by Marcus Sloss
“Our what?”
“Eric, did you really think having four wives was not going to get your home, girl themed. Silly man,” Willow said. “Oh, just got a message from Everly. That foxy crixxi wants to join us in the market. She is tired of dealing with stubborn humans. Ha! Can she come?”
“Hell yes, and score. Okay I guess we go home. I want to clean the blood off me and feel like a normal human being. I guess the San Francisco gate is the most secure?” I asked. I knew better than to challenge my lovely lady on getting a manly home and let the earlier comment slide.
“Umm… Call Torrez? Last I knew he was managing loot there. They were smashing all the nearby homes that had not been looted,” Willow said with a hand running over my covered face. Even if I couldn’t feel her affection it was soothingly perfect.
“How about we get married first?” I said, realizing I had been putting this off for a perfect time that would never arrive.
My chest was straddled and Willow pressed her clear face covering against mine. “Eric Yang, does tomorrow work? After we shop, everyone will have time to prepare. Deal,” Willow asked slash told me. To be honest I wasn't sure what she was implying. She was typing rapidly on her enhanced Gpad. “Everyone agreed besides Perci who is sleeping, but she would say yes. I know my little kitten, she would beat me if I let you slip out of this one.”
“A, I haven’t slipped out of marriage yet and I wouldn’t and I don’t have actually have a second point for a B,” I said, typing a note to Torrez asking about the Xgate and to be a grooms-dude for tomorrow at noon while mentioning the need for an acrium vat. I typed Jevon the best man question. “Okay my side is done. Being a guy is so easy. I even can wear an acrium suit.”
“You wouldn’t?” Willow said with a gasp.
“Hell yeah I would. I don’t want to die,” I said with my Gpad pinging.
‘Eastern San Fran gate is secure, come on over. Yes to groomsman. And we have an acrium vat inside storage here because most soldiers rotating in are buying synthetics and you need to be out of acrium for that.’ - Torrez
I was typing a see you soon when Jevon’s message came in.
‘You care if we double marry? Sarah has been on my case since she and Becca are pregnant. And I have not found the right time. Be the best man?’ - Jevon
‘Sounds awesome. Heading in to go shopping. Some asshole blew me up for trying to help his people. Figure it's time for me to step back from the insanity. By this time tomorrow, I will be ready to kill again. Maybe. Probably. Who am I kidding?’ - Eric
‘No one, have fun shopping. I have command and for the community.’ - Jevon
CHAPTER 7
“We are sorry we failed you, our collective mind tried to shift protection in time and were too slow.” The thousands of voices said as one.
“I am fine, sorry you lost some of your… community. Thank you for protecting me and Willow,” I said to the acrium vat.
Before I could get drawn into an endless barrage of ‘we’re sorry’, I left the container inside the storage area.
My naked bounding was halted when I scooped up Everly. She gave me a long kiss with her lush crixxi lips. A handful of my ass was squeezed and I knew that fiery twinkle in her eye.
“Yowzers, someone is in a good mood,” I said to my lovely lady. Willow exited the vat behind me and smacked my free ass cheek. “You two are too funny.”
“Not every day your hunky man commits to eternity,” Everly said, freeing herself of my arms to hand me some clothes. A moment later she grabbed a pile for Willow. Her purple eyes drank in my naked form while she bit her lip. “I am excited about tomorrow.”
“Well, I am too. Where is the storage mind that replaced my pet fish?” I said, willing the Goldie replacement into existence. Nothing materialized. Hmm… “Is the system broken?”
“Not sure, I tried to get access to our funds out of Mansion and there was no answer, they are showing on my display,” Torrez said, walking over now that I was dressed. “And it was suddenly updated. I think someone is falling behind the power curve. Maybe we just need to ask what is needed. Oh, before I forget, Eric, Jasmine will want to be a flower girl. You figure out if Jill is joining you?”
