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

by Michael Atamanov

  "Apasss Ugu and Rosss thank Your Highness for the good will you've shown to Nai Igir's progeny. They both admit that they had no faith that their new ruler would protect the clutch of the former Swarm ruler. Of course, any order from their ruler would have been obeyed without a second thought, but they are glad at such a wise and bloodless solution. Crown Prince Georg's orders have already been passed on to the Swarm at large and met there with approval and glee. The loyalty of the Swarm to Crown Prince Georg has never been higher!"

  It was good that the First Advisor and I found agreement on such a delicate issue. Now I wanted to discuss other things. Above all else, I was interested in the Alien Queen.

  "Your Highness, the Alien crew has already abandoned the massive starship. To do that, the Queen hovered approximately two hundred miles above the surface of the gas giant Hnelle-VI, after which an opaque column of light extended down into the cloudy atmosphere. It must have been some kind of elevator. In less than seven hours, all Alien individuals left the ship this way, some of them taking some kind of equipment with them. At present, our technicians and sappers are checking the Queen. But, based on what they've seen so far, the Aliens have fulfilled their promise. All the supercarrier's systems are intact, no surprises were found. After some cosmetic repairs, recruitment and training of crew, and also outfitting her with new combat drones, we can attach it to the Unatari Fleet. Approximate time needed to get the starship in working order: one month."

  "Excellent! That's even better than I was hoping. And what are the Aliens up to on the planet?"

  Apasss Ugu started moving his whiskers in a funny way, which, as I already knew meant confusion or lack of information.

  "I see... Then I order a web of reconnaissance satellites put into orbit and for round-the-clock observation of Hnelle-VI to commence. We have no basis to trust the Aliens, so we must track their every move. What about the technologies?"

  "Crown Prince, Unatari scientists are hard at work. The method of calculating coordinates for super-long jumps based on disruption points has already been worked out. This technology can be implemented on all of your fleet ships. By the way, very important information: the eleven-dimensional system the Aliens use could have not only local extremes, but also absolute ones. And it isn't necessary for the resolution of an eleven-dimensional matrix to be either a local or absolute extreme point."

  "Wait, stop. Translate what he's just said into simple language for me, without all the complex spatial mathematics."

  "Crown Prince, there are two different conclusions here. First: disabling a warp beacon doesn't always block the ability to move from one disturbance point in space to another. Our mathematicians are composing a resolution table and an accompanying travel map, showing which movements can be made, even if there is no beacon on the far end of the warp tunnel. The second conclusion is more clouded but, all in all, we have grown substantially closer to figuring out the Mechanoids' abilities to calculate warp jumps to a star system with no active warp beacon. In the fairly near future, our ships will be able to use old data about previous travel between starships without the Mechanoids to calculate travel coordinates. And in the distant future, it's not impossible that we could develop a fundamentally new method of moving between stars — practically instant and not requiring preliminary installation of warp beacons. In five to seven years, and perhaps even sooner, such technology is sure to appear."

  The importance of what my First Advisor had just said was hard to overestimate. Limitless abilities for expansion in space, and no more need for long, many-year flights at sub-light speeds from star to star. All scout ships and the warp-beacon transportation networks would be made immediately obsolete... The race that was first to discover such technologies would get a colossal advantage over all others. The most radical change was that it would instantly eliminate the necessity for all warp beacons, and just one lone race would remain in all the nearest, known parts of the galaxy. All the rest would be locked into their isolated systems with no possibility to move or even communicate, after the warp beacons were destroyed. This was both something to think over and to be afraid of.

  "All developments and research on this topic must be conducted in one place, and a regime of the strictest secrecy is to be observed there. If there are any important breakthroughs in their research, I am to be informed at once! And what of the technology for manufacturing antimatter? Any discoveries?"

  "Unfortunately, there's nothing new there, Your Highness. However, we did manage to get the coordinates from former Gold House officers of the space factories where antimatter bombs and rounds are produced."

