The Final Judgment/Part VII: The Old Guard

Tarzg was close as the Queen's shadow while their strange procession made its way up the stone ramp of the Temple of Incarnate Glory. They had left the Convocation of Law with only the Queen's party and the Governing Judges; a frantic Acolyte Jepth had gone on ahead to herald their coming. Tarzg had thought it best to stop him, but Queen Rin had insisted they let him go. As they traveled, though, walking across the skyways crisscrossing the Toriafas Capital District, troops and bodyguards had crowded in around the judges, Exoi with their odd blasters and pilots in battle armor. Not to be outdone, Colonel Hwurzahk had summoned his command, and Massassi from the 14th mixed in with the disguised Assault Commandos to form a wall of beings around the Queen, too.

Some Exoi citizens had spotted them on their long, deliberate march across the Capital District as well. Judge Hoowh had suggested they take a repulsorcraft, as they were on the business of both the God-King and the Governing Judges, but the Queen had refused. "We would not upset all your traditions in a single day," she had told him, favoring him with a smile. But Tarzg suspected she had acted for this very reason, so the Exoi could see and know them. Now a crowd of them trailed behind the Judges' party, a respectful distance away but radiating curiosity, surprise, fear, and amazement.

They walked under soaring buttresses, across ornate bridges with fantastically complicated statuary, beside and even under fountains, carved avians spitting water over them like a ceiling. The ramp upward was canted at a slight enough angle to allow the Exoi to move easily, and so it twisted and turned, doubling back on itself over multiple levels to account for the towering structure's height. Without looking, Tarzg felt resentful eyes glaring down at them from behind plinths and statues above and around them. True to his word, the Acolyte had borne word of their coming, and it didn't seem a welcome message.

As subtly as he could, Tarzg rolled his shoulders, keeping the blood moving in case he needed to draw his blade. He was over sixty now, his reflexes not quite so sharp as they had once been, and he did not like the menace he sensed in the watching priests or the battle armor pilots around them. Hwurzahk's 14th were exceptional, the Assault Commandos the elite of the non-Massassi, and Tarzg trusted every one of his fellow Royal Guards. Even Windrunner was said to be lethal in a fight, and the Queen herself was more powerful than them all. But he still would have rather Corr Shaasa gone as the Queen's envoy, and the Queen herself remain protected. Surely the Duros could be trusted with this mission; how many worlds had knelt to the Empire at a word from him?

The Queen would no more hear that than take the repulsorlift; the God-King was seen as divinity, and no less than the Sovereign and Protector of the Empire could treat with such a being, the risk be damned. As ever, his Queen was fearless in the face of a challenge and as unyielding as a star when she set her mind to something. It made Tarzg respect her all the more, but he knew in his heart of hearts that once in a long while, her fearlessness could be heedlessness, to her own peril. But he could not protect her from herself, not here, and so he forced himself to think past the knowledge that, some day, he would no longer be able to protect her at all. The day might come when his strength would fail him, but he resolved that this day it would not fail her.

As they crossed under yet another ceremonial arch, facing the temple yet again, Tarzg had a second to observe they were at last in the main courtyard facing the first, drum-like level of the structure. Then he focused on the line of Acolytes facing them. Some were armed, others not; some showed anger and indignance in the Force, while others barely concealed their fear from their faces, let alone their minds. All wore robes, though none purple like Jepth's, and none had white stripes that Tarzg could see. His scarred hand fell to the lightsaber on his belt.

"Halt!" the Acolyte in the center called; someone had thought to bring along the floating protocol droid, and it gamely kept on translating. The Acolyte had some sort of ceremonial rod in his hands and a green robe over his body. "None may enter the Temple of Incarnate Glory without the leave of his divine grace Chohwelk VII, Lawgiver, Descendant of the Gods Beyond Galaxies, Fountain of Faith, the Blessed Son of Chohwelk VI!"

Tarzg braced himself as the Massassi spread out in a line of their own; each had a heavy blaster rifle in hand and a glaive across his back. Some of the Acolytes scuttled back nervously.