My frown was evident when he held up his hands defensively. “That would be awesome for Jasmine assuming we have flowers. And no I don’t think Jill is. She will be in the castle living with us though. Which will be great!” I said, watching Willow and Everly eyeing my response.
Their reactions didn’t hold any deep clues. I was going to prod them on what they thought when a floating toad appeared.
“You summoned me, peasant?” Toadie said.
I wanted to kick the toad. I wondered if it read my mind from torturing toads as a kid. “I... What is wrong with you?” I asked, knowing I probably shouldn’t have been concerned.
“Three fill-ins have quit since the… I am adjusting to my task. What do you need?” Toadie asked.
“I defeated a contract holder that had goods in his storage portal. Can I claim it?” I asked.
Toadie vanished and suddenly our shelves expanded. There was no answer directly. I guess that was one way to do it. I checked the account. Whoa, the sluggeros had itemized everything to the point it was so perfect. Oh god, if my people were digging into this it was going to get ugly quick.
“King Eric, this is Willis, over,” Willis said through my Gpad.
Huh, so who stole my snarky sluggero and placed a nice version in his place… Daxstar probably. Willis would also know what was inside the VirtaBox. Hmm. Interesting. This further emphasized the serious nature of this information.
“Howdy Willis, what can I do for you?” I asked.
Willis replied, “We’re acquiring all the extra items as requested. Facilities will be set up for our own manufacturing of weapons, supplies, and infrastructure. We kindly ask that you do not dip into the funds Daxstar requires. This new amount is needed but was assigned directly to you from your conquest.”
“Ah, you’re asking me for funds,” I said, smirking from his groveling.
Okay, he wasn’t full on groveling but he was being super nice. That made more sense. I checked over my personal account and saw I indeed did make the big bucks. Then I noticed it was tied to my soon to be wives. Jill was not on the accounts. Everly, Perci, Willow, and Nancy were. I had access to the nation’s funds too which was why I saw what Willis and Sally had set aside. I was guessing not many people could see their list.
“Okay, take ninety percent. Disseminate the other ten percent to the populace.”
“Ugh, that will take time. Fine, consider your request complete. We have many items to acquire, please secure more funds,” Willis said closing the connection.
I turned to Torrez with a look he understood. “Oh, we’re going to be tossing in loot and cars for hours and hours. Everything collected is going right to them. I can say one thing boss, it is nice to have someone else -”
The storage room expanded immensely, cutting Torrez off mid-sentence. There were thousands of winged warriors suddenly in our midst. They were similar to the angelic body except with a reddish tint to the skin. When I inspected them they had a nine for rating and were titled the demonix.
I walked up to the closest one to see they were nine feet tall with humanoid bodies. Definitely virum enhanced as both the males and females were sculpted to perfection. The males had dual curving horns, the females had spikes on the corners of their forehead. Only a single set of boobs, unlike the angelic counterparts. They were armored in thin metallic armor with empowered energy shields across their bodies and on their left forearm. On their right hips hung short rifles with yellow energy crackling from their power cores. Their arrival was sudden, unexpected, and confusing for both parties.
“Who is in charge of you?” I bellowed deep into the storage room.
A larger male than the others flew to me. His feet thudded against the deck when he stopped a few feet away.
“I am Gronax the Unrelenting, I am to
report to Eric Yang, King of Bastion. My contract indicates that is you.”
“Gronax, I am indeed King Eric, and we welcome you to the army of Bastion,” I said and every demonix kneeled. There was a side thought pinging in my head. I finally understood why royalty used plural pronouns. “Arise! Give me a moment, Gronax.”
I called Daxstar who answered, he populated his owl face on my Gpad hologram. “Yes, Eric.”
“The demonix are here, I take it they are a request of yours?” I asked.
“Indeed, more are coming, and more species. The Owlvini Alliance has many worthy fighters that will fit into the virum nature of your armies,” Daxstar said with a pause. He was doing something in the background. “They will follow your rules and your orders. It is in the contracts, so before you get upset at me not asking realize there is no downside.
