"THAT'S RIGHT! THIS TIME YOU WEREN'T ABLE TO RESIST ME! I CAN NOW GET YOU BACK FOR ALL THE PAIN YOU CAUSED ME BEFORE. OH, NO. I WILL NOT KILL YOU. I AM INTERESTED IN STUDYING YOUR ABILITIES."
My vision grew hazy. It felt like there was barbed wire being twisted around my head. The pressure grew, the barbs dug into my skull... And suddenly, I felt surprise and amazement come over my tormentor.
"Begin the attack!" came a voice in my head, though I was unable to tell whose it was.
The Queen began trying to break the mental connection in fear. But she was not able. My consciousness, though, rushed back out into the real world.
I opened my eyes. My cousin was leaning over me in panic. In her hands there was a blood-soaked napkin.
"Did it work?" Katerina asked, just after seeing that I had come back to my senses.
"I don't know. I was only used as live bait. They let the Alien Queen swallow me whole, and now they’re reeling her in."
I looked out the corner of my eye at the tactical screen and watched what was happening. A huge cloud of red dots had totally swallowed up the green dots of my fleet. Another second later, having forgotten my weariness, pain and spinning head, I jumped up, donned my helmet and began issuing commands into the microphone:
"Corvettes, why the hell aren't you in battle?! Everyone out of the carriers immediately! All Leech-C's to the Behemoths. Do not allow them to come within firing distance!"
"Prince, we have lost the battleship Princess Astra! The battleship Master of Tesse’s shield is down!"
"All carriers immediately recharge the shield of Master of Tesse! Hold it at all costs!"
I looked out the corner of my eye at the number of enemy drones marked on the tactical map. One hundred six thousand. It was too many. The best thing to do was retreat from battle to save at least some of the fleet. But the fact that a large proportion of my ships were already under enemy warp disruptor bore eloquent witness to the fact that we would no longer be capable of warping out of battle. We had to fall back on a time-tested method:
"Frigates and destroyers, fall back from the carriers! Other ships, prepare to gather your drones. Now, drop bombs in the very thick of the battle to mow down the enemy's drones!"
Next to my flagship, a bright flash exploded, blowing up one of my large ships, though I couldn't figure out exactly which.
And suddenly, something changed. The first thing I noticed was hundreds of webs and warp disruptors coming off my ships. After that, I saw the cloud of drones fly back, and the Behemoths began to stop in place.
"My Prince, the enemy drones are fighting each other now!"
"The Behemoths are turning around. They all shot one big volley at the Queen!"
"Georg, we have taken the Queen under our control, she is temporarily fighting on our side."
"Flora, how glad I am to hear your voice! Can you hold her?"
"Yes, we can hold her for a bit longer. After that, Krista and almost all the other Truth Seekers want to blow the dangerous ship up. But Miya and the Dark Mother are opposed. They suggest burning out the Queen's consciousness, and capturing the gigantic ship for humankind."
The Behemoths, meanwhile, made another volley on their former flagship, also without noticeable effect. How high must the capacity of the Queen's shields have been if they were capable of withstanding a combined volley from two hundred of the deadly Alien battleships?!
"Fleet, let's take the rest of the drones down and prepare to counterattack. Surprises, take down the Behemoths with new bombs. Do not let them destroy my trophy! Throw them in the very thick of it! Small ships, go away and hide behind the battleship and carrier shields!"
A countdown timer came in from Surprise-13. Five seconds in advance, the sensitive equipment was covered with armored shields, so I couldn't see the tactical map during the attack. But everyone felt the effect! I couldn't even stay standing, so strong was the trembling, even on the none-too-small Uukresh. It should be said that the engine desynchronization was automatically repaired almost instantly.
