Ashes of the Realm: Book 04 - The Return of the Realm

by Saxon Andrew

Trey said, “Just how are you going to do that?”

  “Our original plan called for destroying their reactors which would explode and kill the ship. We were concerned that the explosion would trap our warriors inside the force field and possibly kill them if the explosion arrived before the field went down. Now, we are not going to attack the reactors.”

  Tag sat down and said, “Please sit, Major. What are you going to do?”

  “We are going to teleport five Warriors into different sections of the ship and have them cut through the walls from ceiling to floor. They will then teleport out.”

  “What will that do?”

  “We’ve learned from the theft of their dimensional drive by Kreej that, if power is interrupted to the control boards on the bridge, the ship will self-destruct. Once that happens, the force field will drop and the Warriors will teleport to the coordinates of their attack craft. The self-destruct explosion will not be as powerful as the one produced by the destruction of their reactors. It is our intent to destroy thirty of their newest ships in our first attack, Your Grace.”

  Tag looked at Trey and saw him nod, “Major, you are hereby promoted to the rank of General and will assume the command of our Life Warriors once this exercise is completed; congratulations.”

  “I’m sorry, Your Grace, but I must refuse.”

  Tag stared at the young man and said in a stern voice, “You are needed to prepare our forces.”

  “Your Grace, I am needed at the front fighting the Black Ships. Any one of my officers can manage the training you require. I will resign my rank and be a private before I give up my right to fight the enemy head on.”

  Trey smiled and said, “You’re doing it for your father, aren’t you?”

  “Yes Sir, I am.”

  Tag looked at Trey as he said, “Then we will do this. You will be promoted to the rank of General and we will send you a regiment to train. You will be our Special Forces that will be used in missions that are the most difficult. We won’t prevent you from taking part but we insist that you have a replacement trained to replace you in the event you are lost. If you refuse this, you will be out of the Marines.”

  “I have already selected five that can take my place. I need you to promote them so that it will be done automatically if that should happen. However, isn’t there only enough Life Warriors to make a regiment?”

  Trey smiled and shook his head, “You are quick, but you are not exactly right. Remember the Realm has more than a million Red Warriors defending it.”

  “What are you going to do with them, Sir?”

  “Unfortunately, their armor is not as good as the new armor we’ve developed. Since it is in their DNA, it can’t be heavily modified and they will have to be used as drop troops. They understand their role and really wish they could join the new Life Warriors but realize their limitations. Their destiny lies in what happens if we survive the Demons”

  Tag smiled at Trey and said, “I wish I had done this when faced with promotion.”

  Kline said, “Your Grace, no one could replace you.”

  Tag laughed and said, “Trey, make sure this command is completely independent of all other forces. The General here will take his orders directly from you.”

  Kline said, “Your Grace, would you mind if I sent my officers to choose those that will command? And if I may be presumptuous, will you give me two stars; I have a member of my staff that should be a General handling the Regiment’s preparation while I oversee the general operations. She will be the one that takes my place if I’m lost.”

  Tag smiled, “Done; General, make your own promotion recommendations and send them to us. You may then start choosing your warriors; that’s assuming you survive the mission.”

  Kline smiled, “If we don’t, we will go out with a bang taking Black Ships with us.”

  Tag said, “Make it back, General.”

  “I have every intention of doing that, Your Grace.”

  • • •

  Tag sat with Trey in the Map Room at Castle Gardner and took a sip from his glass, “I’m not sure about allowing our General to take part in combat operations.”

  Trey laughed, “If I’m not mistaken, weren’t you the one leading gorilla operations against the Algean Fleets in that war?”

  “Well, yes, I guess so.”

  “That’s why the Realm loved your family so much. They knew you put your life on the line to defend them. This General will also be loved by the Warriors under him because he will share their risk; just like the Realm’s Navy respected you. This is a good thing.”

  Tag tilted his head and said, “I guess you’re right.”

  Trey laughed, “You know I am. I’m getting better at seeing things.”

  Tag smiled, “You are right again. Let’s see how this turns out.”

  • • •

  Kline sat in front of his officers and said, “The ships are ready and our departure time will be at 0700 in two days. We have the Intel on the enemy’s ships and have given the selection to our Algean Pilots. They will teleport simultaneously to your assigned targets.” Kline saw their excitement and said, “Before we go, there is something I need to do. Effective after the mission is completed; Captain Graves will be promoted to Brigadier General and will be reporting to me. Each of you will be promoted to Colonel and will command a battalion of Life Warriors. The team leaders in your platoon that command a squad will be promoted to Captains and take command of the Regiment’s Companies.”

  Gina interrupted saying, “Sir, I respectfully decline the promotion.”

  Kline said, “Oh, be quiet, Gina. You and I both will be taking part in the fighting. That was the only way I would accept this structure.”

  “Then I withdraw my objection, Sir. I’m sorry for interrupting.”

  “Just don’t do it again, General.”

  “Not yet, Sir; after the mission.”

