Xavier Merrick

Xavier Merrick grew up knowing he would do great things.

He was stronger, smarter, quicker than the other boys. He excelled in school without really trying. He knew things about people, what they were likely to do or say. He was popular with the girls in school - in addition to his rugged good looks, he had a way with them that they were drawn to, and he was careful never to seem to have a favourite, so that he could treat them all equally.

Then one day, he heard a man talking outside the school grounds. The stranger was talking about the Federation, and how it had been unjustly imposed on their planet, Burton, and how no one in good conscience could support such a fascistic regime.

Those were the words he used. Fascistic regime. In struck a note in Xavier’s head, stayed with him all day. That night, lying in bed, Xavier realized this was his destiny. This would be his road to greatness.

He would free Burton from the fascistic regime of the Feds.

He dove into his destiny heart and soul. Started by learning everything he could about the Feds, became a history fanatic. Not just about Burton, but all the way back to the Great Exodus, when mankind spread to the stars. Learned about war, too. Read the great books, those written by great philosophers, and by great tacticians. Took martial arts training. Trained himself physically and mentally against the day he would lead the fight for Independence.

And if he excelled without really trying before, he truly soared when he applied himself. He trainers and professors soon realized they had little to show him, expect where to find additional training.

In the meantime, the world turned around him. More people than the stranger talked about the unjust policies of the Federation. Rumblings about Independence surfaced in more than just college coffee houses and neighbourhood bars. The average folks were upset and talking too. Incidents began to occur - anti-Fed graffiti at first, Fed property being damaged.

Then a Federation peace officer was killed. Probably by accident.

It didn’t matter to the Feds. They cracked down on everyone. Curfews were instigated. The people protested. Then martial law was declared. The people rioted. Some rioters were killed.

And the War for Independence began.

Merrick knew it was his chance. This was his opportunity to take charge of his destiny.

He found a group of rioters. He knew without knowing how what they were mad about. He told them what they wanted to hear, and lead them where he wanted them to go. With his brilliant tactical mind, he devised an assault on a Peace Officer Precinct, took some Feds prisoner, freed some Independent ringleaders, tried the Feds for ‘war crimes’ and strung them up in the streets.

He was accepted into the inner circle of the Independents, given arms and equipment, a command of his own. Twenty men and women, all dedicated to freeing their planet from the tyrannical Federation. He had just turned twenty.

He led Merrick’s Mavericks in raid after raid against the Feds. Over the next two years, the Mavericks caused more damage and killed more Feds than any other squad in the Independence Army. Soon the squad grew to a battalion. Merrick himself became one of the Inner Circle, his brilliant tactical mind offering keen insights into the Fed defences and the IA’s capabilities. He was a keen judge of character, knew what his people were capable of in the heat of battle. He worked his Mavericks hard, but they loved him because he brought them victory. He himself cultivated an inner circle of his own, exceptional men and women who he trusted with positions in his own hierarchy. His lieutenants were chosen for their ability. Merrick tried not to play favourites, but that didn’t stop his lieutenants for jockeying for favour. He rewarded only success, so they brought it to him.

Finally, he and the Mavericks were given a difficult assignment. A Fed orbital platform had to be taken, to give the Independents a toehold into space, to keep the Feds from reinforcing themselves from orbit. Some people said it was nearly impossible to do.

Xavier Merrick knew it was his destiny to assault the platform. With this success, his fame would be catapulted to other star systems. He would become an interstellar name, known throughout the Federation.

The platform was assaulted with ease. Using stolen access codes and shuttles, moving quickly into the key positions, the Mavericks took the platform and dozens of prisoners.

And then the counter-attack came. The Feds had laid the entire thing as an elaborate trap.

For the first time in his life, Xavier Merrick tasted failure. He found it not to his liking.

Something in him snapped, survivors said. As the Mavericks defended themselves from exterior assault, Merrick himself ordered the death of dozens of Fed prisoners. Some were tortured, as he tried to extract whatever knowledge they might possess to allow him to turn his failure into success.

The Mavericks were captured. Xavier Merrick gained the fame he had sought. He was tried for war crimes, labelled the Butcher of Burton. With his capture and disgrace, the Independents lost the moral high ground. The War for Independence was soon lost.

Xavier Merrick was given a choice. The Federation, for all its reputation as a fascistic regime, did not subscribe to corporal punishment, not even for traitors and mass murderers. He could undergo personality restructuring, or go into cryogenic sleep.

He chose the long dark.

No one told him that cryos could dream. That he would see the faces of his victims over and over again, relive their torture, experience his own guilt a thousand times, unable to wake up and escape his nightmares. No one told him that long enough in the cold dark of cryogenic sleep could drive a person mad.

But then, no one told him they never expected him to wake up, either.