On the tactical map that appeared soon after, striking changes had taken place: more than half of the Behemoths had simply disappeared. Only the clouds of large and small debris flying in every direction that remained served as confirmation that the Alien battleships hadn’t warped out, but were destroyed. There were almost no active drones left, but thousands and thousands had lost control and were moving by inertia. The remaining Behemoths hurriedly went to hide under the shields of the Mammoths. According to computer calculations, eighty of the enemy battleships had survived the blast. The enemy motherships, though, were starting to warp in our direction.
"All ships, attention! The enemy is approaching again! Get ready!"
But the Aliens thought they'd come close enough to destruction for one day and, one after the other, the Mammoths and Behemoths docked on them left in a warp jump, fleeing the star system. It was very strange. Even I didn't suspect that these huge ships were capable of recharging their energy fast enough to be able to open a warp tunnel to another star system this soon. In fact, I hadn't even sent out my Leech-D frigates to hold the Mammoths with warp disruptor, because I was under the impression that it would take these giants at least another five hours to go anywhere. What a shame! On the other hand, we were left with a somewhat more valuable trophy than they ever would have been. As long as the Truth Seekers didn’t blow it up...
"Florianna, how's it going?"
"The Queen has been killed. The Aliens inside the ship have once again become millions of individual creatures, not one singular superconsciousness. They are confused and disorganized. They are not controlling the ship. the Truth Seekers are inclined toward blowing the huge Alien spaceship up. Even the Dark Mother has changed her opinion and now agrees with the others. Only Miya is still trying to argue against it."
Mhm, so that's how I stop you from blowing up my quarry! I took a look at the star map and ordered the Forepost-4 and Forepost-13 warp beacons switched off, as well as for any communication through them to be blocked. Sorry, dear cousin, your broadcast will have to be brought to an end as well. We are cutting ourselves off from the Empire for the time being.
"All frigates, hold the Queen under warp disruptor! I order all eleven Trias to prepare landing groups. We will board the Queen!"
The Death of Roben
It had been a long time since I truly worried, even when leading my fleet against an enemy that surpassed us in force or going to the Emperor's court in the Throne World. It had been four days since the Forepost-4 and Forepost-13 warp beacons had been switched off on my order, and the time had come now to turn them back on.
Unfortunately, we couldn't possibly have done it any earlier: the bloody assault of the Queen was underway. Millions of praying mantises had died clearing the titanic Alien flagship. Only one hour ago, General Savasss Jach had reported that the last organized hotbeds of Alien resistance had been suppressed, and his soldiers were carrying out the final purge of the starship, sweeping up lone previously-unnoticed defenders. All key systems of the gigantic ship were already under Iseyek control, and the Truth Seekers wouldn't simply be able to do what they wanted and destroy the huge Queen.
By the way, inside the Queen, we really did find manufacturing facilities for producing combat drones and small frigates, as well as huge storage facilities for building materials. In these facilities, we also found ore taken from the Himora station freight terminals, and Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet ships that were lost in Himora, broken down into pieces.
"Why draw it out, order the beacons turned on already," Katerina said in dismay.
My cousin had been angry at me for the last four days because I hadn't given her at least a minute of time to somehow logically conclude her epic report on the grandiose battle in the D56KT system. In accordance with the Imperial Communications Ministry's rules, due to the transmission not finishing properly, her broadcast was not eligible for any viewership records. And because of that, Katerina royl Unat
ari's fame wouldn't be growing, and also the achievements she so desired, which were already basically in her hands, Best Reporter, Best War Reporter, and Most Popular Reporter, had slipped from her fingers at the last moment.
I ordered the warp beacons turned back on and mentally prepared myself. The messages that had piled up over the last few days rained down like a waterfall, but... Nothing extraordinary had happened, which made me extremely surprised. In Miya's words, during the battle, Krista, the behind-the-scenes ruler of the Blue House, had made an ultimatum to destroy the Alien flagship. The Truth Seekers from the Dark Mother's retinue had done the same. But neither the war with the Blue House, nor any great fall in diplomatic relations had actually come about. There hadn't even been any reproaches for my headstrong behavior from the Throne World. Strange. Very strange.
