le the rest of the men charged in with their blades, thrusting and
slashing as they went.

The aliens, panic-stricken by the sudden, terrifying assault, tried to
run, but there was nowhere to run to. Every exit had been cut off to
bottle up the Imperial cortege. Within minutes, the entrances to the
square were choked with the bodies of those who tried to flee.

As soon as the firing began, the commander and his men began to make
their way toward the Greatest Noble. They had been forced to stand a
good five yards away during the parlay, cut off from direct contact by
the Imperial guards. The commander, sword in hand, began cutting his way
through to the palanquin.

The palanquin bearers seemed frozen; they couldn't run, they couldn't
fight, and they didn't dare drop their precious cargo.

The commander's voice bellowed out over the carnage. "Take him prisoner!
I'll personally strangle the idiot who harms him!" And then he was too
busy to yell.

Two members of the Greatest Noble's personal guard came for him, swords
out, determined to give their lives, if necessary, to preserve the
sacred life of their monarch. And give them they did.

The commander's blade lashed out once, sliding between the ribs of the
first guard. He toppled and almost took the sword with him, but the
commander wrenched it free in time to parry the downward slash of the
second guard's bronze sword. It was a narrow thing, because the bronze
sword, though of softer stuff than the commander's steel, was also
heavier, and thus hard to deflect. As it sang past him, the commander
swung a chop at the man's neck, cutting it halfway through. He stepped
quickly to one side to avoid the falling body and thrust his blade
through a third man, who was aiming a blow at the neck of one of the
commander's officers. There were only a dozen feet separating the
commander from his objective, the palanquin of the Greatest Noble, but
he had to wade through blood to get there.

* * * * *

The palanquin itself was no longer steady. Three of the twelve nobles
who had been holding it had already fallen, and there were two of the
commander's men already close enough to touch the royal person, but they
were too busy fighting to make any attempt to grab him. The Greatest
Noble, unarmed, could only huddle in his seat, terrified, but it would
take more than two men to snatch him from his bodyguard. The commander
fought his way in closer.

[I