A Game With No Rules (Perimeter Defense Book #4) LitRPG Series

by Michael Atamanov

  Duchess Elisa royl Clement ton Mesfelle-Lavaelle, co-ruler of the Grand Duchy

  Age: 188

  Race: Human

  Gender: Female

  Relation to you: your mother

  Class: Aristocrat

  Achievements: Daughter of the Enemy, Defector, Political Weathervane, Unprincipled, Schemer, Got Hers

  Fame: +42

  Standing: -9

  Presumed opinion of you: - 58 (hate)

  Grand Duchy's opinion of you: - 11 (dislike)

  "I see you managed to rescue the girl after all, Georg. What can I say? Your zeal is admirable. But it was naive of you to think you could bring such a large fleet through our holdings unnoticed. We were expecting you and prepared carefully. Six months ago, you were able to trap the Green House Fleet very skillfully, by turning off the surrounding warp beacons. We learned a lot from that painful lesson. Now, it is a great irony of fate that the successors to the Green House have done the very same with your fleet."

  I had a hard time holding back a smile. Did they still think they had caught me? That must have meant that the short, encrypted signal to the Forepost-9 system had remained unnoticed. What could I say? The easiest enemy to have is the kind that wrongfully supposes they are in complete control of you. I didn't try to talk my mother out of her confusion. In fact, I played along:

  "There's a very substantial difference between what happened six months ago to the Green House First Strike Fleet and the current situation. Demyen royl Amelius ton Lavaelle's fleet was trapped in the Forepost-31 system, which is uninhabitable and useless with no food, water or anything that could have allowed them to survive for long. But my fleet in the Khell system controls a large transport hub, which cuts off eight Grand Duchy star systems from the rest of your territory. We are not currently low on provisions, but if we do happen to need them, we can take them from the densely populated planet of Khell-IV. So, the Grand Duchy will be forced to find some way of smoking out the Unatari Fleet. We are not limited by time and can dictate the conditions ourselves."

  "I think not!" Duchess Elisa said sharply and, turning to someone I couldn't see, ordered: "Turn the camera and show him!"

  The image shifted onto my two daughters. On a small round pedestal, Crown Princesses Likanna and Natalie were on their knees with their hands bound behind their backs. There was a group of armed guards around them. Joan, who was next to me, shuddered at the sight of it and shouted in fear, then covered her face with her hands. But I frowned, having recognized several aristocrats from the Lavaelle family among the guardsmen holding the girls in their sight. That family hated me fiercely, so the guards really were inclined to shoot the hostages.

  I also noticed three women standing behind Duchess Elisa in dark clothing with hoods covering their faces. Three Truth Seekers! It looked like my mom was afraid of this conversation and had taken the appropriate measures to avoid me doing anything unpredictable.

  "As you see, Georg, you really cannot dictate the terms. And seeing as you put forth so much effort to save your adopted daughter Joan, you definitely won't let two of your other daughters die, especially your beloved oldest daughter Likanna. Now listen carefully to me, Georg, and your daughters will remain among the living! In twenty minutes, Grand Duchy ships will be arriving to Khell. You will order your starships to turn off their energy shields and thrusters, then you will take a shuttle to the ship we tell you to go to. After that, you'll do as you're told. I promise you, son, if you do as I say, no one has to suffer!"

  So that's what you call "going to visit grandma in Sector Three..." How low and evil it was to use trusting little Crown Princesses to blackmail their father! Especially after Elisa gave her word as a Crown Princess and swore by her aristocratic honor that she wouldn't do anything bad to the girls if they came to visit, and that not even a hair would fall from their heads. All the same, I didn't reproach my mother for breaking her word — that was useless. She'd probably say, after all, that she was no longer an Imperial Crown Princess, so all her old oaths had lost their force.

