War in the Divine Family: Chapter 2 – Justice for a Mother

Chapter 2 – Justice for a Mother

The Dogmatists do have a point in saying that years of peace have made us soft. When this civil war started, I viewed the Dogmatists as rebellious children who thought they knew better than their superiors. They crowned their own pope and made their own little empire. Sure, they have achieved a few victories here and there and even laid siege to Mars, but I didn’t take them seriously until they came to my homeworld. What I once called my home was burned to the ground and my neighbors killed or hung on crosses for the supposed crime of not submitting to the true Church.

Above all that, they killed my son and didn’t even bother to leave a body to bury. All that was left of him was his arm and a pool of blood. As a commanding officer, I cannot let an attack this personal get to me. I’ve only shown my anger in battle by taking no prisoners and making sure that my enemies are thoroughly destroyed. When I hear of the ships that destroyed my homeworld, I volunteer for the assignment to hunt them down, and after years of war and searching, I finally have them cornered.

They are refueling on a world they control. This is supposed to be an in and out battle. Destroy the ships and cripple this refueling station is all we’re meant to do. I will savor every minute of this battle and every kill. God and His Church will have justice for the blood these people have shed and their many sins. I will finally have my revenge. My husband died so I could have this moment. If this isn’t Divine Providence giving me what I deserve, then I don’t know what is.

We take the refueling station by surprise by using small transport ships to approach them from a distance then fly to them in even smaller ships each meant for a singular person and infiltration. Using these small ships, each ship is infiltrated by a squad. I join the squad that’s going after the commanding ship. As we go through the ship, we make sure to kill everyone aboard it while taking whatever we can that seems useful. The commander should on the command deck, the one who ordered the deaths of my son, husband, and homeworld, so I send my squad to clear the rest of the ship while I take him for myself.

Quietly going into the room, I silently take down the few Dogmatists in the room before saving the best for last. I make sure that he notices that he’s in danger and afraid by making him see one of his dead allies. He turns around and shocked to see the dead body.

“Who’s out there? Come out and face me, coward!” he says with his pistol drawn.

That’s right. Be afraid. Make an act of perfect contrition if you can because you’re going to pay for everything you’ve done. As I get closer to the leader, I begin to see something in him that I recognize. It…can’t be.

“Augustine?” I say softly as I exit my hiding place.

The man turns around and appears to be as shocked as I am before raising his gun at me. I raise my gun in return. If I wasn’t shocked and if this man took the opportunity to take a shot, I would’ve been dead, but he didn’t shoot me.

“M-mother?” he says.

It is him. He is my son. He looks a bit grown up and he has cybernetic parts that make him look different, but it’s him.

“I knew it was you when I looked at your face.”

“How when it’s been so long since you last saw me?”

“A mother’s heart always recognizes her son, but what are you doing here?”

“I’m the leader of this squad of ships, an admiral just like my parents.”

The fact that I’m facing the enemy pops back into my head while my eyes want to reject what they’re seeing.

“Why? Why did you turn on us? Why did you turn on God, the Church, and your family?”

“I have not turned against God and His Church. You have!”

“What are you talking about? How can you think that when we’ve given you the best teachers and personally taught you the truth?”

“Your indoctrination could only convince me so much until I heard the real truth when I listened to the Dogmatists more. Eventually, they convinced me through their actions and reason, and I joined their side. I was the reason why our homeworld was easily destroyed with a group of fellow converts and the influence I had on the leadership.”

“I still don’t believe it.”

“But you know what you should do. You’re a leader and soldier of God, aren’t you? Well, the enemy is in front of you. Shoot first before I shoot you.”

“Don’t do it, Augustine! I’m your mother!”

“No mother nor father of mine would submit herself to a false Church and pope. I didn’t feel a thing when I killed him, and I won’t when I kill you.”

I don’t know what to say to him anymore. We stare at each other with our guns pointed at one another waiting for someone to do something, so I do what I came here to do and shoot him in the chest. As I stare at him, I’m almost expecting him to get up. Those cybernetics have to be more than just cosmetic, right? I slowly approach him with my rifle still pointed at him until I get to his body, and surely enough, he’s dead. I know I shouldn’t have messed around with him before I killed him to not risk my life or triggering the alarm, but I did. Now, I make another regrettable decision by looking at his face.

My son…I’ve killed my own son…The realization makes me hold my son and cry over him. I grip him tightly and tell him how sorry I am in the hopes that he’ll forgive me. God forgive him for his sins! I’ll do all his penance for him with my life just please don’t send him to Hell for his rebellion! A patrol of Dogmatists notice me with the dead body of their leader and seem like they’re about to grant my wish for death, but my soldiers arrive to take it away by killing them.

“Admiral Helen. Are you okay?” a sergeant says.

“Ye-yes,” I say as I try to compose myself.

“Is…Is that Augustine? Your son? He was the leader this entire time?”

“I don’t completely understand why, but I know the Dogmatists have to pay. We have the opportunity to not only cripple this fueling station. We can cripple the planet.”

“What are your orders, ma’am?”

“Have the ships destroy the fueling stations so that they crash into the planet then have the ships themselves crash into populated areas. We’re going to make these traitors pay for their sins.”

“Yes, ma’am!” my soldiers say.

My soldiers get to work getting these ships to take down the fueling station while I carry the dead body of my son back to my infiltration ship. I then take off with my ship with my soldiers not too far behind me. From this distance, we watch as the fueling stations and ships blow up on the planet and burn the cities and towns below it. We then go back to our transport ships to watch the planet burn from orbit. Are you seeing this, Augustine? I did this all for you. Even as we warp back home, I hold onto my son while not completely realizing it. Holding him like this is somewhat comforting to have him back in my arms while also causing me a numbing pain that’s almost unbearable.

“Admiral Helen,” I hear someone say behind me.

“Yes, soldier?”

“I don’t mean to seem insulting, but you seem disturbed.”

