Verron_Birth of a Nation

by Douglas Varnell

  Brigadier General Zhdanov had been home from his two week honeymoon in Bali for over a month. Hunter had been busy most of that time continuing to recruit across Europe, America and Canada. He looked forward to the day that they began to openly advertise over the internet, television and newspapers. He also knew that Renee had plans to use the Dragon Guard and other young people to do University recruiting. Paul suggested opening Military recruiting offices next door or directly across the street from U.S. Armed Forces Recruitment Offices. General Z liked the idea from Paul’s point of view, but knew it would make enemies of the very people they were hoping to be allies. Paul never agreed or disagreed. The General knew he would do it however he felt like doing it. One thing he had learned about King Verron, he would listen to anyone’s suggestions and arguments even if they were directly in opposition of what he felt best, but in the end, he made his own decisions, and made it clear that he was the one who was ultimately responsible if things didn’t work out as planned.

  Most of Verron’s Generals had been in the military service over 20 years each, and had grown accustomed to slow bureaucracy and politicians looking to make scapegoats of the Generals when a bad decision was made, so ultimately no one would want to make a decision. Paul Verron and General Zarman’s decisions carried the weight needed to get things done. No one passed the buck and no one made excuses. When it came to every major decision, the buck stopped with King Verron and he stood behind any decisions made by his leaders, even when he disagreed with it.

  Hunter and Vladimir were getting anxious to get off planet for a while and volunteered to lead the next exploration for a charted world in the Black-Eye Galaxy. It was only one Galaxy over from the Whirlpool Galaxy, but was still over 60,000 light years away from Verron. Jesserrica Zhdanov was enjoying her new position working for Renee in the Industrial Development group and knew that Vlad couldn’t very well stay home forever; it was after all a very large universe. Hunter and Vlad decided to take a Gljarne Class Destroyer and a full crew of fifty. With 100 Marines, 20 Class X Fighters, 4 Troop Carriers and the pilots for each. The ship was a busy place as it prepared to depart for what was going to be a one month training and expedition flight.

  At Yadvega and Tlase’s suggestion, the ship was scheduled to make a stop at Xhondar III and pick up a crew of terraforming specialists and drop them off at Molnar. Within a year, the planet should have a breathable atmosphere that could support life on the surface and the temperatures should cool enough to actually develop plant life. There were still a lot of obstacles to overcome, but colonizing the planet should be possible in the near future. Paul had forewarned Hunter and Vladimir about slowing their airspeed as they approached the spaceport. He didn’t want to dump any Crendornic riders off the backs of their Wohlyn. After the ship landed, they were quickly surrounded by curious Crendornic and humans who had never seen a warship of any kind. Hunter let one of the other pilots give tours to the spectators as he and Vladimir rounded-up the terraforming team and their equipment. Six passengers were awaiting their arrival, 3 human and 3 very tall Crendornic. Lt. Governor Xi escorted the team to the ship and asked, “How is my friend Paul? Tell him I would like to come see him someday.” Hunter introduced himself as Prince Hunter, Paul Verron’s grandson then introduced Vlad. After Xi toured the Destroyer, he asked, “I know that Xhondar I has undertaken the rebuilding of their fighting ship fleet and have named Dalhia Commander General of their newly formed military. We have no military here and are interested in protecting ourselves from outsiders. Tell King Verron I would like his help on this matter.” Hunter immediately replied, “I can assure you that I speak with the voice of the King, we will welcome the opportunity to add you to our list of allies, and do what we can to train your military and supply ships and weapons. One day it will take all of us to stand against what lies ahead. I’ll make it a personal priority to set up meeting as soon as possible with our two governments. Now that we have the Council of Elders blessing, there will be some changes in Xhondar’s position on being non-military. Perhaps next time I come you will allow me to fly on one of those beautiful creatures.” Lt. Governor Xi acknowledged his thanks and assured Hunter there would be a ride ready for him.

