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

by Michael Atamanov

  "Was this 'representative of humanity' Orange House Count Inoky ton Mesfelle?" I clarified, already understanding that I could hardly be mistaken.

  "Yes, Your Highness. The negotiations with our race were led by your father. The meeting took place in the Amati system in Perimeter Sector Seven. We told humanity about the idea of a unified consciousness — the greatest achievement in the evolutionary path of any race — and we offered our help train humankind in collective thinking. We were also interested in the possibility of settling in human space."

  "What agreement did you reach? Or is that also secret information?" I asked, referring to my negotiations with the Queen, and her refusal to provide an answer to the majority of my questions.

  "That information remains a secret, but the Elvinians have come to the conclusion that Crown Prince Georg is the rightful heir to Count Inoky and thus has the right to know that secret. The results of our negotiations are as follows: your father had no interest whatsoever in a unified superconscience for humanity. Count Inoky stated that people are individualists and rebels by nature, so they would never agree to live in a government with total mental control. Such a path would be unnatural to your race. But the Count's assistant expressed interest and asked a great many questions. In the issue of settling your territory, we managed to reach a mutual understanding. The Elvinians gave Count Inoky everything he asked for: ship designs, star maps, and technologies. Your father immediately sent the valuable data to his assistant on a yacht."

  "Miya?" Katerina supposed, and the tiny doll nodded.

  "Yes, that was her name. All communication was sent mentally with her participation, because we did not know the language of humans. Beyond that, the Count used his Truth Seeker to test our honesty. Miya told her master that the Elvinians would fulfill their end of the deal. After that, the negotiations were completed, and our scout ship headed back to our homeworld. Only later did we learn that Count Inoky died that same day. Anticipating your question, Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky, our race had nothing to do with your father's death."

  "The Elvinian is not lying. She really is sincerely convinced that the Elvinians were not involved in the death of Count Inoky royl Mesfelle."

  Florianna's hint came at a very good time and allowed the conversation to continue without getting hung up on the death of my father.

  "Elvinian colonists appeared in Perimeter Sector Fifteen seventeen years ago, using a weak point in space in the Kness system. On the advice of Count Inoky, we didn't advertise our arrival and just quietly founded a settlement on the planet Kness-II. Fairly quickly, people discovered us, but considered us aboriginals. The contact went smoothly, and people had a patronizing and even good-willed opinion of the Elvinians. We then didn't advertise our past. Soon, Elvinians settlements appeared on other planets as well. But it was a whole twelve years before we were contacted through the old channels and demanded to fulfill our promise."

  "Who contacted you? Miya?" Katerina clarified, but the miniature Maoya shook her head just like a human:

  "Not at all. The signal came from Green House space. A whole group of military advisors got in touch with us, representing Duchess Eleonora royl Toll ton Akad, the ruler of the Antagonists. The Elvinians and other far-away races were told to play the role of ghastly invaders, destroying everything in our path and coming out of nowhere, like a boogeyman, inspiring horror in everything alive. All star systems we captured during that military campaign were promised to us for settlement. We sent these conditions to the interplanetary races we had long worked and communicated with. Other than the Elvinians, there were two groups that agreed, the Fetkhi, which you call the bush Aliens, and the Ehoki, which you call the jellyfish Aliens."

  Well then, the prehistory of the conflict with the Aliens was now clear to me, just a few small details to settle. I asked the living doll about the instructions that were given to the "ghastly invaders." Maoya answered readily:

  "Our priority mission was to completely wipe the Swarm off the map and destroy other nonhumanoid races. Our second-level mission was to weaken the Great Houses until they no longer posed a threat of any kind to central authority. It was forbidden to attack the Gold House or the Imperial Core, and later that rule came to also apply to the Green House. Also, we were forbidden from conducting any negotiations with humans or any other races until the end of the military campaign."

  "I see. But now, I want to hear about the terms of the peace treaty Princess Astra mentioned."

