The Fight for Creation: Book 01 - Life Warrior (28 page)

Grainger said, “Why not?”

“Because now they know that we have learned how to kill them. If they ignore us they know we’ll become a huge danger to their long term survival. They’ll attack for that reason alone. The destruction of their fleets is just an additional reason that is secondary.”

Grainger stared at the Senior Officers and said, “And if we run from here, all the planets of the Realm will be the new targets of the Dremor-Megat Alliance.”

Jon nodded, “They will find you wherever you run. They’re psychic and unless one of my brothers or I am with you at all times, they’ll be able to see you.”

“So we stop them here of face the destruction of the Realm?” No one said anything and Grainger smiled, “Well, you’ve got your work cut out for you. I expect you to win.”

Jon stared at Grainger and then looked at the other officers. None of them knew how to do that.

• • •

William and James Dodd entered their shuttle and took their seats. William said, “Get us out of here, Captain.” He looked at James and said, “I understand that this planet and Ross will be destroyed shortly by the Dremor. Your rise to King looks better and better every day.”

“What will there be to rule if the Dremor start attacking the Realm?”

“We’ll find a way to negotiate with them. If the Megat can do it; so can we.”

“Does that mean we would have to assist them in attacking planets?”

“Probably, but that’s not something to worry about. We’ll do what’s necessary.”

James shrugged, “As long as it’s not us they’re attacking, I’m fine with it.” The shuttle lifted and once it cleared atmosphere, it teleported away.

• • •

The New Supreme Spirit looked at his First Communications Spirit. The former Supreme Spirit had fought valiantly but had not won the contest. The former First had been elevated to Ruler of the Dremor. He thought back to the confrontation when the Fifty Superior Spirits had come and confronted the Supreme Spirit.

“You sent out fleets into a death trap.”

“Have any of you looked at the other planet and the danger it has in the psychic trace?”

“We have.”

“That danger level is higher than any I’ve ever seen. The target appeared to be a better choice.”

The fifty challengers were slowed down by the Supreme Spirit’s argument. One of them looked at the First and said, “Was there any other indications that the target was a bad choice?”

The Supreme Spirit looked the First and expected him to betray him. He was surprised when the First said, “I will not second guess the Supreme Spirit. He made the best choice he could make.”

The Supreme Spirit didn’t know what to think about the First’s comment. He would have sworn that he would take the opportunity to have him removed from power. If the attempt failed, he would have killed the First.

The member of the fifty paused and said, “Don’t second guess him; what would you have done if the decision was yours?”

The First said, “I would have attacked the other planet.”

The Supreme Spirit felt his anger growing.

“Why?”

The First said, “The Fleet of children was killed attacking a planet. They would have never attacked if the psychic trace showed any danger to them. We know the target planets carried out that attack, so one has to ask how they did it. They must have a way to suppress the psychic trace and if they do, then the chosen target was by far the most dangerous choice.”

The Supreme Spirit screamed, “But the other planet also had a high danger level.”

The First looked at him and said, “That’s true; but it did have a psychic trace that we could have used to escape if things got out of hand. Your selection did not.”

That was all the fifty needed to hear. They focused their energy on the Supreme Leader and after a prolonged struggle, the Supreme Leader was killed. The Fifty turned to the First and said, “You are now our Supreme Spirit. What should be done?”

“I see two choices. We can leave this area of Creation and go far away from this dangerous civilization.”

“Or?”

“We can eliminate them.” He paused and said, “If we choose to eliminate them, there will be losses we’ll have to endure.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I would choose to kill them. If we leave them and allow them to build on the knowledge of how to destroy us over time, they will confront us again in the future. I don’t feel good for our children’s future if we fly away now. However, this is a decision that all of us must agree on. You should go to your families and decide what path they choose.”

“Are you trying to avoid responsibility for a bad decision?”

“No, I’m saying that when a psychic trace is not available for me to use in making decisions, I need your combined wisdom to help guide me.”

