by Saxon Andrew
The thousands of planets enslaved by the Empire were attacked by the Realm fleets from space and warriors on the ground. The tide had turned and that is what found Sam’s unit preparing to teleport to the surface of another planet to liberate. His unit arrived at the Capital and began spreading out around the main government building. Dort said, “All the Grogat Warriors are laying down their arms and surrendering.”
“All the other cities are reporting the same thing.”
Jixie and Sam moved up the steps of the building and a Grogat Official came out of the front entrance and bowed to them, “I have been asked what your terms of surrender are.”
Sam looked at Jixie and said, “I really don’t think we’ve even considered that you’d surrender. What do you want?”
“Only to be allowed to return to our surviving home worlds.”
“Who do you represent?”
“All of the remaining members of my people on every planet.”
Jixie said, “You will never be allowed to leave your planets to wage war on others.”
“We will accept your condition. We really have no choice. We will need you to transport us. We no longer have the means to leave.”
Sam said, “Why should we do this? You’ve proven who you are and allowing you to survive will only lead to future conflict.”
“We only have ten planets left of the vast numbers before this war. You can enforce your conditions easily enough. There’s been enough death for everyone. I would hope that you will not allow our planets to be destroyed by others.”
Sam pushed his wrist unit, “Your Majesty, I have been asked by a Grogat official to accept his surrender.”
“What planet, Sam?”
“All of them.”
“What!”
“He says he speaks for all the surviving members of his species. He’s been told that he will never be allowed to war again.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said he accepts the condition. His only request is that we transport the Grogat back to one of their ten surviving home worlds and defend them against being attacked.”
Jon had pressed a button and Admiral Gardner had rushed to the throne room. “Admiral, how many planets do the Grogat still control?”
Thom pressed his wrist unit and Jason sent the information instantly. Boy was that lad organized, “About ten thousand, Your Majesty.”
Jon looked back at Sam on the main display and said, “Tell him that if any of the inhabitants of the conquered planets are harmed, we will kill them to the last one. Get with Admiral Gardner and work out the details on how to make the transfer of their forces. They will not take any weapons with them and if we detect them building weapons in the future, his species will be a footnote in history.”
The Grogat Official heard the communication and said, “We will comply.”
“Gather your forces here and be prepared to move by tomorrow. You will remain with those you need to coordinate the remainder of the transfer with our officers. Once that’s done, you will be taken where you desire to go. We will agree to prevent any attacks on your planets.”
“I will notify all of our planetary leaders. And thank you. We know we are at your mercy.”
Pride teleported in and looked at Sam, “Is this true?”
“It appears it is.”
Sam pushed his communicator, “Jason, can you get a company of warriors on all the planets controlled by the Empire quickly.”
“I can.”
“We need to make that happen to make sure the local populations don’t attack the Grogat on their planets. They need to be made aware that it would void the agreement and put them in danger.”
“I’ll get on it.”
Sam smiled. Lyla had chosen a high powered warrior as a husband. He was incredible. Jixie looked at Sam and said, “I can hear her music, Sam.”
Pride turned his head toward her and said, “She is getting stronger. She’s starting to hear the joy of those that are being freed.”
Jixie looked at the sky and felt love in the beautiful melody. She moved her mind to the source and heard, “Thank You.” She started crying and back at her home the Senior felt his tears begin and found his awareness begin to grow.
Sam looked up at the sky and said, “Now we take on the Swarm.”
• • •
The Queen looked up at her wall panel and said, “What have you found out?”
“The Grogat have surrendered. They are being forced to go to their last ten planets.”
“That is not good news.”
“No, it’s not and I believe we will be the next one targeted for destruction.”
“We won’t go so easy.”
“You know they can destroy planets. How will we prevent them from killing us as well?”
“They will not destroy a planet that has other populations on it. They’ll have to go to the surface and even the Grogat couldn’t match us on the surface.”
“They’ll destroy our ships.”
“Not if they’re not there when they attack. We’ll invite them to come to the planet and take us on there.”
“What are your orders?”
“Begin hatching more warriors.”
“There’s not enough food on the planets to feed them.”
“There will be soon.”
The Drone looked at the Queen and hoped she was right. If the populations were eaten, there would be nothing to prevent the enemy from killing the planets.
• • •
The conference room was packed. Admiral Gardner’s support staff manned the displays and two Cats were to the side of the conference table. Thom looked at the group and said, “We might as well get to it. This particular enemy presents an entirely new problem for us. I’m going to turn the proceedings over to Rear Admiral Mirabal.
Jason pressed the remote and a picture of a strange flying creature appeared on the display. Jason used a pointer as he began speaking, “This is a Swarm Warrior. Its body is covered with armor that will resist our strongest beams long enough for it to get close to anyone firing at it. If it gets close, you’re as good as dead.” Jason changed the picture on the display to a close up of the creature’s abdomen. “This is the business end of the warrior. The abdomen has a stinger in it that will penetrate any substance it hits. We’ve determined that it’s actually made of some form of energy that the creature produces naturally. It will break through any portable force field currently in use by the Realm. Our armor is not an exception. If the warrior gets close, someone is going to die.”