“I’m fine. Better than I should be feeling actually. Now, I have a body to put in my son’s grave. My family and homeworld have been avenged, but it isn’t over yet. After my son’s true funeral, we will be going back to war, no, we will be doubling our efforts so that the tragedy that happened to me will not happen to other families. We will continue to fight these defiant traitors until they either submit themselves to the true Church or die in the destruction of their own making.”

“Yes, ma’am!” my soldiers say.

I hold my son’s head to mine and whisper in his ear, “I will avenge you. The filth that did this to you will pay until none are left standing.”

War in the Divine Family: Chapter 1 – Enforcers of Dogma

Cover made by Fhundeart.

Chapter 1 – Enforcers of Dogma

We are the faithful servants of the Lord. For years, we have stayed true to His word. We have not strayed from the teachings He’s given us from His mouth and His saints and angels. The Church stands strong only when the sinners within her are repentant and do their best to always stay faithful to God. This is why the traitors from within the Church must be expunged from her.

This future we live in has separated the Church. One side staying true to the way of the truth. The other side seeks to be kind to those outside of the Church, who after centuries have refused to convert. It’s proven by history that being kind to obstinate sinners has led to ruin. Men, women, and children being killed, sold, exploited, and sent to Hell because they chose to stay willfully ignorant. Because the Church was too soft to make them see the error of their ways. This is not to say that we will not grant mercy to sinners who are repentant. We are all guilty after all, however, we will not grant mercy to those who refuse it. We only grant death.

Today, we are being deployed to Mars to aid an insurrection against the false church. Insurrections have started ever since we struck the first blow with insurrections in all galaxies and all sectors of the Church from the military, government, corporations, and even the priesthood. While they’re still caught off guard, we continuously strike without rest to bring a quick end to this conflict. I’m part of a squad that uses jet packs or angel wings as we like to call them to fly around the battlefield. After saying our prayers, we are dropped into the action as riots ravage the Martian city.

Our squad flies down to the city while raining down missile fire from our wings. The Martian city’s anti-air turrets start to aim for us as we target it and destroy the air defense while taking evasive action. Once their air defenses are destroyed, our ships destroy the buildings that our enemies are hold up in and turn them to rubble. We mop up the rest of the stragglers with our brother and sister knights and aid the rioters.  As the last traitor falls, we stab our flag through the body of a still living sinner then yell out in victory. A crowd of rioters brings forth several people with bindings on them.

One of them says, “These traitors wouldn’t fight with us and chose to hide and rat us out to their slave masters.”

“Do you repent of your sins?” one of my brother’s asks.

“This is insanity! You can’t go around killing-”

The cowards brought to us are gunned down much to the joy of the rioters.

“You should make your way out of the city and cause some trouble in other cities, citizens. The Ecclesia will be sending reinforcements to retake this city,” an officer says.

“We can fight too,” a man says as he steps forward, “I know of the emergency anti-air in case the first failed. We’re all also armored and know how to shoot.”

“Are you sure? The fighting will get intense.”

“All of us were made to give our lives, our entire existence, to the Lord. We’re ready to fight.”

The officer and the man shake hands.

“It’s an honor to fight alongside you. All of you. Now, get ready.”

Our ships in the sky reposition as enemy ships arrive. On the ground, vehicles and special defense forces arrive and we destroy all of them along with the rioters only to have another wave arrive from behind them. We fight wave after wave of reinforcements as our ships struggle to fight the enemies in the skies, so my squad flies up to aid them. With our angel wings, we fly into the bridges, engine rooms, and gun batteries to planet explosives and destroy them with our explosives. Because of the seemingly unending waves of ships and reinforcements, we can only do this once until we have to stick to the ground.

As more of us fall, the hope of reinforcements of our own arriving in time dwindle. Our force wanted to arrive ahead to establish a foothold and save the rioters while the main force prepared itself. Creating a base here and even taking Mars would make it easier to take Earth, the primary place where the Ecclesia rules from, and humanity’s homeworld. Whoever controls Earth is considered to have the true religion and we are the closest in taking it with secret forces on the planet waiting for the right moment to strike. At this rate, we aren’t going to last especially since we lost most of our ships and forces with our last ship coming down. This last ship dies an honorable death by crashing itself into the enemy’s ships taking another two with it.

Even though this is good, the ships are crashing down to the city. There’s nowhere for us to run so we take cover wherever we can as the ships crash and blow up in the city. I manage to survive with my armor damaged.

“Hello? Is anyone out there?” I say on the comms since I see nothing but a dust storm and bodies around me.

Were the rest of the enemy killed? Are any of my brothers and sisters still alive? My answer is quickly answered as I see a wave of enemy soldiers approach me with their guns pointed at me. None of my allies get up and I don’t hear anything on the comms.

“Surrender!” one of the traitorous soldiers say.

I can’t lift my gun. I don’t have any explosives on me, and my angel wings are broken. Even if my angel wings were operable, I don’t have enough fuel for them and I would get easily shot down by these many people especially with more heading my way. There’s only one option for me left.

“I’ll never surrender to traitors!” I say as I take out a syringe and stab myself with it.

This syringe contains materials from the unknown regions that are supposed to grant me inhuman strength and toughen my flesh. We took this from the heretics and heathen alliance who were experimenting with this drug in the unknown regions so they could make super soldiers to fight us. If we never did anything, then God knows the kinds of monsters we would’ve been fighting now. This is why we can’t be merciful to those who refuse mercy. This is why we fight this civil war.

We were supposed to use this syringe as a last resort especially since we have so few of it and we still don’t completely understand what it does, however, it’s working well with me as my muscles and teeth grow along with the rest of my body. I even manage to grow a pair of wings. To take advantage of my new blessing, I fly up into the air and use the dust storm to hide myself until I crash down into the group of soldiers and shredder through them with my bare hands and their own guns. Their guns are useless against me. My confidence in my invincibility makes me lower my guard leading me to be injured by a man with a grenade launcher. I’m not badly injured, but at least I know what can hurt me now.

