A Raging Father
The Catholic Space Empire, in her mercy and tolerance, will allow heretics and heathens to live in their vast and
well-kept cities only if the sinners agree to one day convert. They must show
weekly signs of conversion that is tested by teachers. Those who fail the test
several times with no signs of improvement are kicked off the planet while
those who pass can continue to stay. Since the Church isn’t always fully aware
of what all the heretics and heathens are doing, a group of them manage to
steal money, weapon, and developing plasma weapon parts in a heist then take
off in a ship with a little girl as a hostage though they aren’t able to get
off the planet as they are shot down.
Conor, the father of the little
girl, is a Righteous Executioner. The Righteous Executioners are a league of
executioners in the Church who both execute the guilty and act as law
enforcement, especially during prison breaks. During the heist, he was executing
criminals who were breaking out of prison with the help of their allies, but Conor and his fellow guards managed to stop them all. Once he hears that his
daughter was kidnapped, Conor stocks up on ammo and heads out to the nearest
ship. Along the way, one of the commanding officers of the prison catches up to
him.
“Conor, I know what you’re going to
do, and you have every reason to want to do it, but you can’t execute everyone.
Bring some back as a show of the Church’s mercy,” the officer says.
“They killed and stole. They had
their chance for mercy when they arrived here, and they took advantage of our
kindness. It’s no longer the time for mercy. It’s time for justice.”
“Don’t play judge over their lives.
You aren’t God.”
“No, but God gave me the role of an
executioner and executioners know when the time for justice is.”
“Step aside, officer. Conor has the
responsibility to do what he wants in this situation as his calling as a
Righteous Executioner allows him it,” a higher-ranked executioner tells the
officer as he approaches them.
“If you say so. I’m just trying to help
the Church’s reputation as forgiving and merciful.”
“And she always will be, but we must
not forget that she can also be a just executioner. Go out and do God’s Will,
Conor, and save your daughter. We will be praying for her and your safe return.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Conor takes his ship and heads off
in the direction of the crashed ship that’s gone down in a forest. He parks the
ship not too far from it and investigates the crash to find only a couple dead
bodies. Thankfully, his daughter is not among the dead. When he travels further
into the forest, he finds a small camp of people. Immediately assuming that
they have something to do with the criminals, he runs in with his double-barrel
shotgun, shoots two of them, shoots the legs off the other two, and pins one of
the two still alive to the ground.
“Tell me where the little girl is.
She’s my daughter,” Connor tells the man.
“That was your daughter the others
came in with? She’s with the others right now. Even though she may be innocent,
I won’t tell you where she is.”
Conor takes out his executioner’s ax
and cuts the man in two. He then pins the other wounded man down.
“Tell me what he didn’t, and you
won’t end up like him.”
“God will protect me unlike you and
your satanic ch-”
Conor blows off the man’s head with
his shotgun and searches the dead and their camp to find maps that they have of
the area. The map is marked with several nondescript dots. With the map in his possession,
Conor sets out to see what’s at each location. He finds heretics and heathens
set up in hidden camps and underground bunkers filled with food, weapons, and
false teachings the sinners consider true. At the first camp, he kills everyone
except for three men he spares to get info out of.
“I won’t tell you anything!” the
man tells Conor.
“Then I’ll get someone else to.”
Conor points his shotgun at the man.
“Wait! I’m an Orthodox Christian! We’re
part of the same Church.”
Conor shoots the man and says, “You’re
a heretic who disobeys God and His Church.”
“Wait, I’m an Anglo-Catholic!
Surely we’re part of the same Church!” another says.
“You’re the same as the other heretics.
Tell me something, repent of your sins, and I might let you live.”
“No, I can’t. They’ll kill me if-”
Conor shoots the man.
“Fear ye not them that kill the
body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy
both soul and body in hell.”
The last man says, “I’m Jewish! We’re
part of the same Israel, are we not? God established an everlasting covenant
with us!”
“You broke His covenants, hung Him
on a cross, and still refuse to repent, or will you?”
“I have nothing to repent for.”
Conor shoots the man.
“Then you have no reason for me to
spare you.”
In another area, Conor finds a manufacturing
center where their books are made. He assaults the small factory and burns all the
books made there including heretical versions of Sacred Scripture.
One of the survivors surrenders and
asks Conor, “Please don’t burn the Scriptures! Our teachings may be flawed in
some ways, but don’t you have reverence for the Sacred?”
“I do,” Conor answers, “That’s why
this false version must burn. If you have reverence for the Sacred, then go
into the fires and save it or I’ll throw you in there myself.”
The survivor hesitates. This hesitation
tells Conor what he knows so he throws the man into the fire. Conor destroys
several other sites before finally coming across a man who tells him everything
he knows along with the location of his daughter.
“That’s the last location I have
left on the map anyway,” Conor says.
“You’ve destroyed the other ones?
The last base will probably know you’re coming by now.”
“That’s fine. I can handle them.”
“What about me? Are you going to
kill me like the others?”
“Do you repent of your sins?”
“Of course. I was going to leave at
the earliest opportunity with the right excuse.”
“I’m wary of your current excuse, but
if you’re telling the truth, then you have your opportunity and excuse now.
Leave, go to the Church, and do penance for your sins.”
The man runs away as Conor goes his
own way to the last location. At the location, Conor finds a small group of
people patrolling the area with a small tank. There’s a small ship on the roof that
can fly across the planet, but not get them off it. Since he needs heavier firepower,
he transforms his executioner’s ax into a rocket launcher that fires laser
guides explosives. This particular weapon is given to Righteous Executioner in
the event that there’s a prison break with ships that come to pick them up.
With his launcher, Conor unleashes
a barrage that destroys the small tank, ship, and surrounding patrols. He then
switches his shotgun to a high powered mode that makes it powerful enough to
shoot through walls at the cost of overheating faster, but that’s not much of a
problem for Conor. He makes sure to make each shot count as he uses one shot to
tear apart two to three enemies at once. Conor goes through every door and
everyone standing in his way as he carves a bloody path to his daughter that he
finds in a protected room with the last of the people on this base. The last of
the guards don’t stand much of a chance either as Conor doesn’t give them time
to prepare nor does he allow the last person to use his daughter as a defense
shield. Once everyone is dead or bleeding out, he walks up to his daughter,
kneels down to her, and holds out his hand.
“Dad-daddy?” she says to him.
“I’m here, sweetie. You don’t have
to be afraid anymore.”
“I wasn’t afraid. I knew God would
send you to me.”
Before they leave, the last injured
enemy asks, “How-how could you be such a violent and unforgiving person?”
“Because I love my God, His Church,
and my family,” Conor answers, “I protect them with my weapons and my life. You
don’t truly love anything or anyone unless you want to fight and give your life
for them. Think about that and repent of your sins before you die.”
Conor holds the hand of his
daughter as he walks out of the destroyed base and back to his ship. He flies
back home, reports what he found, then gets some well deserved rest back at
home with his wife and daughter.
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