perspective: Sierra, a non-T'laren girl of 16 who watches helplessly as the Dullon slaughters a city of thousands of T'laren by explosive devices and small arms weaponry because she - a non-T'laren - is in the city, and therefore the Dullon won't use nuclear or chemical weapons which would wipe out the T'laren more efficiently, but would also kill her. she also sees how the T'laren fight against the Dullon, but also hide behind her, knowing the Dullon won't kill her. Takes place two generations after the death of Emperor Kilgar. The other clans are divided in their support of the T'laren. Dullon is now referred to simply as "The Dullon", and has become mythologized into some kind of unstoppable engine of death.
[this is a story about Sierra. more specifically, about Sierra as a little girl. she has a lot of fun on this planet. the T'laren treat her pretty well, and she makes many friends. through this story, we catch a glimpse of life in the Empire. This world is pretty far from the others, and no one expects the Dullon any time soon. its secondary purpose is to introduce the myths behind the Dullon and to whet the appetite of the reader about what the Dullon is and/or can do. the Dullon plays a very minor role in this story. its not about him, its about Sierra. but at the same time, its about Sierra's actions and reactions to the Dullon. obviously, after her initial ordeal with the Dullon, she becomes obsessed with him, but that's minor too.]
"Welcome Sierra, to T'lara IV" the grizzled old Navy admiral said to the young woman. "T'lara IV is the last of the Clan T'laren homeworlds that the Dullon has not yet attacked."
"Why is that father?" she asked. Sierra was less than one generation of age, and this her first star voyage. She had spent her entire life on Ecofaber, a nice enough planet given that the Empire was in chaos due to the Jihad. But that was before Admiral Cromulus had come for her. He was an ex-admiral of the Imperial Navy, but he still retained his title. Now he was "just" captain of the Planetcaster and member of the resistance. The Admiral had adopted her when her parents died in an industrial accident. The accident had been partly caused by the Admiral's troops, and he felt honor bound to take her under his protection.
"Because, my dear, as you will have noticed, T'lara IV can only be reached by hyperspace or warp dri2ve. Very few within the Empire know the coordinates of this planet, affording it a great deal of protection from the Jihad."
Everything was beautiful! Though it was clear the people - especially the refugees - suffered they did not fear the Jihad. A feeling of protection and safeness permeated everywhere. The Dullon would never find them here, that much they knew. They were safe now. Here on T'lara IV. Last bastion of the Clan T'laren.
"Aaaargg!" Suddenly, the navigator clutched his head and screamed!
"What is it?" the Admiral demanded of him as he caught the navigator in mid fall.
"Hu... hu..." the navigator gasped as the veins bulged on his forehead. "Hea..rt..."
The Admiral's eyes grew wide with terror. He dropped his friend and scrabbled for his communicator "RED ALERT! RED ALERT! I WANT EVERYONE AT BATTLESTATIONS IN THIRTY SECONDS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! THIS IS A RED ALERT!" The other officers reacted immediately and without question. They knew their commander from long years of hard experience.
A tall officer took Sierra by the shoulder. "Come with me Sierra. I'll take you to safety." His voice came through a hard-bittenalm, but it was not unkind.
"Father! What is it?!" Sierra cried out in fear. She had never seen the Admiral react so. And what was he reacting to?
"Go Sierra! It's the Heartbreaker. The Dullon has found us!"
The wall burst asunder, smoke and debris clouded the air. Laser bolts sizzled through the dust, and the T'laren screamed as they fought valiantly and were slain. The room fell silent, the only sounds coming from the battles outside as the Jesuit shocktroopers continued to slaughter the T'laren in the streets. A humanoid figure emerged from the dust. Sierra almost began to cry - surely this slender stick of a man was a T'laren come to rescue her, and the Dullon had been slain. But then she saw his eyes. They were cold and empty. He looked at her, and without taking his eyes off her, he spoke into the radio headset he wore.
"Dullon to Heartbreaker," his voice was a rich alto, unaffected by the dust in the room, "Anomaly located. Arrange immediate retrieval."
"Confirmed Great One," a voice came from the headset, "deploying Rorschart now."
The Dullon stood motionless, only his eyes moving. Sierra crawled to the bed, and pulled herself up to her feet. She clung to the bed post for support. "Why?" she asked, timidly.
Again, the alto voice spoke, "The Emperor's last wish was that I slay the T'laren," he said flatly.
"Why not me?" she asked.
Again, without emotion, "You are not T'laren."
"That doesn't make sense. You led an army into the city, and slew and maimed and injured millions by hand just because I was here?"
"Yes. Only the T'laren shall die. Your presence in this city required a more surgical approach until you were found. After you are clear of the planet, we will bomb this city from orbit."
An explosion occurred on the roof, and the ceiling exploded inward. A second humaniod figure arose from the dust. This one was over eight feet tall, and bristling with cybernetic augmentation and powered armor. He stalked toward Sierra, "C'mon kid, let's get you off this rock," and before she could move, he had raised his hands, and a bubble of energy surrounded her. He flexed his legs and with a powerful leap he shot back up through the roof, shattering the concrete and wood like it was dried bread and taking Sierra and her energy cocoon with him. As he cleared the building, rockets on his back and in his feet ignited and together they shot towards orbit. Sierra looked down at the once beautiful city. Everywhere she looked was smoke and fire. "They deserved it kid," the cyborg's voice sounded clear inside the energy shield, "it was their kind that brought instability to the Empire, and we're just cleaning up the mess."
No, Sierra thought to herself, not all of them were evil. Just a few. And because of that billions of innocents have suffered. Billions of innocents will suffer. Because of this madness, because I was one - "anomaly" it called me - millions will suffer slow and painful deaths before their city, their culture, is obliterated by dispassionate touch of orbital bombardment.
As the atmosphere began to give way, Sierra could see the bombs begin to fall. She swore she would spend the rest of her life fighting to end this madness.