Ashes of the Realm: Book 04 - The Return of the Realm (16 page)

Trey hugged her and said, “Now is when we find our destiny.” Cassie smiled and continued to hold him tight.

• • •

Twig watched the celebration with the former Elders and felt a happiness that had been missing for hundreds of years. The Eldest said, “I’ve been looking at the design of the Empire’s Starships.”

Twig looked away from the display and said, “And?”

“I see where they have stopped using computers to fly their ships and have designed them to hold crews. I asked the one called Trey why he did that and he said that every citizen should be given an opportunity to fight for the Empire. He felt the Realm suffered because most of the population never took part in the wars to defend the Realm. He was not going to allow that to happen again. He was of the opinion that if one fights to defend a principle, they are more likely to follow it.”

“What does that say about our ships?”

“We should consider an alternative plan and design. I think you should discuss this with the Queen and see if she agrees.”

“Show me what you’re thinking.”

Twig downloaded the concepts and started smiling. “What an idea. Let’s see if Danielle agrees.”

D
anielle sat in the Library at Castle Gardner waiting for Trey and Cassie to arrive. Weed, Seed, and Twig had teleported in and asked to have a meeting with concerning the new ships they were going to build. Danielle decided that this decision must be shared with those in command positions. Jake and Valerie had arrived a few moments earlier and Cassandra was sitting in a chair staring at the Algeans. She looked to be interested in what was going on and that was a huge change from her previous behavior during meetings.

Trey and Cassie appeared and they bowed, “I’m sorry it took so long to arrive, Your Majesty.”

“Please rise. We’ve waited for your arrival to begin.” Danielle looked around and said, “Everyone please take a seat and Twig, why don’t you start the meeting?”

Twig stood and thought to the group, “As most of you know, we have designed a new warship that is somewhat superior to any of the ships we are now using. I was told by one of our Elders that Trey had told him that the Empire was no longer building ships that were operated by computers. Is that right, Trey?”

“Yes, it is. I feel that part of the reason that the Realm lost its way was because more than ninety nine percent of the citizens never had to fight to defend the Realm against invaders. War to them became a nuisance and they lost respect for those that died to preserve the Realm. Our citizens should be involved and take part in the fighting. It would give them an appreciation of what we’re fighting for.”

Twig leaned forward, “You realize that without those computers directing the ships, their reaction times will be greatly slowed and communications will suffer as well?”

“Yes, but it was a tradeoff I felt was necessary.”

“We’ve come up with an idea that might have merit. If you agree, we will implement it in the design of our new ships.”

Danielle said, “What is that, Twig?”

“We think that every one of our warships should be piloted by an Algean.”

The room was silent. Everyone looked at each other and finally Tag asked, “Why would we want to do that?”

“My species processes information as fast as most cybernetic computers. They are also telepathic. Whoever is directing our fleets will only have to send their thoughts to the pilots and they can link and follow their orders. The ships would have the same reaction time and would work together much more efficiently.”

Cassie looked at Trey and smiled. Another question answered. Trey leaned back and smiled.

“Why would that decision affect your design?”

“Your Majesty, we have looked at the teleportation boards that the Empire developed and have discovered something that is remarkable.”

Danielle said, “Go on.”

“We discovered that we can teleport a person through any force field by combining our technologies.”

Cassandra said, “What do you mean teleport a person?”

“The person will go through without any clothes or other material on. It will only work with bodies that are carbon based. Obviously, it will not work with my species but it will work on most of the other species in the Realm.”

Tag leaned forward, “How does that help us?”

“If I’m not mistaken, isn’t the armor of our warriors now held in their DNA? They could teleport on board an enemy ship and activate their armor. I think an armored warrior inside their ships would be a force to reckon with.”

The statement stunned everyone. Trey said, “How do they breathe?”

“All they have to do is hold their breath for an instant until their armor activates.”

“How could they escape if the ship is damaged?”

“One of the things we’ll attempt to do is teleport them in close to the force field controls. Once those are damaged, they can leave when they chose.”

Tag said, “The possibilities are endless on what they carry with them on those ships. It wouldn’t take a large explosive device to take out the control room. They could also just place it near the reactors and teleport out to the edge of their force field and wait for it to explode and cause the field to drop.”

Danielle said, “So how does this affect your ship’s design?”

“It won’t affect the ships we’re already built that will fight in major fleet actions, but the new design will become a devastating weapon against individual ships we attack. Instead of having to penetrate their defenses, we will need to get to within a mile of the force field to teleport the warriors through. That means the ships will have to withstand all the beams being fired at it. The ships will be designed so that all its energy is directed to its force field. It should be able to withstand massive energy hits until the teleported warriors destroy the enemy ship. It will also have to be big enough to carry the warriors on board for extended periods of time. Originally they were just going to have only the pilot.”

Danielle looked at Tag, “How do you see we can use this?”

“This is the weapon of last resort. If our ships can stand toe-to-toe with them, we’ll just fight them with our warships. If the Demons develop a ship that is superior to ours, then we will fire at them from a distance and have the new ships teleport in next to their ships and teleport the warriors on board.”

Twig leaned back, “Don’t sell these new ships short, Your Grace; if we coat them with reflective hulls, they will give more than they get.”

Tag smiled, “You are right about that.”

“What about the Demon’s ships?”

“These ships will not work against them, Your Highness.”

“Won’t your pilots be at great risk, Twig?”

“Yes, but they can perform the teleportation faster than any other being in this universe. They can teleport in, teleport the warriors to their assigned locations, and teleport out in less than a second. My adolescents and adults demand the opportunity to fight for our survival and accept the risk as part of what they owe to the ones that lost their lives here.”