Governing Judge Hoowh slipped from his bodyguards and advanced until he could call, "We are here to see the divine Chohwelk VII. The Kritocracy has need of his judgment and wisdom; the fate of our people must be determined, and we, the Governing Judges, must submit the matter to him."

"The God-King is seen when he wishes to be seen!" the Acolyte insisted. "You will not command his counsel at will!"

"Is that how you speaking to the Most Learned Gooforcht Hoowh, Governing Judge of Toriafas?" Judge Zuzzy demanded. Behind him, Tarzg could feel some of the other Exoi reacting with annoyance too, soldiers and citizens alike; the mob tailing them was close enough to hear now.

The Acolyte heard their murmuring and shifted uneasily, four of his hands grasping the ceremonial rod. "I…the God-King is not…"

"The God-King's people need him!" Judge Arfathwo barked. "You will not keep the God-King from hearing the pleas of his servants."

The Acolytes were backing up now, and the Massassi advanced their line.

"We…we do not want to use these," the Acolyte screeched. A few of his comrades raised their blasters. Some of the Governing Judges' guards stepped forward in response, and Tarzg could hear the closest battle armor suits warming up weapons, though he was not sure on whom they would be used. Behind him, Jinyx Windrunner hissed quietly, tensed to fight. Hataphri took her lightsaber hilt into her hand.

Selkee slipped forward, nodding once to the Queen, and joined Colonel Hwurzahk at the line.

"Then let's avoid that, by all means," she called in Minnisiat. While the droid was still translating for the rest of them, the young Chiss raised her hands, and every Acolyte lurched back in surprise as everything they were holding—blasters, staves, and even a thick book in the hands of a young Acolyte who looked deeply confused as to how he had wound up here—flew from his hands. As a rush of amazement spread through the crowd, Selkee squeezed her hands into fists, and the staves snapped into pieces while the blasters collapsed inward in smoking, sparking ruins. She let them drop, then smiled just a bit as she levitated the book back to the young Acolyte; he took it with shaking hands.

Judge Hoowh was the first to recover. "We must see the God-King. Stand aside."

The Massassi pressed forward, and the Acolytes gave way. Some spread out to the sides, while a few turned to flee into the temple, scuttling as quickly as their legs would carry them. The Queen started forward until she reached the line, and the 14th formed up around her again. Tarzg did not relax, but he remained at her side.

"This is very dangerous, Your Majesty," he said in quiet Sith.

"It is," she replied, never taking her eyes off the temple as they stepped through the tall gateway and into the soft lighting within.

Tarzg did not know where to go from there, but the Queen smiled without looking and touched his shoulder gently. "A risk that must be taken," she assured him. "The past has ruled here too long. The future is now, and those who cling to the past will be left there."

Behind them, Judge Osrikkar moaned, "This is sacrilege! We're all to be condemned for this."

"Then wait here," Arfathwo advised. "We will bring the God-King's answer to you, old friend."

Evidently it was not that great a sacrilege, for Osrikkar trundled in after them amidst a group of Exoi soldiers, looking despondent.

In the atrium, a circular ramp stretched up toward the pinnacle of the temple, while different corridors with vaulted ceilings and shiny stone floors stretched out in five different directions. Another cluster of Acolytes blocked the entrance to the ramp.

"Stop now! In the name of the divine Chohwelk VII, Lawgiver, Descendant of—"

"Do what you need to do, Chiss," Judge Qiyem said resignedly.

Selkee glanced at the Queen, then waved her hand. This time, the Force blew all the Acolytes off the ramp into a heap on the mosaic covering the floor. Tarzg, the Queen, her party, and most of the Governing Judges were already a level up by the time the multi-limbed aliens managed to untangle themselves and call for them to stop.