  Here, the miniature girl blushed and answered that it would be better for me to have that negotiation not with her alone, but with the unified superconscience of their race, given that the situation and terms might have changed. But it would only be possible to contact the unified consciousness after the starship left the warp jump, and I would also need the help of a psionic. What was more, the Elvinians knew the tragic fate of the Fetkhi race, which had lost its unified mind, so they said the psionic middle-man could not be Miya.

  "The Red Queen knows better than all other Truth Seekers about the structure of collective consciousness and knows how to destroy it," Maoya explained.

  "Crown Prince Georg, I can try to speak with the third Queen, but I'm not sure of my abilities. The last two were mortally dangerous. Only the presence of more powerful Truth Seekers in the group — the Dark Mother, Krista, and Miya — who took the brunt of the mental blow, saved my life."

  I sensed clear hesitation and even fear in Florianna's thoughts. No, the girl was certainly not appropriate as a middle-man, because I could not afford showing any lack of confidence or fear of my opponent.

  As if having read Flora's mind, the Elvinian girl offered her services as a middle-man for the negotiations. But here, my advisor Katerina started actively objecting, pointing to the high risk involved in using an unknown psionic. Also, Flora couldn't give an unambiguous answer on whether the upcoming negotiations presented a danger to me or not. We reached a dead end without having come to any decision.

  "Seven minutes to warp jump exit," Katerina reminded me, glancing at the timer. "Georg, if you do negotiate with the Aliens, you should not delay, because the Unatari Fleet has to stay on schedule. Our courageous military will decimate the Elvinians in the Kness system, and the Mammoths with cruisers and battleships docked on them will not stop capturing neighboring Sector Fifteen systems. This could be the beginning of a great war, but it would be nice to avoid it, if possible."

  * * *

  Exiting the warp tunnel brought us the most authentic surprise.

  The Empire and the Grand Duchy have concluded a peace treaty

  The Empire and the Grand Duchy have concluded a military alliance

  Duke Julius royl August ton Akad and Grand Duchess Violetta royl Inoky ton Mesfelle-Damir have announced their engagement

  The marriage ceremony will take place on the Throne World at the same time as the coronation of the new Emperor and Empress

  What a twist... The two largest political forces had united but, to me and my government, it was the most unpleasant way things could have turned out. What was more, after the wave of elation from billions of subjects seeing their new rulers end the bloody fratricidal war and unite the Empire and Antagonists after a two-century split, the authority of Julius and my sister would take off into the heavens. Also, the coronation ceremony and wedding would most likely be beautiful and pompous. The citizens of the Empire would like it, which would only add to the storm of adoration for the new Emperor and Empress. In the eyes of the Empire's citizenry, I then would have turned into a blatant outlaw, whose vile misdeeds had united two eternal enemies.

  "Bionica, when is the coronation in the Throne World?"

  The synthetic beauty closed her eyes for a second, after which she answered:

  "My Prince, it will take place in forty-seven hours in the Silver Palace."

  "Navigator, calculate the fastest route from the Kness system to the Throne World!"

  Senior Navigator Mike ton Tir considered it for a
minute, then lowered his eyes to the floor. But based on the way his face went dark, I could tell I shouldn’t expect good news. And I wasn't wrong. In the best case, the Unatari Fleet could reach the Throne World in seventy hours, and that was if we managed to reach an understanding with the divisions serving on the warp beacons.

  And then, in the center of the headquarters, the large hologram of the star map went out, and was replaced by a message:

  "That isn't totally true, commander. It is true that there is no direct warp jump path from here to the Throne World, and that a traditional route would take too long. But we are currently in a weak point in space. And there is also a weak point in the Imperial Core we can move into. The uninhabitable YI-76R system, discovered by humans more than four hundred years ago, but declared uninteresting for either colonization or exploitation. The YI-76R star system is not included in the transportation network, there is no warp beacon there, but we could calculate coordinates for a jump to it. And from that point, we could open a normal tunnel to the Throne World, if their warp beacon is turned on.

