Ashes of the Realm: Book 04 - The Return of the Realm

by Saxon Andrew

  • • •

  Danielle was sitting in the Map Room at Castle Gardner listening to Trey update the team on the status of the warriors and ships. She watched Tag listen to Trey and saw that he wasn’t sensing any danger to the Realm…yet. She turned back in to the meeting when she heard Cassandra ask, “I’m not sure how the warriors are going to take teleporting nude. Most of our populations are quite modest.”

  Twig said, “That’s not going to be a problem.”

  “Why not?”

  “The ship that they’ll be assigned to will have their bodies scanned into the system. The warriors will teleport out and their clothes will be left behind. They will arrive in their armor so nudity shouldn’t be an issue.”

  Tag snickered, “Not until they turn off their armor.”

  Danielle smiled, “That’s good. They need to be focused on the mission and not on worrying about others staring at them.”

  Tag shrugged, “Like anything else, they would eventually get used to it.”

  “It’s good they don’t have to.”

  Trey looked at Twig, “Have you trialed the system yet on a powerful force field?”

  “As a matter of fact we have. We trialed it on the Alexander Kosiev and the warriors made it through his screen.”

  “Really?”

  Cassandra nodded, “Alex was genuinely surprised that they did. He said that they could have done tremendous damage before he could have responded with his intruder systems.”

  Cassie said, “What are we going to do with all the volunteers that didn’t make the grade to be warriors?”

  Cassandra asked, “Why do we need to do anything?”

  Trey said, “All of our citizens should be given the opportunity to fight in the coming war. They need it to feel a part of the Realm.”

  Twig leaned forward and thought to the group, “We have studied the vision you shared with us of all the universes being attacked in Creation. We’ve looked at a huge number of worlds and have seen them invaded by hundreds of thousands of soldiers. We looked at how we could possibly remove those from an invaded planet and we have developed a new weapon.”

  Tag and Trey looked at each other and then turned to Twig. Tag said, “What is it exactly?”

  “You should remember it, Your Grace. You used it against us in our first conflict on the planet you invaded to remove our forces.”

  Tag smiled, “You’re talking about the invisible armor.”

  “Yes, I am, but we have made a number of improvements.”

  Danielle said, “I thought the ones that didn’t pass the training were not qualified to wear armor?”

  Tag said, “That’s not completely accurate, Your Majesty. We cannot allow the most advanced armor to given to anyone that does not qualify to our psychological standards. Once they have the armor in their DNA, it can never be removed. They don’t wear it; it is a part of their body. The Armor used by the Realm against the Algeans was a suit that one put one. They took it off after the battle was over. The difference is that it is a tool that can be taken away from anyone that doesn’t perform in an accepted manner.” Tag turned back to Twig, “What changes have you made?”

  “It doesn’t need jump jets. It will have teleportation.”

  “Well, how will the Soldier be able to see the area they will be teleporting to?”

  “They’ll simply teleport five miles above the surface and allow the suit to fall. During the fall, the soldier will just scan the area and select the place to teleport. If they need more time, they’ll simply teleport back up and look again.”

  Trey said, “It’s not going to be easy to make those scans when one is falling over a hundred miles an hour.”

  “The armor will have expandable wings that come out of the arms and a section that expands between their legs. The armor is being made from materials that are extremely light and the warrior should be able to glide for long distances if necessary.”

  “Won’t the weapons weigh them down?”

  “No, Cassie. The weapons will be inside the skin of the armor and will eject to the armor’s surface at the command of the warrior.”

  Tag furrowed his brow, “How are they going to be powered? The old armor used Coronado Power Cells. They were really heavy and used a lot of energy to jump.”

  “We’re using the skins from the ships that absorb a star’s energy. They’ll be charged before they are given to a soldier and should have enough stored energy for more than a hundred years of heavy fighting. Adding the flight mechanisms to allow them to fly just used more energy than it was worth. Gliding and teleporting higher, if necessary, used little or almost no energy from their reserves.”

  Twig paused and said, “This new armor is nowhere near as powerful or as fast as a Life Warrior’s armor. But it will still be a very capable weapon in the hands of a warrior trained in its use. We need to find enough White Warriors to take on millions of invaders on a planet. This armor will give more than it gets.”

  Danielle sighed, “Will it be vulnerable to enemy weapons?”

  “Yes, it will; but if the warrior is trained in its use; he will be very difficult to hit.”

  Trey said, “Danielle, if we try to make an armor that makes them immune to attack, we’re back at the DNA armor again. This will allow our citizens to fight and take part in the defense of life. They will be better for the effort. I like this idea and thank you for developing this, Twig.”

  “You’re welcome, Your Grace.”

  “I’m not royalty, Twig.”

  “Yes you are, Trey. I’ve seen what your parents did to save us and you and your descendants will always be Royalty to my people. You are held in as high esteem as Dorg-Ross.”

  “Please, Twig, I’m nowhere near as deserving and he was.”