The man with the grenade launcher runs out of ammo after I avoid his shots. I tackle him to the ground, and I’m delayed in killing him when I recognize his face and he seems to recognize me.

“I know you! What did you do to yourself? This isn’t you-”

Before he can say anything else, I crush his head with my fist. It doesn’t matter who I was. It only matters who I am now. It doesn’t even matter that I no longer look human now. I would have been happy to be born a storm, a mighty explosion, or a hurricane if it pleased God. If I will be useful to God as a monster, then I am happy to abandon my humanity. The dust in the air clears as enemy ships from above rain fire from the sky. Some of their fire hits me so I can’t fly in and out of buildings for long since most of them are in ruins or leveled to the ground. Since they’re the only enemy left, I charge upwards yelling out in what is probably the last act of my life as I fly into a barrage of explosives.

Everything seems to be in slow motion now as the explosives hit me, but as I die, I see a fleet of thirty allied ships enter the planet’s atmosphere and open fire on the enemy. I can die happy in this state thankful for this final blessing from God to see my enemy slaughtered before me. Now, I can only hope to pray against them in Heaven.

Far From Faith is now completed and available for download!

Download for free on Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1057356

Even in the depths of despair, God is present

This collection of short stories follows four people in desperate situations where every form of help is far from them except for God. From being trapped at the bottom of the sea to being forced to go through a series of sick trials, God's mercy is the only hope for them if they want to avoid a gruesome fate.

Far From Faith: Chapter 4 – Omnipresent

 

Chapter 4 – Omnipresent

Who knew that adventuring into the unexplored regions of space could be boring? I guess someone would if they saw what I was seeing. I’m trying to see how the universe stretches so I’ve been traveling in warp space past the unknown regions and further into the unknown, however, the unknown is more boring than I thought it would be. My scans are reading that there’s nothing out here except empty space. There are no planets, no suns, no moons, not even a floating rock or anything really.

When I exit warp space, I find what my scans tell me. Nothing. Everything around me is an uncomfortable and chilling darkness. I can’t even see the stars and galaxies from this deep in the unknown. There’s absolutely nothing out here. Did God only create so much to put a limit on our population? Sure, there is a nearly unlimited number of galaxies and our numbers are so vast that it’s not worth putting a number to it, but still. Maybe He’ll create more when we’re not paying attention. It’s not like we’ve documented all the planets and galaxies in the unknown regions yet.

It seems like this was a waste of time. At least my ship has the coordinates to go back home, so I turn around and warp back. While writing my report, my scans pick up a planet. Finally! Quickly exiting warp space, I find a singular planet that’s mostly broken with pieces of it flying in space. Not the most exciting thing to see, but it’s something so I find the best landing place and put on my deep space suit ready for whatever is waiting for me. I don’t even care if this is barren rock. Seeing nothing for days makes even the most mundane things new and interesting.

When I land on the planet, I find rocky structures that appear to be trees and other formations. We’ve discovered planets where everything is a type of rock like worlds made of crystal, but these rocks seem similar to solidified lava more than anything. The environment of this planet is draining my suit's energy fairly quickly because the conditions are horrible for life to exist here. Inspecting the ground around my ship reveals that the ground isn’t too stable so this planet may not last that long. It seems to be a corpse more than anything. My excitement is severely dying down. I guess it makes sense. Please, God, temper my expectations next time and humble me not to want something that would give me fame and glory.

After searching for a while, my scans pick up what seems like a ship nearby. I hurry to where it is and sure enough, I find a broken ship. Going into it and powering it up with power from my deep space suit, I’m able to access the records of the ship. Dear Lord…Okay, so. This place was a living planet occupied by members of the alliance of empires that have formed against the Church. We’ve been searching for these people to convert them. I didn’t know they were out this far, but this isn’t what shocks me.

What shocks me is what they were testing out here. With materials from the unknown regions of space, they’ve found a way to blow up suns, which leads to the destruction of the entire galaxy. They somehow fuse these materials with ships and kamikaze them into the sun. Details on the construction of these ships and the materials are fractured because of the damaged database, but this is still enough to get the Church’s attention. This planet was part of a galaxy that was one of their testing sites. It’s no wonder why I haven’t found anything this far out into space. The alliance must’ve destroyed hundreds of galaxies in their tests. I have to show this to the Church now before the alliance finishes their ships!

After downloading as much information as I can, I hurry as fast as I can back to my ship until I hear something moving around me. Taking out my shotgun and using the light on it, I’m able to see shadows darting through the rock trees. My scans don’t pick up any kind of life so this may be some new kind of life we’ve never seen before, however, I can’t stay to document them. Heading back to my ship, I come across what I’ve been barely seeing. In front of me is a human-like being made of rocks. It doesn’t have a face and its body is a mass of floating rocks.

“Umm. Friend?” I jokingly ask before it lunges at me.

Shooting it with my shotgun on its stun mode does nothing except push away the rocks that compose it. It’s only when I destroy the rocks that it’s made of does it stop. Okay, now I definitely need to get out of here. Is this what happened to the people here after they blew up the galaxy? This is horrendous. I blow my way through the attacking rock creatures until I make it inside my ship. Come on, come on start up and lift off already! Hey! Get off my ship! These rock creatures are breaking apart pieces of my ship even as I lift off.

Even as I leave the planet, I barrel roll a few times to make sure that I’m not taking any with me. Dang it! My ship's engines are damaged along with the warp drive! Please, please, Lord God, save a wretched sinner such as me! Your Church needs this information or else humanity will be doomed! After praying in silence for a bit, my scans pick up a large object approaching me. My ship’s outside cameras are damaged so I can only turn on the lights and look around-what the?!

Outside the ship are two hands that must be at least ten, no, a hundred times the size of a planet! They’re not as dark as the space around me, but what or who’s hands are those? Are those the hands of God coming into reality? My ship can’t move fast enough to avoid them as they close in on me. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

“He’s waking up!” I hear a distant voice say.

My mind is hazy as I wake up in what looks like a hospital.

“Huh? Where am I?” I say to the doctors.

