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He died with Honor! Seyla Honor to the Dragon!!!!!!! Seyla

Bunkers bristling with heavy weapons covered all of the approaches around the high wall that encircled the Imperial Palace, just outside of Unity City.  Liz brought the Orion to a halt and she considered what she knew of the defensive emplacements.  Finally she nodded to herself.

“Black Watch Actual?”

“Go, Black Watch Ghost,” the senior officer answered immediately.

“Only the four bunkers closest to the Gate can actually bear on an assault—we considered the fixed defenses only as a last resort; they are supposed to be augmented by mobile forces outside the perimeter.”

“Understood?  Your orders?”

“Have the 501st neutralize the bunkers—the Black Watch is to follow me single file.  And watch your step—SOP was for command detonated mines alongside the road.  Deploy Nighthawks to take the parapets once they are in jump range.”

“Acknowledged.”

“That’s it?” Absalom asked from the rear jump seat.  “We’re just going to charge, casualties be damned and take gate?”

“Do you have a problem with that, Captain?”

“Look, ma’am, we’ve got anti-mine munitions in the supporting units; they are only an hour behind us at the most.  Let’s form a perimeter and make certain the rat doesn’t get away, blow the mines to hell, and blast through the wall where they aren’t expecting us to attack!”

Liz clenched her jaw and shook her head.  “No.  We are not waiting another hour; Stefan Amaris does not get another hour of freedom!  BLACK WATCH!” she broadcast in a fury.  “ADVANCE!”

Liz pressed the throttle forward to its stops and the Orion began its loping run towards the distant gate, even as the jump capable Griffin IIs of the 501st shot past her and began to pour fire into the bunkers with LRMs and PPCs.  Bursts of autocannon shells and Gauss Rifle slugs screamed back towards the Black Watch in reply, but Liz ignored the hailstorm of fire that surrounded her ‘Mech—General Kerensky’s ‘Mech.

Overhead, hundreds of missile flights streaked by, impacting the gates in a thunderous explosion, but the gates held firm despite the damage inflicted.  Then gauss slugs, and autocannon shells, and laser beams and PPC bolts struck the gates as well, the Orion adding its own firepower to the carnage, and Liz leaned forward, twisting her torso to ram through the weakened structure.

“Oh shit,” Absalom muttered as he tightened the straps that held him firmly in the jump seat.

The Nighthawks fired their own jets as the Orion stepped into their jump-range and soared up towards the parapet where scores of Rim World were pouring machine-gun and SRM fire into the oncoming onslaught.  Just before Liz hit the gates, a portal on the side of the narrow approach opened, and the muzzle of a massive Class 20 autocannon slid out.  One of the lighter Black Watch ‘Mechs—a Falcon—stepped forward and slammed his left arm into the bore; the explosion tore apart his ‘Mechs arm and triggered a massive secondary on the far side of the wall.

Then the 75-ton Orion hit the gate moving at nearly 70 kilometers per hour—and the gate gave way.  Somehow, Liz kept the ‘Mech upright and advanced into the central square of the Court of the Star League.  And standing there before her, on the steps of what had once been Richard Cameron’s Palace, was the Usurper and his family.

Behind her, the Black Watch flooded into the grounds, and one-by-one, the Rim soldiers either died or dropped their weapons.  But Liz only stood there, ten meters away from Stefan Amaris and she stared down at him.

Absalom turned on the external pickups, and then they both could hear Amaris speaking.

“I am unarmed; my family is unarmed.  And I surrender in accordance with the laws of the Star League.  By your own rules of war, you must take me as your prisoner.”

“I must?” Liz whispered.  “I MUST?”  She lowered her head, but her thumb slid the selector switch on the right torso autocannon from slug to cluster.  “I should kill him now, that son-of-a-bitch!  For the sake of everyone he has killed in this damn war!”

The click of a pistol safety being slid into the firing position was deafening in the cockpit.  “The First Lord wants him alive, Colonel Hazen.  ALIVE.  He will pay; I know Stephen Cameron, Colonel.  He will pay; but don’t do this; don’t make ME do this.”