  I'd like to find out whose idea it was initially to take the girls hostage — my mother's, or the Lavaelle family's. In fact, I wouldn't mind finding out what their relationship was like right now in general. Why was the crown of a Grand Duchy co-ruler on Elisa's head, but not Duke Amelius royl Mast ton Lavaelle's? After all, the old man, in appending his Green House to the Grand Duchy, was most likely counting on ruling the united government. What had the Antagonists offered the Green House Head to give up their claim to power? Or maybe, someone had simply pressured him and forced him to stand aside? Should I try to play on possible tensions between the Green and Gold House?

  I took a step forward and, putting a bored and ambivalent expression on my face, said to the Duchess with reproach:

  "Mother, you've always been a terrible actress. Now as always, you're overdoing it. After all, no one seriously believes that you'll agree to sacrifice your beloved granddaughter Likanna! But we'll leave that for later. Now, I’m troubled by something else entirely. Tell me why you aren’t upholding our understanding?"

  "What are you talking about, Georg?" With my words, I managed to knock the Duchess off course, and she couldn’t hide her incomprehension.

  "Our understanding? I was supposed to remove all claimants to power in the Orange, Red and Blue Houses. It wasn't easy, but I did it. All more or less popular aristocrats were killed or signed resignations. You’d need a microscope to see what’s left of them on the political arena. My twin sister Violetta's mission was to pull up the Purple House ruling families by the root, which she did spectacularly. And you promised my sister and I that, before you were crowned co-ruler of the Grand Duchy, you would remove all other claimants to the Gold and Green Houses up to and including babies, so they wouldn't stand in the way of our family's rule! So then, why do I see members of the Lavaelle family with you in the room?! Why have they not yet been exterminated?!"

  Based on the frozen picture on the big screen, they were all in a stupor. After all, no one had ever before guessed that the complicated and bloody process of uniting the Great Houses could be seen as a purely intrafamily affair of the daughter of the ruler of the Antagonists and her two blood children. And one after the next, those two children had already removed all even remotely significant competition, and were now just discussing the technical details of a process that was near completion. Now, it seemed, the people in the room had opened their eyes, and begun to suspect.

  The first to come to his senses was some officer in an old Green House uniform. He shouted an extremely insulting phrase at my mother and reached for his holster. But he didn't manage to do anything. Within a second, he was lit up like a candle and, collapsing to the floor, wailed hysterically. Duchess Elisa's bodyguards and Truth Seekers clearly worked for their bread. Another aristocrat of the Lavaelle family also tried and failed to shoot and was disarmed by the attentive guards.

  But they still didn't have time to neutralize all the many, armed guardsmen. Duchess Elisa gasped and stared in surprise at the smoking hole burned through her luxurious dress right where her heart was. The woman stood up straight for another few seconds, then the Grand Duchy co-ruler's knees started buckling and she collapsed to the floor. The golden crown flew from her short-haired head and rolled across the mosaic floor.

  ATTENTION!!!

  Your mother Duchess Elisa royl Clement ton Mesfelle-Lavaelle has been killed by Baron Maggo ton Lavaelle

  There was no reason to try and get revenge for my mother's death because, by that time, all that remained of Baron Maggo was a pulsating lump of protoplasm. One of the distraught armed men had managed to get his heavy infantry resonator working in the fray, mowing down a wide swath of both allies and erstwhile enemies. I had a hard time tearing myself from the spectacle of the bloody slaughter and turned to the Crown Princesses watching the chaos with their hands bound:

  "Likanna, Natalie, your mission in Sector Three is completed. Return to Dekeye
with your report, after which you may go free, along with all the other members of your race."

  Both of the girls stood at the same time, bowed very gracefully, then shook the useless fetters from their wrists, dissolved into whitish clouds and flew out of the room.

  No one even noticed the Arites. In fact, there were few living people left in the room. Just three very badly wounded soldiers kicking the last remaining Truth Seeker as she lied on the floor, having lost her power when she lost her master. What I wanted to do was order the transmission ended, but I noticed the Lavaelle family crest on one of the bloodied soldiers attacking the lifeless psionic.

  "Flora, get them too! Bionica, while we have a stable connection, order the palace androids on Oveyete-VII to destroy all footage of this incident, and any other information that may have been retained."

  "My Prince, it will be done in the very best fashion, don't you doubt it!" my synthetic assistant promised.

