Deep in a nearby forest, the fallow gult lived in great herds, like ghosts who ran beneath the trees.
With her biomancy powers it took very little for Naero to manipulate that breed of mammals genetically, in order to produce and replicate a breeding population of a unique variation–similar to those species found on other worlds–like Larellon-7.
She bestowed upon them much more–both intelligence and basic wisdom, and a peaceful disposition–as well as telepathy and even speech. On a whim you taught them Kexxian as well, and the beautiful songs of the Tua, imprinted on their minds and hearts.
They all encircled her by the hundreds, bowing their regal heads.
“You are our creator and you have made us as we are. What is your will? Command us.”
“Name yourselves in the language I have given you. Become the symbol–the beauty and wonder of this world,” Naero commanded them. “Come with me.”
Naero went to Princess Iiden late at night and woke her.
“Sister Naero? They said you were gone again. What is it?”
“Your dream has come true, princess. Follow me.”
Naero took her hand and transported them onto the forest beach beneath the clear sky and stars.
“Ahh! This is magic!”
“You have been chosen, Iiden. You must lead all your peoples and the next generations into an age of peace, wisdom, and freedom.”
“Me? But I am only a silly, foolish child. Why would they follow me?”
Naero handed her a carefully prepared scroll, filled with plain wisdom and knowledge, geared to their low tek level.
“Your hands have not been stained by blood. Use the powerful knowledge contained within this scroll. It is my gift to you and your world, to become a place of reason, wisdom, and peace. And here is the sign that you and your children shall be the chosen ones.”
Naero sang a few words in Kexxian.
And the new unicorns of Thanarra came forth, and emerged from the dark forests, singing and glowing in all their beauty and majesty, beneath the stars in exultation.
Princess Iiden fell to her knees, covered her face with her hands, and wept for all joy.
“I must leave you now,” Naero told her.
“No,” Iiden said, . “Nay, say it is not so. We need you still.”
Naero shook her head. “No. You do not. You have all that you require.”
She lifted Princess Iiden up and sat her upon the strong, slender back of the unicorn queen. “The two of you shall become fast friends. Go forth to lead your people. Teach them these laws and wisdoms that I have bestowed upon you. Show them the wonders of your world that have been awakened. Farewell.”
Iiden looked back. “Shall we ever see you again, Naero?”
Naero grinned sadly. “I cannot say. Perhaps. Go now, and be wise and fearless.”
Princess Iiden rode off leading the herd, adding her voice to theirs, as they thundered off, singing toward the city.
“You can uncloak now,” Naero said.
Naero turned to her replicant, the one she had specially prepared to remain on the backwater world of Thanor-4, and help guide and protect all the peoples she had come to love and cherish. She could disguise herself as needed.
“You have all of my basic knowledge and wisdom, Naero II, and my Spacer fighting skill, but not the KDM, nor my higher Cosmic abilities.”
Naero II bowed her violet eyes in respect. “They and the problems that come with them will not be needed or desired. Thank you. I feel the same love for all of our friends that you feel. I will do my best to help serve and guide them. They are brave. They will come into their own. One day in the far future, when they are ready, their children shall join ours in the stars.”
“I believe they shall, one day. I have no doubt. I’ve left a few stealth fixers with you. You can contact me if you need to, and even if I cannot come, I will try to send help in some form.”
“It would be nice if the Changs could come back here at some point. They adore this world even more than we do.”
“Right now, I don’t know what is possible. But I will look into it, if I can. Good luck, Naero II; may fortune favor the bold.”
They hugged each other, and for a moment, Naero felt what it might have been like to have a twin herself, or a blood sister. At least in this way, if something did happen to her, a good portion of her would live on somewhere, and still attempt to make a small part of the universe a better place.
“Safe journey, Naero One.”
Naero sighed, and transported back to her ship.
Thanor-4 would become a place of wonder. In her heart of hearts, Naero did hope to return to it one day. They too, were her family now.
*
Later the next night, they made for Kalathar again. After a huge party on board The Darkstar, Naero awoke at four bells in her private quarters there.
She smiled and left Khai snoozing in their oval nanobed, transporting to the enormous viewport to stare up at the stars.
“Hey sweetie,” a voice from the shadows called out.
“Saemar!” Naero exclaimed, opening her arms to embrace her stunning and voluptuous old friend. At least they were the same height.
They laughed together. But Naero was puzzled. “What the heck are you still doing here, Saemar? By now, I thought you’d be…”
Saemar sighed, fanning herself with one manicured hand. “Ya know, sweetie. Even I need to take a breather once in a while. So, I thought I might just look at the stars for a bit myself.”
“Me too.” Naero hugged her.
“Great minds, N.”
Saemar could only endure quiet for so many seconds.
“So…the Mystic Enforcer, eh? They say he’s like a super man or something. I’m just a little curious, N. So, the guy is green, right?”
Here we go.
“Yep. Green, Saemar. He’s half-Spacer, and half-Oden. The Oden are all green.”
“Everywhere…everything green, huh?”