The seconds slowly ticked by, as Absalom watched the woman in the pilot’s seat intently.  One minute, and then two passed.  But finally, her body relaxed and his board showed the Orion’s weapons were powering down.  Absalom let out a deep breath and holstered his weapon.

Liz, tears streaming down her face, clicked on her radio transmitter.  “Black Watch Actual,” she broadcast, “I need an infantry detail to take Stefan Amaris and his family into custody.  Inform the First Lord that Terra has now been liberated.  Black Watch Ghost out.”

Then she shut down the transmitter and began to sob.

That's pretty close to canon in ending. Doors get kicked in, Amaris surrenders, pockets of fighting continue, a little bit later the Court of the Star League is unsealed and Amaris (w/Family) get a dirt nap.

Loving this MA.

Stephen began to lean forward as the vehicle slid to a halt in the Court of the Star League, but Hiroyoshi laid a restraining hand on the First Lord’s arm, even as Gerald Howe frowned.  Sighing, he sat back and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at the other two occupants of the ground car.

“Satisfied?”

“No,” scowled Gerald, as he listened to the reports of the Black Watch infantry on the com link he wore in one ear.  “The grounds are not 100% secured, LT.  But you aren’t going to wait for that, are you?”

“There are times when it is distinctly good to be First Lord, Sergeant-Major.  I take it that the boys and girls have secured the perimeter?”

Sourly, the old non-com nodded, and he opened the door and stepped out, cocking the sub-machine gun he wore on a strap across his chest and neck.

Stephen followed and shook his head on seeing the smoldering rubble of the once pristine grounds.  The marble walls of the official residence were covered with soot and grime and oil; shell craters pockmarked the walls; blood stains and other more pungent substances were soaked into the courtyard flagstones of this place, the once-and-future nerve center of the Star League.

“My Lord,” Ethan Moreau said, as he bowed his head slightly, “I see that you disregarded my advice to remain with the DropShip.”

“I have to see this myself, Ethan,” Stephen answered softly.  “I presume you have an escort?”

“You could say that, my Lord,” the commander of the Royal Black Watch regiment answered as he snapped his fingers and no fewer than two hundred and fifty infantry troopers in Nighthawk armor quickly surrounded the First Lord of the Star League.  “After you, my Lord.”

The group moved through the grounds of the Court of the Star League, and Stephen saw weeping troopers being comforted by their companions; the injured being treated by medics; the dead, being laid out in long rows.  But then he caught a taste of a strong, pungent odor wafting from ahead, and he gagged.

Ethan nodded, and handed the First Lord a respirator.  “It gets worse, my Lord.  Are you certain you want to see . . .?”

“I have to, Ethan,” Stephen answered grimly.  Ethan only nodded in answer and waited for the first Lord to fix the device to his face.

Ahead of him stood the doors to the throne room—Richard’s throne room.  “Amaris had the doors welded shut when we arrived, but our engineers cut into them with little difficulty.”

Stephen gagged again when he walked into the . . . the abattoir.  “He made no effort to bury the Family, my Lord; he left them where they were killed, and simply had the entrances sealed, the ventilation system shut down, and the atmosphere purged with liquid nitrogen.  Since we unsealed it, the decomposition has been rapid.”

The First Lord knelt and he gazed upon the body of a child, no more than six or seven; a child whose mother had tried to shield with her own body.  “Sarah and Wendy . . . Philip . . . Daniel . . .” his voice trailed off in horror.  But he made himself stand, even though he swayed—but Gerald was there and kept him from falling.  He walked across to the throne, and there at its foot was another corpse, the clean hole of a laser bolt drilled through its forehead.  “Richard’s wife?  His daughter?”

“We found Amanda’s grave, my Lord.  She was killed in the nursery and someone had the grace to bury the child.  His wife . . . the records here indicate that Amaris spared her and turned her over to his Guards to serve as their camp whore.  She died after being gang-raped by at least two hundred of his men.”

“Gerald.”

“Yes, my Lord?”

“Have the Lords of the Council arrived?”

“They will be assembled momentarily, Sire.”

“Usher them here, please.”

