SHEVAT, THREE MONTHS BEFORE THE FALL.
"So pal, what are you gonna do about him? Not the best listener."
TONY STARK.
Aerial Defender of Shevat.
"Kill him. He's an insubordinate welp, I've no use for him.
AKEMI HATZIS.
First Imperial Princess of Shevat.
"Baby cakes, you need to calm down.
Just talk to Hanzo, he'll come around."
KARIN IVORY.
Lady In Waiting to the Imperial Shevatian Throne.
"Please. There is no talking to him."
FEI TOSHIHIDE HATZIS.
Basileus of the Floating Principality of Shevat.
"Father, you don't think you're being tough on him?"
NAZNEEN HATZIS.
Second Imperial Princess of Shevat.
"You should listen to your daughter,
she is wise beyond her years in diplomacy."
"And what of Akemi?
Is that to say her opinion is the folly of a fool?"
"No my love, I meant nothing like that.
It's just that Hanzo is..."
"Hanzo always is, Karin.
You two defend him,
but he defies me at every turn.
I grow tired of his insubordinance."
"Very well baby cakes.
Whatever you decide I will support you,
but I am retiring to bed."
"I'm following mother.
I don't think this is a positive conversation."
"Goodnight, my ladies."
"...am I too late for all the festivities? You kicking Hanzo or nah?"
AVRA HATZIS.
Brother to Basileus Hatzis. Ethereal Sniper of Shevat.
"Brother, come sit. You tell me if he should be excommunicated."
"Hey, hey! Don't involve me in all this.
That's between you and him.
I'll be here if you need me, but I'm not the boss. You are.
You lead."
LEADERSHIP.
s|| It's as much of a curse as it is a blessing, to possess the innate ability to lead. To be a good leader means you must become a better servant. Servitude to your people requires a special ability to cater to their needs better than both themselves and any other leader. If executed successfully, it can be a joyous union of those that believe in your conviction, and your conviction itself. However if the convictions of the servant and the follower are not congruent, then the union will not hold. Dissolution will run its' course, and an inevitable parting, no matter how much averted, will transpire. The degree and intensity of separation is contingent on the nature of the separation itself. For the Basileus of Shevat and the leader of the Shevatian Flotilla, the issue was control.||s
THE DAY BEFORE.
"What the hell do you mean you're going to do what you want??"
"I mean exactly what I said. I lead the Chaos Pirates, we're in an alliance."
HANZO TAKAMITZU.
Navy General(?) of the Shevatian Flotilla. Captain of the Chaos Pirates.
"I don't run Shevat as a Principality of Anarchy. There are rules, and there is order. One way or another, you're GOING to follow suit."
"Please. Order? You're just trying to be a dictator and make everyone do what you want."
"That's bullshit and you know it! More to the point, if it were true, what the hell else is a leader supposed to do? Aren't you pulling Austin and Fiona to do what YOU want to do? So let me get this straight. You want to basically enjoy the perk of this title, and do your own thing anyway."
"No, I'm not saying that, but I am saying I lead the Chaos Pirates and if I don't agree with something, you're not going to force me to do it. I'm gonna do what I want. If that means I want to run up on someone, I'm gonna do it."
"Fuck this. I cannot deal with you and your wanton ability to just run off like some rogue assassin in the name of your convenience. I worked TOO HARD for you to come in here and kick your feet up like I answer to the LIKES OF YOU."
"The LIKES OF ME? Please, get a good look at yourself. Damn near everyone hates you. If it wasn't for Karin, your name would be shit anyway."
"Get out."
"Truth hurts, don't it."
"If you don't get out, there's going to be a LOT more hurting than what you're assuming."
"Tch. Fine. Not worth it anyway."
s|| Two cannot walk together unless they both agree. A killer and a pacifist will only coexist for so long before a division begins. Much like one wanting to follow their resolve and the other the same, two people destined to lead must carry on the same way. Bitter about the matter, Fei called for a meeting with his Imperial Royal Family to decide their fate. After Karin and Nazneen expressed their sentiment on the matter, Fei was left with Akemi and his brother, along with Tony. Akemi was sitting in thought next to her father's throne in the Shevatian Throne room. Avra had kicked his feet up into the right throne seat, lighting a cigarette and ignoring the situation with his normal nonchalant attitude. Tony was staring out of the leftward bay window in the throne room, the evening sun glistening over his baby blue and chocolate armored suit. Fei walked over to him, a normally silent follower since a certain incident.||s
"Nohman will be back, I'm sure."
"..."
"Come on, old friend. Advise a leader on a matter won't you?"
"Whatever you decide I'm fine with. I'll follow you regardless, as you can see. What I'd like to see for once however, is that you make a decision based on your own conviction, and not some moral standard. You can't play hero if the universe sees you as a villain. At one point or another, you'll have to take off that white hat."
