STORY:
"And lo, a great teeming horde of flesh-eaters shall come from the darkness, and there shall be many men dead. This is a Plague of Katan upon the wicked, who have strayed from the Faith. Those who do not heed this warning shall be slaughtered and eaten, and the Heavenly Elders shall not allow their souls to enter. But rejoice! For those who heed the warning, and take up arms against the infidels, shall be justly rewarded. The invaders shall flee before your righteous wrath, and you shall enslave them and their children. And Katan shall be proud of His Annointed People." - Book of Lindis Maroo, Chapter 9, Verses 1-4.
"All these things shall come to pass, as surely as Katan makes the sun to rise and set in the sky, and there shall be a great wailing and gnashing of teeth by the wicked, but Katan shall not heed their despair. For He shall be tired of their false piety, and He shall be resolved to destroy them." - Book of a Hundred Prophesies, Chapter 4, Verses 45-46.
"And in the time when the Flesh-Eaters shall come from the darkness, obey your Annointed Leader, for He shall be the Light of Mizora, to engage the forces of Darkness and defeat them, with Katan's Divine Blessing...... Do not fret over a few lost battles, for Katan is with you always, and His Providence shall never fail you." Book of Wen'ton, Chapter 2, Verses 6-7, 14.
Church leaders throughout the Khanate were seeing record numbers of attendance, ever since the Varangar invasion. And why shouldn't they? The Prophecies of old had been fulfilled, at least partially. The Flesh-Eaters were coming out of the darkness. And they would be repulsed, every Mizoran was confident of this fact. The Sacred Texts do not make mistakes.
Enlistment in the Space Forces was up as well. Millions of young Mizoran men had heeded the Great Khan's call to "repulse the invaders, and besiege their homeworld." Young and old alike would not rest until their Countrymen on Fallopia and Kharbala were liberated from the Enemy. They proudly repeated the last lines of the Khan's speech: "We shall defend our Nation to the last Mizoran. We shall fight them in the Asteroid Belts, we shall fight them in orbit, we shall fight them in the void. We shall not tire, we shall not falter, and we shall not fail."
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The Great Khan sat in his Palace, bemused by recent events. He was quite astonished that the ancient prophesies had come true. Oh sure, He had used them to justify His rise to power. He was pleased that they urged the people to "obey the Annointed Leader" during this crisis.
But His entire life had been based on the idea that the Religion was false. Every act, every method, every decision, had been with that basic tenant in mind.
And now it was rebuked. Definative proof had been offered.
The more the Great Khan studied the Texts, the more He came to believe that HE was the mystical Annointed Leader foretold throughout the Books. Some of the similarities were eerie:
- The Leader would be born from a Lighting Bolt.
The Khan had, in fact, been born when a lightning bolt struck his house, frightening his mother so badly she went into premature labor.
- The Leader would be born into great poverty, but would rise into power through his own devices.
True. The Khan had been born in one of the poorest sections of Mizora, yet had worked hard to get where He was today.
- The Leader would have no birthmarkings on his forehead, unlike almost all Mizorans.
True. The Khan had no birthmarkings of any kind, a fact that was ridiculed by His childhood friends.
- The Leader would display great cruelty without remorse, before becoming an enlightened and just Leader.
The Great Khan had committed many atrocities, and had felt no remorse.
The list went on and on. The Khan saw the error of his ways. This was a great Revelation He had recieved. Thank you, Katan. he thought. I shall now be the Annointed Leader You desire me to be.
And so, He made the announcement that, at the cessation of hostilities, He would transform the Mizoran government from a repressive Imperial form, to a Free Republican government, with a representative Senate.
