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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