Linda shook his hand, looking confused. As Allistor stepped away, Dillon stepped forward, holding out a hand to stop him from leaving.
“We, umm… were hoping your offer of alliance was still good? Our people will accept that, as long as Linda and I are still in charge. We know you’ve made similar offers to others.” he let his voice trail off, clearly uncomfortable.
Allistor perked up some. “Of course!” He turned and favored Linda with a grin. “I’m sorry, I thought you were rejecting me altogether. I misunderstood. Of course I’d like you to be allies! We’ve got a lot to discuss.” He looked around the inside of the Stronghold. Most of the faces were smiling, but here and there were pockets of scowls and frowns.
“I don’t want to cause issues with the folks who dislike me here. So, I invite you two, and whatever advisors you want to bring along, to join us at the Citadel in Cheyenne. We’ve just spent the morning talking to groups across the continent, and there’s lots of news to share. That’s why I was late, actually. Sorry about that.”
They accepted, and fifteen minutes later Linda, Dillon, and three others were climbing into the Juggernaut with Allistor’s crew, and they headed for the Bastion. He sat in the back with them and told them all about the vehicle, its hover capabilities, and the hydrogen fuel engine. They were impressed with the tech, and though he felt a little guilty about it, Allistor purposely didn’t warn them when Goodrich drove up onto the teleport pad and they were instantly transported to Cheyenne.
“Holy crap!” Linda gasped when the view outside the windows changed. “Was that magic?”
Allistor thought about it for a moment. “More like advanced tech. Our whole world is sort of ruled by it now. I tried to tell your father some of this, but he kicked me out. Since I don’t know how much he allowed the other Strongholds to share with you, we’ll start from the beginning…”
*****
Over the next few days, the radio calls were completed, and Allistor’s people began to distribute the scrolls and supplies they were sending to other groups. They solved the transportation problem for most items simply by using the market kiosks to sell items directly to specific buyers for minimal charges of one hundred klax.
Allistor participated in most of the secondary calls, getting to know the other leaders, spending a little extra time with the fifteen who had managed to create Citadels. They exchanged information and advice, as well as making arrangements for supply exchanges. Allistor was particularly proud of brokering a deal for three tons of fresh oranges from just outside Orlando in exchange for purchasing them a crate of anti-personnel mines. The folks in Florida got the better end of the deal by far, but Allistor took great pleasure in passing out some of the oranges when they arrived. Mostly because he could tell his people that they came from the Disney World Citadel, which tickled him for some reason. He pictured thousands of people living in the princess’ castle and running around with mouse ears on their heads.
The only people he shared that particular visual with were Chloe, who giggled and called him silly, and Amanda. His girlfriend had looked at him like he was an idiot and rolled her eyes, but he caught her smiling as she turned away.
At the end of the second day, just as he was retiring to his quarters at the Bastion with Amanda, Helen knocked on his door. When he let her in and the three of them got comfortable in the sitting room, she took a moment to grab a decanter off the coffee table and pour them each a drink. Leaning back, she said, “So I’ve been doing the research you requested. Ramon helped a good bit. From everything we’ve read, I should indeed be able to grant ownership of all the national parks to the owner or owners of my choosing. The fact that I was able to grant the first few to you implies that I’m the highest ranked living member of the Park Service at least, and possibly of the Department of Agriculture. But we should dispose of the parks quickly, in case there’s still a president or someone out there who could appoint a new person with a rank higher than mine.”
Allistor leaned forward. “Okay, how do you want to do this? Do you have a map or something?”
Helen nodded. “While you were gabbing on the radio, I took a few of Andrea’s guys and we ran up to the Ranger Cabin Outpost. There were books and maps there. They brought me locations of all the groups you’ve been talking to, and we marked up a map in the library to show parks close to each group.”
“Wow! That’s awesome, Helen!” Allistor got up and gathered her into a hug. Amanda looked less enthused. Allistor was reminded of her caution from their previous meeting.
Helen sat back down, a Cheshire Cat grin on her face. Allistor asked, “What aren’t you telling me?” she took a long, slow sip of her drink before answering.
“Well, according to Ramon’s research, I have the power to make you an even bigger ass than you already are.”
“What?” He leaned back on the sofa and crossed his arms, giving Helen a dirty look. Amanda, quicker on the uptake than her chosen mate, started laughing.
“Yep!” Helen continued, pulling a book out of her inventory and opening it to a marked page before sliding it across the table between them. “According to this, if I grant all of the parks to you right now, it should promote you to what they call a Planetary Prince.” She chuckled as Amanda’s laughter turned into a cough and she had to take a drink.
“A what?” Amanda asked as soon as she was able. Allistor was busily reading the page Helen had indicated.
“Yep. Lord Fancypants here will become Prince Fancypants. And once the title is bestowed, he can award some of the lands to his vassals, granting them titles like he got that first day. And he gets to keep his title of Prince. The only higher title on a planetary scale is Emperor. And Ramon says to earn that you’d pretty much have to rule the whole Earth. There can be up to twelve Princes on a planet.” Helen sat back, looking very pleased with herself.
