“Wardens of the universe …would be an additional title given to us?” Regent Maleen inquired with a lump in her throat.
“Of course,” Horus answered with a nonchalant shrug. “You will require both of them if you are to properly rule assigned sectors of my universe on my behalf.”
“High Prime Vbzarma, you have been both silent and passive throughout this discussion,” Fatra Kumzi finally blurted out. “What say you to all of this?”
Horus stayed silent, clasping his hands behind his back for a second time, and waited for Vbzarma to speak. The High Prime’s eyes quickly shifted to him. He cleared his throat, sitting taller in his seat while interlocking his fingers together before putting thoughts to words.
“The Volorion empire has already chosen to become a part of Lord Horus’s new order. I say this witnessing both his omnipotent power and intelligence firsthand; he is responsible for creating our global shield system.”
Fatra Kumzi’s left eyebrow raised while both Regent Marleen and Lord Hoovii dawned faces that were a mixture of impressed and disturbed.
“You have given us much to consider, Lord Horus,” Fatra spoke for the trio. “Is there room for discussion amongst ourselves, or were you expecting an immediate answer?”
“By all means, go and discuss amongst yourselves,” Horus chuckled with a playful gesture. “Understand that the intentions are for future meetings to be with more pleasantries …not …this.”
Vbzarma’s eyes lowered to the ground, while the other three stared at Horus with dull looks.
“End of day Earth time should be sufficient enough to discuss amongst yourselves and make your decision,” Horus concluded. “Until then, good day to you all.”
“This is the end of today’s video conference, goodbye,” Meskhenet announced over audio.
As the screens closed out, the heralds subtly exhaled with relief that the meeting was over.
“Well, that went very well if I do say so myself,” Sekhmet said with a cheerful smile.
Horus slowly turned to his wife with a look she had never seen on him towards her. Written on his face was unbridled rage and disappointment.
“Heralds and slaves, please depart for a moment,” Sekhmet requested. “Your father and master wishes to discuss something with me in private.”
The heralds quickly glanced at one another, and with slight hesitation, they made their way quickly for the door.
Leading the rest of the heralds out of the room, Ken Shiro snapped his fingers at Graves and Dr. Alexander. Graves sneered with irritation as he forced himself to move along with Alexander following them.
Sekhmet folded her arms, standing her ground as Horus stepped into her personal space.
“What you did …,” He began with a growl.
“Was a show of power,” She snapped, cutting him off.
“Was both foolish and reckless!” Horus roared. “What if they had cut the feed?!”
“Meskhenet controlled the feed! Besides, Zoran had no intention of joining the alliance! Like me, you read his thoughts! He wanted to verbally debase you in front of the others, that could not stand! The others needed to see that we are truly gods not to be trifled with!”
“Yes, we are gods, our powers are vast, but we still have some limitations!” Horus yelled while holding up a finger cutting her off.
“As long as we and only we know of our limitations, we have none!”
Horus’s nose wrinkled as his wife’s words silenced him. She stepped closer to him with wounded frustration on her face.
“Why did you bring me back to life? To rule by your side or to serve underneath you?”
A pained look came upon his face as Sekhmet tilted her head, demanding an answer.
“You are my wife, my love! You were all of my thoughts while I was imprisoned! Of course, you are here to rule by my side!”
She placed her palm on his chest to calm him.
“I am also the goddess of war,” Sekhmet pronounced with an empowered tone. “And I have just delivered to you the Gregorian Garrison, the third-largest military force outside of the Dominion Council. Also, we are now the official gods of Gregor.”
Her words brought a deep smirk to Horus’s lips as he found reason in them. He moved closer to Sekhmet, caressing her biceps.
“Our movement going forward must be in unity,” Horus softly spoke. “That is all I request.”
Sekhmet nodded in agreement. Horus lifted his eyes to the ceiling as he made his thoughts known.
“With the Volorion War Machine on a leash and the Gregor now faithful to us by your hands, we have acquired a formidable force.”
“I have no trust in Vbzarma,” Sekhmet scowled. “He fought to control his thoughts during the meeting, and his face revealed his disdain for you.”
“Agreed,” Horus nodded. “But his two sons are imbeciles; the only one with more sense than them is Vbzarma’s queen. So, replacing him would be quite difficult.”
“Would it?”
Horus tilted in, pecking his wife’s coy smile.
“Whatever thought of defiance Vbzarma may have had was culled by your actions, my love,” Horus said with assurance. “And if not, we will swiftly erase him and his entire bloodline from existence and reap the joys of their spoils.”
“By nightfall, we shall have loyal allies willing and able to fight for us,” Sekhmet said with a smirk. “What next?”
An ominous grin formed on Horus’s lips before he answered his wife.
“We awaken our children, the generals of our future army, and prepare for war. Speaking of which, Meskhenet, how goes progress regarding our defenses?”
“Currently on schedule with ninety percent completed,” she announced.
Horus gazed lovingly into the eyes of Sekhmet while holding her as he verbalized his approval.
