Everyone looked at me, nodding their heads as they got to their feet one by one, moving to leave the War Room. Meanwhile, I had a blue screen appearing in front of my face, which convinced me to speed up the meeting.
Incoming call from Thalia.
Figuring that this was a regular report, I wanted to answer it in private. That way, I didn’t seem like a crazy person talking to himself, for once. “Yes?” I asked, after answering the call.
“John! Thank goodness, we were afraid something had happened.” The elf queen’s voice was laced with worry. “We have some problems over here.”
“What? Did the New Human Empire make a move?” I asked, concerned. With what we knew, they shouldn’t have the forces yet to make that kind of assault. They were still developing technology for their war, after all.
“No, not the Empire. We just received word from the High Queen. The Kleptids and Drakes just pulled out of the alliance.”
“Eh?” I couldn’t help voicing my confusion. It didn’t make any sense to pull out of the alliance now, when we all had a common enemy to fight. “Why would they do that?”
“We don’t know. She said that they were focusing on consolidating their defenses, and couldn’t afford to spare the attention for this alliance anymore. But, that just doesn’t make sense to us. Even if they are focusing on their own worlds, there’s no reason for them to back out of the alliance. Do you think… that maybe they are joining the Empire?”
I immediately shook my head at that suggestion. “No, the New Human Empire would never accept an ally. They’ll take slaves, but they won’t view any other race as an equal. Did Maeve mention anything about them in the previous meetings?”
“Well, not much… The High Queen said that some of the races were becoming more irritable, paranoid, like they couldn’t trust anything anymore. But, we never thought it had gotten this bad. And… there’s something else.” The way she said that did not leave me with much confidence for the coming news.
“Go on…”
“The other queens, and some of their assistants. They’ve been having problems. Some would disappear, only to turn up dead in a remote location. Others have been falling ill from diseases we’ve never seen, likely poison. We… I think that there might be a spy within the ranks of the court. At the very least, an assassin is in the system, targeting royalty. My own advisor disappeared this morning, and I haven’t seen him since.”
“What about the High Queens?” I asked, worried. Even if the normal queens fell, the few High Queens of the Gerin system could still hold control.
“The High Queens are fine, so far. Their security can’t be compared to ours, after all.” Thalia spoke in a relieved tone. Likely, she had worried over their safety as well. “High Queen Maeve paid me a visit yesterday to confirm my safety, and brought a number of guards with her. Likely, nobody would be able to approach her without being detected. As for myself… we are protected, as well. The dress that Aria bestowed on us is… inconvenient at times, but it is still a defensive garment handed down by a goddess.”
She did have a point there. “Okay, but remember, you also have the weapon she gave you, as well. If there really is no other way, you can use that. After so much time passed… It should be able to destroy anything short of a battleship. But, you only get one shot with it, so try not to use it unless it is a last resort.”
“We understand, John. You should be cautious, as well. While we have the defenses of our homeland, you have no such guarantees on your voyage. It is too easy to fail, and yet you cannot afford to do so. Not only your life, but all of our lives may well rest in your hands. For that reason, please win this war, for all of us. Only then will we be safe.”
Chapter 24: Man On A Mission
After hanging up from talking with Thalia, I sat back in the chair, taking a moment to think for myself within the War Room. Things were progressing, and not in a direction that was good for any of us. Malthan, you around? Oh great god of chaos or whatever, pick up the phone!
The all-powerful being you are trying to reach cannot be found at this time, please leave your name and prayer after the tone.
I know that was you, bastard. I felt my temper nearing its limits. Just the fact that the New Human Empire obviously had a god passing down almost impossible technology was already pushing things too far.
Fine, fine. What is it? Wanting to know about the God of War, huh?
That’s right. You keep saying that you can’t get involved because of all these rules, and then he turns up and does this? That has to be breaking every rule in the book!
Sadly, it doesn’t. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ He’s just willing to pay a price that others aren’t.
And what’s that? What could make him so willing to interfere and start up this war, pay whatever price he had to, and nobody else is doing the same? Yes, I was back-talking a god. Did I really care? Not at the moment.
Can’t tell ya that, Johnny Boy. Rules are rules. Trust me, if it was that easy to break the rules around here, do you think the god of CHAOS and MADNESS would follow them?
As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. Malthan’s domains practically emphasized rule-breaking. Even so, he was following along, which meant that the god of war had to be doing so, as well. I just didn’t understand the rules well enough to know what it meant he was doing. Can you at least tell me the rules, so that I can understand?
To reference an old Earth movie... First rule of being a god, don’t tell mortals about the rules to being a god. Except that one. Tricksy like that.
Grumbling, I got up and moved to the ship’s temple. The market proclaimed that it sold everything imaginable. That should include a list of these rules, or information about what the New Human Empire’s god was doing.