They met no more resistance on the way up, though Acolytes armed and unarmed looked at them from hallways, corridors, and side doors on every level, above and below. At the base of the ramp, Tarzg could hear the Acolytes losing an argument with the crowd of curious Exoi who had followed them thus far; it sounded about to break into a fight until the Acolytes noticed that two dozen Exoi had already followed the Governing Judges and the Empire's party up the ramp, and dashed off in frantic pursuit, only to find themselves trapped between the first scouts and the rest of the mob, who gleefully followed them up.

The ramp went up for level after level, and Tarzg felt his age in his knees and back as they worked their way up. He could sense the danger all around them, and he cared not at all for their position, exposed to fire from above and below, not to mention the possibility of the Governing Judges and their troops turning on them at any moment. Several beings in the cluster looked down to the now-distant floor, and Tarzg could feel sporadic waves of vertigo in the Force. He could hear Selkee and Jinyx speaking quickly in a language he recognized as Huttese, and Souv Tanake encouraging Rezzew Saktati as the climbed reached its fiftieth level; old he might be, but Tarzg was far better suited for this journey than a Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Integration.

The dusky sunlight streamed through stained-glass windows and bathed them in a riot of colors as they finally reached the top of the temple. No fewer than a hundred Acolytes were there, all in purple now; Tarzg could not tell them all apart easily, but he recognized Acolyte Jepth's mind among them. Every one of the Exoi was armed, and several battle armor pilots of their own were in the back of the group. An older Exoi advanced, dressed in rainbow-colored robes.

"This defiance has come to an end," he called sternly, pointing all six of his hands at the Exoi behind the Queen, ignoring her completely. "I call upon the Gods Beyond Galaxies to damn to the Finality any being who would force open the sanctum of the God-King Chohwelk VII!"

Tarzg sensed a ripple of hesitation behind him, but Judge Hoowh found his voice. "We bring supplication to the God-King for his people, Most Devoted One," the old Exoi replied. "We need—"

"You need," the rainbow-robed Exoi repeated coldly. "You dare to profane this holy temple with arms and aliens for your needs. Do you think the God-King blind to his people?  Day and night he offers prayers and supplications on your behalf, and you repay him with contempt for his sacred presence and defiance of his holy law.  Are you above the God-King, Gooforcht Hoowh?  Does your judgment prevail over the law handed down from the divine God-Kings?"

"Of course not. But—"

"Then leave this place. Now.  Take your aliens with you and pray for redemption from this abomination you have brought upon us."

"Most Devoted One," Judge Arfathwo began. "We seek—"

"What you seek here you will not find," the Most Devoted One replied sharply. "Unless you seek the Finality. That is the fate of those who would blaspheme the God-King."

Judge Arfathwo shrank back, and he was not alone. The Queen glanced back, met Judge Hoowh's eyes for a moment, then stepped forward. She waved off Hwurzahk as he began to follow, but Tarzg stepped forward at her side and she did not object. Jinyx and Selkee advanced together.

"We do not—" she started.

"Be silent, alien!" the Most Devoted One snarled. "You have infected this holy place enough. Remove yourself, that we may cleanse—"

He fell silent himself, eyes widening as his upper arms patted frantically at his throat and he choked. The flaps on the side of his neck would not open. The Queen had not raised her hand, but her voice was ice as she said, "You will not speak when we are speaking, or you will never speak again."

Several of the Acolytes lurched forward, touching the Most Devoted One frantically, while others primed their blasters and still others fell back in disquiet. "We do not fear anything that awaits beyond you," the Queen called. She had switched to Exhacte, but Tarzg hear the translation in his mind. "A ruler's life belongs to her people, not theirs to her. You would isolate your God-King from the people who need him; no damnation you can bring these people could be worse than that."

The Most Devoted One collapsed sideways, sucking in a deep breath as the Queen released him. He glared at her hatefully, but Judge Hoowh stepped forward to the Queen's side. He felt weary in the Force, but there was fire in him yet. "I will throw myself at the God-King's feet to beseech his mercy if he should condemn me, Most Devoted One. But he has charged me with the governance and guidance of his people, and no one will stop me from carrying out the duty he has laid upon me.  Not even you."