“Perfect.”
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Three thousand seven hundred and twenty-four point twenty-nine miles from the Grand Canyon, in the harsh, frigid land of the North Pole, a unit of twelve hulking four-armed bipedal jet black drones with gold accents and the Eye of Horus etched on their chest plate broke into two teams.
Six worked to move equipment and building material from an autonomous cargo ship. The other six toiled tirelessly to build a ginormous silver gleaming pyramid structure that almost disappeared into the environment.
Underneath the pyramid was a tunnel created by a gigantic boring machine controlled by Meskhenet.
Its destination was six thousand two hundred and twenty point thirty-five miles en-route to Antarctica. Following behind it were six tank-sized drones similar to the drones topside that moved about on tank treads.
Waiting for it to connect was a similar Pyramid being built by a replica unit of drones.
CHAPTER 14
Alvion Prime, Capital Planet of the Dominion Council,
Sophia sat silently on a table now filled with plates and containers of eaten food and drinks while her Universal Defender Oozaru paced on top of the very same table. He quietly went over all of the data she freely gave him, confirming her whereabouts during the attacks.
Most of the food was consumed by Oozaru, which shocked Sophia as she wondered how someone of his stature could pack so much away. She felt obligated to eat something, so he did not dine alone. She opted for their version of a burger, fries, and soft drink, comfort food for an uncomfortable situation.
Although the meat patty was a deep purple, and the fries were a bright orange shade, they came frighteningly similar to Earth's taste, satisfying her.
Oozaru stopped mid-pace nodding to himself as he reviewed the information populating on his tablet from his external team.
“Yes, yes, this information will look favorable to the inquiry.”
“I sense a ‘but’ or ‘however’ somewhere.”
Oozaru looked up, adjusting his spectacles as Sophia sat with a face prepared for whatever he had to say after readi
ng the uncertain tone in his voice.
“Unfortunately, the Accusation will cite that this is not a strong enough defense,” Oozaru said bluntly.
“Care to elaborate?” Sophia asked, with a tone of frustration not directed toward him.
With a couple of taps to his tablet, Oozaru projected the holographic image of a spaceship.
“This is a Femadorian Star-Class vessel,” he began to explain. “It’s hull like the majority of vessels is forged from Velspar metal ore.”
“Let me guess, virtually indestructible,” Sophia smirked.
“Nothing is indestructible,” Oozaru shook his head. “However, the metal is durable enough to endure light speed travel without energy shielding.”
Sophia’s brow furrowed from what he said.
“Light speed travel, your ships don’t travel through portals?”
Her question made Oozaru furrow his brows until he realized what she was talking about.
“Oh, you’re referring to the dimensional portals used by the Annunaki. Alas no, star vessels do not employ that technology.”
“How come?”
“Far too dangerous, ships that size experienced various system failures once they entered the stream. Some have stalled and were trapped mid-jump, never to be seen again; others lost control and drifted into the stream, which tore them apart. Because we were never able to recover the vessels or the recorders so that we could assess the failure, it was agreed upon to never use dimensional portal technology regarding star class ships or larger again.”
Sophia nodded as Oozaru added the alleged assailant to the holographic image.
“Based on the recorders taken from the wreckage of the ships, radar confirmed the whereabouts of the assassin an estimated ten human miles away before the assault. What do you know about your Cosmivorse physiology, Ms. Dennison?”
“Aside from the research done by me and Dr. Erica Champion on Earth,” Sophia shrugged. “Healer Thoth was kind enough to give me a detailed lecture on Anu.”
“Healer Thoth,” Oozaru smirked. “A wonderful individual must visit with him once again soon. Good, I can surpass the boring details and go to the heart of the matter. Team, please project the ranking chart.”
The screen image changed to a colorful chart of various columns, each with a number and multiple species. Sophia’s stomach began to turn as she began to look it over.
“The Dominion Council has always made it it's business to monitor, rank, and track your subspecies, due to your destructive potential,” Oozaru said while pointing to the chart. “As you already deduced, this is the current list of Cosmivorses from various species throughout the known universe.”
Her eyes went to the Onomians at the bottom of the list that numbered in the hundreds. As her eyes went up, the numbers became smaller as the ranking became higher. Her palms became surprisingly clammy at the final three spots. For some reason, the first spot was faded and held by a Zamekian named Uza; spot number two was held by Thrace, culminating from the royal family and high-ranking soldiers.
“The chart was updated after you were processed,” Oozaru explained while uncomfortably clearing his throat. “Originally, the nation of Zengara held the number three position …no more.”
Sophia’s eyes found the number three spot now occupied by Earth's image and a portrait of herself from the chest up. Her eyes slowly turned to Oozaru, who had a slight look of distress upon his face for the first time since meeting her.
“And these …are the ones with the destructive capability to do what you are accused of.”
Sophia found herself involuntarily fluttering her eyes in disgust as every other species underneath her was removed.
