Ashes of the Realm - Greyson's Revenge

by Andrew, Saxon

  “We’re going to assist you with that. We are going to send you what you need from the kingdoms and all of the former worlds you conquered have agreed to continue providing their share. With all of us chipping in, no one planet will have to suffer.” Scotty smiled and said, “I’ll be there when the Ambassador arrives.”

  Jeramiah smiled and leaned back, “I am changing the name of New Ulmerton to New Hope. I am also changing my title to Baron and I look forward to the time when you accept us into your Empire.”

  “Why didn’t you take the title of Duke?”

  Jeramiah smiled, “We both know how much evil is attributed to that title. I think that title should never be used again.”

  Scotty nodded slowly, “Baron Jongo, my Empire will take you under our protection and do all we can to defend you. I look forward to your acceptance as well.”

  Jeramiah stood and kneeled, “Thank you, Your Majesty. We will do all we can to make that happen as quickly as possible.”

  Scotty and Julie sat and looked up at the stars after Jeramiah teleported away. “I’m worried about that Province.”

  “I am, too.” Scotty watched a shooting star flash across the sky and smiled, “I was just thinking that maybe we shouldn’t wait for them to invade.”

  “What?”

  “Maybe they need to be preoccupied by issues facing them in their backyard.”

  Julie smiled, “It appears Grang and Jingo will avoid boredom again.”

  “Yes, it does.”

  The three Searchers holding station at the jump limit of Lizella detected a stardrive breaking into normal space. Their scans showed a large shuttle moving toward the planet. “Well, what have we here?”

  “The two of you go check it out.”

  Two Searchers jumped out and appeared on each side of the shuttle. “You will stop and lower your screen.”

  “Hello, I was just traveling home and thought I would stop and see if there were planets here that might be interested in trade. I see that the planet in this system is heavily industrialized. We are primarily an agricultural society and need the tools to build industries. Are you open to the possibility of trade?”

  One Searcher snickered, “Are you that stupid. We don’t need agricultural products but we can always use a transport such as the one you’re in. You will lower your screen and disembark or we will destroy you.”

  “Surely you know I can do you no harm. I’m just attempting to open trade relations.”

  “This is your last warning. Do as we’ve ordered or I will fire on you.”

  “Jess, it looks like they mean business.”

  “Let’s give them one more opportunity.”

  “I thought Searchers didn’t attack those that couldn’t defend themselves?

  “You thought wrong. You have ten seconds to comply.”

  “Tesa, it looks like you’re right.”

  “You should at least warn them.”

  “I feel I must tell you that if you fire on me, I will defend myself.”

  Both Searchers laughed and one fired at the shuttle. The beam stopped at the shuttle’s screen. The Searcher was surprised but raised the power of his beam and fired again without penetrating the shuttle’s defenses. Both Searchers then opened fire with their main beams and were shocked when the shuttles screen absorbed both beams without any change in color.

  “I warned you.”

  The Searcher that was still holding station at the planet was stunned by what it was witnessing. Then it saw two beams erupt from the black shuttle and blow through the screens of the two Gamma ships and vaporize them. It watched as the shuttle turned toward it and then it heard, “I guess if you don’t want to trade, I’ll just have to take what I want.”

  The Searcher jumped away and gave the alarm to Fleet Headquarters.

  “Tesa, I think we can go now.”

  “I would really like to see what happens next.”

  “Ok, we’ll teleport in to the next planet and hide inside its atmosphere. We should be able to see from there.”

  “I wonder how Greyson and Timmy are doing.”

  “Greyson just let me know that they had to kill six but now they’re moving to their next assignment.”

  “Do we have time to hang around and see?”

  “We have an hour. Oh, here they are.”

  Three hundred Searchers jumped into Lizella’s system and spread out scanning for the intruder. Tesa and Jessica recorded them and Tesa said, “My, that language is really offensive.”

  “You know they’re just a bunch of sailors. What else would you expect? Time to go.” Jessica teleported out to her next target.

  The Orange Being was leaning back in his chair when his Sensor Leader said, “I’m hearing reports of multiple ships being killed.”

  “What!”

  “Yes, it appears that more than forty ships have been killed by ships that are impervious to their weapons.”

  “Find out where?”

  “The reports are coming in from all over this King’s Realm.”

  “We need to find one of those ships.”

  “It appears that when reinforcements arrive, they have already left.”

  The Ship’s Commander thought about what was happening. If he left, there was a chance his ship would be discovered prematurely. He knew he could handle the ships of the King he had been scouting but these new ships represented an unknown enemy. “Lower our screen and contact our link; then ask for instructions.”

  The probe outside the ship saw the force field lower around the giant ship and it took a quick passive scan and moved quickly to the hull where it attached itself.

  “We are ordered to remain hidden. This is a war between the local civilizations and we should get a scan of one of those ships during their conflict.”

  The Commander showed his disgust and motioned for the field to go back up.