At least, that was the plan. True, it was listed as an item on the market. However, the price was… ridiculous, to say the least. Whether it was to learn about the actions of the God of War, or the rules that bind the gods, they had the same price. Become a god.
As if something like that was even possible! Isn’t that basically saying ‘Yes, it’s available, but no we won’t let you have it’? I had been prepared to spend an entire planet of gold for that information, and then I found out that the price was beyond what anyone would ever be able to pay.
Tried to tell you. Can’t let the rules leak to non-gods. Mere mortals are not supposed to understand the basic laws of the universe, yada yada, blah blah blah.
I nodded my head, sitting down at one of the pews and starting to think. After a moment, Celeste’s voice began to transmit into my mind. “John, we might have a way to work with this, within the boundaries of the rules.”
What are you talking about, Celeste? Did she understand something that I didn’t? Also, wasn’t she working on getting reports from the Deus Ex fleet?
“It’s easy, really. Gods cannot pass down specific information like what you are wanting, or the Empire has been given, without certain requirements. I don’t know what all of those requirements are, but we know one, at least. Malthan already told us that much.”
He did?
I did?
I felt Celeste grinning in satisfaction within my mind. “He advanced the Qu’Lopti civilization by leaps and bounds, issuing quests to research specific types of technology, and granting blueprints as rewards. Now, the Empire likely isn’t using this method, but we can.”
Oooh, she’s a clever one.
Wait, you mean get a quest from the gods that will lead us to the information we need?
“That’s right! If there was a god who, for instance, wanted to save the Orik people. With that quest, we’d have the location for their homeworld, which is likely a location for an Empire base.”
Aaand she falls short. ಠ_ಠ
“Huh, what?” Celeste’s voice sounded out in surprise. “Don’t tell me… there’s not a single god interested in the fate of that species?” I suddenly felt like this was more a conversation between Celeste and Malthan, with m
e being an observer.
Oh, I’m sure there is, somewhere. But there aren’t any that owe me any favors, and I doubt there’s one invested enough in that race to cross Abzul.
Well, there goes the easy way. Any other quests you can think of that would help get us where we need to be, Celeste?
“Give me a second… What about one of the elven gods? One of their planets was rendered uninhabitable. Could one of them be wanting to hand out a revenge quest?”
Warmer, but no cigar. Care for round three?
I heard a mental growl of frustration from Celeste, which made me crack a small grin. He’s not the god of madness for nothing. Is there a god of peace that we could talk to? Maybe they’d be willing to put an end to Abzul’s antics.
Karnak? That hippie is too scared of anyone to offend them, let alone the god of war.
I shook my head, feeling that this was too much to worry about right now. Celeste, have you gotten anything back from the Deus Ex?
“The Striker Fleet reported that there is severe damage to multiple key systems on their ship. If not for quick thinking on their part to isolate damaged sections and reroute power, the ship would have likely exploded when it was struck. According to them, it’d be better to just salvage the valuable systems and leave the rest behind. As for the device plans, they estimate it will take a few weeks to get a finished prototype working if they devote the manpower of their homeworld to the calculations.”
Okay, so no use waiting around here. Have them start the research, and begin the salvaging operation. I wanted to add ‘find out how to kill a god’ to the list, but we didn’t even really know anything about the gods to begin with. They could be beings of unlimited power and resources, or just someone on a higher plane of existence, like me with my grove.
“Understood, I’ll get right on that.”
After that, I felt Celeste’s presence fade from my mind, likely meaning she made herself busy with other matters. In the meantime, I don’t suppose you have any quests for me, Malthan?
Wow, you’re really desperate if you are asking ME that. Hmm… Ooh, I have an idea. There is one thing you could do, that would cause a bit of chaos for me~ It’s even along the way.
Quest Accepted!
Close Encounters
Rank ★★★★☆ Assault and Investigation
The shadows are a terrible threat, but the greatest is the one that stands in the light without ever being known. Find the hidden truth behind Facility AB7.
Time Limit: Two weeks
Rewards: Knowledge about the New Human Empire plot.
Failure: The death of a trusted friend.
Suddenly, the map of the stars appeared in my mind, highlighting all of the locations we had suspected New Human Empire bases or spies. Gradually, the dots faded away one by one, until there was just a single one left. Letters slowly began to form from the light above that dot, spelling out the name ‘Facility AB7’.
Celeste, we have our quest marker. And a time limit.
“I’m on it!” Her voice suddenly came in urgently when I called for her, but the message that appeared on the screen next bothered me even more.
Just a note, this is a true death. If you fail this mission, one of your friends WILL die, and there is nothing either of us can do to save them or bring them back. Even if you beat it, you might still lose them if you don’t act fast enough.
Great, as if I didn’t have enough to worry about already. Celeste, how soon can we leave, and how long will it take us to get to that base?
It barely took her a moment before an answer came in. “If we leave one of the Strikers behind to catch up with us when they are done, we can leave immediately. As for how long it will take… It’s at least somewhat close, but that will take us a full ten days to get there at our maximum speed. That’s not leaving a lot of time to finish the mission.”