After telling me the planet I’m on and making sure that I’m okay, the doctor asks, “How did you get here?”

“I have no clue. Do you?”

“Not even a guess. Your ship suddenly appeared on the landing platform last night. No one saw you land nor enter the planet’s atmosphere, so it’s a complete mystery to us especially with the condition of your ship.”

“It’s a miracle.”

“That’s honestly the only explanation. God must really be looking out for you in particular. I’m sorry for going through your ship’s records, but we needed to know just in case we had to contact your employers or family. Is your name Gatto?”

“Yes, I’m an explorer of the unknown regions of space. I was exploring the most unexplored parts of it last I remember.”

“It’s no wonder why your name is Gatto then.”

“Yeah. I was always called a curious cat and even named my ship the Curious Cat-”

Wait a second.

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes! I have information that should be brought directly to the pope! The entire Church’s survival is a stake!”

“What are you talking about?”

“The alliance of empires that we’ve been chasing has the ability to destroy suns, even entire galaxies with their ships! I have proof on my ship if you don’t believe me!”

Hearing explosions outside stops me from explaining further. Could this be the beginning of the alliance’s attack?

“The Dogmatists have slipped past our orbital defenses!” I hear someone say in the hospital.

I feel the hospital shake as explosions hit it until an explosion happens near me. I’m fine, but now I see what is happening. From the hole in the wall, I see Catholics fighting Catholics.

“What is happening?” I say as I stand in shock.

“The Dogmatists have separated themselves from the Church and are waging war against us,” the doctor explains, “You can tell us about the information you found after the battle is done. We’ve found a suit of armor on your ship. You can fight, right?”

Looking at my deep space suit, I see that it’s completely new as if were never damaged by the rock creatures nor the harsh environments of the unknown.

“Yes, I can fight. Give me my shotgun,” I say as I ready myself for a fight against my own brothers.

I’m not sure which is the worst horror. Galaxy destroying sinners or God’s faithful killing each other. Lord have mercy on us all.

Far From Faith: Chapter 3 – Final Breaths

Chapter 3 – Final Breaths

I will not die here. I cannot. God is good and will not deny me confession after I’ve confessed to Him with sincere repentance for my sins. The town around me falls apart as all exits are cut off from me except for one. Many have already escaped while many more have died in an attempt. I will not be one of them.

This town was built on a water world that’s mostly ocean with very few islands spread around it. The style of the town was made to look like that of the ones built in medieval times with a futuristic twist. Even as I look out at it in its damaged and darkened state, it looks beautiful to look at. Part of me wants to sit here and wait for my end in silent prayer, but I can’t when one last escape ship is available. I make my way to it while walking over through the wreckage of a recent fight and the victims of which whose blood is still fresh. My mind goes through the past events almost as a way of ignoring the man-made carnage around me.

The power to the entire city went out because of an…accident. Because of this, the life support systems have failed, and an emergency evacuation order was issued and was repeated until the power quickly died. People rushed out of their homes and businesses, took what they could, and ran for the nearest escape ships and the singular elevator to the surface that could fit hundreds of people on it. Thirty minutes passed and this town of thousands was nearly empty. People were getting anxious as the emergency lights began to shut and the humongous mysterious monsters from the sea that have been kept at bay by the town’s lights began to bump into the buildings and destroy them like shadowy angels of death.

Tensions reached an all time high when the elevator to the surface was destroyed from within. No one knows for sure why it did. All I know is that rogue guards with explosives and weapons threatened everyone to be the next to go up. I’m assuming they are what blew up the elevator. The elevator wasn’t going to be an option for long anyway as the power to it was dying just as fast as everyone in the town after that as chaos erupted as people rushed around to find an escape pod.

People killed each other to escape and before I knew it, I became the last person at the bottom of this underwater town, or at least I don’t think anyone else is alive. I haven’t seen anyone in hours. Last I heard there was a group of people going to check the communications building to see if it still had power. That building was destroyed by a formless monster from the deep that bumped into it. Even if it wasn’t destroyed, it probably wouldn’t have power since the power for life support systems that make the air breathable and power to the elevator to the surface are prioritized and power for those two are almost depleted if not long depleted from what I know and feel. The air feels thick and cold with the only thing keeping me warm are the fires spread around the town because of the fighting.

If help was ever coming, it would’ve come by now. We are the only settlement on this planet with the rest of the planets in this galaxy being smaller settlements that probably don’t have the ships that can survive going this deep underwater. Water is starting to get through the cracks in the walls as monsters continue to bump into the buildings, so I better hurry up. I’ve been jumping at shadows and silently praying for God’s mercy especially because of my sin. I risk eternal damnation if I don’t make it to a priest. God is good and should forgive me if I can’t make it, but still. You can never be too sure.

As I near what should be the last escape ship, I hear and feel the monsters banging up against the walls as if they’re after me, so I hurry to the ship only to find that it lacks sufficient energy and fuel to move. To add insult to injury, a monster’s tentacle snatches the ship away as if keep banging into the building. With nothing else to do, I get on my knees and pray. That is until I hear someone walking to me. Opening my eyes, I see the only person I wanted to see the least at the end of my life.

“You!” I say as I rise from my knees and take out a pistol I found for protection.

“Jaelyn, this is not the time for this,” she says with her hands up.

Water starts pouring in from around us as our ways out are blocked.

“This is the perfect time for this, Imogen. You are going to pay for making my husband cheat on me!”

“I told you that I’m already sorry and I stopped being that kind of person!” I still point the pistol at her as freezing cold water begins to rise in the room. “Look at what happened because of your first attempt to kill me. Let it go already!”

“That was an accident because I missed my first shot!”

“That accident destroyed this entire town and the lives of everyone in it! You have your sins and I have mine. This is our last chance to repent and I’ve already confessed to a priest and received absolution. What about you?”

“N-no…I haven’t. That’s why I got here, but now I have no way to get to a priest and no one to absolve me from my sins.”

“Did you confess to God? You can still do that! I’m sure He’ll understand since you’ve been trying to get to a priest.”