  The gigantic millipede turned on the belt across his body and, very quickly flicking his appendages, so fast it was barely visible, brought up a hologram in the air before me. I studied the map and asked him to increase the scale. Apasss Ugu pointed to the supposed location of the secret manufacturing bases of the Antagonists near the fifth satellite of the third planet in a nondescript system.

  "Perimeter Sector Eighteen, the orbital complex Oree-III-V, hidden from outside observers by a cloaking system. From what we know, it is the only source of antimatter the Grand Duchy possesses."

  "Quite far away... Although, considering the new information about weak points in space, nothing is impossible... Set up a meeting for me with the very most experienced stealth bomber captains. I've got a job just for them. I need two separate groups. They will have totally different missions. And also... From what I understand, the Swarm Princess contest should be over. Have the results been tallied?"

  "Yes, Crown Prince. All the star systems that participated in the contest have seen a storm of economic expansion, with intensive construction and growth in available jobs. But considering all factors, the commission of experts believes the most effective manager was Princess Astra ton Veyerde."

  "Excuse me?" To be honest, that was the very last thing I was expecting.

  "Yes, Crown Prince Georg. Her subjects love the White Queen and are jumping out of their shells to make sure their ruler wins the competition and becomes Swarm Duchess. By the way, the Red Queen was just barely behind in effectiveness. Your wife expended quite significant effort to determine and use the key growth points and achieved impressive final numbers. From what I know, the very powerful Truth Seeker used her abilities and even her students to find the most effective economic solutions. The other Swarm Princesses had noticeably more modest results in comparison with the victors, although they all showed that they are capable of serious work and management of subjects."

  I thanked the First Advisor and hurried to breakfast where the others were waiting for me.

  * * *

  "Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle, it is a great honor for me to be invited to breakfast with your Highness's close family!"

  Baroness Nicole ton Savoia was wearing a ceremonial space-major uniform and had all her regalia as well, making her look strange and even out of place on the backdrop of my older daughters, in light summer outfits, or Deia and Georg Junior in nothing but diapers and Ayna, the babysitter for my younger children, wearing a summer track suit. And also, the Crown Prince of the Empire himself was wearing nothing but shorts and a light cloak on his naked body, so no one there looked too snazzy.

  "Nicole, we've been close for quite some time, so it's strange that this is the first time you've been a guest."

  Just then, two of my guests came late to breakfast — Astra and Bionica. As if competing, both of the beautiful girls were wearing chic and obviously very expensive evening dresses, abundantly adorned with jewelry and cosmetics on their faces, and had complex hairstyles. I cannot say for certain what happened between my favorite and personal assistant that time, but the girls were sneaking dismayed glances at one another and nearly elbowing each other. The apotheosis of the conflict was when Astra, supposing no one would see, gave the android a strong kick under the table as she sat down.

  It wasn't the first time there had been trouble between the White Q
ueen and the Queen of the androids. I was reminded that they had even fought physically at one point. But still, with others around, and all the more so guests, they had never before allowed themselves to demonstrate their difficult relationship so flagrantly. But this conflict had gone on too long, so I decided it needed to end.

  "Both of you, stand up. I have to admit, I wanted to announce the results of the Swarm Princess competition over this breakfast. My First Advisor got the results from a commission of experts for all of you and suggested that I, as Swarm ruler, appoint Princess Astra ton Veyerde Swarm Duchess. A few minutes ago, I was prepared to support that expert conclusion. But now, I see that my favorite is not ready to wear the golden ducal crown or shoulder the heavy weight of responsibility that goes with it. So, I'm changing my decision and declaring Swarm Duchess to be baby Deia! From here on and forever, Crown Princess Deianna royl Georg ton Mesfelle shall have authority over all Iseyek star systems and their billions of inhabitants!"