Amanda looked at her, then started laughing again. “You’re thinking about keeping all the parks and making yourself an actual Princess, aren’t you!”
Helen nodded, bursting out in laughter as well. “I did think about it! I mean, come on. A real-life Princess! Lord Fancypants here would have to bow to me at court. I could make Fuzzy my Chancellor!” The two women collapsed into helpless laughter, which Allistor mostly ignored. He was still reading and absorbing the information in the book. He’d moved on from the page Helen had marked, and was finding some interesting facts that he doubted she’d read far enough to see.
Eventually, he closed the book and set it down. “So, Princess Helen… what’s it going to be? Are you going to keep the parks yourself?”
“Oh, hell no!” Helen sobered up a bit, pouring herself another drink. “I became a ranger because I enjoy solitude and as little responsibility as possible. I’ve seen all the headaches you deal with just with your few Strongholds. That’s not for me. They’re all yours, all four hundred of them.” she paused, the serious look on her face turning to one of mischief.
“In fact… I Helen Rodgers, last of the Rangers of the National Park Service, hereby grant you, Earl Allistor of Earth, all rights to every National Park in the United States and its territories.”
Allistor, who had held up a finger and opened his mouth to stop her when he realized what she was saying, was nearly blinded and deafened at the same time. Golden light filled the room, and every room in every one of his properties, and the air resounded with trumpets, chimes, and angelic choruses singing in celebration. Fireworks exploded in the air above, and Allistor nearly passed out from the sensation that poured through his body.
And, of course, the obligatory system alert popped up on everyone’s interface.
World First!
Earl Allistor has gathered sufficient resources to become the first to earn the Title of Planetary Prince of UCP 382!
Congratulations, Prince Allistor! May you rule long and wisely!
There was a solid wall of other notifications filling his interface, but Allistor closed it for a moment as he stared acros
s the table at Helen. Her eyes were wide, as was her open mouth. “Damn. I mean, I knew you were gonna get a promotion, but that was…” Her eyes unfocused as she looked at her own interface. Her mouth dropped open again. “Uhm, it seems that the National Park Service is now a ministry within Allistor’s Princedom, since he now owns them all. Also, I just picked up six levels’ worth of experience and the Title of Minister…” her voice faded as she continued to read.
Allistor shook his head. “A little warning would have been good. I feel like I just had a two-minute orgasm that spread through my whole body.”
Amanda snorted. “Well, now I’m jealous.” She laughed as Allistor blushed slightly.
Helen refocused on Allistor. “It says here I should negotiate a salary package with you.” She grinned. “I’m gonna want a lot of moolah, and like, ten weeks of vacation time every year.”
Allistor scowled at her. “What? You just promoted yourself to Big Boss Ranger Lady. You’ve got 400 parks to manage now. No vacations for you!” The scowl converted to a wink after a moment. “Seriously, thank you for this. You’ve pretty much single-handedly turned me into an NPC boss. Maybe even a dungeon boss?” He got up and pulled her to her feet, giving her another hug. “And Fuzzy would have made a lousy Chancellor.”
Helen gulped down the rest of her drink. “You’re welcome. Now give away some of those parks to people who can defend them. I’m going to go join the celebration I hear downstairs.”
Allistor cocked his head, listening. Sure enough, the sounds of a large party were drifting up from below. Helen added, “You should probably make an appearance as well. People are going to want to like, bow down to you, or something.” As she got up and walked out the door, she called back over her shoulder, “The map and list are set up in the library if you want to go over them!”
Allistor sat back down, reaching for Amanda’s hand and gripping it tight. “Hang with me for a few minutes before we go down there? I’ve got like a hundred notifications to get through here.”
She squeezed his hand in return, saying, “Of course, Prince Fancypants.”
Opening his interface again, he started reading the ones that were highlighted in bold text first. It seemed he too had gained several levels.
Level Up! You are now Level 22. You have earned two attribute points.
Level Up!...
Level Up!...
Level Up! You are now Level 30. You have earned two attribute points.
With nine new levels, he had a ton of attribute points to assign, but he decided to deal with that later when he’d calmed down a bit.
Congratulations! You are the first human to secure the Title of Planetary Prince. Reward: 10,000,000 experience points; 10,000,000 klax; Prince’s Seal
You have earned the Title: Planetary Prince
By securing land holdings of one hundred thousand square miles or more, you have earned yourself the title of Planetary Prince. As a Prince, you have the right to levy taxes on any citizens in residence upon your land. Further, you may sell or grant portions of your land and accompanying titles up to the level of Earl to those who pledge themselves to your service. You may not compel any citizen to pledge to you, but those who refuse can be evicted from your holdings. Further rights and benefits will be bestowed upon completion of the Stabilization period.
Just like the previous Seals he’d been awarded, the Prince’s Seal granted some buffs. But again, he put that information aside to absorb in detail later.
There were dozens of notifications with little red stars next to them. Reading the first of them, he saw it was a notification that intruders were encroaching on his sovereign territory at one of his parks. Scrolling down, he noted that they all seemed to be simple notifications. None of them said he was in any danger of losing title to the parks. Which made sense, as he hadn’t lost the Thunder Basin park when the Lakota had hunted on his territory.