“Yep. Green. Everywhere. More or less.”
“Intriguing. So, you know I gotta ask. How is that big green galoot in the sack? Is he any good? I just gotta know.”
“Saemar, let me tell you. Loving Khai is…beyond all the words in all the languages that have existed and ever will exist. Literally, like a Cosmic explosion. I’ve never experienced anything like it, and I’ve never felt this way about any man I’ve ever met. I am crazy in love with this guy–I would give my life for him.”
Saemar grinned from ear to ear on her curly head. “Sounds like you got it bad, kiddo. Well it’s about damn time, if you ask me. Sooo, where did you two…first get lovey-dovey, eh? Was it a romantic location for your first time together? I bet it wuzzz?”
“Saemar…Abani…you won’t believe it. We made love inside a star.”
“Huh? Say what?” Saemar stared and blinked in violent shock.
“A star. I turned into an energy being and I was dying. I got sucked into a star. Khai came after me; he helped find a way to save me, and together we just…lost all control. We kind of became one.”
Saemar turned pale white and held up both hands. “Let me get this straight, sweetie. You and him. Ya made sweet, tender bonking music…inside a frickin’ star?”
“Yeah, like I said, we just–”
Saemar sniffed. “I don’t want to hear any more. I can’t take it. Can’t. Take. It. I don’t even know if we can be friends anymore! I’ll have to think about it, and let you know.” Saemar waved her hands wildly. She got up, and staggered away. She teetered a little bit this way, then that–perhaps she had been drinking heavily from the party. She wobbled a bit. Her knees looked weak, but she kept going.
Saemar left the observation deck shaking her head and muttering to herself, as if still in shock.
Naero smiled and chuckled to herself. She finally decided to return to her own quarters, and every good thing waiting for her there.
Khai could just wake his tight little green butt up and she’d mak
e him glad for it. It wasn’t exactly inside a star, but it was still pretty damn amazing what the two of them could accomplish together.
But best of all–Naero knew that she no longer needed to be alone. Khai loved her and told her so every chance he got. She finally had someone–someone noble and her equal to share her life with, whom she loved and respected.
And whatever came their way the stars would always be out there for her, for them.
For everyone.
THE END
Please enjoy the following teaser…and excerpt, from the next book in this new spinoff series that we call:
Naero’s War:
THE HIGH CRUSADE
THE CITATION SERIES, BOOK TWO
by Mason Elliott
General Walker’s Marines from Bravo Command maneuvered into position under the cover of darkness using their stealth gear.
Naero agreed to slip in ahead and bait the trap, in her battlefield role as Shetanna–The Dark Angel of Death.
Get ready, Om. The show’s about to start.
I will need some time to prepare, concentrate, and focus enough of our energies in reserve, before you deplete them all.
Just get ready and keep us ready. I’m going to set our game plan in motion.
I will do all that I can to assist. Call upon me when you require me. Good hunting, Naero.
Thanks, Om.
The invaders would do anything to have a chance to destroy or capture her.
She was–in fact–the actual, literal bait, and the trap was being set for an entire invasion force of Ejjai elite, ravaging the Corps border world of Tholos-4.
No local planetary army, military, or militia had been able to stand before the horrific onslaught of the alien invaders.
The Ejjai hammered the local landers into submission with advanced artillery, orbital bombardment from Ejjai fleets, and close assault gunships and gravtanks.
Then the terrifying collection process began, and all the living, wounded, and dead were hurled into the shrieking, whining processing blades of the robotic meatships.
The horrible sounds of the meatships warred with the screams of their countless victims.
Given time, Ejjai mass cloning factories and robotic ship and weapon-building factories would also be established onworld.
The murdering bastards had already wiped three major cities and their mixed populations off the surface of the hapless planet, before Naero and the Marines could even deploy on world.
The enemy left those lost cities little more than red, blackened, burning scars and stains that could be viewed from orbit.
Nothing left alive.
Ejjai hyaenanoids loved carrion.
Every man, woman, and child of any kind, species, or age that the enemy captured was routinely tortured, killed, and processed into rotting ration blocks in the horrific, robotic meatships of the invading aliens. That included any sentients, pets, livestock–anything and everything that was meat.
The meatblock rations were only frozen to keep them from breaking down and decaying completely.
Hatred was too gentle a word for what most humans felt for the Ejjai invaders and their extreme methods. Spacers, landers, and each of the other known races that encountered the Ejjai quickly learned to feel the same way.
This vile, uplifted, intrusive and opportunistic species needed to be completely exterminated, wherever it was encountered.
The invaders proved that they were incapable of co-existing with any other living things.
The Ejjai could only dominate, torture, and destroy all life that they encountered, anything they could sink their teeth and claws into. Uplifting them, and giving them advanced weapons and starships had only turned them into a galactic abomination, an interstellar menace, a virulent plague.
An utter nightmare.
One that needed to end for the poor people of Tholos-4.
Naero and her Marine allies were here to see to that.
It was amusing that the Ejjai always saw themselves as invincible, the supreme warriors.