We’ll have to make do. Four days, we’ll be assaulting an enemy base. Even if this is an investigation, if it takes us four days to take that base, we’ll already be as good as dead.
Celeste seemed to agree with that point, because she did not try to correct me. Soon, I heard her give the order. “All available ships, prepare to jump to FTL, target is the following coordinates. Expected time of arrival is ten days, but be prepared for heavy resistance. We don’t know what we are getting ourselves into, but it’s not likely to be good.”
Great pep talk, really feeling the motivation there. I thought dryly, shaking my head. I had some suspicions about what we might find there, but I couldn’t verify anything. It was already a good thing that we managed to find a clue with Malthan, but it might have come at too heavy a cost.
Chapter 25: Training Simulations
This time, while we were traveling to our new destination, I could not afford to be busy. We now had information regarding their ships’ capabilities, so it was possible to form simulations for battle. That’s what I planned to do, run over various simulations so that we had a solid plan in mind before we arrived.
Participating in this simulation was Celeste, as well as the captains of the Qu’Lopti and Deus Ex fleets. Naturally, we weren’t able to include the two that were still behind at the previous base, but all of the other ships had linked simulation chairs installed so that we could do practice runs like this. While I had been in these simulation chairs before, it was mostly for brief breaks, or to practice a new ability. I had never done anything of this scale before.
“So, any suggestions for the settings?” I asked, my body appearing as suspended in a black void. Around me were the several other participants, all in similar conditions. Only the Qu’Lopti did not seem to be taking this seriously, floating around and doing flips while the rest of us considered.
It was one of the Deus Ex captains that spoke up. I really couldn’t tell you which one, because they have identical body frames and voices. Sounds really racist, I know, but it’s true! They all look the exact same! “We should begin with two ships of a similar configuration as what we faced at the most recent outpost, with the planet providing no aid to either party, and then increase the difficulty as we find appropriate countermeasures.”
Celeste nodded at that suggestion. “We should also give ourselves a time limit. We have to perform an investigation on the surface of this planet after the fight, so the battle should last no longer than fifteen minutes. That way, they don’t have time to destroy whatever evidence we are looking for.”
Everyone nodded at that. Looking at the Qu’Lopti officers, I began giving out instructions. “Your first priority after we emerge from FTL is to form all but one of the Judgement Warriors, and the Executioner. The remaining Judgement ships should fan out, keep their shields and turrets busy while the other ships find their targets. All Judgement Warriors should spread themselves out and open fire with their railguns, while the Executioner prepares its full arsenal.”
I saw two of the Qu’Lopti captains grinning as they heard this, obviously enjoying these battle simulations. “For the Deus Ex… are you all able to command the missing ship for this simulation, until they arrive?” When they nodded their heads, I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Okay, then. Priority target for your fleet is the turrets of the assault ship. Judging by the last battle, they seem to get exponentially stronger the more of them stack for a single strike. Even removing one from the equation will be a big help.”
Finally, I turned to Celeste. “You’ll be in command of the Ariadne for the first few simulations. Use the information you gathered from the last encounter to probe their defenses, find a way to breach them. Otherwise, use your best judgement to choose your targets, but try to disable their warp gate early on if you can.”
Celeste crossed her arms in front of her and raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk on her face. “And what will you be doing, then?”
“I’m going to see what happens when an overpowered ant punches an elephant.” I knew that I probably couldn’t make much difference by myself, but I wanted to do this for two reas
ons. One was to see their capabilities firsthand, when I’m not distracted by a warp gate. The other was because I had very little experience commanding a space fleet during an actual battle. Before I tried to do so, I wanted to watch how Celeste did it a few times first.
Celeste, likely plucking these thoughts from my mind, nodded her head. “Alright, let’s put on a show for you, then. Since we’re removing the planet from the equation, setting it as a barren rock of roughly the same size as Earth.”
Once she was done applying all the different settings to the simulation, we were diving right in. I saw the many different ship from the side labeled Sons of Chaos drop out of FTL, immediately regretting that I allowed that name to last this long. Thankfully, they all began executing the plan as soon as the simulation began.
For the purpose of this simulation, I was spawned just on top of the Ariadne, already in my full combat form. Thanks to the abilities I had acquired, I no longer needed to fear the exotic energies from subspace, and could be prepared to launch the moment we dropped out. There was actually an even more powerful ability I had at my disposal for space battles, and this was the perfect chance to try it out.
Jumping off of the Ariadne, I set my course to take me in the direction of the two New Human Empire ships. They appeared in exactly the same configuration as before, with the warp gate some distance behind them. Shortly after jumping off the Ariadne, just as the Qu’Lopti mechs were getting prepared, I vanished from the battlefield, a rip in space leading to a purple void appearing momentarily in my place.
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