  And I turned to my silent officers and little Joan, staring at me with their eyes wide in horror. Probably, after what I said to my mother, they all saw me as a coldblooded monster, who had ruthlessly slaughtered all those keeping me from power. As such, I couldn't get by without some commentary here.

  "If any of you didn't quite understand what you just saw, let me explain. There is not and never was any secret understanding between me, Duchess Elisa and Duchess Violetta. I never murdered or tracked any aristocrats or rulers of the Blue or Red Houses. And with the Orange House, I behaved very reservedly, especially in comparison with other aristocrats, and limited myself to just a couple forced resignations. The only exception was the man who killed my brother Crown Prince Roben, who was assassinated with my tacit consent. But that was a special case, and I acted fully within the bounds of the law."

  Florianna stood from her flying chair, raised her right hand and said distinctly:

  "I swear by my abilities as a Truth Seeker that Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle is speaking the pure truth!"

  A collective sigh of relief rolled over the room. Everyone there knew perfectly that Truth Seekers were incapable of flagrantly lying. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I continued my speech:

  "What you heard just now in that conversation with the Grand Duchy was pure ad lib. It would have been stupid not to take advantage of the chance to use some disinformation on our opponents, driving a wedge between our enemies in the Green and Gold Houses. They obviously didn't trust one another, and my words served as a spark to turn their moldering distrust into direct, fiery conflict. I admit, I wasn't expecting it to cause such a bloodbath, but I don't regret what happened one bit. Let our enemies fight amongst themselves. And yes, you didn’t mishear, I called them our enemies! The Unatari State is declaring war against the Grand Duchy! Katerina, release an official statement! And now, friends, everyone in their seats! In fifteen minutes, a huge enemy fleet will be arriving here to Khell with a thousand ships. Let's give them a fiery reception!!!"

  In return, an elated roar from many throats rang out, but I called them to silence with a gesture.

  "Florianna, get up from your chair and walk over to the interactive map. Don't help her, she can manage!"

  The little girl, draped in black clothing, got up from the flying chair none-too-confidently and, refusing the help of her four Beta Iseyek, staggered over to me on her shaky disobedient legs.

  "Show us all on the map where and in what formation the enemy fleet will enter the system."

  Dozens of attentive eyes watched the bewildered little Florianna closely. Her face reflected panic, and her eyes widened in fear.

  "Crown Prince, but I don't..." Flora suddenly froze mid-word and, not even fully believing the reality of it herself, started placing ship markers quickly on the large interactive map.

  * * *

  "Thirty seconds!" the tactics officer's message boomed out in the echoing silence with particular sharpness.

  Everyone in the headquarters was fully concentrated, because the enemy's fleet had one thousand ships and that was very, very serious, even if you considered our four-to-one advantage and the information we got from the Truth Seeker. I was also a bit nervous, even though Florianna had shown us exactly where the enemy fleet would arrive and in what formation. In fact, the forthcoming battle had become a type of exam for my Truth Seeker. The girl was making fast progress, increasing her strength and, if her ability to foretell the positions of enemy ships was confirmed, Florianna would become a truly invaluable tool in space combat.

  I put the helmet on my head and turned on the microphone:

  "I remind the whole fleet, ignore the first group of ships to arrive! Those are empty, old ships and fireships laden with explosives. Fifty-five seconds after that, activate the mines! Twenty seconds after the big blast, three groups of ten bombers each iron out the main concentrations Flora has marked. After that, we can see what the enemy has left, and act accordingly. Three seconds. Two. One. Let's go out to greet them!"

  A two-and-a-half-mile-long chain of small ship groups appeared on screen. Within one second, the friend-foe system identified them, and the markers of the ships that arrived turned red on the tactical map.

  "Looks pretty. Like a red thread in a green tube!" Nicole ton Savoia giggled on the common fleet channel.