“I…I don’t know,” I say as I lower my pistol.

Killing her would probably put a venial sin on my soul at the least and damn me even further at the most. I throw the pistol aside and knee in the freezing water hoping that this act of penance shows my sorrow and willingness to repent. Please, God, have mercy on me. In my panic, Imogen got closer to me to hold my hands as I cry and the water level rises.

“Your tears are proof of your repentant heart,” she says, “You will go to Heaven if you trust in God.”

“I…I do.”

“We’ll go there together then. I’ll see you there.”

The walls around us collapse as water rushes in. I get a quicker death than I expected. In the cold, I continue to feel Imogen’s hands as I feel lifted up. It’s starting to get warmer now. Is that the flames of Purgatory or Hell? I can’t tell. Either way, I trust God to make the right decision and embrace whatever fate I deserve.

Far From Faith: Chapter 2 – Truth before Allegiance

Chapter 2 – Truth before Allegiance

A princess should be resolute and tempered. As the princess of the Orthodox Church, I must be all things that God approves of to lead my people with the help of the elder priests into a new age where we take our rightful place in the universe that the Catholics have taken from us. They drove us out from our homes, destroyed our history, murdered our families and friends, then dared to assert their dominance as a false church of Jesus Christ while acting as if we are just another heresy that came and went like the changing of the seasons. They didn’t completely destroy us as we have been living in these unknown regions of space with heretics and heathens in a mutual alliance that seeks to destroy that church of the anti-Christ. Our survival out here is proof that God is still with us. The fools that constantly plot against us do not know that our victory is already assured.

Currently, we are holding a feast as a way to cool down every one of all empires after a heated debate on who should own the planets within the main Milky Way Galaxy. So far, it is decided that the Protestants will own Saturn, Islamists will own Mars, the pagans will own Neptune, we will own Jupiter, and the Jews will own ur…ur…I’m not even going to think it because the name of the planet is still lewd in my mind. The ownership of the rest of the planets is up for grabs and unimportant compared to the ownership of Earth, which all empires want as if owning it means that your religion is truest of all. Honestly, these debates sicken me especially when civil wars break out because of them to change the ownership of planets. We should all be focusing on our primary enemy before fighting amongst each other.

What also sickens me is the disrespect the other empires have for God and us when they’re dining on the grounds of our castle. Even the Protestants are guilty of this when they scoff at our beautiful architecture and the statues of Jesus, Mary, and the saints because they think it’s too much at least and idolatry at worst. Just watching them eat among us makes me lose my appetite. I know we’re not all of the same religion and our core beliefs are different, but still. Show some respect or at least pretend to.

“Is something wrong, Delphine?” my father asks.

“You already know what is wrong,” I respond while trying not to sound bothered.

“And you already know what you must do. They will all learn the errors they have committed and either convert or be destroyed. Trust in God.”

“I am and always will.”

What I don’t always trust is your plans, father and mother. Most empires give their daughters and sons in marriage or prostitution as I think to ensure their continued support and friendship. All my sisters and are married to different princes while I have the choice to marry whoever I want in whatever empire I want since I’m the youngest. This tradition is honestly a mistake because of the conversions that happen. My sisters are already slipping into heresy and heathenism. I hardly recognize them because of their tacky outfits and mannerisms. It’s a good thing that we’re sitting so far from them on a balcony reserved for the leaders and royalty of the Orthodox empire while they sit below us where they belong.

Who is this now? A man in a fancy tuxedo adorned with various medals and Christian symbols arrives at the table and my parents greet him. I stand up and give a basic greeting and go back to eating and thinking.

“Do not mind her. My young princess is always thinking the big picture,” my father says.

As I should be doing. Our next meetings will be on the battle plans for the Milky Way galaxy and all the planets within it, especially Earth with that cursed statue of a pope that’s somehow didn’t break when a missile hit it and the people around it were safe. It couldn’t have been the hand of God or the intercession of that man that saved them. It had to be the devil defending his own.

“I would like to show you the power of the weapon I got for you,” the man says.

“Huh?” I say as this makes me listen to what they’re talking about.

“If you didn’t hear, this man is our mole in the Ecclesia. He’s a source of information and he has recently given us a copy of the plans for one of their experimental weapons.”

“A mole, experimental weapons. Father, I told you that we don’t need to use such dirty methods to achieve victory.”

“Well, this is one of the ways God has given us to achieve victory a little easier.”

We’re always depending on traitors and criminals to keep us informed on the Catholics when we should be relying on God and ourselves instead. Sure, I’ve agreed to certain courses of action, but I’ve always confessed them to a priest afterward just in case it was a sin. I’ve never felt comfortable with the shadowy things that we do and it’s another thing that makes me sick.

“Princess Delphine, I hope I will earn your trust with a show of the experimental weapon that will help us destroy the hypocritical Catholics,” the mole says.

“Oh really? Where are you going to show it to me and on what?”

“I’m going to show it to you here and on the people you hate the most.”

The mole nods before the gates close around the balcony and the people below. Screens appear on the gates that show us the confusion among everyone before green explosives come from above before the upper level is shut. These explosives kill very few people, but it releases a green gas that makes people die a horrible death as their blood seeps out of their skin and their bodies slowly decay and fall apart. Looking at my sisters, their husbands, and other Orthodox brethren die this way makes me forget everything that I found questionable and traitorous and wish they were unaffected by the acidic gas by a miracle. I've scolded at them like a disapproving parent for most of my life. Now, they are dead, and I wish I had told them that I did it all because I love them. Please, Lord, grant them peace in Heaven.

The people around me clap their hands after my father praises the mole to break up the deafening silence. Just hearing how good this can be for the alliance of empires is probably the most aggravating thing that I’ve ever heard. Who is this man? Is he even my father? How can he talk like this after letting his children die?

“Shut up!” I yell at the top of my lungs to silence everyone in the room. With everyone quiet, I say, “How could you let this happen? You killed so many of our people, your own family, for what?! A show of power? For the greater good? What excuse do you possibly have for this massacre?!”

