t these two wonderful? I can spend hours talking to them,” Pope Dolce V says.
“I know you can, but we have to get you to safety. There might be more people after you.”
“If they are, then I trust that you will take care of them. Just promise me that you’ll protect the children too.”
“I will, your excellency, but we still have to ensure your safety for the sake of the Church.”
Celesto joins the conversation after the assassins are arrested by the guards and sent back to the station for immediate interrogation.
“Your excellency, we have to call off your surprise visit to the orphanage. If more assassins are after you, it could endanger the lives of the children,” Celesto says.
“That’s a good point, but I at least want to escort these children back to the orphanage. It’s not safe for them to be out here by themselves.”
“But sir-”
“That’s an order.”
“Yes, your excellency.”
With the two children accompanying us, we walk to the orphanage. The orphanage itself is dedicated to the pope’s childhood friend, Onoro, who sacrificed his life to save him from criminals. Ever since, the pope has treated everyone as if they were his best friend. The soldiers he cared for when he was a field medic and now the many faithful under his rule. It’s said that God made him so big so that his big heart could fit in his body. Still, he can be a bit too generous and get himself into harm's way when he needs to think about his own safety.
He's put the main focus of the Church on the children, orphans, education, and law enforcement. This has been good for us so far, but the mercy he shows to our enemies could use a bit more work. Executions are rare since he has raised the number and kind of sins a sinner would need to commit to warrant one, and the only battles we’ve fought have been in self-defense from heretical empires. I’m honestly not sure if he’s truly making the right decisions, so I’m just trusting in God to guide him down the correct path.
“We’re here, and we’ve got trouble,” Celesto says as he shares with me a view of what he’s seeing.
“Tell me what you see,” Pope Dolce V says.
“The orphanage is taken over by a group of people who are wearing similar outfits that your previous assassins were wearing. They have the place locked down tight,” I say.
“My scans are reading bombs planted in the building on the upper and lower floors, but I can’t pinpoint them all or the amount. We’re dealing with experts here,” Celesto adds.
“This is horrible. You two have to do something about this while I distract them.”
“They might just shoot you on sight,” Celesto says.
“I don’t think so. I think they want to make it public. I am the visible head of the Church in the universe after all. Broadcasting it would cause more distress than not just like the previous execution of Venerable Fortier II.”
“Or they may broadcast you being shot on sight.”
“Listen to me. I’m not going to sit around here and do nothing. You two must take care of every hostile in that building and disable those bombs. Understood?”
“Yes, your excellency.”
“You start from the basement, Cremiso. I’ll take the ones on the rooftop.”
“Will do, brother.”
Celesto and I quickly infiltrate the orphanage before Pope Dolce V starts walking towards it. I transform one of my mechanical arms into a blade and the other into a silenced rifle while separate my rifle into two so that I can use the dual pistol function of it. With a silencer attached to my pistols, I head in and move as fast as I can through the basement of the orphanage. I eliminate fifteen hostiles and find ten bombs in my area. These sinners may be professionals, but they don’t expect a blade and silent laser fire coming through the walls.
“Are you done on your end, brother?”
“Yes, Cremiso. I’m clearing the second floor as we speak.”
“Good. I’ll be clearing the first floor.”
I do as I say and clear out the sinners and bombs. I’m starting to wonder who sent these people because of their equipment and their ability to hold an orphanage hostage without alerting anyone outside.
“Cremiso, the pope has entered the building.”
“I can see that. There’s only one more left and he has all the children and staff with him.”
Pope Dolce V comes in by himself with his hands in the air. It’s a good thing that the two children didn’t come in though I hope they’re not nearby.
“Welcome, your excellency,” the man in the center says with a bomb trigger in his hand.
“I know what you’re up to. It’s not too late to stop and repent,” Pope Dolce V says.
“No, it is too late. I have nothing to repent for. This is the beginning of the end for your Church, and there's nothing your bodyguards and you can do about it. Even if they were to take me out, there’s a secondary switch to the bombs tied to my heart and the hostage.”
“Save the pope, Cremiso!”