"I serve the God-King with every breath," Judge Qiyem added, stepping to Selkee's side. He did not even bother to give the Chiss a distasteful look. "I do not serve his servants."

"If you truly serve the God-King, then help him to see the right course for our future," Judge Arfathwo advised as he stepped up beside Hataphri.

One-by-one, the Governing Judges came forward, Torpeth reluctant but committed, Osrikkar despondent but resigned, Zuzzy grim, the others a kaleidoscope of emotions. And while some of their guards hesitated, others stepped forward loyally. A few of the civilians had managed to push their way through too.

The Queen started forward; two Acolytes moved to bar her path, but she swept them off their feet with a thought. Another aimed a blaster; Tarzg pulled it from his hands, then sent it back into his torso so hard the alien folded in half. As the rest hesitated, the Judges' guards and the civilians the Queen had collected bulled forth, pushing them aside, squeezing together until the crush of bodies made it impossible for anyone to pull a trigger without disintegrating five people, friend and foe alike.

"I will…not open…the door for you!" the Most Devoted One rasped.

"As you wish," the Queen replied, and a flick of her hand blew the towering doors off their hinges. They crashed into the room beyond with a deafening shriek of stone floor breaking beneath metal.

"Weapons!" the Most Devoted One cried frantically as the party surged. "You can not bear arms into the God-King's presence! Blasphemy and shame!"

The Queen stopped; Tarzg had to carefully push one of the Judges away to prevent him from lurching into her. "Agreed," she announced unexpectedly. Turning to Judge Hoowh, she nodded. "Judge Hoowh?"

The Exoi was clearly surprised, but he nodded to his guards, who laid down their blasters uneasily. Tarzg looked at his master with doubt on his face, but she said, "No blasters and no knives, any of you. We are here to persuade, not to threaten."

But the Exoi don't know what a lightsaber is, the Bothan heard her mental voice add in his mind, and he nodded slowly. "As you say, my lady. Disarm!"

Jhawleesh pulled out his blaster pistol and handed it to one of the Exoi. Jinyx reluctantly surrendered a knife from her boot. Hataphri had to rid herself of a blaster, two knives, and what Tarzg thought might be a collapsible baton. But eventually the Queen nodded and started forth. The Most Devoted One hurried forward, racing past them through an ornate hall a hundred meters long, toward another pair of enormous doors beyond. Exoi battle armor pilots looked at them from beside the doors; Tarzg could sense confusion and apprehension mingling with their vigilance. Most of their horde was still scuffling with the Acolyte guards in the antechamber, and the 14th formed a line to protect their backs; only the Queen's party and the Governing Judges followed the Most Devoted One as he hurriedly typed in a code and skittered through the door as it cracked open.

It started to close again, but the Force reached out and held it fast. Selkee, Tarzg, and the Queen were the first through, with the other Royal Guards, Jinyx, and Judge Hoowh right behind them. As the others filed through the crack, Tarzg heard frantic voices speaking Exhacte, and saw three Acolytes in purple struggling with a huge chair, shaped like a bowl cut in half, every sitting surface padded with cushions. The Most Devoted One stepped into their way and screeched, "No!"

In the chair sat the most corpulent Exoi Tarzg had seen yet. He was dressed in fine robes, though the jostling of his chair had knocked them loose enough to see him wearing what appeared to be a diaper. His spindly legs were exposed too; they seemed far more thin and frail than those of the other Exoi, and Tarzg was sure they could not bear the man's weight. Two of his hands were working a stuffed animal mindlessly; another flapped against his chest. One of his eyes pointed upward at the ceiling, no matter which way his face turned. He did not seem to notice the efforts of the Acolytes; his mouth hung open and he drew raspy breaths.

He was connected to a variety of machines which surrounded the chair. Hoses and tubes were connected to the breathing flaps on the sides of his neck, and a sort of collar held his neck still. There were at least three IV lines connected to his arms.

Baffled, Tarzg reached out in the Force, past the rage of the Most Devoted One and the fear of the Acolytes. He found only the faintest answering touch in the Force, a bare spark of life.