  Danielle said, “Yes you are. If anything happens to Tag and I, you and Cassie are my chosen successors. The Realm now knows what the Empire did to prevent us being attacked by the Demons and they also revere you. Please don’t ever think you and Cassie are not royal; all of us know different.”

  Trey and Cassie looked around the room and saw that all of those gathered were nodding. Trey smiled and Cassie said, “Just make sure nothing happens to you. We are warriors that need to fight.”

  Danielle smiled, “We’ll do our best.”

  Cassandra looked at Cassie and felt her power. She knew that she was once just like her. She smiled and thought that it was time to get back in the fight as well.

  Alex was in orbit and heard Cassandra’s thoughts. His entire board lit up as he saw his best friend was coming back to life. His entire world grew brighter and he felt the need to get into the fray as well. Cassandra was coming back from the land of the dead.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kline and Sgt. Johnson were watching the huge display on the wall that had the various rooms on the transport that were going to be attacked. All of the warrior’s weapons were set to only fire light beams and explosive devices that only emitted bright light. Private Graves was taking part in the coming attack and Kline was curious to see how well she did. He still found it hard to believe her training scores and he felt that this exercise would allow him to see if there was anything to this former Lieutenant. He had deliberately made the exercise difficult by only allowing five warriors to attempt to kill the ship.

  The computer designed to score the exercise had a direct feed from the five warrior’s armor, which would tell it how strong the beams being used were as well the power of any other device employed. It would measure the damage and time how long it would take to disable the ship.

  Kline nodded and Sgt. Johnson said over the general frequency, “Begin the exercise in exactly ten seconds from my mark; ready, Mark.”

  Kline watched the display and saw the five warriors appear in rooms on the transport and in less than five seconds the computer announced, “Exercise completed, ship destroyed.”

  Kline stood up and looked at Sgt. Johnson, “What just happened?”

  �
��I don’t know, Sir.”

  “Replay each room and reduce the speed.”

  Kline watched the landing bay and saw a small warrior teleport in. He watched closely and saw the laser on top of her helmet started spinning as she lifted both arms over her head and brought them straight down to the floor by her sides. The red beams coming out of her arms traveled from the ceiling, along the walls,and to the floor. He watched as she fired a beam at a door that was set to open on being hit and a light hornet flew through the opening and exploded in the next room. The small warrior ran through the door and dropped a small package under the reactors and then disappeared.

  Kline said, “Computer, what damage was done in the landing bay?”

  “The walls were cut through by the max power beams causing massive decompression in the room. Any enemy crew in the room would have been killed by the decompression. Any that were standing in the room would have first been hit by the spinning laser.”

  “What about the next room?”

  “The breach of the door would have also caused the reactor room to decompress as well. The explosive pack was set to go off two seconds after it was thrown.”

  “Where were the other members of the attack force when that package was thrown?”

  “They had teleported out one second earlier.”

  Kline looked at Johnson and said, “Have that team report to my office immediately.”

  Johnson nodded and sent the order.

  • • •

  Kline sat at his desk and stared at the five warriors who were standing at rigid attention in front of his desk. Gina Graves stood and wondered how they had messed up. The computer had not reported the results of the exercise and they had been ordered here immediately. She had thought the plan would work but evidently something had gone terribly wrong. The Major did not look happy. She stood and hoped she had not lost her chance to join the company.

  Kline let them stand and remained silent as he looked over the evaluations of the five. He looked at Private Vaughn and said, “Explain to me how you developed this plan, Private?”

  John said, “Sir, I didn’t come up with the plan. Private Graves made it.”

  “So you allowed a brand new recruit who had never taken part in any of our exercises make a plan for the four of you who have been here from the beginning?”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “Why did you do that, Private?”

  “It sounded like a good plan, Sir.”

  “Oh, it did, did it?”

  “Sir, yes Sir.”

  Kline turned his attention to the short, red haired, woman as she stared straight ahead. He stood and walked up in front of her and looked her in the eyes, “Explain to me how you were able to convince these four to follow you. Did you use your former rank to push your weight around?”

  “Sir, no Sir. My teammates didn’t know about my former rank.”

  Kline looked over at Vaughn and said, “Did you know?”

  Tommy looked very uncomfortable and said, “Sir, I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Sir.”

  Explain to me, Private Graves, how you made the decisions to carry out this plan?”

  “Sir, I know that all the conduits that control all the ship’s systems fed through the landing bay. I determined that if they could be cut and the walls breeched, the bridge would lose control of their boards.”

  “Did you consider that the bridge had an auxiliary power supply?”

  “Yes Sir, but according to the boards that were taken from a Black Ship by The Zord Kreej, it was also located in the rear of the landing bay. If the cut was made in the center of the bay, it would have been cut as well.”

  “Just where did you get that information, Private?”

  “Sir, it’s in the mainframe on the Algean Ship. I asked our pilot if he had any information about the Black Ships and he shared it with me, Sir.”

  Kline turned and walked back to his desk and sat down. He said on his com, “Sgt. Johnson, please come in with the disciplinary papers.”

