AMP Armageddon (16 page)

I gave the order to spare the head. "We need the core from this one. If you have a torso shot, take it!"

The final King soon lost his other arm, followed by his left leg. The android realized that it had been defeated and ceased to continue its fight.

I spoke. "King Koswal. Your reign is at an end!"

York powered up the freezer.

The King spoke. "With whom am I having the pleasure of speaking? Perhaps an introduction is in order before my inevitable end."

I replied, "Well, you can consider this an overthrow from the Harri Tudor family. They have come to reclaim the crown for England." I executed several blink-in-and-out maneuvers to take control of the core and then lifted it and dropped it into the now-ready freezer.

Major Tudor spoke as he raised his right fist in the air. "The king is dead, long live the king!"

When the light on the freezer shone green, York picked it up and carried it back through the portal that Frig had moved into the room. King Koswal would soon be telling us the location of his complex.

As we stood in the docking bay of the
Rogers
, I removed my helmet. "Major. Looks like your family line has been resurrected!"

I handed the major the remains of an android head that was capped with a platinum crown. "I believe this belongs to you, Mr. Tudor. I am designating you King Henry VIII!"

The major laughed and replied, "Sorry, Sir. Henry VIII is already taken. I think I might be Henry IX though, so I’ll hang onto this!"

I stepped up into the hold of the
Swift
to where Frig was working over the King’s core.

"Give me fifteen minutes, Sir, and we will have our third android with an inhibitor."

I settled back in a chair. "Let me know when he’s talking. I think I will take a nap."

Ninety minutes into my rest, I was awakened by a shake from Frig. "Sir, we have the coordinates. And the King has been kind enough to send another five Kings to his ship through a portal. I believe you can take the
Swift
, just as I am going to do with the
Rogers
, and blink in and out, taking them all out at once. The five androids appear to be gathered in the same room."

I replied as the stimulants from the BGS suit filled my arteries, "Hey, you know what just popped into my head?"

Frig shook his head. "How could I possibly know that, Sir?"

I sighed. "I know, it’s just an expression. Anyway, we already have the means to get at Tardette’s core. All we have to do is get two or three of us surrounding him, and with a quick blink in and out, we leave him gutted like the core of a Manjion Mellon fruit. He won’t be rolling anywhere after that."

Frig replied, "Interesting, Sir. Sometimes we have the simplest of solutions available to us, and yet they do not come into our minds. My only concern would be one of the Supreme Master detecting your presence before you are able to make your play. If that were to happen, he may become difficult to kill."

I smiled. "Well, I say we give it a shot. These ships have the new coating, so hopefully there won’t be any detection. If we can somehow pull this off, that will only leave us the Duke to contend with."

Ten minutes later, I was hovering in the room on Koswal’s lone ship as Frig positioned himself at the complex. The five Kings were moving about the room as I came to rest in the
Swift
.

I spoke on the QE comm. "Frig, I’m lined up; wait for my word, and we’ll hit them all at once."

Frig replied, "I am in position, Sir."

Shortly after, the five Kings gathered in the center of the room. I gave the signal, and in an instant, King Koswal and his androids were nothing but a memory. We returned to the Grid to plan our assault on His Supreme Master Tardette.

As we planned out the raid on the Supreme Master, I spoke. "You know, there is one thing we haven’t thought through. If we beat Tardette, and then eliminate the Duke, what are we going to do with these species that were brought here? Do we just worry about getting our own people home? And where is that home, Earth?"

Frig replied, "Sir, I am sure we will be able to resolve those issues when the time comes. If needed, we build a fleet of these destroyers to ferry each of these species back to their homes."

I swiped several screens of data surrounding Tardette’s throne room. "What if they are like us and they really don’t have a home? At least, not one that they have ever known."

Frig stopped and turned towards me. "Sir, if so desired, we can return them to the last galaxy they inhabited, perhaps even in their Grid station. That can all be determined in the end, after we have removed the Duke from his complex."

I nodded. "I guess you are right. I think I’m ready to brief with York. Let’s go get Tardette and get this over with."

I walked into the docking bay of the destroyer, where York and her team were waiting. "OK, listen up, I’m guessing you have all studied the layout of Tardette’s grand room. I think our strategy will just be a simple one of blinking in and out. Just remember, we need the core, or we will have to do this all over again. If you blink, make sure you are not taking out the center of that sphere."

Frig moved the
Rogers
beside the ships of the Supreme Master’s fleet. We took a dozen extra Marines to move around the room. They would take up positions where the Supreme Master was mostly likely to roll if that function was still available to him.

Frig opened a portal to an adjacent room, and we stepped through. As I poked my head through the wall of Tardette’s grand chamber, I was greeted with the sight of His Supreme Master as he rolled about, giving orders to his first in command.

Tardette spoke. "Admiral Hepp, I am relying on you to find a way to push the Bolic to train harder. Our first battle will be upon us shortly, and I do not feel you have been thorough in following through with our preparations. Remember, Admiral, there are a thousand Junkens standing behind you who are more than willing to take over your duties in full. You know what I do to officers who have lost their usefulness?"