"What is this?" Judge Arfathwo demanded. "Where is the God-King?"

"You…" the Most Devoted One hissed, trembling with rage, and Tarzg felt his own eyes narrowed as the truth touched him. "You profane his holy presence! No punishment is enough for this!"

"Stop!" Judge Qiyem boomed at the three Acolytes, and they froze, staring forward in terror. "Where is the God-King? Who is this?"

The Most Devoted One was too disciplined, but the three Acolytes betrayed him with fearful looks at the Exoi on the chair. Tarzg felt a ripple of shock and horror course through the Judges as they realized it too.

"This is Chohwelk VII, the God-King of the Exoi?" Zuzzy demanded. "This is the descendant of the Gods Beyond Galaxies? What have you done?!"

"We did nothing!" the Most Devoted One insisted, scuttling back as the Queen advanced on him, the Judges right with them now. "We would never harm the God-King!"

"Eeeeuuuugh," Chohwelk croaked, a look of strain coming onto his face. One of his eyes squinted, twitching this way and that.

"How can this…thing rule us?!" Arfathwo spat.

"Guard your tongue against your heresy!" the Most Devoted One snapped back, retreating onto the throne's dais. His comrades shrank back. "This is the holiest being in existence! The Fountain of Faith!"

At that most, a wet, squishing plop sounded from the throne, and the Fountain of Faith's struggling expression relaxed into a dazed smile. A second later, the rank smell assaulted Tarzg's nose. He grimaced, but controlled his reaction better than Jinyx, who coughed quietly in the back of her throat; Selkee, who wrinkled her nose distastefully; and many of the Judges, who gave cries of disgust.

"What have you done?!" Zuzzy barked again, and several of the Judges pressed forward.

Though they were old men, there were nineteen of them, and Tarzg sensed a sliver of fear whisper through the Most Devoted One's mind. "We had to do something!" he hissed. "We are sworn to serve the line of God-Kings with our every breath and thought. We have done everything possible to preserve the line…"

"You didn't make him this way," Judge Hoowh observed, and Tarzg heard the mix of disappointment and cold judgment in his voice. "You concealed this lie from us. From us, the Governing Judges."

Anger was building in the Judges now.

"This thing could never rule us!" Judge Osrikkar realized. "It was you!"

"This thing is the divine son of fate!" the Most Devoted One snapped. "Do not—"

"You've deceived us all," Judge Arfathwo accused. "Every declaration from the God-King, every law and ruling…it was all you."

"Since the seclusion," Zuzzy whispered, shaking his head; his hands trembled in anger. "For generations you have made mockery of our faith and the Kritocracy!"

"What else could we do?!" the Most Devoted One demanded; he sounded close to tears, though whether of despair or rage Tarzg wasn't sure. The Bothan took a step forward, hand on his lightsaber. "The line was failing! We couldn't let the flame go out!  Where will we be without the God-King?!  What will become of our faith—our people, our species, our everything—without him?!  You were content in your ignorance, and we ensured that—"

"—the Kritocracy would die slowly," Judge Hoowh accused. "Ignobly. Our people and our way of life wasting away in isolation and squalor to honor a lie.  Seeking the warmth of faith at a dying fire."

"IT WILL NOT DIE!" the Most Devoted One roared; several of the Royal Guards tensed, and the purple-robed Acolytes jumped. "The flame carries on! It will always carry on!  We need only shepherd it, and if we must bear the weight of government until the God-King is ready for it again, so be it!"

"That is not your role!" Judge Arfathwo cried. "You've poisoned our faith with your lies!"

The Queen stepped forward suddenly, advancing on the dais. Tarzg made to follow, but she raised a hand as she stepped up slowly, stopping before the Exoi in the throne. He was a stunted, bloated thing; even seated, he was not much taller than she was. The Most Devoted One stared at her in terror, but the Queen's face was gentle and calm behind her veil.

"I can see him in the Force," she said softly, "and there is no flame here now. He is a candle burned down through the wax.  Weak, guttering embers clinging to the last cinders of their wick.  When the flame has died so fully, only one thing can be done."