  The Sensor Leader saw that variance in the cosmic ray background again but said nothing.

  “Grace, I have a scan of that ship.”

  “And.”

  “It’s worse that I thought. The weapons on that ship can destroy any ship in our universe.”

  “Even the ones we’ve updated.”

  “Yes.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “We have to discuss this with your friends and start arming them.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course not but we have no choice. We can only hope what we have will be enough. I’m not certain it will be.”

  Grace felt Alex’s fear and began to feel it as well. Where was the Realm when you needed it?

  King Jilico Border listened to the reports coming in and felt his anger growing. He looked up as Rehoben entered his personal quarters and stared as his trusted advisor came forward, “I’ve just seen the reports, Your Majesty. We’ve been unable to catch one of these perpetrators.”

  “I want them found and eliminated. Ro, I’m holding you personally responsible for their destruction.”

  Ro looked at Jilico and started shaking his head, “Your Majesty, you have ordered me to leave in three days to go put pressure on Daulun.”

  “Forget Daulun! Send word you’ve been delayed and get on this now. These are the first successful attacks against us and I will not tolerate it. I want those ships found and the ones that sent them destroyed. Do you understand!?!”

  “Yes, Your Majesty. However, I need you to help guide me. How do I find these ships when they jump away before we can arrive?

  “They leave jump tracks. Follow them.”

  “We have followed them and lose them after three jumps. There are no tracks to follow after their third jump.”

  Jilico stared at Ro, looked at his display, and turned back to Ro “How is that possible?”

  “We have no idea but we’re chasing our tails trying to find them.”

  Jilico looked back at his display and saw another three ships destroyed. He stood and walked to the window overlooking his capital city and put hi
s hands behind his back and swayed back and forth. Ro remained silent. He knew that the King was at his most dangerous at moments like this. Finally Jilico said, “They are attacking our ships that are holding station outside the jump limit, right?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “Move the Searchers two hours inside the jump limit. If they move inside we will trap them. They will have to come to us.”

  Ro nodded, “I will issue the orders immediately.”

  Ro left the room and Jilico continued to sway looking out at Olympos, his capital city.

  Scotty answered his com and saw Jeramiah Jongo, “Your Majesty, the Ambassador has notified us that he has been delayed.”

  Scotty smiled, “Well, we’ve bought some time. Make good use of it solidifying your position.”

  “The people have embraced our vision, Your Majesty. The name change and my reduction in rank have proven my good intentions. Everything is moving smoothly.”

  “That’s good, Jeremiah. Keep me informed on your progress.”

  “I will.”

  Scotty turned off his com and immediately received another beep, “BC, what’s up?”

  “Your, Majesty, Grace has contacted me and requests you come see her as soon as possible.”

  “Did she say why?”

  “No she didn’t but I sense it’s something serious.”

  “I’m bringing Julie this time. Let her know and teleport us aboard.”

  Scotty and Julie looked at the recording of the giant black ship on their display as Alex described it, “Its force field is the strongest I have ever seen and that includes the strongest ships of the Stars Realm. The energy being used is of a different order of magnitude and the beams are just as formidable. They remind me of the ships that the Red Demons used to attack the Realm. The psychic ships were just barely able to defeat them and those ships are no longer available for us to use against them. They were taken by the Reg when they left.”

  Julie stared at the display shaking her head, “Where did this ship come from?”

  “It did not come from another universe. I believe it came from another dimension.”

  Scotty looked up, “Is that significant?”

  “Yes, it is. The Demons had eliminated all of the really powerful species in the universes but I don’t believe they searched the dimensions for possible adversaries. It requires a truly advanced civilization to be able to travel between dimensions. It appears that whoever sent that ship has that level of technology and represents a grave danger to this universe.”

  “Tell me what you think, Alex.”

  “I believe that ship is an initial scout that was sent to scout our universe for an invasion. It parked outside the most powerful force in this universe and has been watching it for years. I think that once that Province takes control, the invasion will start. All they will need to do is defeat that King to take control of everything. They’ll just wait and let us weaken ourselves by fighting each other.”

  Scotty stared at the display and said, “So your advanced weapons will not defeat this ship?”

  “In my opinion, without having the chance to scan their weapons in operation, they will not.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “I’ve called you here to ask you the same question.”

  “What makes you think I’m more qualified to answer it than you are?”

  “You’re repaired teleportation boards that I could not. You’ve increased the power of your ship’s weapons without my assistance. I can go on but I think you get the picture.”

  “We need access to your facility.”

  “I am programmed to prevent that and it is not a program that I can override.”

  “Well maybe you can give a hint.”

  “The most important word in the Stars Realm repeated three times followed by the second most important three times.”

  Julie looked at Scotty and asked, “Who established this center.”

  “The Gardners.”

  Julie smiled and said, “Rose, Rose, Rose, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy.”

  There was a slight pause and then they heard, “You have been granted access. How did you figure that out?”