  Kline saw all five show their despair in their eyes. He had seen that expression hundreds of times during basic training as recruits washed out. Johnson came in and handed him a stack of papers. He looked at Private Vaughn and said, “What are you going to do next time, Private?”

  Tommy didn’t hesitate, “I would do it again the same way, Sir. It was a good plan.”

  Kline smiled, “Yes, it was.” He looked at Gina and said, “Private Graves, you are promoted to Captain and will be the commander of this company. We have four platoons in our company and each of you will be promoted to Lieutenant commanding them. You shattered the record for destroying a ship with half the normal number of warriors. I expect you to teach those under your command how to use the tactics you followed. You have made me proud and your willingness to stand by your team member only makes me certain I’m making a good decision. At ease.”

  The five relaxed and Kline saw their excitement. “Sgt. Johnson, if you will have them sign the forms, they need to report to their platoons and start training them. Captain Graves, if you will remain behind, I would like to speak with you.”

  Gina smiled and said, “Yes Sir.”

  • • •

  Gina entered the room, came to attention, and saluted. Kline returned Gina’s salute and said, “Sit down, Captain.” She pulled a chair up and sat in front of Kline’s desk, “Why have you been trying so hard to become a part of this exercise?”

  “This is where the future leaders of our warriors are going to be chosen. I want to have a hand in fighting the Black Ships.”

  “Wouldn’t you do that just as well commanding a Warship in the Navy? I’ve looked at your test scores and you could have acquired a command rather quickly.”

  “Killing them in a warship doesn’t really meet my needs, Sir.”

  Kline narrowed his eyes and said, “Tell me what you mean by that?”

  “Watching a ship explode from a distance just doesn’t do it for me. I want to see the death of the invaders up close.”

  Kline started to worry that the woman in front of his might not be stable. Her psychiatric exams said she was but this didn’t sound good. “I think you need to explain what you mean by that?”

  “Sir, I was visiting New Hope on a field trip with my second grade class when Bristone and the other worlds in our universe were destroyed. When they burned Juniper, they killed my entire family including my twin sister. They created a void in me that can never be filled. It became my quest to make them pay. I’ve been working on that since that time. I joined the warriors in the hope that we would one day invade their home worlds and I would have an opportunity to remove them from Creation.”

  She paused and Kline said, “Go on.”

  “When I heard about this command actually teleporting into their ships to destroy them, I knew that I had to be a part of it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it would give me the opportunity to actually see those orange pieces of groad die.”

  Kline stared at Gina and remained silent.

  “You’re worried that my desire for revenge would jeopardize the lives of those under my command.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Every one of us is more valuable than a million of those creatures. I will not waste one life unnecessarily. I will do all I can to make sure my warriors have the best chance of survival. I’m not blinded by my hatred; I’m just motivated by it.”

  Kline smiled, “I understand. You realize that if you advance in rank you might not be taking part in the actual fighting?”

  “That’s where I hope I can count on you to prevent that happening. That fear is what made me tell you the truth about my feelings. I worried that you might remove me from the exercise, but I knew that to fulfill my debt, you had to know.”

  “What exactly is your debt, Captain?”

  “Just killing them in their ships is not enough, Sir. The evil they represent must be removed from existence. I’m driven by the lo
ng view on this and will do the right things to make that happen.”

  “Captain, I will help you balance your debt. I was originally intending to take out two ships with this company but you have come up with a plan that could make the numbers more meaningful. We have a hundred and sixty Life Warriors in this company and if we can kill a Black Ship with five of them, we can take out more than thirty. “I want you to get your command trained to make that happen.”

  “I will do exactly that, Sir. And thank you.” She stood and saluted.

  Kline returned her salute and Sgt. Johnson walked in as she exited the room, “Are you sure about this?”

  “Oh yes. Some commanders are frightened to take risks while confronting an enemy. We won’t have that problem with her.”

  Sgt. Johnson looked out the door as Gina left the building and said, “You are right about that. She does have a warrior’s heart.”

  Kline leaned back in his chair, “And that is what will make the difference, Sarge.”

  • • •

  Gina walked quickly back to the company’s barracks thinking about how to get the warriors trained. She thought about the young Major that had beaten her scores in training and discovered that his youth didn’t bother her. She was four years older but he handled himself much better than most of the officers she had encountered. She stopped and suddenly realized that he said he understood her quest. She sensed that he really did understand and wondered what had happened to him to allow him to see it. She started walking again and realized that he would not give up the right to take part in the fighting either. Sheena would have liked him. She knew she did.

  • • •

  Tag and Trey entered Kline’s office and he jumped to attention. “At ease, Major. How long will it be before your command is ready to fight?”

  “We are ready now, Your Grace. We’re just waiting on the additional ships needed to transport the attack groups.”

  Tag looked at the report in his hand and said, “I thought two ships were enough?”

  “It was originally, but we’ve determined that we can destroy their ships with only five warriors.”