Sam said, “Then how do we defeat these creatures?”
Jason shrugged, “That’s what we’re here to discuss. What makes them so deadly is that they fly faster than any creature we’ve ever encountered. Some of the Swarms have been clocked at more than six hundred miles an hour. They’re on you faster than most can react. They are also extremely hard to hit. Individual warriors can change direction ninety degrees while flying at their maximum speed. They’re only about two feet long but they are deadly.”
Gon asked, “Then why haven’t they conquered millions of planets?”
“Technology.”
“What?”
“Their ships are not that powerful. Their beams are adequate at best and they use null drives that take a while to engage. They have expanded a lot in the last few years because the Grogat would go in and remove the ships that defended a planet. That is no longer an option for them.”
“How many planets have they taken?”
“They currently occupy ten and have destroyed the life on twenty thousand others.”
Jixie was shocked at the answer. She said, “What determines whether they occupy or destroy a planet.”
Jason tilted his head, “Food supplies.” He saw the disgust on most of the attendees’ faces and said, “When they invade a planet, a large number of the inhabitants are stung and shipped back to their main planets. If the needs are met, the remainder of the inhabitants will be held
captive, while the warriors begin nest building. They will be consumed by the warriors that are hatched on the planet and the next planet conquered will send shipments to them as well. They eat a lot so their growth is slower that most of the aggressive civilizations we’ve encountered. However, they are without doubt the most deadly species we’ve encountered on the surface of a planet. They number in the billions and their Swarms are larger than you can imagine.”
Sam said, “Have you come up with a strategy on how to handle them?”
“I have but I’ve been told we won’t use it.”
“Why is that?”
“I’m of the opinion that if we try to land on these planets to remove the captured populations, we’ll lose more warriors than they have captives. No warrior would want to be stung by a Swarm Warrior and used as food. Their poison causes paralysis and makes every nerve in the victim’s body send maximum pain signals to their brain. The victim will wait to be devoured by these creatures, enduring more pain than can ever be imagined. I suspect most of them welcome death instead of living in unending torment. If one of our warriors is stung, his body will not respond to his brain. The brain will be traumatized by the pain signals.”
Dort said, “Can the Warrior penetrate our force fields?”
“No and yes; the Swarm Warrior’s body cannot go through the force field but the stinger is like an energy beam that can be fired more than fifty feet. They have stung victims through twenty foot walls.” Jason looked at Admiral Gardner and said, “I would suggest we need to destroy the planets they occupy. Their prisoners will thank us for the mercy.”
Sam looked at Thom, “Why would we not do just that?”
“Because there are millions of innocent prisoners on those planets.”
“Have they all been stung?”
“They have but we have an antidote to the sting. They can be saved.”
Sam looked at Jason, “Have we tried to liberate a planet from them?”
“We have, Your Highness.”
“What happened?”
“That was the planet that was destroyed by the Grogat Fleet when they trialed their new beam. We landed more than three hundred thousand warriors and only twenty thousand survived. Of course, we would have saved more than two billion inhabitants if the Grogat had not killed the planet. But our percent of losses were the highest we’ve faced and that was a planet that was being invaded. These planets are home planets and have billions of them on the surface.”
Sam turned to Thom, “So, what are our options?”
“That’s what we’re here to discuss.”
Sam shook his head, “You don’t want to kill the planet and you don’t want to lose our warriors attacking it. What other option is there?”
Thom shrugged, “We kill their ships and isolate them.”
Jixie said, “If you do that, all the prisoners will die as well and their death will not be pretty. The end result will be the same as killing their planets. All the prisoners will be dead.”
A Captain entered the room and handed Thom a report. He looked up and said, “All of the Swarm’s warships have jumped away from their planets. We don’t know where they went.”
Pride said, “They jumped into another galaxy and are staying in formation there.”
Thom looked at Jason, “Why would they send their ships away?”
“They’re telling us to come and kick them off those planets. They assume we don’t have the courage to destroy the planets with the captured populations on them. They believe we won’t be able to defeat them on the planet’s surface and they may be right in that assessment.”
Thom looked at his panel and said, “I’m open to suggestions on how to do this. I know that it is against the Realm’s policies to destroy a planet with prisoners or slaves on the surface. However, there are no policies preventing us from destroying their ships and I’m adjourning this meeting so we can make plans to do just that.”
“Atennnshun!”
All the officers rose and saluted Tom as he left for the planning staff.
Sam looked at Jixie, “Do you see any way we can do it?”
Jixie shook her head, “I know some people who could but they are prohibited from doing it. I don’t see how it can be done with our current technology.”
Sam looked around the room, “Do any of you have any ideas?” No one said anything. “Well, you know we have to take them on. Put your minds to this and find a way to do this without heavy casualties. You’re dismissed.”