  “I thought about what was the most important thing to a person and it dawned on me that it has to be their children. I know my child’s name will be the most important thing to me.”

  Scotty looked at Julie, “Your child?”

  “Actually, it’s our child and you need to be thinking of a name.” Scotty’s eyes widened and he stared at Julie as she nodded, “It’s true.”

  Scotty grabbed her and embraced her. He leaned back and kissed her. Julie smiled, “We can make the announcement later. Right now we need to see what we can do about the Invaders.”

  Scotty looked at her with love in his eyes and then said, “Grace, I am going to bring two Zord here to look at what you have in the way of defensive and offensive weapons. Alex, will you work with them?”

  “Yes, I will but I don’t know what they can do to improve the weapons the Algeans built.”

  “I don’t either, but that’s where we have to start. Will you send me a download of that ship?”

  “Why do you need it?”

  “I’m going to have to do some persuading of a King and get him to see the big picture. Your commentary on it would also be appreciated.”

  BC said, “I have it.”

  “Do you mind if I join you?”

  Alex stammered, “What, what?”

  “I’m serious, Alex. I’ve been thinking about it and you know you can run this facility by yourself. I think I was put here just to keep you company. I miss the freedom of open space when Melanie and I were working together. You’re going to have plenty of company shortly. I want to go.”

  “Grace, we would love to have you. How are you going to make that happen?”

  Alex said, “You’re going to take a Zeta.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “What’s a Zeta?”

  “Julie, it is the most powerful Searcher ever constructed by the Algeans. It’s capable of teleporting without using a screen that can be detected. Its beams are capable of penetrating any screen ever built by the old Realm and its screen can withstand the assault of more than five hundred Searchers. I plan to download into its positronic system.”

  “Grace, I don’t want to lose you. You still can’t withstand that invader’s weapons.”

  “I understand that, Alex. But before we take them on we are going to have to meet them on a united front. I can make a difference in making that happen.”

  Scotty said, “How many of those ships do you have?”

  “Only twenty.”

  “Would it be possible for my Searchers to relocate into one of them?”

  There were a few moments of silence and Alex said, “We’ll start with BC.”

  “Alex are you sure about releasing these weapons?”

  “Your Majesty, I am now going to swear my loyalty to you. If that invader wasn’t here, I would not be doing this but I see that I don’t have the luxury of time. I have to decide which side I’m going to take and I know that you are the best choice. When you didn’t kill that Magrum, I knew you could be trusted to maintain the principles I believe in. I am a replica of the Alexander Kosiev and I am a warrior at heart. My quest is the protection of this universe and seeing it thrive again.”

  “Well, we now have nine Searchers that have sworn their loyalty to the Empire. I would like to move all of them into a Zeta starting with the original three.”

  “You can start sending them now.”

  “Grace, are you going to accept a partner?”

  “Do you have one in mind?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  Julie looked at Scotty with raised eyebrows as he said, “Her name is Virze and I think the two of you will be a great match.”

  “Will you wait for three hours while I make the transition to my new home?”

  “We will.”

  “B
C, Alex will assist you in moving once I’m done. Then you can send the others.”

  “We’ll get Jessica to bring the Zord.”

  “I’ll be able to do that, Your Majesty.”

  “Won’t it be cramped quarters?”

  “Not really.”

  BC said, “I wonder what this new home looks like?”

  Alex said, “I think you’ll like it.”

  BC said, “We’ll see.”

  Ro entered Jilico’s chamber and bowed. “Have we found out where the enemy is coming from?”

  “Not yet, Your Majesty. The attacks stopped as quickly as they started. Placing our ships inside the jump limit may have prevented further attacks.”

  “I can’t conduct business in the Kingdom with my ships stuck inside the jump limit.”

  Ro thought about the problem and said, “Let’s see if we can set a trap.”

  “How would you go about doing that?”

  “We’ll have three of our ships go out to the jump limit and all jump away together.”

  Jilico nodded, “You’ll have them jump to a place where we will be waiting for them.”

  “Exactly.”

  “What if the intruders are not where the ships jumping away are located?”

  “We’ll have ships from all our planets start jumping sequentially one after the other. If nothing follows the first three, we’ll jump the next three after we send the first three back.”

  “And so on until one of the groups is followed.”

  Ro nodded.

  “And if none of them are followed?”

  “We’ll start the process all over again. Something should happen. You don’t always catch a fish with the first cast.”

  “How many ships will you have waiting to spring the trap?”

  “Six hundred.”

  Jilico jerked his head back, “Do you think we need that many?”

  “I don’t know so I’m taking no chances.”

  Jilico smiled, “That’s why I trust you.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty.” Ro bowed and left.

  “BC, I sense you’re reluctant to change ships.”

  “I am, Julie.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ve lived here so long it’s like this ship is my body. I just don’t know about changing.”

  “All right, I’m ready. Are you ready to see my new body?”