My father slaps me then says, “You do not understand the sacrifices I have to make so that God’s will shall be done and for the Orthodox church to reign in its rightful place. Those who aren’t fully committed to the Orthodox church are not our allies. They are only our pawns that will eventually be thrown away if they do not submit to God and us. I thought you would understand this more than your sisters.”

“You’re just like the Catholics.”

I run off to my room as my parents stay behind to continue their party. How can they continue to act as if nothing happened? Do you really think this monstrous weapon will help us establish our dominance? What about the other empires? Do they know about this? Surely, they wouldn’t approve of the sacrifice of their people for a weapon’s test. I open my communications device to find that it has no signal so I can’t tell everyone what happened. They’ve done this experiment in secret, but how are they going to explain it to the other empires? Are they going to blame the Catholics for this? It could be easy to.

Turning on my personal security devices that let me see cameras in the castle, I listen in on the conversations that are happening at the party. My suspicions are confirmed as my father and the mole talk about blaming the Catholics for this attack and for them to use this weapon against them. As much as I hate the Catholics, I can’t let this happen. This weapon is too terrible to be used against anyone and…wait, what is happening to the dead? The ground beneath them has dissolved while they appear to be coming to life. They shuffle up the stairs while excreting acid that melts everything around them except for themselves.

When the people at the party see them, they panic as they try to fight them off only for some to be melted by acid or killed by the walking corpses. This is my chance to leave and tell everyone what happened. After that, I have to get out of here. I can’t stay in this alliance of hypocrites anymore. Once I change into a more comfortable set of clothes, I quickly leave the castle and use my robotic horse to ride to the nearby communications tower.

While traveling, I see that the ground has turned greener and the vegetation and trees are rapidly dying. What is this weapon? Nevermind that for now. At the communications tower, I find a few guards posted around it.

Going up to them, I say, “As your princess, I demand that you let me reactivate communications in this sector!”

“I’m sorry, princess, but we have strict orders from your parents to-”

The ground falls from under them as they fall into a boiling pit of acid under the ground. This weapon is destroying the planet! Quickly going into the communications room and turning on the power, I tell everyone across the planet what happened and who I am, so they trust me. I’m sure they don’t need to know my identity as the planet is dying around them as they tell me that they’re seeing the same thing I am. Along with the ground falling out from under them and buildings coming down, I hear reports of the native creatures of this world attacking everyone including their own with acidic blood coming out of their body just like the corpses back at the castle.

This is God’s judgment on us all for being such hypocrites and for what we’ve done against Him. I need to get out of here. The communications tower starts to fall apart so I run out of the building only to watch a large serpent come out of the ground. It doesn’t have any skin and its face and arms all appear uncannily human. Getting back on my horse as it runs away, I try to outrun the giant ground tunneling serpent as the ground falls apart around me. The serpent spits out acid and tries to catch me as it leaps out of the ground and back in it like a giant sea creature.

I’m so close to the castle now so I quickly get off my horse only for him to be eaten by the serpent while I barely manage to get inside. Running up to the landing platform, I see that most of the ships are gone except for the mole’s ship while others are getting ready to leave. I recognize it as such since it’s a ship type made only by the Catholics. Where are my parents and the mole if the ship is still here? Looking around the platform, I see them trying to get in a ship with others only to be denied along with a bunch of other people. I go by myself to the mole’s ship and start it up. It’s better if I leave these people to their God’s justice.

While leaving the landing platform, I watch as my parents, the mole, and others waving at me beckoning me to return to pick them up. They are then consumed by the ground tunneling serpent as the entire castle melts into the planet. I’m not going to join the others who are escaping so I warp the ship to an isolated location. This series of events is too much for me. Praying to God helps me ease my mind, but I’m still shaken by it all.

I want to end my life since everyone I’ve known is dead and that alliance of empires won’t help restore the Orthodox church to its original glory. In fact, it might be the last death nail in its coffin. Sitting around here in the void of space isn’t going to help me nor is it what God probably wants me to do, so I look through the mole’s ship to find information on the experimental weapon. It turns out that the weapon was deemed too inhumane to use by the Catholics even though it was developed during the age of Infinitus Anathema or the Great Extermination as I know it. That’s surprising though it doesn’t clear the Catholics of the blood of billions of people they killed in their crusade.

Digging a bit deeper through the ship, I find that the cameras in the castle were linked to this ship so that the ship could record the effects of the weapon. I also find records of my parent’s dealings with the mole and how they were fine killing their own people and children for the Orthodox church and God. I’m sure the Catholics would love the information on this ship especially since it tells of a system of moles within their empire that feed information to the alliance of empires. Since it’s the only place I can go, I warp to the Catholic controlled planet that once held the ancestral home of my parents.

It's just as great as my parents told me in their stories. I only wish that my sisters were alive to see this. With the communications device on the ship, I tell the authorities who I am and what I have. They meet me and go over the information I give them.

“God bless you for everything you’ve given us, Princess Delphine. With this, we should be able to root out a good number of traitors,” a guard says.

“That’s assuming the bishops and royalty will stop playing around and act serious for once,” another guard comments.

“Don’t listen to him. Something has to happen with this information despite the gridlock happening in the empire right now.”

“So, what are you going to do with me now that I’ve given you what you need? Execute me? Force me to convert?”

The guards look confused at me.

“Huh? No. Our treatment of non-Catholics has improved over the years and is one of the things that’s being disputed right now. You’re blessed to have chosen this planet to land on since we’re welcoming to non-Catholics. You said that your family owned a castle on this planet?”

“Yes.”

“Well, we can arrange something for you for your service.”

The guards bring me to a ruler on the planet. We talk about what I can do to earn my place on the planetary government, and we come to an agreement after an hour long talk. I will live alongside the people who currently live in my family’s castle, have a role in deciding the politics of the Catholic empire just like I was as a princess of the Orthodox church, and also be taught by priests and converters on the truths of Catholicism. Despite my being against conversion, I agree to be taught their teachings. Maybe there is truth in Catholicism if they own all of the known universe while the other empires were driven out.