Jixie looked at the Swarm’s planets and entered one of the prisoner’s minds and had to quickly back out. Her anger grew at a species that would inflict that kind of torment on their victims. This was worse than killing them.
• • •
The Queen looked at her wall and saw her First Drone, “What is it?”
“The Fleet has been destroyed.”
“WHAT!”
“We don’t know how they found our ships. They jumped more than a hundred times before arriving at the final jump coordinates. They waited and made sure they were not followed. The Realm was able to find them and you know we’re no match for their warships. There were no survivors.”
The Queen’s anger rose and the First Drone was glad he had called the report in instead of delivering it. “They will pay for this. Start building replacements.”
“I have already issued the orders and we’ll have a hundred ships completed within thirty rotations.”
The Queen now saw that it was going to be a fight to the death. Now she hoped the Realm would not destroy the planets. She ordered that the captured populations were off limits for food. Everything else was open but they were not to be touched. If they were removed, the Realm would destroy their worlds. The billions of Swarm Warriors began eating everything organic on the planets. All the native wildlife went first.
• • •
Sam and Jixie sat on the hill outside the headquarters building. It had become their favorite place. The other company commanders sat with them in silence while Jixie looked at the sky and told them what she saw. They soon learned that the Swarm was not their last problem. Jixie said, “There is a civilization halfway across Creation that uses ships three hundred miles long. Their weapons are far more advanced than ours. Nothing we have will penetrate their force fields. They are on the move and are attacking ten planets at this moment.”
Dort said, “What do they do with the conquered planets?”
“They enslave the populations and use them in gladiatorial matches to entertain them. The winners are fed slightly more than the others. They also kill one inhabitant a day to test their blasters. There’s usually a million of them on every planet.”
Gon shook his head. “No wonder our Mother is suffering.”
Jixie said, “It’s not all bad news. There are civilizations like ours that are fighting against evil. Like us, they aren’t gaining ground.”
Sam sighed, “Jixie, how many prisoners are there on the Swarm Planets?”
Jixie looked at Sam, “You’re not seriously thinking about trying to free them?”
“I thought you enjoyed fighting?”
“I do and I might, just might, survive. I don’t think anyone else will if we try.”
“How many, Jixie?”
“Four billion.”
Everyone on the hill was stunned. Sam took a deep breath and blew it out, “Four billion innocent lives in torment. Do you know how many Swarm Warriors are on the planets?”
Jixie looked at Sam and finally said, “Three trillion.”
“How many locations are the prisoners kept in?”
Jixie shook her head, “This is not something we are able to do with our level of technology.” Sam stared at her and she said, “The Swarm builds one next on each planet and it’s gigantic. The prisoners are kept in one location next to the nest.”
“So there are ten locations that house the prisoners.”
Jixie stared at Sam and said, “Yes, one on each of the planets.�
��
“So, if we could teleport that location out quickly, we’d only have to fight off the Swarm for a short time.”
“Sam, time is a relative thing. The holding structures are covered with their warriors. You couldn’t teleport it out without taking millions of the warriors with it. And anyone that came anywhere close to that structure would be attacked by thousands of the Swarm Warriors in less than a second. If you try and use blasters to remove the warriors on the structure, you’ll kill everyone inside.”
Sam looked at the warriors around him and said, “If it was our people being held there in torment, tell me what you would do?”
Everyone looked at each other and finally Dort said, “I’d say go in.”
Sam looked at Jixie and said, “I’ve sworn to protect those that can’t defend themselves. If I would do it for one of mine, I should do it for anyone else. To turn my back on them and be unfaithful to our principles would start eating away at the thing that makes me who I am. I just can’t turn my back on them.”
Jixie stared at Sam and knew she was going to lose him. Now she knew the sorrow he would face if she left. Her tears glistened on her face and she said, “You have taught me so much about what honor truly is. If you go, I go with you.”
Robby looked at Jennifer and then said, “I’ll notify Jason that we are going to take on one of the planets. I’ll let him know to start making plans to try and make it work.”
“Thank you, Robby.”
The four teleported away to leave Jixie and Sam alone. “Jixie, I’m so sorry. I don’t want to do this but…”
Jixie put her finger on Sam’s lips and said, “You don’t have to explain. There are some things worth fighting for. Please tell me we can make the most of the time we have before the assault.” Jixie sat down and leaned against Sam’s chest. She put her head on his shoulder and he said, “Jixie, every moment I’m with you is making the most of it.”
Jixie smiled and knew the possibility of survival was nonexistent. But she was not going to leave his side.
• • •
The Senior watched the two and thought about what the human was going to do. He looked up at his creation and saw the vast expanse of evil civilizations that ruled eighty percent of it. His species had ignored the evil ones and concentrated on the study, paying no attention to what they were doing. Whenever one of them made the mistake of attacking them, they had been eradicated by the playing hatchings. But they did not help those that could not withstand the onslaught of evil. That’s what killed the Creator. “We should have done something.”