  Information communicated by the ship God of War."

  Ship? Ah! The unified body of Mechanoids sewn into the chassis of my huge flagship and plugged into all starship systems! I thanked my ship for the valuable advice. My advisor Katerina then noted:

  "The Throne World warp beacon will most likely be constantly activated in the next few hours, because lots of guests will be arriving for the coronation ceremony. Georg, we can make it!"

  Just then, Admiral Kiro Sabuto approached me. The gray-haired veteran bowed with dignity and asked me if we were really going to change the goal of our liberating mission just because of the ceremony in the Throne World. The admiral put it in even sharper terms, asking if my sister's wedding was really more important to me than driving back invaders from rightful human space.

  Standing change. Empire Military faction opinion of you has worsened.

  Present Empire Military faction opinion of you: +67 (veneration)

  I was forced to reassure the famed veteran and tell all officers that the Alien problem would be solved in very short order, before the ceremony in the Throne World even began. Based on what I saw, my subjects didn't particularly believe me. But, with a smile on my face, I asked them all to hold their horses and not think me a madman, even though some of my actions might seem strange.

  "Bring Princess Astra to fleet headquarters. And tell her to bring her doll with her!"

  Complete incomprehension was reflected on the faces of my staff officers, although they were all intrigued by my behavior and no one dared make an inappropriate comment. Astra appeared a few minutes later and, on my request, placed her living doll on a stand in the center of the room.

  "My dear officers, please allow me to present the most authentic representative of the so-called Aliens," I said, pointing to the miniature girl, and Maoya gave an elegant bow, confirming my words. "She is a member of a highly developed space-faring race, the Elvinians. Their homeland is located hundreds of parsecs from here. On their first encounter with mankind, the Elvinians politely requested the right to found colonies in our systems. But they had bad luck. Of all people, they chanced upon the Antagonists, who declared that the right to settle must first be earned, by destroying the enemies of the Gold House. And so, the Alien invasion and the bloody many-year war between humanity and its invaders is merely a consequence of those behind-the-scenes understandings. But now, the Elvinians have realized that the war would come at too great a cost, and would like to sign a peace treaty."

  "I’m unaccustomed to the human perspective on it. However, there were no errors or omissions in Crown Prince Georg's speech, that's exactly how things stand," the Elvinian said, confirming my words.

  "Respected officers," I said, taking the floor yet again, "I admire the artfulness of the Gold House agents, who very skillfully set humanity and the Aliens against one another. But still, I very much dislike the way the situation has turned out, given that the ruler of the Antagonists has eliminated her main political opponents with Alien hands and is now just about to come to power over a united Empire. And she will be doing so at our expense. After all, it is we who spilled blood and fought heroically in harsh battles with the ruthless space invaders. Many of our comrades gave their lives for victory in this uncompromising holy war. We fought very stubbornly, and I can also guess that the Aliens are also not happy at the deaths of millions of their compatriots. The Antagonists, meanwhile, who cooked up this porridge, have wiped their hands of the whole thing, just watching as we and the Aliens destroyed one another. Meanwhile, the problem of the Aliens could have easily been settled with diplomacy. And that is precisely what I am about to do — negotiate with the Alien brain center and determine the terms of a peace treaty that will be satisfactory to both parties. Friends, you know me well enough to be sure that I would never agree to any deals that are not in humanity's favor!"

  Admiral Kiro Sabuto bowed to me yet again and then to the miniature girl separately, after which he wished me success in the upcoming negotiations. And meanwhile, Duchess Katerina walked up and whispered something right into my ear:

  "Georg, it seems I have found a curious argument against the forthcoming marriage in the Throne World. We’ve just discovered Baron Juan ton Amolie, Duchess Violetta’s fiancé, in a military hospital on Unatari. He suffered a great deal in the explosion of the battleship Purple Star — he's gone blind in both eyes, been badly burned and lost a leg — but he's still alive. So, your sister is technically still engaged. The medic says that the Baron's ocular nerves were not destroyed, so he will manage to restore his eyesight with cybernetic implants. His leg can be replaced with a similar prosthesis. It seems to me that now is the perfect time to send that information to the Throne World and brighten the beautiful bride’s day."