  The Crendornic passengers weren’t as big as Klelta but were larger than the average human. The accommodations did suffice. All three of these big men were close to seven feet tall, with massive arms and chests. Their features were very human with the exception of disproportionally long large arms, extremely bulky shoulders and broad chest. Their heads were shaped almost square. Hunter wanted to refer to them as blockheads but knew that probably wouldn’t be a wise decision. One of the humans was Dalhia’s nephew. With a father who was Lt. Governor and an aunt who was an Elder, as well as Commanding General of Xhondar, it was obvious to Hunter that this young man could be a major influence in Verron-Xhondar relations.

  When the ship arrived at Molnar they launched a mock attack with the fighters and troop landing vessels. The Marines already on the ground were to defend their position against invasion. While the mock battle was taking place, the little Molnarians were scattered throughout the mountains and observing through every available peephole. Paul had allowed Tala to locate one of the large freighters in the valley just outside the main cave entrance to the Molnar village. It would serve as an operations point for human activity. The freighter was more than large enough to house 500 people and still store equipment and surface transports. The accommodations for the terraforming team would be located there. When several of the little Mole-men entered the ship and saw the oversized Crendornic men they ran in fright. Hunter had to assure them that the big men would not eat them and were here to help them. They soon became the center of attention as parents and children alike came to the freighter to see the giants. Hunter wondered what would happen if they brought a few Klelta to Molnar.

  It was obvious that the soldiers were being watched by everyone, but the children were trying to imitate their hand-to-hand and knife fighting and were playing with make believe guns in mock battles. Most of the Mole-men had poor eyesight. Four of them were selected to use weapons to protect their cave entrance, from predators. Tala had given them each headgear with adjustable vision enhancements. When they realized they could magnify up to 10x, everyone in the village started coming around to check it out. The kids looked like bobble heads with the headgear on and would shriek in delight when they had their turn to see. The Crendornic men immediately warmed up to the locals and actually liked the centipedes and worms, especially after Vlad showed them how to filet and cook them in garlic butter or wine sauce. Hunter was in the same camp as Tala, he preferred BBQ Pork or a T-Bone.

  The Gljarne Class ship made its next stop at Klelta, once again doing mock invasions with the local military. Hunter even flew a Fighter in the mock dogfight against the much larger Klelta fighters. He was amazed that a ship so large could maneuver as well as it did. There were a dozen of Vlad’s ex-Spetsnaz friends working as trainers for the Klelta Special Forces and were thrilled to see their old friend with a new rank. Hunter was pleased to see that Hon IV was actively involved with them as they trained. He also flew in the mock dogfight and gave Hunter a run for his money. It felt good to be training with his friend from Klelta. Between Klelta and the small star system that contained Darsai, their final objective, the ship made numerous stops at planets and asteroids and even practiced boarding the abandoned Jhxunka ship. They missed no opportunity to test their skills in difficult environments.

  They had been gone for over a week when they finally entered the Darsai solar system. The actual planet they were seeking was in an orbital position amazingly similar to Earth and her sun. In fact it was similar to almost every inhabited planet Hunter had seen thus far. He decided that God did in fact know what he was doing when he positioned planets so precisely. He had been on several too close and several too far from their sun and the results were drastic. There was definitely a narrow range of tolerances for human inhabitants.
As they orbited the planet with a circumference of approximately 19,000 miles, he could easily determine the ratio of land mass to water was very close to the ratio of Earth and Verron. He and Vlad decided to orbit the planet for a while and send out a few dozen explorer drones to determine the compatibility of the atmosphere and advancement level of the inhabitants.

  There were four continents and several large islands separated by vast oceans. The largest continent was lush and fertile along its coasts and its four or five rivers, but was mostly dry plains as you traveled away from them. The eastern coast, where three of the rivers exited to the ocean, was heavily populated with large industrial looking cities. There were thousands of wooden ships being built in almost every waterfront community, leaving the surrounding countryside barren from trees used to build them. Smoke rose from hundreds of forges being used by as many blacksmiths. They were building a huge army and campgrounds were spread out for miles across the plains, as men trained with every conceivable weapon. This was not however an advanced culture. From observation video footage, it was plain to see that they were about as advanced as Earth during the Middle-Ages; steel used for swords, crossbows, armor, and other heavy weapons of combat. They had versions of Ballista, Trebuchets, Siege Towers and large horse like creatures with heavy body armor. There had to be close to 200,000 soldiers preparing for war, and from the looks of the fleet of ships, it was going be war with whoever lived across the ocean on the continent east of them.