“Seriously? This is utter bullshit. No one else in the entire damn universe is capable of doing this, but me?”
“This revelation has sparked great concern with the Dominion Council, and before you inquire, only four members of the Thracian Royal family are capable of executing such attacks, two of them you have met.”
“And everyone else has some kind of ironclad alibi,” Sophia concluded while pointing to the top of the chart. “What about this, Uza…?”
“He is neither confirmed to be alive or dead,” Oozaru quickly cut her off. “And it could not possibly be him.”
“Why?” Sophia asked with a slightly nervous tone.
Oozaru kept a stern eye lock with her as he explained.
“Because there would have been no wreckages to find had it been him, not even the recorders.”
Sophia leaned back a bit, remembering there was no backing to her seat as she threw up her hands.
“Help me to understand this, Defender Oozaru.”
Oozaru sighed as he walked across the table in arms reach of her.
“As I stated earlier, Velspar ore can withstand light speed travel without protective energy shielding. All ships were destroyed by a single concentrated blast or by the assailant ramming through the vessels with one blow. Only energy with the destructive force of a blue star is capable of doing this. Only an assailant possessing this power can deal such a blow, especially from such a short distance.”
He quickly held up a hand, signaling he was not done with his explanation.
“Let us say we could explain the energy attacks; there are…some, not many palm-held energy-based weapons capable of drawing that power through a portal stream and firing it. That still does not explain the physical power this individual employed to tear through the ships. Curiously, this method was used on at least one ship during every assault.”
After understanding Oozaru’s last sentence, Sophia leaned forward, clasping her hands on the table before she spoke.
“Which means someone wanted there to be no doubt that it was me.”
He nodded in agreement.
“There’s still one massive hole in all of this,” Sophia said with a sneer. “How the hell would I know where these ships were traveling to in the first place to attack them, and what would be my motive to do so?”
“Motive is never needed to charge one with a crime,” Oozaru answered her. “However, because each ship was traveling within Human territory, the Accusation will cite it as your species response to defending their borders. Regarding how you obtained the intel on the vessels, trajectories, …that is a bit more complicated.”
Sophia ignored the first part of his explanation, which blew her mind and focused on the second half that stunned her.
“Complicated my ass, you’re accusing the Eye of Ra of giving me …!”
Oozaru held up a stern hand, stopping her from finishing her sentence.
“Let me be clear, Sophia Dennison of Earth. No one is accusing a Royal member of the House of Ra of such a nefarious action, especially with no solid evidence.”
Sophia realized he was silently reminding her that they were being monitored and recorded.
“However,” he continued. “A verbal confession implicating the Eye of Ra would have him brought before the Council and impeached.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen because there’s no confession,” Sophia scoffed. “Aside from not speaking to the Eye of Ra in over a year, he gave me no location of any ships, and I never asked for any.”
“As I stated, the Accusation is not interested in motive,” Oozaru said while adjusting his spectacles. “Our universal laws are dictated by unwavering facts and evidence. And these are the facts.”
Oozaru raised a red pointy small claw finger at the holographic image of her face.
“All current evidence is directed towards you, Ms. Dennison. The Accusation cares not if they draw a confession from you on any alleged accomplices. Your conviction will be enough to spark further necessary action.”
Sophia’s head lowered as her hands balled up, becoming two trembling fists.
“You mean ... they burn me, and then …they burn …my people.”
“The latter, I cannot confirm,” Oozaru said with a solemn tone. “The former you are correct about.”
A chill vibrated from the top of her head down to her tailbone. It was from a frightening thought that she kept dismissing since her arrest. With the facts and evidence laid at her feet, there was one conclusion she could not deny.
“I am not the only one ...from my species …who could have done this,” Sophia swallowed. “There is another.”
Her revelation caused stunned Oozaru to take a step back from her.
“What? How? Why did you not relay this to me …?”
“Because I believed there was no way she could be a factor in all of this,” Sophia huffed.
“Please clarify.”
“Her name is Peace, she also went by the name Number Three, an ex-Special Forces operative who specialized in assassinations. She and three others were responsible for murdering my husband and framing me for it and other atrocities.”
Oozaru turned to his tablet to see news reports on Peace from Earth.
“This woman attempted to overthrow all of the governments on your planet.”
“She almost succeeded until the Eye of Ra, and I defeated her. We did it by chucking her into a black hole.”
His eyes widened by her answer. Oozaru’s head shook like an actual owl getting back to focus.
“And you believe this individual is still alive?”
“Her base level strength was greater than mine,” Sophia answered, looking him in the eyes. “I was only able to defeat her by tapping into my reserves. If there is a sliver of a chance that Peace survived and escaped, she is the only logical answer for these attacks.”
Oozaru nodded as he stroked his beard shaped fur chin.
“My team will investigate this and share our findings with the Accusation. You wouldn’t happen to know the location of this black hole?”
Sophia shrugged.
“You’d have to ask the Eye of Ra that; I didn’t care to know.”
War of Mortal Gods Page 19