I began selectively looking through messages. I noticed that my global fame had risen to seventy, and the Imperial Military faction's opinion of me had also grown significantly. I saw a growth in standing from the Chameleons and all Swarm subraces other than Iseyek Prime (clearly Nai Igir had been eating, and not active during the battle with the Aliens in the remote system). There had also been a noncritical fall in my relationship with Duchess Ovella from the Blue House. I noticed relationship improvements with many factions toward the Unatari State, and answered them all in kind.
"Your Majesty, Queen Miya has left her chambers. It is not known where she went," came a message from one of the Chameleons guarding my spouse. "She has taken Ayna with her."
I pounded my fist on the arm of my chair in irritation. The uncatchable Miya was back to her old tricks! I hoped very much to discuss a great many issues with my spouse, but after the battle with the Queen and the dispute with the other Truth Seekers, Miya was extremely exhausted and could barely even stand. My wife had only relayed a message to me from the Dark Mother: "My power has grown significantly. I am now the number three Truth Seeker in the Imperial hierarchy." Then, she went to her chambers, took a dose of crystals and went down into a crystal dream. And as soon as she woke up, she disappeared, this time taking my servant with her.
"Crown Prince Georg, incoming call from the Imperial Joint Chiefs of Staff."
I gave my permission for the call to be put through. The official representative of the Joint Chiefs, Count Timur royl Nayt ton Miro, came on screen. His zone of responsibility was military performance and scout operations against nonhuman races. Without so much as a polite greeting, he immediately asked about the results of the battle in the D56KT system.
"The enemy lost one hundred sixty-seven Behemoth-class battleships, around forty Sledgehammers and up to two hundred small-class ships. After that, they decided to retreat from battle and hide where we couldn’t get them, but they left their flagship behind. At present, we are carrying out the assault of the Queen with Alpha Iseyek troops, but the titanic dimensions of the ship and the gigantic number of defenders inside do not allow us to call the battle truly over yet. The Iseyek losses in the battle for the Queen are already over six million soldiers, and require landing more and more assault divisions to get deeper into the ship. Twelve Trias are occupied with getting reinforcements in. Each of them has carried up to four hundred thousand praying mantises into this meat-grinder."
"I have little interest in losses among Iseyek soldiers," said the Count, dismissing my report. "The Swarm had billions of individuals ready for combat, so losing a few million praying mantises here or there did nothing to change the picture. I'm concerned with something else entirely. First of all, what faction will the Queen belong to after the assault is over? Second, how many ships does the Unatari State have left after the battle, not including Iseyek ships? Third, who will the star systems conquered from the Aliens belong to? Fourth, what became of the formerly Human battleship Orange Majesty? Those are the questions that truly interest the Imperial Joint Chiefs, and in that exact order."
"In optimistic calculations, the Alien flagship will be totally under my control in three weeks. More realistically, we'll need two or three months. I immediately and clearly staked my claim to the ship, and no one, not the Swarm, nor the Empire, nor the Great Houses, made any objections. So the question of who the Queen belongs to after the assault, I consider settled. In the battle, my united fleet lost three battleships, and another two need a complete overhaul and will be out of commission for several months. I also lost twenty-six heavy cruisers and forty-seven light ones. Small-class ship losses came to a total of eight hundred."
"Hrmph... My condolences..."
The man removed his hat in contemplation, and began nervously wringing it in his hands. I then continued:
"The question on who the systems belong to should be discussed with Swarm Queen Nai Igir. But there is little we can do to object if the Iseyek demand these systems for themselves; the systems were liberated by praying mantis assault troops, and the only way to reach them is through insect space. If the Swarm offers Unatari some kind of compensation for some of the systems, that would be only out of their good will. The insects could easily think the Queen enough compensation all on its own. And as for Orange Majesty, it was docked on a Mammoth at the end of the battle and left the system intact, together with the carrier."