  The dark-haired girl sitting on Ayna's knees clearly did not understand why the attention of all those present in the room suddenly shifted to her, and looked up at her nanny in fear. But, seeing happiness on Ayna's face and smiles from her older sisters, she calmed down and continued drinking juice from a bottle. Astra then, loudly sobbing and covering her face with her hands, ran out of the room. Georg Junior threw on an unhappy face just after his mother, but still couldn't find enough reason to be upset and continued eating his oatmeal from a spoon.

  "Now you, Bionica. Go and calm Astra. That is an order. How you do that makes no difference to me. But until you and Astra have made peace, I don't want to see either of your faces."

  The light-blond-haired android beauty bowed in dignified silence and followed after her nerve-addled rival with a proud gait. I then then turned to the Space Major, who was somewhat shocked at what she’d seen:

  "Nicole, please excuse that incident, but I just no longer had the strength to bear their mutual egging on. As the only man in this otherwise totally female collective, I have to maintain order so the family doesn't turn into a ball of poisonous adders. I'm impatient for my son Georg to grow up and thin out this division of ladies."

  My elder daughters burst into laughter at my words, which immediately sapped all the tension.

  But after breakfast, I managed to discuss serious topics with the Baroness. As it turned out, the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet Commander was worried by the enemy getting ships that would be capable of taking or even destroying Uukresh- or Quasar-class carriers in just one volley. The Executioner-class ships of the Grand Duchy or the huge Alien super-battleships, which we had observed in Sector Seven really did cardinally change the situation on the battlefield and possible tactics.

  While before we just needed to keep back a bit from the Alien Behemoths. The antimatter missiles they launched could be successfully tracked by our tactical computers, giving my ships several dozen seconds to make a dodge maneuver and avoid danger if necessary. But the Executioner, with its half-mile-long rail cannons could spit antimatter missiles with a speed near that of light itself, so it could easily hit large and slowly maneuvering targets, such as battleships and carriers at a distance of many thousand miles.

  Against such titans, the best idea seemed to be getting as close as possible. The Executioner's turrets had no tracking whatsoever and the huge cannons were not capable of hitting close fast-moving targets. But to do that, I had to enter the easy strike zone of other enemy cannons, those of the battleships and cruisers, which meant inevitable losses.

  "Crown Prince Georg, I insistently advise Your Highness to change the Unatari Fleet's flagship. Joan the Fatty is known the galaxy over, so it's sure to be priority target in any battle. There is a Mammoth in the fleet, and two whole Queens. These ships are much safer, and can survive a shot from any ship. Use them!"

  I smiled and, staring at the blue sea out my window, admitted to my assistant:

  "Nicole, I already chose a new flagship for the Unatari Fleet a long time ago, but it's not any of those. Do you remember the private fleet commander conference, when we discussed the gigantic unused ship in Dekeye? It’s the one the Iseyek spent many years building to evacuate their eggs, which is now unnecessary. Well, its dimensions are colossal and it's of a unique design, which promises the highest durability. It's warp drives are very high power and it has a huge energy storage capacity. The best thrusters, both cruising and maneuvering. It's energy shield is of heretofore unseen capacity... Are those not the required qualities for a ship that must survive at the very epicenter of space battle? I decided to take your advice into account and ordered the evacuation ship refit for military purposes. It now has super-heavy laser turrets, which once adorned the Dekeye orbital citadel, and also hangars for small ships and combat drones. God of War, which is the name I've given the ship, has more firepower than ten Behemoths, and without using any risky antimatter."

  Baroness Nicole ton Savoia came up closer and chuckled, also looking far into the distance of the blue sea:

  "Now I see where all the strategically necessary resources have been going these last few months — high capacity energy storage, produced by combat drone factories, tantalum composite armor... It's just that I've spoken a few times with Apasss Ugu or the admirals, suggesting various projects to strengthen the fleet. But every time I get the same answer, that the resources needed for my idea were being used in a different project."