The Fifty Superiors talked among themselves and said, “We’ll notify you of what we determine.”

“That would be good.

• • •

The New Supreme Spirit said to his First Communicator, “Send one of our fleets to the Megat and tell them I want them to send a spokesman to me.”

The First manipulated his station and the Supreme Spirit smiled. The member of the fifty was right. If things didn’t work out they could not come to him with blame. He neglected to tell them that the danger level at the second planet had gone up more than eight times after the failed attack.

• • •

Pride was lying in the clearing on El Prado with the eight hundred Elder Cats. Victoria was sitting up against the giant cat and listened to their conversation. One of the older Cats said, “Is there no way we can destroy the Megat Ships that’ll be used in the Dremor attack?”

“Not unless you’ve discovered a way for us to teleport through their force fields.”

“The White Warriors can do it. What’s stopping us?”

“I tried to do it long ago and all I got for my effort was scorched hair.”

“You never told us about that.”

“Like you, I thought it would be a great way to take part in fleet operations. I went to the Algeans and they set up a very weak force field for me to penetrate. I wish they had made it weaker.”

“Why?”

“I had the groad shocked out of me and all the hair on my head burned.”

Victoria giggled and Pride looked at her, “Hey, don’t try this at home.”

Some of the Elders hid their smiles but some had to turn their heads, “I remember when your hair was burned. I thought you said it was done in a battle?”

“It was; I was fighting that force field.”

“Why couldn’t you go through?”

“The Algeans say that size is an issue. The White Warriors are tiny compared to us and they can make it through. None of us can.”

“What about the kittens?”

Pride shook his head, “They’re ten feet long when they’re born. My understanding is that any creature bigger than ten feet will not make it through. Kittens are twenty feet long seven days after they’re born.”

“Can the White Warriors do it?”

“They could if they can get the teleporter next to their target. That won’t happen if the Dremor are there. They’ll kill the Warrior before he can teleport.”

Victoria looked at Pride, “Is there nothing we can do?”

Pride shrugged, “If we had enough time we could build ships that have both force fields around them. However, there’s nowhere near enough time to even start that progress. This will be over quickly.”

“We need to start anyway. Even of Bristone and Ross die, we will continue the fight.”

“The Algeans are moving forward in making that happen…but we’re looking at several years before we have any ships in significant numbers.”

One of the Senior Cats said, “Hundreds of thousands of planets could die in the meantime.”

Pride sighed mentally, “Possibly millions if the Dremor really push it. They won’t need the Megat to get them through to the other planets of the Realm.” Pride looked at Victoria, “You should remain here until this issue is resolved. You’re going to be needed by the Realm if Bristone and Ross fall.”

Victoria sighed and nodded, “Grainger is not going to leave. I’ve always wondered about him in the past and questioned whether he had what it took to be a good King. I’ve never been more proud of him. He’s found himself in this conflict.”

“He was not the designated successor, Your Majesty. He’s always operated in your shadow and now he’s free to be himself. You’re right; he’s found his inner core and we are just as surprised as you are.”

Victoria looked at the ground and then looked up, “I’ve always loved him. Now I admire him.” She looked around and said, “Do any of you know what happens to love when you admire the object of your affections?”

Pride smiled, “It’s like your former love is a shadow of what you now feel.”

“That’s it exactly and if he dies my loss will be monumental.” Victoria looked at the Cats, “Please don’t let him die.”

Pride slowly shook his head, “We’re trying to find a way to save him, Your Majesty.” Pride paused and said, “We have one thing that is an unknown that may offer hope.”

Vitoria turned and looked at Pride, “What is that?”

Pride smiled, “Three brothers.”

M
olly looked at Jon and said, “But Sir, we can’t do this!”

“You are going to do it and I expect you to do your best.”

“Dividing our forces is a mistake.”