Allistor grimaced to himself as he imagined all those people in all those parks getting pissed at him over notifications that they were intruding on his turf.
The last notification that he took time to read was in large gold and silver letters with flourishes at the end. It wasn’t a surprise, as he’d just read about the requirements in the book Helen had given him.
Congratulations! You have amassed the resources and achieved a sufficient Noble Rank to unlock the ability to construct a Capital City! See the Capital City tab in your interface for detailed information.
Allistor waved away the rest of the notifications as he got to his feet, pulling Amanda with him. He made a mental note to read some more of that book. He needed to know if he should claim and construct his city before he started giving away parks and reducing his total resources.
Pulling Amanda in for a kiss, he let it linger for a good long while. When they parted, he said, “It sounded like you were a little jealous when you asked Helen if she was going to make herself a Princess. Does that mean you want the title for yourself? Cuz I know a guy…”
She playfully smacked his chest and gave him another kiss. “Maybe. I mean, I’d have to meet him first. Make sure that whole royalty thing hasn’t gone to his head.”
“I’ll see what I can arrange.” He gave her one more quick kiss, then the two of them headed for the door hand in hand, on their way down to join the celebration.
That night, before falling asleep, Allistor took time to assign his free points. His points had been accumulating since level fifteen, and he now had thirty-one of them available. He began by putting nine points each into Intelligence and Will Power, raising them both to a natural twenty. Then he added one to Adaptability and three to Constitution, smiling as he thought of Chloe and her advice to quit letting things bite him. Now he could take a few more bites. Next, he added one to Strength, three to Stamina, and two to Agility, in case he got into more melee fights. Lastly, he added one each to Luck and Charisma, because why not?
He hit the button to accept his choices, and felt the rush of all the increases changing his body and mind. And with that, he went to sleep.
Designation: Prince Allistor, Giant Killer
Level: 30
Experience: 186,000/3,250,000
Planet of Origin: UCP 382
Health: 21,900/21,900
Class: Battlemage
Attribute Pts Available: 1
Mana: 11,000/11,000
Intelligence: 20 (22)
Strength: 6 (8)
Charisma: 7(9)
Adaptability: 7
Stamina: 8 (10)
Luck: 4 (5)
Constitution: 13 (16)
Agility: 5
Health Regen: 750/m
Will Power: 20 (27)
Dexterity: 3
Mana Regen: 410/m
Chapter 21
A Wing And A Prayer
Hel laughed and clapped her hands as she observed the human achieving the Title of Planetary Prince, even as her father shook his head, the mists around him relaying his frustration.
“Baldur’s pet human is truly full of surprises!” She sent a feeling of joy and amusement through the mists toward her already annoyed father, knowing it would increase his ire.
“It’s bad enough he defeated Xar’ Dakra. Now the factions are all watching him. The amount of klax being wagered back and forth over this human is approaching obscene. Entire worlds are changing hands!” Loki pushed back the mists, refusing to share in his daughter’s emotions. Among their people this would be an insult, normally. But Loki and Hel shared a bond that negated the requirement for normal niceties.
“Well, at least he has not tried to claim your island, father. What was it called?”
“Hawaii. The big green one with the volcanoes.” The mist around Loki swirled less violently, his irritation fading as he thought of his newest conquest. Since the beginning, Loki had established a home on every planet that had been absorbed into the Collective. The only one of his people to do so.
“Yes, Hawaii. The new Prince is far from t
hat place, and shows no inclination toward it at all. What harm in allowing him to continue? He has been amusing to watch so far.”
“He has become a Prince, foolish child. Which means, at the very least, I shall have to deal with him during any planetary conclaves. Humans stink, daughter. I will not tolerate it!”
Hel simply sat still, absorbing the irritation and pettiness that her father exuded without comment. She dared give no hint of her emotions just then, as they might alert her father of her intentions. Loki need not worry about the human’s stench, for he would not be claiming his precious island. There would be a Prince of UPC 382 in the family, but it would not be Loki.
*****
The remaining weeks before the end of the Stabilization period were hectic. Allistor and Chris spent more than a billion klax on equipment and loans to other Strongholds. The regeneration machines were purchased and delivered, as were spell scrolls and training manuals. The conversations and logistical planning continued on a daily basis with the other leaders across the continent. Military resources were distributed to Strongholds that needed them,
Allistor, Logan, Sam, and George had a particularly good time adding both defensive and offensive systems to all of Allistor’s holdings. Each of the properties got a defensive dome, a liberal sprinkling of anti-personnel mines, and weapons. The Outposts each got a single plasma cannon, while the Strongholds each got at least four. The Stadium got six because of its size. The Citadel and Bastion each got a dozen of the cannons. And every one of the properties got at least one anti-aircraft gun.
After several long discussions, Allistor and his advisors agreed to award some of the parklands to the more cooperative and trustworthy leaders. Once the decision was made, he put his new Minister in charge of the distribution after the two of them spent an entire day going through her list and poring over the map. By the end of the next day, Helen had spoken to each of the selected leaders. She explained to them the potential benefit of having both the land and the titles that came with it, as well as the need for them to become vassals to Prince Allistor.
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