*****************************************************

Stephen drew in a deep breath of clean air and shuddered as he pulled off the respirator mask, but then Allyce Avellar ran back out of the throne room and collapsed to her knees, vomiting up the contents of her breakfast.   Barbara Liao exited next, but although her face was pale and green, she did not permit herself to luxury of purging her stomach.  One by one, the Lords of the Star League came out and stood silent, and Nicoletta—her usual acrid nature subdued by the sight—helped Allyce back to her feet.

“Capital punishment is not allowed under the letter of Star League laws,” Stephen said quietly.  “Member states are permitted to do so, but it has been declared illegal for the past three centuries by the Terran Hegemony.  I move that the Council of Lords hereby waive those provisions of the Star League Accords and grant me permission to execute Stefan Amaris as a traitor to the Star League.”

“You . . . can’t . . . it isn’t . . . what kind of monster,” Allyce sputtered, but then her voice trailed off as Stephen only pointed to the carnage within the throne rooms of nightmares.

“He did not even bury his victims, Allyce,” the First Lord continued softly.  “He left them to rot.  He rounded up dissenters and those loyal to the League from across Terra, and he killed them.  He slaughtered them.  Never mind what he did to Oriente, and New Avalon, and Luthien.  And Asta.  Where he came close to killing all of you—and me and my only surviving daughter.”

“I want him dead, Allyce Avellar, Lord of the Outworlds.  But I will not break the law to do it; not again.  What say you, my Lords?”

And whether it was well-planned timing or not, the first of the body bags were now being carried out of the throne room, and laid on the ground in long, long rows.  Many of those black polymer sacks being sized for children.

One by one, the Lords nodded their agreement, and finally, even Allyce closed her eyes and agreed.

*****************************************************

Stefan Amaris stumbled as the two guards hauled him into the Chamber of the High Council, his family trailing in his wake.  Chained and manacled, he was led into the circle of testimony in the center of the horseshoe-shaped table, and his fellow Lords looked down upon with hatred and horror in their eyes.

“As First Lord of the Star League, I—Stephen Cameron—do hereby call these proceedings to order.  Stefan Amaris, you have been tried by this body and found guilty of High Treason, of murder, of attempt murder, of the use of weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations, of terrorism, and a host of other crimes.  Have you anything to say in your defense before the sentence is passed?”

“Why?  You have all made up your minds.  You accuse me of these crimes, and yet every one of you sitting there would have done the same if you had the opportunity.  I convinced Richard I was his friend, while you laughed at him.  I earned my close relationship with him and he trusted me.  And yet, the Star League is on the verge of collapse, my Lords and Ladies.  My actions have only pushed it closer to the edge.  Do you think that in vengeance you can stop this?  I am guilty of nothing, other than failing to make a clean sweep of the Cameron bloodline.  Do to me what you will, for I shall be a martyr and my name will live forever—unlike yours.”

“SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!” Amaris shouted, but then he looked around in surprise, and his head whipped back towards Stephen Cameron, whose face was set with a stern expression.

“How stupid do you think I and my guards are, Stefan?  Your explosives were removed from this chamber, along with the contact poisons you had placed within the seats.  There are no tricks left to you.”

Amaris shrugged.  “One trick I do have left, First Lord,” he spat.  “Captain Hall—pandora three-seven—KILL HIM.”

Tricia Hall jerked as the long-buried command implanted into her subconscious took control of her body, but three tasers buzzed, and the woman collapsed.

The click of boot heels rang out from the flagstones, and Hiroyoshi Kurita walked around Amaris, circling him.  “Poor Captain Hall, brainwashed by your operative years ago, your Lordship.  Operatives that would far rather live albeit imprisoned than suffer the torturous and extended death at the hand of their Combine wardens.  She will be cared for, for after all, SHE has committed no crime.”

Amaris worked his jaw, and he spat on the floor.  “You have only postponed the inevitable.  Enjoy your respite, for it shan’t last.”

Stephen nodded gravely.  “Stefan Amaris, having been found guilty by the High Council of the Star League, you are hereby sentenced to death.  May God have mercy on your soul.”