I quickly head over to the pope and shield him with my armored cloak as the man activates the explosives. When the dust settles, we see that more bombs were on the man and on the hostages. Pope Dolce V stands to look at the massacre in worrying silence. Celesto and I remove our helmets and prostrate ourselves before him.
“Forgive us, your excellency! We’ve failed you and these poor innocent souls!” we say.
“No. You did your job in protecting me. You did your best.”
Pope Dolce V walks out of the orphanage as people gather around to see what happened. The media has arrived along with more guards to escort the pope back to the Papal Palace on this planet. We interrogate the four assassins who came after him first to discover that they were working with the people who took over the orphanage. They headed out on their own to get the “glory” of killing the pope by themselves. They then tell us that they were apart of a secret alliance of people from enemy empires. Heretics and heathens working together doesn’t surprise me much. What does surprise me is that the equipment they used was from the unknown regions and that the bombs on the hostages were made from materials from those regions. That’s why we couldn’t detect them and why they were so powerful. Another surprise we learn is the names of the people who told them about the pope’s secret visit to the orphanage. The guards immediately head out and go to arrest these people while we bring this news to the pope.
“I see. I’ll issue orders to further our investigation in the unknown regions,” Pope Dolce V says.
“Are we declaring war on the alliance?” Celesto asks.
“No, I will make a public message to them. We will be merciful and tell them to repent of their sins.”
“You’re letting them…”
“Hm? What is it?”
“It’s-it’s nothing.”
I can tell Celesto wants to object especially after what happened, but he’s holding his tongue because of our failure.
A public announcement is hastily put together at the Papal Palace. The media attends the announcement along with the inhabitants of the city with the area being more heavily guarded than usual. Pope Dolce V moves to his throne, but when he turns around to sit and make his announcement, a sniper shot comes from a far away building and hits him directly on the head. His head jolts backward, however, his helmet has protected him, and he swiftly recovers from the shot, changes his Papal staff into a long range sniper, and shoots the assassin. Both the public and media are in a panic as the guards and army forces are dispatched to further secure the area.
Pope Dolce V holds up his hand and says to everyone, “There is no need to panic.”
For some reason, the crowd is calmed and even the guards and soldiers slow their pace.
“I was going to announce a message of peace and mercy to my assassins from the alliance of empires, but now I see that isn’t the right thing to do,” Pope Dolce V continues, “The universe has been in a constant state of war and violence ever since man established itself in the stars. I have tried to use mercy and prayer as my primary weapon against it. My capacity for mercy has run dry because of recent events, so I will replace mercy with merciful justice. I’ve let our enemies continue in their sin for too long. Now, I will put them out of their misery so that they cannot warrant a worse sentence in Hell. I declare everyone outside the Ecclesia Aeternam to be Infinitus Anathema. Infinitely Cursed. You will either submit to God and His Holy Catholic Church or face immediate execution just as these sorry sinners do.”
The assassins and the traitors that worked with them are brought out by the guards.
“Repent! The Wrath of God is at hand!”
Pope Dolce V raises his hand then lowers it to signal their execution. The crowds of people cheer in praise for God and the pope. I didn’t expect Pope Dolce V to do this and when I look at my brother, he appears to be in shock too. Pope Dolce V is checked for injuries both physical and spiritual but doesn’t seem to have any. In fact, he seems to be more aware than ever. The next day comes around and we hear no word from our enemies. I guess they didn’t take the pope seriously enough, so he makes another public announcement.
“I see that my message wasn’t taken to heart. So be it then. Let your death come to you by your word.”
Pope Dolce V raises his staff to the air as thirty different Catholic ships with a small escort are shown warping to different non-Catholic planets. These ships unleash a large pillar of laser fire that eradicates the planets’ defending forces and the planets themselves as the entire surface is engulfed in fire and become black. The ships then carve either the image of Our Lord on the cross or His Divine Face on the surface. Watching this and hearing the crowd around the pope cheer makes it feel like the entire universe is shaking. Is this truly God’s Will? I can only hope it is.
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