Hepp replied while standing at attention, "They are rolled over until every bone in their body is crushed, Master. I will see to it personally that the training is increased."

Tardette rolled next to the admiral, nearly knocking him from his feet. "I am sure you will, Admiral."

The admiral knelt and then departed the room with a quick step. I waved to the team to follow me through the wall. As we slowly drifted into position, His rolling Supreme Master sensed our presence.

Tardette spoke. "I can feel you, whoever you are. Make yourself known. Fight me with honor, not as a coward in the shadows!"

I blinked in. "Tardette. We are here to collect on a debt that you owe to all the species you have wronged."

Tardette replied, "Clever, I should have your technology for my own defense."

I blinked out as the spherical android rolled through my location with a speed that I wasn’t expecting. As the rampaging sphere shot around the room, a first attempt at a blink in was made. A sergeant in our group flashed into existence an instant too soon. The rolling android slammed into his torso, sending him flying through the air as he blinked back out. The damage, however, had been done. The sergeant’s lifeless body flipped end over end as it moved through the walls of the Master’s ship before exiting out into the dead of space.

Frig spoke. "Keep your focus, Sir. I will collect the sergeant."

I set a timer to have my suit blink in and out a microsecond after Tardette’s sphere intersected the space that I occupied. I was rewarded with a small chunk of Tardette’s outer layers disappearing into the void of the sodium skin.

I spoke to the team. "I am passing you all a timer. Set it and then just move about the room. We’ll see if we can pick this beast apart bit by bit."

As each blink took its chunk of Tantric, the android’s motion slowed dramatically. The smooth, instant roll was replaced by wobbly bumps. Shortly after our change in strategy, the first of the Supreme Master’s inner gyros took a hit, and the rugged outer shell of the android sphere began to spin like a top. Five blinks later, the motion came to a stop.

Tardette spoke. "I find your methods intriguing. I shall enjoy adapting them for my own use."

I moved forward, placing my fist in the area surrounding the core. After several blinks, the core rolled out onto the floor in front of me. As I picked it up and turned, Frost had the freezer open and cooling. When the green light came on, we moved through the portal to the
Rogers
and then proceeded to jump back to the Grid.

As His Supreme Master’s core was laid out on the table beside the other cores, I spoke. "Frig, get us what we need, my friend."

Two hours passed before we had the location of Tardette’s complex. If anything, the androids’ initial responses were predictable. After an incursion and a defeat of their android bodies, a new android was sent through a portal a short time after. The destruction of Tardette and his complex went off without a hitch. We soon returned to the Grid in triumph.

I stood in the docking bay, discussing our victories with York, Frost, and the others. "I would not have expected this to go so well. We are one complex and one android away from an end to this nightmare. True peace could be just around the corner for us all!"

In an attempt to further my discussions with Ashley, I invited her to come aboard the
Rogers
for a tour. She had again declined lunch, but an offer to see our newest warship was too much to refuse. Frig opened a portal and Ashley came stepping through.

I spoke. "Welcome to the
Sarah Rogers
."

Ashley smiled. "I have to say, Mr. Grange, Don. It was a difficult offer to turn down. Perhaps we—"

I was then startled by a laugh coming from just behind me. The Duke had stepped through a portal that had opened only a second before.

The Duke spoke. "Bravo, Mr. Grange! Bravo, Humans! You have managed to accomplish the one thing that I could not accomplish over the last million years! The destruction of my clones is complete! I can now go on to rule all of the galaxies!"

I replied, "I don’t know how you found us. But, you must know that we aren’t going to stop until we eliminate you, Duke. We will be taking out you and your complex next."

The Duke again laughed. "Mr. Grange, I do so enjoy your Human spirit. So much so that I have even considered allowing your species to live! The Durians have been my right arm for ten thousand years. Perhaps it is time for their replacement! I will offer this opportunity to you but once, Mr. Grange. Do you wish to live under my complete authority, or would you prefer to perish like so many before you?"

I shook my head. "Your time is up, Duke. These Humans will see to your demise. Give it a generation or two after your end, and you will be forgotten by all."

The Duke scowled. "So be it, Mr. Grange. You have made the decision for all Humans. Let the War of Wars begin!"

As the Duke turned towards his portal, I sent a tungsten round into his hardened battle suit, sending him flying backward through the portal he had just come through.

A voice came back through the portal. "Prepare for war, Mr. Grange! Your people will need your help!"

The portal closed behind the Duke.

York spoke. "I didn’t like the sound of that, Mr. Grange. Do you think he meant the War of Wars is still going to be fought?"

I replied, "I don’t know, York. What does he—"

I looked around and got a sudden chill. Ashley was gone!

Frig stepped into the docking bay through a portal. "Don! They are gone! The Duke has taken everyone again!"

I had a brief moment of panic. "What? Where? Where would he take them? They are all gone?"

Frig replied, "I have the bio-signs of 67,382 persons on the Grid, Sir. Those are the ones whose DNA has been sufficiently altered to remove them from the Duke’s tracking system. No others."