  "Nicole, that isn't all the innovations of God of War. I've spent a lot of time talking with the Mechanoids recently, because my fleet has often had to go into systems with disabled warp drives, or make sure I could get back. Along with that, the Mechanoids and I discussed some unrelated topics. One of their requests made an impression on me... For us people, it's hard to understand. We strive to gain more territory throughout the galaxy, and settle as many star systems as possible. But they, on the other hand, want to join together, unite all their separate spherical ships into one construction. The Mechanoids and I have found understanding in this matter. God of War will become a living ship, the chassis of which will have the unified Mechanoids built organically into it. Their consciousness will be capable of controlling the ship systems, at first just repeating the commands given by the crew, but eventually becoming the main command center. The ship now responds to captains’ orders many times faster than before, and maneuvering and speed have made similar jumps, which is very important for such a huge and inert ship."

  "But Crown Prince, there's no way to make another ship like that. We won't be able to just find more Mechanoids..."

  "That's exactly right, Nicole. God of War will be a unique starship. Only one can possibly exist in the galaxy. Calculations have shown that it will be capable of destroying a Behemoth in one volley, taking a Quasar out of commission in two or three hits and hacking down a Mammoth with around a half hour of intensive fire. And at that, it will be totally comfortable taking fire from twenty Behemoths and even an Executioner won't be able to get through God of War's frontal shield. In five weeks, when the work is complete, the Unatari State will have a new flagship. And then we can begin our new military campaign and liberate the star systems of the former Red House, the last human systems occupied by the Aliens. We'll send the Aliens back where they came from!"

  * * *

  Astra knocked boldly on the door of my personal chambers in the deep of the night, having spent all day wandering the very most remote corners of the rocky island, skipping lunch and dinner. I had already begun to get seriously worried for the girl's mental state, seeing as she'd almost become Swarm Duchess and sent a couple chameleon bodyguards to observe the Princess unnoticed. But the White Queen had just been dancing, composing poetry, sunbathing in the nude and decorating the seaside cliffs with abstract patterns, using clumps of variously colored seaweed instead of paint. Now, my favorite was standing in my doorway, shifting nervously from one foot to the other, not making up her mind to enter my room.

  "Tell me, Your Highness,
don't you like me anymore?" there were tears in the beautiful girl's eyes.

  I have to admit, such an interpretation of this morning's events, although it was totally in my favorite's spirit, had me at a loss. I had to assure Astra that she was mistaken, and that my warm feelings toward her hadn't changed one bit. At the same time, I chose my words carefully as not to provoke the Princess to another bout of wailing. I first tried to explain my difficult decision on her not receiving the title of Swarm Duchess, but she just waved it off carelessly:

  "Crown Prince, you needn't worry like that! I never saw myself as Duchess of the Swarm. My grandma Fesilia predicted that it was fated for me to refuse a small crown and get a big one in exchange. I sincerely believe that what she said will come true! And if that's inevitable, I always did have one big crown in my dreams — that of a true Queen of the Empire, not some Duchess, Countess or Baroness, and certainly not of some backwards hole like Veyerde. And so, I never wanted to become Swarm Duchess, because I believe I'm fated for bigger things!"

  "So then, why did you get so upset this morning, and run away?" I asked, once again not able to follow the freakish flight path of her bizarre logic.

  "It wasn't the useless title that upset me, but the fact that Crown Prince Georg called me out in front of his daughters, my son, servants and a guest. Nothing like that has ever happened before! Every other time I did something wrong, my sovereign would tell me delicately one on one, and not put my mistake out there for all to see!"

  So there it was... Astra gave another sob, preparing to burst into tears, but I had already figured out the fastest way to console the upset girl:

  "Well, Astra, I ordered a gift just for you from the Swarm geneticists: the ten prettiest Iseyek Prime with huge and brightly colored wings just like a butterfly. They're intelligent insects that will sing, dance and fly in the air for you. They can accompany you everywhere, emphasizing your unique and beau..."