  "Oh no, dear cousin! I want to go to the Throne World and tell Violetta myself."

  * * *

  "Everyone to your places! Two minutes to warp tunnel exit! I demand complete composure from everyone. Reconnaissance is reporting a high concentration of Imperial and Grand Duchy ships next to the Throne World stellar citadel. For the first few minutes, the balance of forces will be simply monstrous. Whether we survive until reinforcements arrive will depend entirely on our professionalism and ability to work together."

  My loudspeaker announcement was meant to get the crew of God of War into as serious a mood as possible. Unfortunately, I had cut some corners and was at something of a disadvantage. It turned out to be impossible to bring such a huge fleet to the Throne World all at once from such a nonstandard direction due to the abundance of military and civilian objects in space. The area near the star fortress with the warp beacon next to it was very crowded. My military advisors ran the numbers a few times, but they kept getting the same result: it would be impossible to guarantee sufficient space for groups of more than three hundred cruiser-class ships. Or forty battleships. Or two Mammoths. Or one Queen...

  The time had come! God of War's tactical computer froze for a few seconds from the abundance of ship markers and stationary objects. Then the sirens began to wail, informing us that there were enemy ships in the immediate vicinity our fleet. Finally, the computer sneezed out a three-dimensional image, and I managed to more or less get my bearings. Not long after, the tactics officers began to provide me with information.

  "Fifty-seven thousand hostile-classed markers on the radar."

  "Fifteen hundred markers classified as defensive structures."

  "Over four hundred thousand nonmilitary objects."

  "The nearest fleet is forty miles away and has been identified as belonging to the Throne World customs service. Thirty-seven Flycatcher-class destroyers. All of them are now in our ships' sights. I have confirmation that we are ready to fire."

  I had to immediately intervene:

  "Do not fire on customs agents, they are not our enemies! Attention, fleet! All ships begin acceleration toward the sun. Your speed must be sync
hronized with God of War. Form a dense core. Four battleships hold six miles behind the flagship. Cruisers another twenty-five back. Prepare to reinforce shields! Immediately inform me if we are targeted!"

  I was ready for the star fortress’s huge turrets to come into motion and open fire on my ships. But time passed, and no activity was observed. It looked like, due to the chaos of all the guests arriving for the coronation, our ships had yet to be detected. Admittedly, that could only be to my benefit. With every minute, the number of ships in my fleet increased. And in ten minutes, with the arrival of two Queens, my fleet would already be in complete control of nearest space. Then, even the devil himself wouldn't be able to scare me.

  "Commander, a request has come in from the battleship Conscience of the Nation, which belongs to the Third Imperial Fleet. They want us to identify ourselves."

  "Say whatever you can dream up, just to draw out the time. Tell them we are relatives of the bride, bringing a big surprise for the newlyweds."

  To my surprise, it worked, and no one bothered us for the next two minutes. Probably, many people noticed us. No matter what, it is hard not to see a gigantic twenty-mile-long ship of unknown design, but they all thought we were supposed to be there. The second and third groups of ships reached us safely. However, the arrival of the fourth group of Unatari ships changed everything. The huge Uukresh carrier by the name Joan the Fatty was simply too recognizable. I suppose that my former flagship was entered in all existing databases, so it was spotted instantly.

  My communications officers detected an explosive uptick in the intensity of radio transmissions in nearby space. Many red dots on the tactical map kicked into motion. We had clearly been noticed. There was no sense in continuing to hide, so I increased the volume of the microphone attached to my helmet and asked to be put through to the main open channel used for communication between the ships near the station.