Jon slowly shook his head and said, “Molly, Ross is going to be attacked along with Bristone. Now that the Queen is safe, we need to try and protect both planets. You will take your command and go to Ross and take over the defense of the Castle.”

Molly stared at Jon and used her last argument, “Bristone is the Capital of the Realm; it’s more important than Ross.”

Jon sighed, “I know that; however, this is not my decision. The King has ordered me to send one of my battalions to Ross. He also ordered me to send my best unit.”

Molly sighed and knew the argument was over, “When do we leave?”

“Your ship is in orbit waiting for you to board.” Jon looked at Molly and said, “Try to take care of my family, Molly.”

Molly stared at Jon and came forward and hugged him. He held her tight and then she stepped back, saluted, and said, “I’ll do my best, Sir.”

Jon smiled and said, “I know you will.” Molly teleported to her unit and Jon still felt her in his arms. He sighed and went out to discuss the armament locations being placed around the castle.

• • •

The Megat Ruler listened to the speaker on the wall on the bridge of his warship. The Dremor said, “I need your assistance in resolving an issue.”

“What is that?”

“A civilization has destroyed several of my fleets and we have determined that they must be held accountable.”

The Megat was surprised. He was surprised that anyone could defeat a Dremor Fleet. “Where is the civilization you intend to conquer?”

“An image of the planets is being sent to your ship.”

The Megat saw the image on his display and jumped up out of his command chair, “That’s Bristone and Ross! Those planets are defended by millions of warships. We could never break through their defenses.”

“You won’t have to break through. We will remove any ships that stand in your way. We need you to remove some installations that are orbiting the two planets. Our readings indicate your ships have the required energy to dispose of them.”

“What are they?”

“That is something you need not worry about. Your ships are powerful enough to destroy them. We only require that you destroy them and then you may leave.”

“Are you able to prevent us from being attacked while we move in on the planets?”

There was a long moment of silence and the Megat wondered if he had made a mistake questioning the Dremor. “We are.”

“I will need some time to assemble the ships needed to attack.”

“Why?”

“We can’t attack those installations with normal warships. If we move in close enough to hit them with a normal warship, the planet can launch their most powerful missiles at my ships. Are you able to stop missiles?”

“Are they manned or mechanical?”

“Mechanical.”

“No, we cannot stop them.”

“Then I’ll need to bring in some of our Beam Dreadnaughts. They can hit those rocks from long range without being in range of the planet’s missiles.”

“Why do you need time to gather them?”

“They are not in this universe at this moment and are being used to bombard several planets.”

“How long will it take to bring them?”

“About two weeks.”

“Give us their location and I will dispatch a fleet to remove the forces you’re attacking. If we do that, how long will it take?”

“Six days to get them here and have them powered.”

“Give me their location and we will remove your problem at those planets.”

The Megat hesitated but had to ask, “You won’t injure my forces?”

The Supreme Spirit smiled; that was a fair question, “No, we’ll only remove those you’re attacking.”

The Megat Ruler smiled. The Realm was finally going to be destroyed. He said, “I’ll be waiting for my Dreadnaughts.”

The Supreme Spirit said, “We’ll be there waiting with you.”

The Megat didn’t know whether he liked that or not.

• • •

The Dremor arrived at Legend and moved in toward the planet. The fleet commander had received notification of the Dremor arrival and ordered all his ships away from the planet. He moved the twenty Beam Dreadnaughts out beyond the orbit of the inner moon and directed them to wait. He was quite happy that the Dremor were coming to remove this troublesome planet. The population was nothing but trouble. They were all natural warriors and they moved impossibly fast. Hitting one was not impossible but it was close to it. Even the beams being used from space weren’t able to hit large concentrations. Somehow they just seemed to move right before the beams hit. He watched his display as the Dremor came flashing in. The huge grey shapes stopped and massive clouds emerged and headed toward the planet.

• • •

Jixie looked up at the sky and said, “It looks like the ghosts are here.”

Trex looked up and then back at Jixie, “How do you want to handle this?”