  The continent to their east was about two thirds the size of the continent preparing for war. From the drone observation footage, Hunter saw some of the lushest farmland and timberland he had ever seen. There were hundreds of lakes and rivers, the majority of the rivers looked wide and deep enough to navigate. There were several good sized coastal towns, but nothing of any great size, and only four of them were walled. The other population lived mainly along the coast or many rivers and consisted mostly of farming communities and fishing villages. Deep inland on a ridge overlooking a wide river was a beautiful castle. It had high walls and looked to house 20,000 to 30,000 people. It was surrounded by wheat-fields and other local crops that sat in a beautiful valley surrounded by a low ridge of maybe 1000 feet. Beyond the ridge were more farms. There were few of the horse like animals, other than those being used by farmers. Of particular note was the fact that this land seemed to have little or no army. What weapons that could be seen along the walled cities and the obvious Kings castle were nothing more than long-bows, swords, spears and battle-axes. If that massive army to the west boarded those ships and moved on these people, it would be a slaughter.

  Hunter didn’t especially want to get involved in war, but he also felt a need to defend the weak. He decided that he and Vlad would need to make a trip to the surface and get a feel for what was going on. With both of them being tall and blond, it would be impossible for either of them to go to the continent preparing for war. The people there were mostly dark-haired, averaging 5ft-7in to 5ft-8in in height and deep olive in complexion. All of Hunter’s men would almost be giants compared to these people, but they would at least need to send men with the skin and hair that would fit in with most of the locals. There were two of the soldiers who had done clandestine work, one Navy Seal and one Russian Spetsnaz. Both were of medium height and were dark of hair and complexion. They were still going to stick out in a crowd with their clean shaven faces and short hair. But if they could steal some clothes from the locals and remain inconspicuous, they just might do alright.

  The two Marines decided it would be best to go in after dark and hopefully be unnoticed until they had time to prepare. Hunter gave them both a new invention created at Paul’s request and developed by Tlase and Lucy. They were prototypes and the only ones in existence. Paul had given them to Hunter to run tests on while he and Vlad were out exploring, he had planned to test them himself, but it looked like the situation at hand would dictate who would end up trying them for the first time. Hunter said a short prayer and hoped that Paul knew what he was doing. He opened the box containing the two Trapdoor Devices, they had been developed to be a last chance device for escaping your enemy and sudden death. Paul planned to have one available for every member of the armed forces and clandestine operatives, if they worked. Hunter handed what looked like a normal black digital watch to his two operatives. He told them, “This is the most secret weapon in the Verron arsenal. These two are the only two in existence and priceless. They are designed to blow-up anyone who attempts to open or tamper with them. Put them on. Do not lose them!”

  Former Navy seal Skiver looked at the cheap looking plastic watch, then at his $500.00 Luminox and back at Hunter and asked, “Does the King need me to lend him a little money, this looks worse than a $16.00 Casio. I think I’ll just wear my own.” Hunter smiled and asked, “That is a nice watch, but will it form an instant gateway back to Verron if you’re surrounded or captured? All you have to do is say Trapdoor into the watch and directly under your feet, so you will drop into it, will form an instant man-sized gateway that will deposit you directly back to the command center on Verron. Since there are not enough of us who can form gateways to be everywhere at once, King Verron decided that he wanted all his people to have a way out of any life threating situation. Every one of you matter to him.” Skiver immediately took off his Luminox and proudly put on the cheap looking plastic device, saying, “I needed one of these five years ago in Afghanistan.” Hunter reminded him, “If you find yourself in the situation where you need to use it, please radio back to the ship from Verron as soon as you get there. It’s a one way trip and can’t be reused, but you’ll be safe. Otherwise I’ll meet you in forty-eight hours in the same spot I dropped you off.”