"Father, he is correct in his rebuttal. You have to take risks as a leader. Let us shovel the burden of your moral reception to the realms. We are here to bury the conspiracy and exalt the results. Your success will speak for itself, but we cannot soar the skies with dead weight. We cannot heard a flock of sheep evading the attack of a wolf with a disobedient lamb that refuses to rush to sanctuary."
s||These words weighed heavy on Fei's heart. He returned to the quarters where his lady in waiting had already returned to slumber. Disrobing, he stood in his own bedroom window. A midnight shine gazed into the room like an interrogating detective. Before long, she'd come behind him, brushing his hair. After her encouraging him to turn to slumber, he retired for the night. It was the next day he executed the order that Hanzo be stripped of his title and banned from Shevat. The Chaos Pirates were mandated to follow their leader in search of a new home and never return to the kingdom again. Karin and Bunny were saddened by this. Akemi and Tony were indifferent, but a difficult choice had to be made in the name of the kingdom. One thing that Fei could not allow, was the ramblings of a rebellious underling to go without consequence. Hanzo was made an example of for all to see that disobedience would not be tolerated. It was a dictator's action, but it was needed in the name of a better country. What no one knew then however, was that this excommunication would begin the first in many series of decisions leading to the political decline of Shevat and the eventual death of Fei Hatzis on the day of his wedding.||s
PRESENT DAY SOLARIS.
"You like sitting there, don't you?"
"How am I supposed to feel? I am king, aren't I?"
ASHFORD HATZIS.
Imperial Chancellor of Solaris. Known by the codename, 'ETHER:DRIVE.'
"Yes, you are. I was only teasing, my son."
"Hey, not too much teasing of the royal nephew!
I'd hate to order PT for the whole family!"
ALVON HATZIS.
Brother of Fei. Known by the codename, 'ETHER:RECALL.'
"Let him pick! It's good for the young lad! He needs to be made a little tough for the warmongers out there!"
AZAZEL HATZIS.
Brother of Fei. Known by the codename, 'ETHER:SHIFT.'
"You guys are too much.
We all know Ash will make a good example for Aviela."
"Oh father, you flatter yourself. Repair functions to Shevat are nearing half completion. Just wait until I take my place as Basileus Queen."
"Ah, the firecracker speaks. Am I late for the party?"
ADARLIC HATZIS.
Brother of Fei oddly resembling deceased brother Avra. Known by the codename, 'ETHER:TRANSFER.'
"You've missed little. Just the bear in here promoting parental violence."
REGINA HATZIS.
Sister to Fei. Known by the codename, 'ETHER:FUSE.'
"Better an instigator than a mute blowfish. It's a wonder you can survive out of water."
"You try that blowfish comment again, and you'll be wondering how a bear could survive IN water..."
"HEY, OKAY YOU TWO! HA HA, jokesters, the both of you. So son, how's that new recur-"
s|| At that very moment, Fei felt something come over him. It was a deep shuttering all over his body. The clear vision of him and his family had now become a rainbow of translucence to the marble white Solarian throne room. He was being forced into hyperspace via dimensional travel and had no idea how. Somehow he was being auto forced to head to a destination he knew nothing about. In the midst of the transfer, Fei was able to channel ether around his body to minimize the turbulent effect on his bodily organs. The speed at which he was being summoned was too much for even him to grasp full control of. He was losing thought, losing touch, losing sight. Everything was a rainbow blur to him, a series of rapidly phasing colors. Soon, things came to a slowing. Colors began to construct a real environment once again as he regained his senses, ejected from hyperspace. A sharp thud landed him onto the ground of the foreign land. Silence after a warping noise enveloped the area, his thud was followed by another. He exited hyperspace at about ninety miles an hour. If not for his reinforced nanofiber suit, he'd have felt quite the bruise from the tumble. One led to another and to another as he hit the ground four times. He skipped in the air a considerable distance with each, the last leaving a three foot dent in the dirt beneath him. Taking a moment to rise, he dusted himself off and looked around. About fifty feet in the distance south it appeared that an individual was in the distance. He couldn't make out the identity of him. Looking around, the sun was shining bright and grass had no end to the eye. His intricately woven Solaris battle garbs were tightly secured to his body as he stretched a bit while standing. It was then that another shudder rolled over his conscience. This time he saw that hideous skull, and he knew exactly who it was. A closer look in the distance zoomed in on the same crooked, slant angle face he'd been annoyed with for so long. Knowing now the nature of his magical summoning, he extended both his hands forward and charged ether. It wouldn't take long before flashbacks of his previous life as leader of Shevat began to recant the memories of the enemy before him. Vague nostalgia instantly became photographic memory as the rage focused on his opponent returned with expedient abandon. Before his family found him, he would find himself with a gift to return with.||s
THE HEAD OF AN IGNORANT JACKASS.