  I winced in dismay at the badly timed and meaningless comment from my first assistant. The normally dead serious Sector Eight Fleet Commander was simply unrecognizable today. Nicole was still in a state of near-euphoric elation after the Unatari Fleet came to Khell and saved her ships. The young Space Major had already begun laughing without any reason a few times in the last couple of minutes, and was now littering the airwaves with empty chatter during battle. I had to take measures. After turning off my microphone in order not to shame the girl before the whole united Unatari Fleet, I said strictly:

  "Space Major Nicole ton Savoia, I temporarily relieve you of your duties! Go to the middle of the room and do three sets of thirty pushups with two-minute breaks for rest! Rosss, make sure she completes the exercises properly. Captain Valian ton Corsa, you are temporarily promoted to commander’s first assistant!"

  Nicole stood humbly, not saying a word, unbuttoned and removed her medal-laden jacket, hung it on the back of her chair and went to do the pushups. The free seat next to me was taken instantly by Valian ton Corsa, the girl's eyes shimmering in happiness.

  The redheaded beauty, who had once wanted to become my favorite, had tried and failed to get close to me again a few months ago, and felt disgraced by that. Not long after, Princess Astra royl Veyerde returned to take the place of my favorite and was fulfilling the difficult role in the monarch's retinue better than ever.

  "Valian, you take the second group of heavy cruisers and all the electros. Bionica, you’re on small ship defense and sending commands. Max Gregor, you take battleships and monitor electric shields as usual. It'll all start with a bang soon, and we can get to work! All ships, cover light-sensitive equipment! Here they are!!!"

  The bombs went off splendidly! The mines were so effective, I nearly repeated Nicole's violation myself. A series of the brightest sparks, blinding the eyes even through the lowered light filters, rolled in a long many-mile line through nearby space. And in a few places, for a few seconds, new stars bloomed precisely where Florianna had predicted the arrival of large enemy ship groups.

  "So, stealth-bombers, get ready! That group survived. Let’s get to work! And over there, lots of little ships survived," I said, placing target markers for the cloakers.

  More thermonuclear explosions followed. There wasn’t even a need for a second and third wave of bombers. Just a few dozen scattered ships remained, mainly of heavy classes. I canceled the Surprises' attack and sat back in my armchair, admiring the glorious spectacle. Four and a half thousand green markers went into action all at once, striving to reduce their distance to the enemy. None of the rest of the ships, including the six carriers, even released their drones. There was really no need for th
at now. At this stage of battle, we just needed to catch the confused, stunned and disorganized enemies that were left.

  My direct participation in the battle was not needed, because I fully trusted my assistants and staff officers to control the fleet. So, standing demonstratively and placing my hand behind my back, I walked unhurriedly to the huge hologram depicting the Khell star system in detail.

  Ten steps from me, Nicole ton Savoia was straining to do another push up, her teeth clenched and blowing sharply from time to time at a disobedient lock of hair falling into her eye. The semitransparent Alpha Iseyek Rosss was keeping count. Rosss was counting in insect language, but no translation was needed. I turned to the glowing hologram in order not to embarrass her.

  "My Prince, when you sent Nicole away and put the red-headed lady next to you, she thought some wild things. I'm even embarrassed to tell you her fantasies."

  "And you don't have to, Florianna, this is not the time for that. Otherwise, you'll be doing pushups next to Nicole. Or maybe not. It's too early for that. But I'll think something up... You keep exercising your psionic abilities and tell me where the second group of enemy starships will be."

  The girl walked to the map, took a laser pointer in her hands and started placing ship markers, much more confidently this time.

  "My Prince, they're surrendering and requesting mercy!" Bionica's voice rang out.

  "Three enemy battleships and eight heavy cruisers have lowered their shields and are sending signals of capitulation," Admiral Kiro Sabuto said, clarifying the number of trophies.

  And then, when I was about to declare victory and order the surrendered ships quickly captured, a huge marker appeared one hundred twenty miles from my flagship, which the computer system identified as a Queen.

  What the hell?! The Queen wasn't finished being repaired yet and should have been at the secret space docks in the Fia system. My advisors said it would take no less than two months before the huge starship could be launched. Or had my subjects secretly sent the unfinished Queen to help my fleet?!