United We Stand

by Christian Messe

  “You’re insane,” Imp winced.

  “I’m justice,” Karalus grimaced.

  There was a long silence until a Jupitain came running through the doorway.

  “Alphaaa… the Meta-Gene carrier has escaped and is now headed towards deep space.”

  Karalus breathed in slowly, then started shouting, “You imbecile! If she finds out anything, of what that Meta-Gene can really do, I’ll be set back by years, and in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t even have months!!” He paused, calming down, “Have every visor on every E6 2.7 through 2.9 searching for that Meta-Gene, have every last detail and feature of her body stored in the identification module of the visor. Find, and kill her, by any means necessary.”

  The Jupitain ran back through the doorway.

  “Idiotic minions… now, where were we?”

  Imp spat at him.

  “Oh right, that.”

  Neptune, Prime Minister Karalus, Earth date: 1997

  “Sir, three Gigantium-class flying saucers are entering our atmosphere, they appear to be non-hostile. Should we intercept anyway?”

  “No, no, let them come,” Karalus said, sounding like he was… happy. He was like a completely different person. “We haven’t had an out of world visitor for a while since the traders just seemed to stop coming, and since we hacked into the Terra’s Voyager 2 and sent fake lifeless images. Besides they don’t look like trouble to me, all visitors are welcome.” Karalus smiled. Sincerely.

  He was looking at a blue hologram of the three saucers heading towards the atmosphere.

  The alien ships landed in an empty field of thick ice, the Prime Minister, Karalus arrived in a small air speeder, only accompanied by two guards.

  The large two-mile-long hangar opened, revealing the Kelisian Main Leader, and readied flying saucer fighters.

  “Now now, are the big guns really necessary?” Karalus asked calmly, his voice amplified by a small, high tech microphone attached to his ear.

  “That would depend…” The Main Leader replied.

  “Depend on what?” Karalus asked, confused how the strange woman seemed like she was trying to call the shots. “You don’t have the right to point weapons at me in my System, the planets here are under my protection, and any force that wants to take advantage of the prim world and its resources unfairly will have to go through the might of the Neptunian Republic. I’ve heard of you Kelisians, paid by multiple systems as loyal bodyguards, but trust me I don’t need it. To make myself absolutely clear I have over thirty long range, Heavy, Ion cannons about a hundred miles from here, if you cross me, you will be exterminated.”

  “How do I know you’re not bluffing?”

  “Because I’m not?” He smiled. “Oh, who am I kidding, friends welcome to Neptune. I hope that we can form a grand alliance together.”

  Karalus couldn’t see it, but the Main Leader was smirking. She knew that his planet was hers to take advantage of now.

  A speeder approached from the saucer’s hangar, with the Main Leader, and four heavily armored and equipped soldiers behind her.

  “Now that we have gotten the negotiations out of the way,” Karalus smiled happily, “I can give you the proper, Neptunian welcome.” The Main Leader boarded Karalus’s speeder with two of her four guards. They hovered above the Ice, the weather cold, but comfortable. It was… peaceful.

  The Main Leader was wearing a fur, sleek looking jacket, with her guards in full arctic gear. Karalus was wearing a stylish, and appealing looking war jacket, his guards wearing something similar, but not as official.

  They reached the city, skyscrapers everywhere. They arrived above an atrium type of space in the city, citizens lining the main road to the Neptunian capital. They were all cheering and celebrating their guest’s arrival. The Main Leader didn’t even crack a faint smile.

  Behind the massive capital building, was Karalus’s mansion. It was magnificent. Utterly beautiful. It was sleek and smooth, paved with carved stone and crystal. They stopped at the entrance — a magnificent looking porch, built for a humble ruler.

  The Main leader gestured for her guards to wait outside. They stayed next to the speeder, while Karalus led her inside his home. The inside was almost even more breathtaking than the outside. It had an incredibly high ceiling, with lavish furniture everywhere, and portraits were hanging on every wall, of past Prime Ministers.