The family I am currently living with in my family’s castle aren’t bad people. They are actually quite pleasant and accepting of me and want to hear all about my life in the unknown regions of space. On top of this, they show me collections of art that my family had including paintings of past generations. I can get used to this life especially since there are some pretty boys in this family that I could marry. After everything is said and done, I would say that is the start of a brand new and good life.

In the span of two days, my entire life has unexpectedly changed. God has delivered me from the corruption of my family and their equally corrupted allies and put me into a better place. For this, I will thank Him even more through my prayers and actions.

Far From Faith: Chapter 1 – No Strength in Flesh

Chapter 1 – No Strength in Flesh

Hmm. Huh? Where am I? The last thing I remember was being detained by the Ecclesia and put on a prison ship to be transported to a prison planet. I’m on the ship I remember being on, but…I feel so woozy and strange as if I drank too much alcohol. This place doesn’t look like I remember it. It’s all rusty as if it were abandoned for years. Ecclesia prison ships are either pristine to prepare a person for their penances or rusty and dirty like this as part of a person’s punishment. I’ve been on both kinds of ships for the crimes I’ve committed, however, this was a ship somewhere in between clean and dirty last I remember.

Getting up and going to the door, I peer through the eyehole and feel my face pressed against something that feels like a button. Before I can realize it, my vision focuses on the pistol that see aimed at my eye through the eyehole, and hear it click. My brain tells me what I need to know in a fraction of a second, so I move out of the way before the pistol’s bullet hits me. What sick person set up this trap?

“Franco, prisoner one thousand one hundred and fifty, guilty of murder, theft, lying to the law, and escaping prison. I’m assuming these are only your known crimes?” a man says from the intercom in my room.

What’s with this guy’s voice? He sounds more mechanical than any cyborg I’ve heard before.

“Depends who’s asking,” I reply.

“My name is Genio, and I will be your aid on our path to create better servants of God.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve already experienced a pretest to test your new reactions.”

“What if I died during your first ‘test’?”

“If you did get shot, then you would survive and if you somehow suffered any notable damage, I would send a medical android to come to repair you. Trust me when I say that you wouldn’t die. I’ve already seen plenty of prisoners snared by this simple trap.”

“You’re putting more prisoners through these traps too?”

“I’m putting all the prisoners on this ship through these traps.”

“How can the Church approve of your experiment?”

“It isn’t. They don’t know this is happening fools that they are. They’ve approved of similar experiments of mine when I helped them create the Divinus Carnifex and Death Walkers, but not this one. When they see the results of this experiment, I’m sure I will be welcomed back with open arms. Let’s get these tests started so your freedom and mine can be obtained.”

The cell door opens in front of me and makes an ear piercing scraping noise that sound like the screams of the damned. Looking into the hallway, it looks like I might actually be in Hell as I watch other prisoners be skewered, cut up, impaled, and crushed by traps. Twitching bodies try moving around and those that appear to be still alive try desperately clinging to it in the barbed wire that separates the space between us. Walking through this hellish space leads me up a set of stairs that leads to a walkway full of spinning blades with barely enough room for me to walk through it.

“Are you serious?” I say aloud.

“Very serious. Your skin and bone must be tested along with your mind. Go forth without worry and you will emerge without harm,” I hear in response from a speaker.

I look around me to see what the other prisoners did on their first trial to see some broken by the trap, frozen in fear by it, and others sitting in their cell that seem like they are hoping that starvation will give them a less painful death. Other prisoners are praying, and the last course of action would be going through the mess of barb wire that liters the entire area as if thousands of mechanical spiders spun them. These people that choose to go through the barb wire are caught in them as I’ve seen before, but the trial in front of me makes me want to see a secret way out through the wire.

With no choice, I go step by step through the spinning blades while looking forward. Looking at the blades will probably scare me into making a mistake. All I have to do is watch my step. Even as I walk carefully through the blades, it feels like I’m somehow touching them, and I keep trying to push this thought out of my head since it’s breaking my concentration.

“Franco?! You’re here! You still owe me that debt once we’re out of this!” I hear a familiar voice call from across the way.

This voice distracts me and gets my head to automatically turn to look at the blade that’s spinning inches away from my eyes. Just looking at the blade makes me feel like it’s cutting me, so I quickly look away, ignore the ‘stranger’ since he’s stuck with his own problems, and continue walking forward until I’m out of the walkway and in another staircase that leads up with the way down blocked by debris.

Since I have a moment to sit down, I sit on the steps to catch my breath before heading up the stairs only to almost step into a trap of spikes because of a loose step that gives way as soon as I step on it.

“Your reactions are amazing! My research is proving to be fruitful with you,” Genio says over a speaker.

I look up at the camera and give him my best disapproval look that I can.

“Come on then. If you want your freedom, then you must continue on.”

Alright then. I carefully make my way up the stairs while making sure each stair isn’t a trap. The next floor is a medical area. Of course, I’m limited in where I can go with debris and barb wire everywhere. At least I can see that I wasn’t crazy and somehow right when I see spider robots cutting up barb wire with people stuck in them and almost instantly making more. They come and go to make sure to cover every inch as a medical android drags the barely alive people into the darkness.

Right, so I’m not going to deal with that, and I go on my own path to an operating room that locks me in when I reach the center of the room. The room itself is cut in two by some kind of leathery substance strung up by barb wire and I think I can see someone on the other side.

“It’s a good thing that you woke up when you did because your partner has been waiting here for almost an entire day,” Genio says from a speaker in the room.

I see the person on the other side sit down on a chair near the leathery wall and say something as their arm goes through the wall. Seeing as how this person is my partner, I sit by the chair and look at the table between us then cautiously put my arm through the other hole only for it to be gripped by something metal. I then hear a buzzsaw start up and see it through the wall. Looking at the table, I see that we’ve put our arms on some kind of cutting table. Why do I make such bad choices without thinking them through?