  Kline smiled and nodded, “You’re right. Now we’re going to need sixty four more warriors selected to promote to Lieutenant to command our platoons. I want a list from each of you of those that have demonstrated the needed skills to handle that duty. We will make our selections from those on the list that survive this mission. In the event I don’t make it, Captain Graves will replace me. Lt. Vaughn, you will replace us if both of us don’t make it back. Any questions?”

  No one said anything and Kline said, “Pick up your Intel packs and get your Warriors ready. Captain Graves and I will prepare our teams.”

  The four Lieutenants left and Gina stayed behind. Kline looked at her and said, “Is something bothering you, Captain?”

  “Yes it is, Sir. I know if I were in your place, I would be fighting tooth and nail to not be left out of this mission; but you are so important to our future success. I just don’t want to lose you, Sir.”

  “You’ll be just as effective as I am, Captain.”

  “Maybe, but not as good. Please be careful, Sir.”

  Kline smiled, “You do the same, Gina. It’s time to get into the fray and no warrior should be made to stand on the sidelines. We’ll start that tradition here and now. I believe it’s the right thing to do.”

  Gina saluted and nodded, “Thank you, Sir.”

  “For what?”

  “Confirming my belief in you, Sir.” Gina turned and left the office. Kline knew her feelings. He didn’t want to lose her. For more reasons than she knew.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kline teleported in to the Algean Capital and met Twig in her lab; she looked up and thought, “Why did you insist on seeing me immediately, General?”

  “My company is going into action in forty eight hours and I need to see if you can build a device for me.”

  “Go on.”

  “We’re going to attack two of their newest ships and we really don’t know what we’ll be jumping into. I’m concerned that our tactics might fail with those two ships.”

  “What is it you want us to build?”

  Kline laid a sheet of paper on
a table and Twig took a look at it, “Where are you going to put this thing?”

  “It will have to be absorbed by the skin on my armor.”

  Twig looked at the diagram again and said, “Hold on a moment.” An adolescent Algean entered the lab and Twig thought, “Do you have the inventory of weapons in the Realm’s arsenal?”

  “I do, Elder.”

  “Give it to me.”

  Kline watched as there was about five seconds of silence and the young Algean turned and left. Twig said, “We have a possibility but it is going to be a close thing.”

  “Can you make it work?”

  “Possibly, come back late tomorrow and I’ll see if we can make it small enough. We’ll probably only have enough time to make one of them before your deadline.”

  “I’ll take what you can give me and thank you for helping me. I sincerely hope we don’t need this.”

  “I must say it’s an interesting concept. I’ll get a team working on it immediately.”

  Kline nodded and teleported out.

  • • •

  Trey and Cassie contacted Timmy and Virze, “Timmy, do you remember the universe we invaded to give our flyers an opportunity to work on their skills?”

  “Yes, I do, Trey.”

  “I need you to go to the universe one sequence from it and find a world where we can use our new armored troops. We need a world that has been invaded by large numbers of troops. Our warriors need to use their weapons in a live situation. Take Greyson and see if you can find a suitable candidate.”

  “I thought that armor was not generally distributed yet?”

  “It isn’t; however, we’ve recalled all of the recruits that passed basic but failed the advanced training. There are hundreds of thousands that have started reporting to the camps and are now working on learning how the armor works. We’ll need a target for them and I don’t want to wait until the last minute.”

  “We’ll leave within two hours.”

  “We’ll need an approximation of how many warriors will be needed in whatever planet you choose.”

  “We’ll try to find more than one suitable candidate.”

  “Good; be careful and stay in stealth mode.”

  “Will do; I’ll keep you informed.”

  • • •

  Cassie looked at Trey, “Are you rushing this?”

  “I hope not but I think we don’t need to wait to get these warriors in the fight for Creation. The Zord and Spiders are now fighting those aggressive civilizations and they are nowhere near the numbers needed to stop the tide. Even if we lose to the Demons, if we can get more into the fray, they can make a difference. Creation will just have to build another tool for the Demons if we fail.”

  Cassie thought a moment and said, “I sense you’re right. Have you discussed this with the Gardners?”

  “No, I have the authority to make it happen.”

  “You don’t think they’ll disagree?”

  “Link with me and look at this, Cassie.”

  Cassie entered his mind and was surprised, “Your mind is really developing, Trey. This decision dovetails nicely with the attack on the Demon’s ships.”

  “Yes it does and I believe this is the reason for that attack; not visa-versa.”

  “I can see that now. However, we need to think about what might happen as a result.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If the Demons fear going to the original galaxy, what will they do?”

  Trey thought about it and said, “You know what we’ll have to do if that happens.”

  “We need the second ship.”

  “It will be ready in two weeks. What we need is the crew.”

  “They will appear, Trey. I know that this is part of the design and the crew will be there when we need them.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Me, too.”