I repeatedly tried to raise Ashley on the comm. I received no response. She had been taken.

I stormed into the hold of the
Swift
and stood in front of Quan with my hands on the table. "Quan, the Duke took all the Humans and said the War of Wars was beginning. Where would you have taken them? Can you give me any idea of where to look?"

Quan replied, "They would likely be taken to a planet where they would fight another species. The weapons used would be the ones decided upon at the gathering beforehand. The War of Wars consists of sixteen species, four from each participant. Typically, the battles will take place on a planet in close proximity to one of those species."

I turned and spoke to Frig, who had followed me aboard the
Swift
. "Let’s move! I want to scan every planet anywhere near any one of those Grids!"

A portal opened, and Frig stepped through to the bridge of the
Rogers
.

I raised the Colonel on the comm. "Colonel! Take everyone on that station out to our fleet! Wait for our direction. We are going to find our people, and we are going to secure their safety!"

The Colonel replied, "We are leaving now, Mr. Grange. We will be ready when you call for us."

I stepped through Frig’s portal to the bridge and sat down in the captain’s chair in the center of the room. "We have to find them, Frig. And soon. I have a feeling that the Duke doesn’t care about fighting fair now that his competition is all gone. He no longer has a desire for
his
Humans to win."

We quickly jumped to the first system near a species on the list. The Colonel followed with our Defiant fleet. A scan of the first Grid on our list revealed that a nearby planet had no signs of life. The Grid at that location had the same. The Klatt had been moved elsewhere.

Our second, third, and fourth jumps all revealed the same. Our people were not there. When we arrived at the fifth Grid location, bio-signals showed on the nearest habitable planet. A deep scan delivered data that showed our Humans were not there. The Bolic and the Noorzen occupied the vast plains of a single continent.

Frig pulled the
Rogers
closer. Visual scans told of two species, armed with clubs, spears, swords, and other hand weapons, sitting peacefully side by side.

A scan of the surrounding heavens returned the empty fleet ship of King Koswal.

I spoke. "Keep moving; they are not here!"

As we arrived in the next system and performed a scan, Frig spoke. "Sir, I show nearly eight hundred million Humans on the planet in this system. I believe we have found the former Grid-1 inhabitants. There are three other species surrounding the Human location. As with the prior world, all are armed with passive hand weapons, Sir."

I swiped at the holo-display in front of me. "How many ships do we have in our fleet?"

Frig replied, "We had enough trained crews for 846, Sir."

I spoke. "I bet we can do some damage with that fleet. I say we prep them for strafing runs. With those weapons, they have no defense against these ships."

Frig began to move the
Rogers
into orbit around the planet. It was a move that brought a countermove by the Duke. Thirty-two hundred Durian ships uncloaked a thousand kilometers from our new position. A general hail came over the comm.

I answered. "This is Don Grange. Withdraw your ships, or we will be forced to attack!"

A Durian voice replied, "We have been given orders by the Duke to prevent you from entering the battle, Mr. Grange. Our ships are equipped with the same active sodium technology you possess; in addition, we have more powerful weapons. The Duke has given us strict orders that we will fully obey. Should you attack our position, we will retaliate against your people on the ground. If you should attack the other species on the ground, we will again attack your people on the ground as well. Interference in the coming battle will not be tolerated."

I leaned back in my chair. "Huh. I didn’t see that one coming. Jump us out of here, Frig. Find our people."

Two jumps further into the list of species brought us to the second planet in a five-planet system. Our families and friends were again surrounded by three other species. The planet was covered with spotty clumps of trees dotting endless tundras that rolled off into pea-green oceans.

As we approached orbit, a second Durian fleet popped into view. Forty-five hundred Durian battleships, repair ships, and carriers loaded with atmospheric-capable fighters were sitting in wait.

Again, a general hail came over the comm.

I spoke. "This is Grange."

The Duke replied, "Mr. Grange, I am sure you now understand the rules of noninterference. Should you decide to make any move that is seen as hostile, my forces will terminate all Human life on the planet, a planet that I have named Megiddo in honor of your Earth history."

I replied, "What would you have us do, Duke, sit and watch as our people are massacred by overwhelming forces?"

The Duke laughed. "I do so like your attitude, Mr. Grange. I will therefore offer you this one opportunity. Turn your ships over to me, and I will allow you to join your people on the ground for a series of battles as originally planned, one species at a time. Of course, you will have to give up your suits and your weapons. You will have the opportunity to pick from a selection of hand weapons in your species’ arsenal."

I shook my head. "So, we give up, and you let us fight one species at a time? And what happens if we win, and if our Human counterparts win their battle as well? Are we to believe that we would be free to go?"

The Duke again laughed. "Really, Mr. Grange. Would any such offer be of value to you? Would you trust my word?"

I sighed. "No, I suppose we wouldn’t."

I turned to Frig. "The bot we left on his complex. When does it become active?"

Frig replied, "In just over twenty-seven hours, Sir."