  “This is the Minister Mansion,” Karalus smiled warmly, “Quite excellent isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” The Main Leader said simply, “Yes it is.”

  “Daddy!” A squeaky, high pitch voice echoed from a nearby hallway. Out came a little blue girl, who looked to be around age four. She came running in, giggling the entire time, then hugged Karalus’s leg snuggly. Karalus picked her up and kissed her on the forehead.

  “How’s my little girl, what’d you do while I was gone, hmm?” He asked her.

  “Nothing,” She giggled.

  “Oh, right.” Karalus did an awkward cough, “Main Leader, this is my daughter, Ranoah.”

  The Main Leader pulled barely half a smile, making sort of an awkward one, with half of her teeth showing, and the other part of her lip closed.

  Ranoah didn’t look happy to see her either, as if she could sense there was something off about this strange guest.

  Karalus put her down, “How about you go play with those toys of yours, alright?”

  “Ok…” She said, still looking at the Main Leader. She scurried off, back through the hallway.

  “She’s my pride and joy.” Karalus sighed happily, “Besides this great world of course.”

  “Mhm.” The Main Leader said simply.

  “So, it’s about time I ask…” Karalus started, “What brings you to Neptune?”

  The Main Leader had walked away, bored, and had picked up a small model of an ancient Neptunian space ship. “What happened to the mother?” She asked, completely ignoring his question.

  “Excuse me?” Karalus asked, confused.

  “There’s no partner with you… I assumed something might have happened.”

  Karalus looked down, saddened by his sudden flashback. “There was, a mother, actually… my wife, Lyzeria. She passed from a rare, incurable disease, the Poveloxvirus… it’s genetic and was carried through her relatives until it finally infected her. We didn’t find out until it was too late.”

  “I am… sorry for your loss, minister.” The Main Leader said, without an ounce of sympathy or emotion in her voice at all. Karalus looked at her, expecting her to answer the question he asked earlier.

  She looked away. “Minister… have you ever heard of Experiment Six?” She asked, finally.

  “Mmm, no, just experiment six? What kind of experiment?” Karalus asked.

  “A killer.” She replied simply, “A programmed entity, designed to follow any order it’s given. Easy to make, and hard to destroy.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you’re trying to say,” Karalus said.

  “There was an outbreak, of these killers, from their homeworld of Cyrus, across the Galaxy. They spread everywhere, killing all intelligent life, and enslaving only whom they needed for their resources.”

  “Well, what happened to them now?” Karalus asked.

  The Main Leader didn’t say anything. She stayed quiet.

  “Well?” Karalus smiled, trying to hide his confusion.

  “They’re gone,” She lied, “We wiped them from the Galaxy, and we have entered a new era of peace, we came here to spread the good news.”

  Karalus smiled broadly, “Well that’s great news, from the way you were talking, I thought my people might have been in danger, but it looks as though you’re brave and selfless army, has secured the day, for the entire Galaxy, you must be truly proud.”

  “Overjoyed.” The Main Leader crackled through her teeth.

  “Come, I want to show you something.” Karalus gestured for her to follow him. She did.

  They walked to the cent
er of the mansion, inside a giant library, with a glass dome above them, letting in all the sunlight, and making the room look stunning. Even though Neptune was so far away from the sun, light still shined.

  “Stand next to me if you will,” Karalus said. The Main Leader did just that, standing beside him, on a small, white painted circle. The floor below them started to descend into the ground slowly. They went dozens of feet down until they reached the clearing.

  A glass tube was holding the elevator in place, but around them was a series of areas underground, with scientists and military looking officials walking from place to place, all doing their own specific tasks. The entire facility was white, with lights illuminating every inch of it.

  “Impressive,” The Main Leader said, not impressed.

  “It is, isn’t it? Built by my ancestors, as the protector of the republic, every operation here has a duty to protect the citizens of our planet, in its own way. Surveillance… but not disrupting privacy, just for watching key areas that might be of concern.”