“This will be a simple, yet, complex trial I like to call, ‘Judge and be Judged’. I will tell you all your partner’s crimes and you have to judge whether or not they would go to Hell if they died this instant. If you don’t answer within ten seconds, your arm will be cut in half. Judging wrongly will also result in the dismemberment of your arm. Only judging rightly will ensure that you will escape with both arms,” Genio says.

The buzzsaws start to move our way.

“Franco, your partner is guilty of rape, torturing his victims, abusing his power as an official of the Church, silencing those who would expose him, and much more. What is his sentence? Heaven or Hell?”

I’d say he was bound for Hell, but what answer would Genio accept? Wait! He didn’t tell me if he repented from his sins yet! The Church offers you a chance to confess to a confessor before shipping you off to a prison planet while also having priests on the ship and at the prison planets to hear confessions. There’s also the chance that he could’ve confessed to God and somehow made an act of perfect contrition.

“I wouldn’t know because you didn’t tell me if he repented or not!” I scream at the speaker.

Come on, come on, answer already! The buzzsaw is getting so close. Ah! Huh? It stopped before touching me. Unfortunately for my partner, he lost half his arm and has to be carried away by a medical android.

“Correct! You are one of the few prisoners to get this question right,” Genio says as the operating room doors open.

Going out the door, I go through a hallway and continue up a flight of stairs while making sure to step lightly until I reach the next floor, which is…a room full of barb wire. Barb wire that’s sharper than what I’ve seen before with heads, limbs, and bodies stuck on them. If I never see this stuff again, it will be too soon.

“This is your final trial. The simple yet challenging room of razor wire,” Genio says through the speakers in this room.

Oh, razor wire. My bad. As if that’s any better. Okay, last one. I can’t let any slip of pain or my fear distract me. Freedom is so close. I have to get back home. I’ve made it through sticker situations than this. Come on! Almost there! Ah! I touched the razor wire and knocked a loose arm off the razor wire that hits my face and makes me go headfirst into a mess of wire. Don’t think about the pain! Just take your face out of the wire and keep going! Keep going! I can barely see because of the blood on my face but I’ve made it to the end where an open elevator waits for me. Going into it, I press the only button that doesn’t look broken.

Okay, okay. This is it. I’ve earned my freedom. It’s over. The elevator stops at a floor that’s a long dark hallway with a room with lights in it. That better be daylight or moonlight. Reaching the light only reveals a room with cameras in it and a person in a robe in it. The person turns around to reveal a man with a featureless face. Does he even have eyes? He doesn’t have a nose and he doesn’t have a mouth. In the place of a mouth, he has a bunch of tubes where his mouth would be. This must be…

“Hello, Franco. Congratulations on being one of the few to complete my trials without serious injuries,” Genio says.

Before I can say anything smart to him, I wonder what he means by serious injuries. What he says makes me look at the injuries on my arms and legs. What…hold on! I instinctively pick at my skin and accidentally tear off the fake skin off my arms and face. I’m a cyborg…

“What did you do to me?!”

“I did what I did to every other prisoner in the ship. You are all immortal human machines just like me.”

Genio raises his claw-like arms from his robes to reveal his robotic body with his heart and organs in his metal chest and four pincer legs.

“Why?”

“To make an immortal Church. The universe is big enough to fit a nearly infinite number of humans and dying only when God wills it. I have given us thicker skin and quicker reactions to defend us against all manner of physical assault and diseases. There is no certainty in flesh but death. The Church rejected my ideas to give everyone in the Church this option because they suddenly lost the stomach to experiment on the faithless. I was exiled and my name was erased from everything I created, but I didn’t let that stop me from using my God-given talents. I spent two years collecting everything and everyone I needed to conduct my experiment, another year to augment everyone here, and an excruciating month of waiting for you all to finally wake up, but it was all worth it for this moment.”

A data drive comes out of the machine near him that he takes.

“Is that your research?”

“Yes, and with it, the Church will welcome me back. Come with me and they will grant you your freedom as well. They will forget your crimes and let you go back to your family.”

I look around the room as I think, and my eyes focus on a guard’s shotgun close to me. Makes sense that they would have riot control weaponry in a camera room in the event of a riot or prison break.

“Okay. I’ll join you.”

“God bless you, sir. Let’s not keep them waiting for this enlightening information.”

As Genio walks away, I quietly pick up the shotgun, aim for his chest, and shoot him. The shotgun tears him in half. His top half twitches and almost seems to be alive, so I blow his head off. It’s no wonder why the Church exiled him though I do understand why he was mad and motivated. Still, it’s not a good excuse to do the things he did even to sinners like me. Now, let’s see if this information will actually give me my freedom.

I go the way Genio was going to go and make my way to the hanger bay of the prison ship to find one ship that’s still operating. Using it, I travel back to my home planet and give the information to the authorities. After going through it, they tell me that my freedom is guaranteed and my recorded clean as long as I don’t bring this up to anyone and don’t commit any more crimes, of course. We agree to this as they promise to send people to free the prisoners stuck on the stranded ship I was on that was in the unknown regions. With that done, they give me a ride back to my house.

They come with me to confirm my identity to them since I was thought to be dead because of my long disappearance. My family opens the door in shock as my wife and kids step outside to see me. They look like they were excited at first and now they don’t know what to do.

“I’m sorry I took so long, but I’m home now,” I say with my arms open to them.

My eyes quickly focus on my robotic arms and the fake skin that’s hardly covering them. I then realize that I didn’t do anything to cover this up because of how excited I was to go back home. This is embarrassing, so I hide my arms and my face as best as I can. My kids run up to me and give me a hug with tears on their face before looking up at me. Even though my robotic face can’t cry, it feels like I am. My wife then runs to me and hugs me as my family welcomes me back home.

The authorities wish us well and tell me not to forget our agreement before heading off. My wife asks me what this agreement is, and I tell her not to worry about it. I’m finally back home and a free man. Thanks be to God.