Shetanna and Bravo Command quickly intended to disavow the foe of such jaded notions, time and time again.
The Marines of Bravo Commander were the textbook picture of professional warriors. A legend among all the known systems.
Naero loved serving with the elite of the elite. Together they made a fantastic team.
Even the Ejjai had learned grudgingly to fear them from their initial engagements, and the proof was there.
Every invader force that came up against Bravo Command had been completely wiped out–in record time. And then Bravo quietly packed up and headed on to the next world, ready to do it all over again.
The enemy struggled to halt the Spacer advance and throw it back.
They tried everything they could think of.
Increased enemy numbers.
Different tactics.
New weapons–traps and tricks of many different kinds.
The Ejjai Generals turned themselves inside out trying to find a solution–way to achieve victory against the Spacer advance.
Bravo Command slipped in and ruined the invaders’ sick, twisted party, every single time.
And Shetanna, The Dark Angel of Death, used all of her amazing, Mystic powers and abilities to help the Marines keep up the pressure and drive the enemy to terror, madness, and distraction.
General Walker worked closely with Spacer Intel, always making sure his leathernecks had the latest high-tek toys, weapons, and armor that came online.
As a result, they landed an entire Marine Division on Tholos-4 and slipped into position, without the enemy even knowing they were there yet.
By the time the Spacer Fleets swept in to destroy the enemy naval forces–Bravo Command would already be implementing their plan to put the foe down hard and fast on the ground.
Three Marine infantry regiments, one artillery regiment, plus specialized units of meks, armor, and air-to-ground support.
The ghosts of Bravo Command spread the impending Shadow of Vengeance and Death over their foes like an unseen net, without any knowledge or awareness among the invaders themselves.
Bravo and Shetanna prepared for another stunning series of lightning attacks.
All became poised and ready, while the heedless enemy celebrated their vile victories and atrocities.
Naero struggled to remain silent as she slipped in among the foe. Death and damnation to any invader who thought they could invade the human sectors with impunity, death, and Cosmicide.
On every world, the invader needed to be taught that bloody lesson.
Naero strode right into the belly of the beast.
Alone.
Defiant.
Confident in her skills and abilities and all of her comrades depending on her and backing her up.
Her cloaked combat armor made her virtually invisible. The Ejjai could not even smell her.
She used her gravwing to slip into the most heavily guarded command and control bunker the enemy possessed. With her skill and her tek, she could crawl upside down on the ceilings like an unseen insect.
Her miniature vidcams and audio collectors fed data to Intel in real time, covering everything she saw.
Naero’s small contingent of cloaked Intel fixers and microdrones stayed close, ready to disrupt key enemy systems and communications when ready, planting microbombs and detonation devices as they went.
The Invader High Command celebrated their latest triumph with what one might expect from them–a huge, decadent, disgusting feast–held within a shielded bunker.
They set up their victory celebration within a huge underground arena, probably used by the Tholosians for some kind of urban or regional sporting event.
Ejjai got drunk on stinking, fermented grog made from human blood. They shipped it in from the meatships by the tankerful.
Under the bright lights of the hi-tek arena, tens of thousands of Ejjai feasted and celebrated their latest victories. The enemy generals praised th
eir troops and used the huge arena vidscreens to plot out their next attacks on the three nearest Tolosian cities.
On the center of the playing field, Ejjai transports and appropriated trucks had also hauled in and dumped huge piles of human corpses from the local population for their undefeated troops to feed on.
Piles of fresh and not so fresh meat, diverted from the enemy meatships to help sate the troops in large numbers.
One of the piles was all dead children and infants.
Even worse, to Naero’s horror, some of the bodies in the various meat piles were somehow still alive. They twitched or cried out in pain and terror. Some weakly attempted to crawl away, despite broken or missing limbs.
The Ejjai quickly seized them and began tormenting them even further, laughing hysterically at the sport. They stabbed, cut, and skinned them alive–or otherwise got creative.
As Ejjai were wont to do.
Ejjai were among the vilest, most disgusting creatures Naero had even encountered.
She resisted the very strong impulse to cut loose on them right then and there.
But she couldn’t–not yet.
These monsters needed to die. Every single one of them.
And very soon, she would have a direct hand in launching the attack that would accomplish just that.
The timing had to be just right, so she steeled herself.
The generals. Reach the generals and stay ready.
Six Ejjai generals held court like warlords at huge tables overflowing with comconsoles, sensor stations, map screens, and piles of loot. And the bloody remains of horrific, eviscerated meals.
All Ejjai clone troops were female. Smaller male Ejjai concubines were kept around on leashes for fun, for the leaders. They even dressed them in human clothing and poorly fitting human lingerie.
As an oddity, one of the generals even had a human male dressed up as a concubine. But the poor guy apparently had to be kept in a heavily guarded pen off to one side–to keep all of the other Ejjai from devouring and murdering him, most likely in that order.
Naero circled around the generals and studied the arena, trying to devise the best way to take them all down.
Spacer Clans Adventure 3: Naero's Fury Page 52