  Karalus pointed at another area. “Those rooms over there, specialize in anti-detection, and observation of Terra, the other life-sustaining planet in our system, we observe them, and make sure they don’t discover us, or… destroy themselves; prim worlds can be very… very unpredictable.”

  “Why do you care about a prim world?” The Main Leader asked, “I’ve never met a high official from another planet, that cared about civilizations less advanced than them.” She said it with genuine curiosity and, somewhat interest.

  “Well, we do share this system after all, and I feel like as the more advanced world, we have a duty to make sure our neighbors are looked after. Who knows, maybe a minister after me will be able to greet them once they break their primitive status, they seem quite close to doing so, I give it most likely another hundred years.”

  “Right…” The Main Leader said, knowing a hundred years wasn’t possible.

  The elevator came to a stop at the bottom floor. The room was huge, a high ceiling, with flat holo-screen monitors on the walls, above a series of control boards and stations. There were dozens of workers, walking past, and operating parts of the room. It was a giant command center.

  “Ah, and here we are,” Karalus smiled.

  “Interesting.” She said, not very enthusiastic, “Why’d you bring me here?”

  “Well,” Karalus started, “I thought I should give you the full tour.” He gestured for her to follow her out of the elevator. “This, is the most advanced control center on the planet, its purpose, is to ensure the security of our people by being able to observe and monitor any electronic or hyperlax object, frequency, or just anything with an electronic compound whatsoever within the limits of our surface. It can also be fused into an electronic signal, hence our neighbor’s probes.”

  “So you control your citizen’s lives?” The Main Leader said, smirking like she liked that idea.

  “Absolutely not!” Karalus said, taken aback, ”My people have the maximum amount of freedom possible, the device is simply for safety, so that terrorist groups, or Martian insurgents that survived their civil war, can’t mount a major technological offensive against the common people.”

  “So, you can 'monitor' everything that has an energy signal? Sounds like something that could cause corruption, doesn’t it?” The Main Leader asked.

  Karalus sighed, “My species, during our entire history, we have had… our fair share of conflict. We used to be divided into separate districts… skirmished with Martian forces for centuries, used to be divided by the very color of our skin even… however, that was long ago. Our ancestors made a flawless system of leadership, one that could never be corrupted, without the full might of the people, crashing down on them. Our nationalism is strong. We are strong, and nothing will divide our people. My people, ever again.” Karalus pointed at the middle of the command center, “That, is my insurance.”

  “What’s that?” The Main Leader asked, amused by his confidence.

  “The very machine, that will ensure that nothing will be able to topple the prosperity of our great republic. It can hack, any encrypted electronic system, and take control… stopping any invader in their tracks.” He looked at the Main Leader and smirked, “It’s what I didn’t tell you about when I didn’t know if you were friendly or not.”

  “Hmm.” The Main Leader said simply, thinking.

  A guard on patrol walked near Karalus and saluted, “Prime minister.”

  Karalus did a joking salute back, smiling, “Lieutenant.” The lieutenant walked away, back to his patrol.

  “Well, everything you showed me was… truly impressive, but I must regretfully, leave. I look forward to a future meeting minister. I would be honored to make an official, alliance with you.” The Main Leader said, with a fake smile.

  “And the same to you as well.” Karalus did a slight bow, and the Main Leader unwillingly did the same.

  “How long until the E6’s reach us?” The Main leader asked a few hours later, on the bridge of her main Gigantium-class mother ship.

  “A long time… scanners aren’t picking up a signal, for… trillions of paraphere’s.” A high-level official replied. He was sitting at a control board and was wearing a highly decorated black uniform.

  “That can’t be right.” The Main leader squinted, “They weren’t that far away…”

  “Ma’am…” The official started.

  “What?” She grimaced, slightly frustrated.

  “What’ll happen to the Neptunians when they reach us?”