Tarzg tensed himself, but the Queen simply breathed out, a small puff. He felt the Force brush out like a caress, touching the last God-King gently, mercifully. Chohwelk VII burped, drooled spittle from the side of his mouth, smiled happily, and closed his eyes as the Force left him.

The monitors beeped in sudden alarm, readouts flatlining. As the panicked Acolytes raced forward, the Most Devoted One threw himself on Chohwelk's corpse, tugging at the robes, patting the clammy flesh. "NO! What have you DONE?!"

With a wordless scream of rage, he hurled himself at the Queen, all six hands aiming for her throat. Hataphr's lightsaber snap-hissed to life, Selkee raised her hands with lightning crackling through her fingertips, and Jinyx roared as her Human form exploded into the dragon within, wings stretched wide. But an old Bothan was faster than them all; in the blink of an eye, Tarzg pulled his lightsaber from his belt, leaping into a slash that freed the Most Devoted One's head from his most devoted neck. The head bounced down the dais as his lifeless corpse collapsed at the Queen's feet.

The Queen had not stirred to defend herself, but she gave Tarzg a warm smile as he placed himself protectively in front of her. He sensed danger from behind, but not for long. Two battle armor pilots clomped into the room and began to fire, but Hataphri, Souv Tanake, and Corr Shaasa deflected the bolts just long enough for blue-white tendrils of energy to course out from Selkee's fingers, frying the electronic suits and the pilots inside. One of the purple-robed Acolytes, sobbing hysterically, drew out a sonic blaster; Jinyx's tail swept out all seven of his legs, and her lightsaber cleaved him in half even as he was falling. Jhawleesh leapt into the midst of the other two, taking them both down with a single slash of his blade. Cambis joined Tarzg on the Queen's other side to flank her defensively.

It was over in seconds, and the silence that followed was heavy. A few of the Governing Judges choked on the smells of God-King excrement and cauterized flesh, while others looked about them in appalled disbelief. Judge Osrikkar was weeping. But Judge Hoowh simply gazed forward, looking more tired than Tarzg had yet seen him, but oddly at peace too.

"It is done, then," he observed quietly.

"The faith is done," Osrikkar managed. "Everything we believed…everything we demanded our people believe…all for a hideous lie…"

"A lie that can not go unpunished," Rin remarked. "Which Acolytes would have seen the God-King? Who would have known of this?"

"They wear blue, or purple," Arfathwo remarked distractedly. "The Acolytes of the Glorious Presence, and the Acolytes of the Most Blessed Flesh."

"'Glorious Presence'," Zuzzy repeated with a mirthless laugh.

"Selkee, Hataphri, Jhawleesh," the Queen said. "Go through the temple, find these deceivers, and kill them all. Have the Massassi ensure none escape."

The three Centurions nodded and headed off while the Judges looked at one another in shock. "We can't simply—"

"Punish the beings who lied to us all and usurped our government?" Qiyem demanded. "Not nearly as efficiently as she can. No blasphemy of ours could ever equal theirs; they've turned this whole place into a temple of deceit.  Let them die."

Tarzg felt more agreement among the Judges than he had sensed yet. The Queen stepped forward into their midst, and Tarzg followed closely, his blue blade ready to strike down any of them who chose to follow the Most Devoted One in his folly.

"Are we to die now too?" Judge Torpeth asked stoically.

The Queen shook her head. "The fate of the Kritocracy is now where it should have been all along—with the living, the thinking, the ones who will seek the best interests of its people, not merely their own interests. There is no God-King to think for you now, and surely no precedent for this.  You and you alone must choose your path."

The Judges looked at one another, and Gooforcht Hoowh stepped forward. "Then we will confer, Your Majesty," he said with a respectful bow. Beyond, Tarzg sensed a sudden rush of emotion, and heard the clamor that went with it; the news had passed to the people. Judge Hoowh glanced that way, then looked back. "We will decide the Kritocracy's future."