The Count went silent in contemplation, then placed his hat back on his head, looked me right in the eyes, and demanded harshly:
"In the name of the Imperial Joint Chiefs, I must demand that the Unatari State immediately cease the blockade of the Green House fleet stuck in the Forepost-31 system. That fleet will be going to the newly liberated systems and will serve as something of a counterbalance to the now excessively strengthened Swarm. The Empire, then, will be able to demand its fair share of those star systems."
I could hardly hold back my indignation. The Joint Chiefs were openly intervening in a conflict inside the Empire and giving recommendations that were clearly more advantageous to one side? The Green House lobbyists had probably pushed that idea through to save their doomed fleet.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Count, unless that Green House fleet surrenders in its entirety and comes under my command," I smiled.
"The Green House will never agree to such a thing," the man said, shaking his head. "But the Unatari State, after all the losses it sustained, is in no position to hold the praying mantises back. You'll be very lucky, Crown Prince, if the Swarm doesn't declare war on you in the next few weeks."
"I do not agree with that assessment, Count. The insects are fairly loyal to me, and I do not expect them to stab me in the back. And also, if they do, I'll easily be able to handle the aggression. The Green House, though, is at war with Unatari, and I haven’t even been given an assurance that my enemies will not take advantage of my being deep in Alien space and take my undefended systems. Beyond that, if the Empire were to do as you described, it would destroy the firm trust the insects have grown for us people, which would then serve as sufficient reason for the Swarm to break our agreements and take the Queen for themselves."
"Hrmm, yes. Here, I agree. In fact, the first thing we should do is wait until the Alien flagship is captured and under Unatari State control. But, the rest of what was said remains in force, and that is not merely my point of view. The Joint Chiefs are seriously worried. Over the last year, the Swarm has grown dangerously strong; it almost doubled in size when they gained the Arite systems, and the Swarm will soon regain nine formerly Alien-controlled systems. If you consider the Insects' intention to add another twenty Alien systems on top of that, and also know how quickly they can multiply and incorporate planets into their society... Soon the Empire will have a neighbor it will no longer be able to reckon with. Before this, the Iseyek were under pressure from the Aliens, so the insects behaved peaceably. But now, that threat to the Swarm has been significantly reduced, in many ways thanks to your victories over the Aliens, Crown Prince Georg. Now, there's no one to hold the Iseyek back. And we are not the only ones who noticed that. Today, the Mechanoids sent Duchess Ovella royl S
tok ton Miro an official message that they refuse to continue being vassals of the Blue House and wish to join the Swarm. That is a very bad sign; nonhuman races no longer see the Empire as the most powerful military force in the Galaxy. We have twenty-five nonhuman races within our borders, and many of them have a bone to pick with the Empire. Some also have territorial ambitions. Under no circumstances can we allow them to leave their subjugation to the Empire and rally around another center of power. For that reason, I give the Unatari State a maximum of two months to capture the Queen and ferry it to a home system, at which time the Empire will officially announce its claim on half of the systems captured from the Aliens."
When Count Timur royl Nayt ton Miro signed off, Katerina asked me cautiously:
"Cousin, why did you tell him it would take so long to capture the Queen, when it's already under our control? And also, you told the Count the total losses of the whole united fleet, including Swarm ships, and not only Unatari losses. After all, we actually have many more ships than he has been led to believe!"
"Katerina, I wasn't lying about the Queen, or our losses. He simply didn't formulate his questions very well, and I was interested in his reaction. A curious picture is coming together. We are at war with the Aliens here, defending all of humanity, and taking losses at that. But, behind our back, other Imperial forces have already crossed Unatari out of the future and are playing their own game, not at all considering our interests..."
My cousin nodded and added thoughtfully:
"We were given two months to solve our problems, which isn't much time at all. What could we change by then?"
My synthetic assistant entered the room, and I called her over:
"Bionica, you said you could repeat the water and provisions sabotage of the First Green House Strike Fleet. Now is the time to do that."
The synthetic beauty gave a curt nod:
New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) Page 32