“With the zinc on this planet, it is a fitting decision to free some of our allies to give them a good home. Even the non-warriors and I have given you an updated list of all the species we recommend. There are over a hundred that are capable of cohabiting with humans and meet our height requirements. I have a new aircraft awaiting them outside Xgates to shift them to Bastion.”
Hmm. I was going to pester the owlvini but he closed the connection. I shifted my attention back to Gronax.
“Your new home awaits you outside. There will be an aircraft to take you to our fortifications where you can find housing and prepare for the coming season of battle. When you have located suitable housing and settled in, request supplies and orders from the Bastion Command net,” I said to Gronax. The demonix left to arrange his troops. I turned to Torrez. “I guess you need to assign someone to handle newcomers.”
Torrez pointed at Jacky who stepped into the storage room. Twice in one day, I saw Willow’s mom. Willow went to greet her. Jacky had a team with her to handle the new arrivals, including Maria and Brand. Brand was Jacky’s current love interest. Willow was undecided on him and she liked to mention that to me occasionally. I knew Jacky never getting over Willow’s dad was over. Willow was not a huge fan but trying to be reasonable.
“Hey Jacky, Brand, Maria. We’re heading to do some shopping, take care,” I said and they wished us well.
With the demonix transition being handled by others, I went to the side exit for the grand market. We went through the void and again I noticed the lack of defensive ships around the orbital. One thing was obvious when I inspected the area.
They had no idea this was a target, or they were laying a very good trap by pretending to be super vulnerable. Somehow I did not see that as the reality. Goldie said they were stretched thin, and I believed that to be true. In history, armies that were unable to hold vast amounts of territory had to adjust to hold even more. There were numerous times Rome’s expansions were halted to deal with internal strife. Humanity lessons were not completely applicable here but hard to ignore.
We arrived in the market and Willow’s enhanced Gpad blinked a direction. I guess we would just call the new devices Gpads too. No sense in changing everything for a simple communication device.
The grand market was busy. This was the time when most species had already stuffed their gates with items for sale, or with purchasing power from looting, mining, or however they generated their trading income. I watched the myriad of aliens shift across the walkways, most diving deeper to find specific vendors.
Willow shifted off the platform and said, “Ferox breeder or synthetics first?”
Everly said, “Ferox breeder.” Without hesitation.
“Ferox breeder it is,” I replied with a smug grin. “I thought Onix was not very well received with the ladies. And Roarson warned us they can kill our citizens. Not saying I don’t want to go, just that this may not work the way we want it to.”
Willow slid an arm around my waist. “We’re here to enjoy the experience and not stress. Eric, there are people managing everything for you. If you’re needed for a major decision, trust me, your Gpad will ping us.”
I sighed in understanding before slinging an arm around her shoulder. Everly tucked an arm around my other elbow and we walked leisurely in a direction Willow was leading us. I was disgruntled even if this was helping.
“Let it go, Eric.”
Everly listened to Willow plead. She decided not to give input and instead plant a quick kiss on my cheek while we walked. While I loved acrium, I certainly did not hate it when they were in their home.
The pace was slow, the traffic was bustling around us with only a few others matching our pace. We passed a sword seller and I drifted over to visit the seller.
The vendor was a unique species. Probably aquatic with flapping gills on the head. Yeah, a further inspection revealed tucked fins and webbed hands on the four arms.
“Before you go any further, who do you worship?” the creature named a Slisonia asked.
“I worship none,” I replied.
There was a grunted negative gesture of violence and the creature said, “Be gone.” The being hissed. “Unless you love the gate-gods as all should, your business is not needed.”
I left without getting into a debate. My gaze at Willow spurned her to speak up.
“Winston included a lot of vendors that we could visit. This new list has an affiliation indicated. So, we can check that before approaching random places,” Willow said and I nodded. “Longoria also has a present for you, not that I want to spoil it but…”
“If I go random shopping for something she mentioned I might do exactly that,” I said and turned to gaze at Everly. “Everly, how are the crixxi liking their new home?”
