22 June 2012
You heard about Riddick?. You keep what you kill.
Riddick didn't like anything about the Necromonger way of life but, you keep what you kill, Riddick thought this was pretty cool. That's why after he killed the last Lord Marshall he dissolved his body in a vat of acid and had his armour melted. His armour and femur fashioned into an axe. The rest, he hung around his thrown room. This was his new home, might as well make the place look pretty, right?.
It wasn't long after this I met him. I was just a kid from a place called Galio4. Never heard of it?. It was removed from all star maps but that story can wait. Riddick and his inherited Necromonger army annihilated it over a dispute over trade rights. Riddick wanted them all but the High King had things pretty good. Wealth, luxury, a slave army. He had the ultimate weapon, he ruled over the system with an iron fist and if the other planets stepped out of line, he would deploy it. This was a planet buster. A single bomb that would melt all organic matter in a matter of seconds.
Riddick as diplomatic as he was offers a challenge to the High King. He is left alone on the planet dropped anywhere. He has three cycles to get to the military bunker and he bets he can steal the planet buster and escape the planet. He gets what he wants if he succeeds. Riddick tells The High King that if he fails, which he confidently says he wont, The King keeps what he kills.
The High King could see the Necromonger fleet in orbit. The king thought that the odds were in his favour. Over 3 million soldiers against 1 man. The planet was not the friendliest place in the system.
So Riddick is dropped in the middle of nowhere, probably in the eastern swamps, on the other side of the planet. He is not heard of in days. Untill, the day I met him. I was living in the military compound where the weapon was kept. On my planet, kids were trained up to fight from the age of five right up-to fifteen when you are expected to enlist in the planetary defence for twenty years. The alternative wasn't so great. Death.
No one dropped out, no one gave up for fear of death to their families. Needless to say, Riddick was slaughtering everyone in sight, we were drafted in to try to stop him. I was smart, I got out of the way. I stayed out of the way.
He spotted me. He told me to keep up with him and I might live. Not that I had a choice. So I did. He didn't know how to use the machine. Languages weren't his speciality. I switched it on. One minute delay, that was all he needed. He summoned down a ship with a beacon of light and we left just as reinforcements in their thousands were arriving. Galio4 literally melting into pools of organic waste behind us. Riddick told me that he was broadcasting the whole thing on holocam to the rest of the system. Needless to say The High King lost the bet and Riddick, he won. The whole system now pledging exclusive trading rights to the Necromongers.
You can't blame them. Me?. .. I wasn't converted. That wasn't his style. Riddick had more than enough cattle to send to slaughter.
He saved my life.
--------- Richard B. Riddick and his amazing universe do not belong to me. This is an original short story and fan fiction only. If I have broken any Opuss rules or the law I would gladly delete. Thanks. -------------
Riddick & The Greed of The High King. • Opuss № I