Amaris opened his mouth—but Hiroyoshi had already drawn, and the razor sharp katana severed the Usurper’s head from his body in one blow.

“Khalid Amaris, you and your mother are far too dangerous to be permitted to return to the Rim Worlds.  Yet, you have committed no crime for which I might legally have you killed.  I hereby instruct the Star League Defense Force to take you, your mother, your siblings, and any who wish to travel with you into custody.  You are to be transported to a habitable planet far outside of the Star League, one that has not been colonized.  You are to left there, with no weapons, no mechanical devices, no communications equipment; but with only tools and basic supplies.  There, you are free to live out the remainder of your natural life.  A picket ship will remain in orbit and ensure that there is no contact between you and anyone else in the universe.”

The First Lord nodded, and the guards took the young son of Amaris, his sisters and his mother, and hauled them from the room, with Khalid shouting invectives the entire way.

“This session of the High Council is hereby adjourned.  Black Watch—ensure that body is properly disposed of.”

Epilogue

November 23, 2788
Cameron Cathedral
Hawkins, Asta   
Terran Hegemony

“But we know that my father’s story did not end there,” Cassandra Cameron said from the pulpit where she delivered her eulogy to the man lying in the coffin beneath her.  Tears—unshed tears—glistened in her eyes as the young woman spoke.

“He saved the Star League, and he saved our Souls through his actions to reunite humanity, not through guns and ‘Mechs and warships, but through our own innate humanity.  We have joined together and in these past twenty years, we have wiped away the scars of the Amaris Coup.  We have restored planets that fanatics loyal to that man attempt to depopulate.  We have rebuilt cities and families, and we have created new cities and families.”

“My father never wanted to be First Lord of the Star League.  He never wanted this responsibility—but he did his duty as a Cameron and as a human being.  And though many of those who knew him best are gone—Lord Kerensky, General DeChevilier, Vincent Kurita, Philip Marik, Nicoletta Calderon, Gerald Howe—there are many more of us who loved him and remain.”

“For twenty years now, we have a Star League at peace with itself.  We have repaired the rifts between us, and we have restored the faith in our common humanity.  And that is a gift that my father gave to us all.  It is a gift that we cannot, we shall not, forget.”

*****************************************************

“Thank you for coming, Lord Kurita,” Cassandra said with a smile at the grey-haired man standing before.

“You, Lady Cassandra, may call me Hiroyoshi.  How could I not come?  He was the best of all of us, you know.”

“I know.”

She stopped walking in the gardens and turned to stare directly at the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine.  “What is this I hear about Nicky?  What is doing out there in the Rim?”

Hiroyoshi sighed.  “I wish that Andery had not died in that accident along side of Aleksandyr, Cassandra.  I don’t trust Nicolas Kerensky—I fear that he is not stable.  But my agents have reported that he has instituted a caste system for the people of the Rim.  One based on meritocracy, yes, but in a generation I fear that they will locked into the caste of which they are born.  And his scientists have begun experimenting on altering human DNA—to make us better.”

Cassie nodded glumly.  “He no longer attends the High Council, and he quotes my own father when I press him on why.  He claims that he is charting his own course, and so long as the Rim doesn’t threaten another member state, I have little authority over him.”

Hiroyoshi sighed.  “And he is right.  Your father’s reduction in force of the Star League Defense Force sent many former soldiers into the Rim with Aleksandyr.  And his insistence on allowing each state to govern itself without Star League interference means there is little enough you can do to stop him; even if he has changed the official title of his position from Lord Protector to Khan.”

Together the two of them started walking again through the quiet gardens, even as Otomo and Black Watch trailed behind silently.  And the nightingales in the gardens sang, even as the sun once more began to set.

Great job MA! I really can't enough about this series of novels. Easily the greatest fan fiction ever created in my opinion. It was very enjoyable from beginning to end. Sad to see it end.

Really great stuff. Just wondering if your Epilogue year is a little off? 2788 is only a few years after the Coup...might want to change it.

I'll really miss this storyline MA. If you ever want to write some more Star League fiction...DO IT.