  • • •

  Kline stood in front of his Company of warriors and stared at them. The thirty three Algean Pilots stood behind the company watching the proceedings and talking to themselves telepathically. Kline looked at the Company’s officers standing in front of their commands and saw that they didn’t appear to be nervous. He knew they were but refused to show it to their platoons. Gina and Kline’s team were standing at attention behind them. They had been carefully chosen and Kline knew they were ready. He just worried about the two ships he and Gina were going to attack. We just don’t know enough about them. Kline said, “We’ll be departing in ten minutes. Get in, get out, and teleport to your escape coordinates. I know you’re ready, make the Queen proud. Go to your ships.”

  The floor of the Defense Facility emptied in less than a second and the warriors waited for the countdown to complete. They knew the time was not any longer or shorter than normal but it seemed to change as they waited. Finally, the speaker on each landing bay announced, “Teleport in three, two, one, and now.”

  • • •

  Kline knew things would happen fast but he still heard now in his ears when his team appeared in the landing bay of the Demon’s newest ship. He raised his arms and hit the ceiling at full power with his armor’s main beams and saw that the inner hull did not burn through. It had a scar burned in it but the beams did not penetrate. Kline yelled, “Take out the crew in here!”

  The five warriors quit firing their main beams at the ceiling and moved rapidly forward into the landing bay. Alarms were going off at high volume and Kline saw on his helmet’s scanner that there were eighty six of the orange creatures in the bay that were grabbing weapons and taking cover. Kline put his laser on auto and set his shoulder gun to pick targets. The five bright white warriors move forward and the orange defenders were falling fast. “Cover the rear doors, Jico.”

  One of the five turned and faced the doors into the landing bay that connected the front of the ship. As he watched three of them blew inward and he launched a small wasp at each. The reinforcements were hit with a blast that blew out the doors and up the halls. Jico waited for the next ones to come.

  Kline fought his way through the orange creatures and arrived at the door to the reactor room. He turned on his main beam and fired blowing the door inward. He fired three wasps into the room and tossed a dark green package that he took out of the skin of his armor into the room and yelled, “Jump, Jump, Jump!”

  The five warriors teleported out of the ship to the force field and Kline turned his scanners on the ship and saw five heavy lasers tracking on their position, “Get ready to teleport to another location. Get ready…” Then the huge ship blew up in a massive explosion. “Watch the field; jump as soon as it falls.”

  Kline watched the force field and saw the explosion’s shock wave moving out at them at tremendous velocity. He hoped their armor could withstand the pressures but doubted they could. Just as the shock wave moved in on them, the force field disappeared and he hit his teleport key. They arrived at the assembly coordinates and saw their ship waiting on them. Kline teleported on board and said, “Give me an update on Captain Graves Team.”

  The Algean made mental contact with another ship and said, “Her team has not returned.”

  Kline said, “Take me to her target and teleport me in on board. Get moving!”

  The Algean Pilot stared at Kline and said, “I’m sorry sir but I can’t allow you to take that risk.”

  Kline got angry and said, “You have sworn your loyalty to the Realm. I am the ranking Realm Officer on this ship and I expect you to keep your oath.”

  The Algean’s leaves began turning brown as he said, “Prince Gardner has ordered me to try and make sure you survive this mission. I believe he outranks you, Sir.”

  Kline said, “If we start trying to protect our warriors, we are going to lose this war. You know that to be true. Once we start down that road, we will not return. Take me there now!”

  The Algean stared at him and his leaves turned bright green, “Well, who wants to live forever anyway. Teleporting in five seconds.”


  Kline’s team said, “Send us with him.”

  Kline said, “No! You will wait here.” Then he disappeared.

  • • •

  Kline reappeared in the landing bay in the middle of a huge firefight. He saw the five Warriors firing from behind a bulkhead and teleported over to them as twenty beams went through the position he had just occupied. Gina saw him and yelled, “Are you out of your mind?”

  “Give me an update.”

  “It appears we teleported in just when the ship was having a drill on repelling boarders. We arrived with two hundred of their soldiers going through their maneuvers. I have no way to get to the reactor room to blow this baby up. I’ve lost two of my team that were hit with a hundred lasers. We’re not going to last much longer, more and more troops are arriving.”

  Kline looked at Gina and said, “In three seconds from my mark I want you and your team to step out and lay down a covering fire. Fire for two seconds and then move back behind this bulkhead.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m here to deliver a present and I need them to allow me time to deliver it. Are you ready?”

  Kline keyed the first three codes in his helmet and saw them go active. Gina stared at him and then nodded. Kline said, “Mark!”

  The three life warriors stepped out from the bulkhead and fired every weapon in their inventory. The massive fire caused the orange troops to drop momentarily and Kline stepped out with the three and said, “Eject.”

  Gina watched something huge leave Kline’s armor and ignite directly in front of him, driving both of them to the floor. She looked up and saw the rocket move across the huge landing bay as a silver screen formed in front it and expanded rapidly. The screen was more than a hundred feet across when it hit the far side of the landing bay and when it passed the enemy troops on the other side of the huge room, none of them remained. She saw it go through the reactor room doors and then she saw empty space.

  “Jump, jump, jump!”

  The four warriors teleported out of the huge ship to the force field and watched the huge ship go dark.

  Gina looked back at the ship and saw it go dark, “Kline, what was that?”