Trey smiled at Twig and said, “Tell them we revere them for their bravery and are also willing to die with them. The fight will bring us closer.”

Twig leaned forward and said, “Thank you for your kind words. I also believe that the shared effort will bind us together.”

Danielle looked at Tag and he nodded. She looked at the others and they were also nodding, “Twig, we will approve your design and we’ll start preparing the warriors for what they’ll have to do to be successful.”

“That would be good, Your Majesty.”

Tag was already thinking about how to use this new weapon.

• • •

Jingos looked at the long line of young men and women that had volunteered to join the Realm’s newly formed Life Warriors. He had them standing at attention as he looked over the names on his clip board and knew that most of them wouldn’t make it through training. The ones that failed would be given a place in the auxiliary ships that supported the fleet. Before they could become disciplined enough they had to be broken down and rebuilt. The hundred in front of him had survived the initial physical training, which was almost barbaric, and were now going to go through the toughest part, discipline. These recruits had heard the horror of other classes that had gone before them, but they were determined to make the cut.

Jingos looked down the lines and saw a recruit that had to be too young. He walked over in front of the young man and stared him in the eyes. The recruit returned the stare without blinking. “It appears we are getting our trash from kindergarten now. I hope your diaper is dry. Soldier, what’s your name!?!”

“Sir, Kline Zawly, Sir!”

“You’re not old enough to clean your own back side. What makes you think you have what it takes to wear the Realm’s Armor?”

The recruit didn’t say anything and Jingos moved to within an inch of his face and yelled, “When I ask you a question you will answer me!!”

“Sir, my family is what makes me think I am qualified, Sir!”

Jingos looked at the other recruits and said, “Oh, so your mama thinks you can do it. I have a mama’s boy here.” Jingo got back in the young man’s face and yelled, “Are you a mama’s boy!?!”

“Sir, no Sir!”

“Then what does your family have to do with this!?!”

“Sir, my grandfather fought with Scotty Robbins the Night of the Torg and my father died with his flyer fighting with Timmy Robbins to save a planet from invaders, Sir!”

Jingos was stunned by the response and fought to not show any emotion. He stared at the young man and suddenly saw the steel resolve in his eyes. “Do you think that gives you any extra credit around here, Soldier?”

“Sir, no Sir!”

“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said so far. Just for that you will step out and lead this company on ten laps around the parade ground. Now get moving!”

Kline stepped out in front of the recruits and yelled, “Company, right face!” The recruits did a smart turn and Kline yelled, “At double time; forwardddd march.”

Jingos watched them begin their five mile run and quickly turned the pages of information on the new recruits. He scanned quickly through the names and found Kline. Every instructor’s initial comments were that the soldier was too young. However, every one of them ended their evaluations with, “This warrior possesses real officer potential.”

Jingos looked up at the young man leading the company as he started singing and the company joined in.

“Running is a lot of fun, pretty soon we’ll get a gun. Sound off!”

“One, two.”

“Sound off!”

“Three, four”

“Bring it on down!”

“One, two, three, four, Life Warrior.”

Jingos made a note that Kline was going to be assigned to his fleet. He was going to do his best to break him, but he knew he would fail. Kline would die before he gave in to the ordeal he was going to face. He knew what he had learned at the feet of his fathers and that is what would make the difference. His future position would be determined by how his fellow recruits responded to him. It appeared they already had respect for his lineage. All of them knew about the Night of the Torg.

• • •

Around the Realm, millions were answering the call to join the coming fight against the Demons. Basic Training Camps were on every planet and finding those that could wear the Armor was difficult. On most planets, no one passed the training.

Trey, Jingo, and Grang sat at a fire on Trinity and looked up at the stars. No one said anything and the silence was comforting. Jingo finally looked at the others and said, “More than ninety percent of the recruits that pass basic training are from the Empire’s planets.”

Grang Grunted.

Jingo looked at him and said, “What do you mean you expected that?”

Trey said, “He didn’t say that.”

“Yes he did; ask him.”

Trey looked at Grang and he nodded. Trey looked at Jingo and laughed, “You have been around him far too long to be able to interpret that grunt.”

“Tell me about it.”

Trey looked at Grang, “Father, I’m not as good at understanding your sounds; please tell me why you say you expected them to come from the Empire?”

Grang took a deep breath and said, “The citizens of the Empire have been fighting for survival for more than two thousand years. The Realm has only known peace and they just aren’t as good.”

Jingo sighed, “You’re right. Even the ones that pass in the Realm are only average when compared to those in the Empire.”

Grang grunted.

“Oh, excuse me. I should have said the former Empire.”

Trey laughed again and shook his head.

Jingo said, “My son has found a young man that passed training and set the highest marks so far.”

Grang sat up straight and Trey said, “How young?”

“He turned eighteen during training. However, he discovered something that will make a huge difference with our warriors.”

“What was that?”

“That young warrior went to a fleet ship and had them teleport him through a force field more than a hundred times. He wanted to see if it was possible to determine when he was inside it.”

Trey waited and finally said, “And?”

“Oh, I’m sorry; I was thinking about how that must have really hurt after the tenth teleport. Any way, he determined that as he went through the field, there was a minute shock that could be felt. After more experimentation he discovered that the stronger the force field the stronger the shock. He was able to start his armor activation a small moment before he arrived inside the ship. It was fully active in less than a tenth of a second after he arrived.”

“How is that possible?”

“It appears that when your body is converted to energy to teleport, its ability to sense things approaches light speed. It appears to be instantaneous but there is a delay that is felt by the one being teleported. You’ve probably felt it yourself.”

Trey nodded.

“In the case of the Black Ships, their force fields are more than ten miles from their hulls and he would arrive inside fully armored.”

Trey stood up, “What are we doing with this information?”