  Hunter paused a moment and reached into his dark-gray commando bag and pulled out two devices about the size of a small pager. He looked at both men and told them, “This is the second most valuable item in the Verron arsenal.” Both men looked at him as if he had totally lost it. “They will not self-destruct if tampered with and are not a onetime use item. Since you will not be wearing your body armor, then you will wear what Vlad and I wear when going into a dangerous situation. Keep it on you at all times and if you lose it, hope the enemy kills you, because if they don’t I will.” Hunter did not have a hint of a smile on his face when he said that, and the two men almost gave them back. He continued, “These are whitematter powered forcefields. You can take a direct hit from a Plasma Cannon and walk away unharmed; it should be more than capable of stopping an arrow or a sword. In fact the Dragon Guard wear them when we sword fight. That way we never have to pull our blows and always go for the kill shot, and it still keeps all 10 Dragon Guards alive.

  Both men smiled as they put them on, Stevonich finally spoke, claiming, “Been holdin’ out on us have ya?” Vlad added, “All of my operatives wear one for protection. Soon they will be wearing those cheap looking watches.” He smiled and added, “If they work.” Skiver asked, “What other kinds of stuff you guys have?” Just for fun, Hunter removed the thing that looked like a flashlight from his belt and activated the Light Sabre. Skiver smiled and commented, “Next you’re going to tell me Master Yoda taught you everything you know.” Hunter turned off the Sabre and replied, “No, but he’s a close personal friend, now get out of here before I take back your new toys.”

  The four men changed into the least conspicuous clothing they had and took one more look at a hologram created by Lucy. Skiver and Stevonich were dropped off behind a stable inside the largest and busiest city on the continent. It was swarming with soldiers and civilians preparing for war. Hunter and Vlad immediately made a jump to the top of the ridge on the outskirts of the castle they had seen near the wide river. Skiver and Stevonich entered a rustic stable and spent a moment studying the strange looking horses in the stalls. The animals had six legs, stood at least as high their shoulders, and had small heads like a deer, with large eyes and horns much like a Mountain Ram. The hair was short but furry, and soft to the touch. T
hey seemed perfectly comfortable around humans. The stable had two occupants besides the beasts, a man in rough leather and arms as big as most people’s legs, obviously the black smith who ran or owned the stable. The other was a soldier. He wore heavy leather clothing covered with steel plates in all the vital areas, a helmet made of steel and carried a two-handed broad sword at his side and a crossbow strapped to his back. With very little stealth, the two from Verron swaggered up and interrupted the conversation going on between the two men then Tasered them. They tied them up after removing their clothes and held their noses as they put them on. Hygiene was obviously not a priority in their kingdom. It was a toss-up as to which smelled worse, the soldier smelled like rotten leather and body odor, the stable keeper, well, smelled like a stable. It didn’t seem like either had ever washed their bodies or their clothing. The helmet helped hide Skivers short hair, while a scarf worn to keep the sweat out of the Smiths eyes covered the head of Stevonich.

  They decided to split up and meet back at their rendezvous in 48 hours, knowing that these two bound and gagged men would be found long before then, so they needed to get going as soon as possible. Skiver began to follow a group of soldiers down the street and slowly made his way to the army encampment outside of town. Stevonich decided to walk the streets of the filthiest town he had ever seen, and with his travels for the Russian military, he had seen some really filthy places. He was appalled by this town. He soon learned it was named Niccaros after their Goddess Nicci. The streets were filthy and filled with human waste running in narrow ditches. Everything around him smelled of body odor and human waste. Vendors were trying to sell everything from dead birds, raw meat, eels, and vegetables, to children, 6 legged horses and some kind of goat thing. Everything was for sale. The taverns were everywhere, with women and male prostitutes hovering outside or just inside the door, even hanging out of open windows. It seemed like there was a fight in every block and no one paid any attention if someone lay dead on the street. Dirty children, not being sold, were running the streets looking for easy targets to steel from and many as young as 9 or 10 were offering to sell sexual favors.