Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire (2023)
In a distant galaxy ruled by the tyrannical Imperium, Admiral Atticus Noble, a ruthless enforcer of the Motherworld’s will, arrives at a quiet farming village on the moon Veldt. Tasked with maintaining the empire’s grip on its territories, Noble seeks to root out a band of rebels led by siblings Devra and Darrian Bloodaxe. Under the guise of diplomacy, he offers to purchase the village’s surplus grain, though his true intentions are clear—to take what he wants by force if necessary.
Sindri, the village leader, refuses the offer, insisting that the villagers barely have enough food to survive. However, a well-meaning but naive farmer named Gunnar contradicts Sindri, inadvertently revealing that the village might have more grain than they admitted. Noble, in a swift and brutal act of authority, kills Sindri and imposes a devastating demand: the villagers must prepare the grain for collection in ten weeks, a timeline that will surely lead them to starvation. He leaves behind a garrison of soldiers and a robotic enforcer known as a "Jimmy" to oversee the harvest before departing.
Life in the village turns grim under the soldiers’ watchful eyes, their presence bringing oppression and fear. Jimmy, designed for loyalty to the Imperium, begins to experience something unexpected—independent thought. A young villager named Sam shows kindness to the robot, triggering something within its programming that makes it question its orders.
Meanwhile, Kora, another farmer with a hidden past, observes the soldiers’ growing cruelty. When Sam is nearly assaulted by a group of Imperium soldiers, Kora steps in, eliminating them with lethal precision. Aris, a disillusioned soldier, and Jimmy, now defecting from the Imperium, assist in rescuing Sam, cementing their allegiance to the village. Knowing Noble will return with overwhelming force, Kora warns the villagers that they must prepare for war. With their survival at stake, she decides to take action.
Determined to find warriors who can help them stand against the Imperium, Kora and Gunnar set out for Providence, a bustling port town where mercenaries and criminals thrive. During their journey, Kora reveals a painful truth about herself—she was once a soldier of the Imperium. Adopted and renamed Arthelais by the ruthless Imperium commander Balisarius, she was taken in after he orchestrated the destruction of her home planet and slaughtered her family. Trained to be a weapon, she became the bodyguard of Princess Issa, a figure of hope meant to bring peace and end the Imperium’s brutal conquests. However, when Issa and her family were assassinated, Balisarius seized power and continued his reign of terror. Betrayed and disillusioned, Kora abandoned the Imperium, becoming a fugitive from the empire she once served.
Upon reaching Providence, Kora and Gunnar meet Kai, a smuggler with ties to the criminal underworld. Kai offers to help them find Titus, a disgraced former Imperium general who may be willing to fight. Their journey takes them deep into the fringes of civilization, where they cross paths with Tarak, an ex-criminal who secured his freedom by bonding with a mythical creature known as a bennu, and Nemesis, a fearsome cyborg swordswoman with a deadly reputation.
Assembling their allies, they track Titus to a gladiator arena on a distant moon, where he drowns his sorrows in drink. Initially reluctant, Titus refuses to join them, haunted by the ghosts of his past failures. However, Kora appeals to his sense of honor, reminding him of the soldiers he lost to the Imperium’s cruelty. Moved by her words, he agrees to fight once more.
With their growing army in need of more reinforcements, the group travels to the war-torn planet Sharaan, home to the rebel siblings Devra and Darrian Bloodaxe. Darrian, eager for battle, pledges his support and gathers his fighters to join the cause. Devra, however, is skeptical, unwilling to risk the lives of her people against the might of the Imperium’s forces. Despite her reservations, Kora and her allies leave Sharaan with Darrian’s warriors, believing they have secured a powerful ally. However, as they depart, Noble arrives on Sharaan with his fleet, delivering merciless retribution for the planet’s association with the rebellion.
As the group makes their way back to Veldt, Kai confesses to Kora that he has been inspired by her determination. He claims he wants to abandon his life as a smuggler but must complete one last deal. Trusting him, the group follows Kai to an unregistered trade depot, only to find themselves walking into a trap. Kai betrays them to Noble, revealing that he had intended to collect the bounties on their heads all along.
With his prisoners in tow, Noble takes a sadistic pleasure in exposing their secrets—he unmasks Kora as a deserter, Titus as a fallen general, Tarak as a former prince, and Nemesis as the assassin responsible for the deaths of sixteen high-ranking Imperium officers. Believing he has secured victory, Kai demands Gunnar incapacitate Kora as a final act of betrayal.
But in a shocking turn, Gunnar instead sides with Kora, killing Kai and freeing their allies. A brutal fight erupts as the rebels battle their way to freedom. In the chaos, Darrian makes the ultimate sacrifice, while Kora faces off against Noble in a fierce duel. By the end, Noble lies dead at Kora’s hands.
With their leader defeated, the Imperium’s forces are thrown into disarray, allowing Kora and her surviving warriors to escape. Victorious but not unscathed, they return to Veldt, preparing for the final battle they know is still ahead. Jimmy, watching them as they make their way back to the village, processes what it means to truly choose a side. However, the fight is far from over.
In the cold depths of space, the Motherworld refuses to accept Noble’s defeat. His corpse is retrieved by Imperium forces and brought before Balisarius himself. Through an astral connection, Noble’s spirit meets with the Imperium leader, who demands vengeance.
Death is not the end for Noble—Balisarius ensures his resurrection, tasking him with the mission of eradicating the insurgency and bringing Kora to him alive. With this dark rebirth, the war against the Imperium is only just beginning, and the fires of rebellion will either be extinguished or ignite a revolution that will shake the galaxy to its core.
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