“I get reports of a lack of livable space. We simply need more trees, which is being done as we speak. They complained a lot, but stealing trees is endless amounts of effort. A lot more than buying them. A group banded together to buy -”
“Wait, are you saying we’re not buying trees?” I asked.
“The government funds are not infinite. Crixxi are not used to being paid as contracted beings. This led to them wanting to contribute. Perci said we would match every gram invested into the tree foundation for Bastion Jungle,” Everly said proudly.
“So, about that. We… Well…” I huffed with frustration. “There are going to be some changes soon. How many crixxi would leave if I released them? And before you ask why, I cannot say.”
“You will tell me later.” Her tone was stern. She smiled to break the serious nature of her earlier reply. “A few would, you would need to act fast to let them prepare to leave. Most of our crixxi acquired from the captured space ship would stay, they have no home to return to. My tribe will have some alpha females leave because they could adapt and be absorbed by deeper tribes on Crixonia. There were some crixxi with homes to return to that we purchased but not many were in that situation,” Everly said, freeing her arm to dive into her Gpad. “I am showing 3745 crixxi reside in Bastion. Probably ten percent would leave.”
I pulled us into the middle of the walkway intersection.
My fingers typed a rapid message to Daxstar.
‘I want to free all contracts but maintain the rules in Bastion.’ - Eric
‘I agree, you should when we are ready. That is not now. To do otherwise would prove disastrous. Trust me.’ - Daxstar
My nosy Willow read the exchange. “Well, I agree with him. Wait until things are fully developed. Ralph, he would flee in a heartbeat and his kind is working magic on the tunnels,” Willow said and my heart shriveled just a bit.
My irritation was expressed by a grumbling in my throat. I couldn’t explain the situation in public. If events transpired as anticipated then Ralph would never see his family again. Sure he was a raider I converted into a worker. That did not mean his family deserved to never see him again. I had more than seventeen hours to decide. I knew right then I would send them home and buy new crixxi or fairies to replace them. Instantly my heart slammed against my chest knowing I was doing the right thing. I even broke their contracts right at that mi
nute.
‘Those are fine, don’t go crazy. I implore you,’ - Daxstar
That owl was incredible with how much he could track. I had done my minor good deed to feel better.
My mood improved immensely. “So, Everly, you mentioned a pool of resources to add more trees. Tell me more.”
“The results were astonishing from the community. Even humans helped. There will be a mighty forest so vast it will darken the underfloor. The mozala, pandarin, and crixxi are very happy,” Everly said with a large smile. “The moment we alleviated their natural housing concerns the whining ended. Do not be surprised if the fairies request a new alcove for a special forest. They like a tree akin to Earth cedars.”
“And you?” I asked.
“What about me?” Everly replied.
Willow piled on in her defense and said, “Yeah what about her?”
“Well, you’re going to be in a castle without trees,” I said, nudging Willow to resume our pace. “Is that okay with you?”
“Oh, I thought… Never mind. Eric, I do not need a tree. A castle is plenty high enough,” Everly said leaving it at that.
“That is kind of you to think of her needs though,” Willow said.
“Wait what did you think?” I asked.
“That you were hinting at me living out of the castle,” Everly said, looking away from my gaze.
“Nope,” I replied quickly.
Her tail tracked over my back lovingly. “I… We are very happy at the moment. I am starting to want to stay at home more already.”
“As am I, getting blown up tends to have that effect,” Willow said and I eyed her questioningly. “I am sure when our young are driving me crazy I will want to get out of the house, but… Our babies, well, I want them to have a chance.”
There was little for me to say. We had been expecting this. Probably why I suddenly had thousands of new red angels with horns arriving. My wives wanted to come off the front lines. Perci tried it, didn’t like it and now Everly and Willow were done. I had no issue with that. Even I told Goldie no to a suicide mission. We had made it to some degree. Our future would be secure with enough time. I bet between Daxstar and Goldie we would have planetary defenses before long.