  “Them?” The Main Leader said, like she hadn’t even cared to think about that, “We don’t have time for them… besides, their leader showed me their little, ‘secret weapon,’ that can hack into certain objects, although their leader didn’t tell me the exact conditions. I would assume it to be vehicles, and maybe warships… should keep them protected enough. Probably.”

  “Right…” The official said.

  Without any warning whatsoever, the gigantic mothership orbiting next to them, completely exploded after a beam of highly powered red energy blew straight through its hull from space. Debris hurtled everywhere, even being pulled into Neptune’s atmosphere.

  Then, two thousand Jupitain warships appeared in front of them, just exiting I-Hypotonic warp. They started firing on the Kelisians immediately.

  The bridge shook violently, holo-shields barely holding. “Get us out of here!” The Main Leader ordered.

  “But ma’am…” Kaboom! “The Neptunians…” The official argued.

  The Main Leader looked at him, furious. “Get. Us. Out! That’s an order! And drop every escape pod we have onto Neptune.”

  The official obeyed without another word, and entered in a few symbols, then flicked a switch. The two motherships left, one severely damaged. They fled deeper into the Solar System, dropping escape pods onto Neptune… making the Jupitains target them, and the planet they were falling towards.

  Karalus watched the entire thing from his porch. He had gaped the whole time. He watched the pods fall through the atmosphere, and slam into the ice fields, miles away from the capital city.

  He didn’t waste any time. The Neptunian fleet and military were already positioned. The Republic’s galactic navy was composed of hundreds of Intermediate-class warships, which were all painted white, with streaks of blue along the clunky edges. There was also one Titan-class warship in Neptune’s navy as well. The fighters looked like any other jet from Earth, but they had six wings, two on either side of the hull, another two on top and below the hull, and two more in-between the gap left by the other four wings.

  They never stood a chance against the remaining E6 force, or what they’d soon be called by humanity… Jupitains.

  “Minister, the order is yours.” A voice said from a commlink on his arm.

  “Fire at the hostile warcraft!” He ordered.

  A volley of Ion cannon shots replied to his command. From a distant base, they made a loud click,
click, click, boom sound that echoed for hundreds of miles. The shots hit the invading Jupitain fleet head-on, most of the shields held, but two warships were destroyed entirely. They deployed over ten-thousand fighters in response.

  Karalus’s bottom lip wavered. He was nervous. He ran back inside his house. “Ranoah, Ranoah!” He yelled.

  He ran to her bedroom, where she was crying next to her bed. “Daddy, what’s that noise?” There was a faint whistle sound, then a Neptunian fighter crashed into a nearby skyscraper. They could see it from the giant window in her room. She screamed, holding her ears.

  “It’s okay; it’s okay!” Karalus whispered loudly, trying his best to comfort her. He picked her up, “I’m gonna get you to a safe place until this is over, ok?”

  “Ok.” She sniffed.

  Another explosion, closer this time, shook the floor.

  “It’s okay; you’ll be okay…” Karalus kept saying to her.

  They made it to the elevator of the underground base. Karalus frantically pressed a few buttons, until it responded, and started to descend. When they reached the command center, it was chaos.

  “What are those things?!” Someone yelled.

  “It’s not working; it’s not working…” Another person kept saying.

  Karalus put down his daughter, “What, what’s not working?”

  The person turned around. It was the second in command for the facility.

  “Wait,” Karalus said, “What happened to the Lead Facility Operative?” Karalus asked.

  “I dunno sir, he’s probably buried under Quadrant-Seven, the entire section collapsed when those, things, first started attacking.”

  “What?!”

  “Minister… the console isn’t working... the Project Safeguard console. It… it won’t penetrate these thing’s encryptions!” Someone else shouted.

  Karalus knew what that meant, “We can’t hack their system…”

  “It’s too advanced sir… I…I’ve never seen anything like their tech before…”

  The ground shook. Everyone went quiet.