Empire Burning (Emerilia Book 11)

by Michael Chatfield

  Dave and Bob sat along the side of what was now Dave’s shed, sitting on its porch and looking out over Cliff-Hill.

  “Seems so long ago when you appeared on this porch in your recliner.” Dave smiled as he looked to Bob.

  “Ah, you were nothing but a new player making a house and trying to get away from it all. Seems you’re still doing that.” Bob tilted his glass to Dave in salute.

  Dave just laughed and continued to sit there, looking at Emerilia.

  “People are already starting to come back from Ice Planet and the asteroid base,” Bob said. “Without the threat of the Jukal invasion, they want to come home. Some are sticking around.”

  “If the Jukal do come for Emerilia again, we’ll have plenty of warning to move people to the bases,” Dave said.

  They lapsed into silence again, thinking about the war, thinking about the path that they had both taken to get here.

  “I still can’t believe it,” Dave said.

  “Believe what?” Bob turned to Dave.

  “Believe that we were actually able to go up against the Jukal Empire and pull off a win that was so big that they’re the ones stuck in their own system,” Dave said.

  “I have a feeling that we won’t ever get used to the idea.” Bob paused. “What are you going to do now?”

  “You make it sound as if this is all over.” Dave chuckled, but there was no humor in his laugh as he took a hefty drink from his bottle. “Spend some time with Deia, Koi, and everyone, look over my ongoing projects. I want to build a second bastion, but it’s going to be one hell of an undertaking. They’ve proved their use and we’re going to need them if we go charging into the Jukal system. The flying citadels are being prepared. I want to check them over and make sure everything is going smooth. The people of Ice City and the asteroid base don’t need me to be over their shoulders. They know what they’re doing and if they need me, they’ll tell me.”

  “Wouldn’t mind the Jukal leaving us alone for years and then suing for peace.” Bob leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, and let out a deep breath.

  “Why do I think you feel that isn’t going to happen?” Dave asked.

  “The Jukal, well, they’ve ruled the empire for hundreds of years. They think of themselves as the best race out of all others. Their fleet is the most powerful. Nothing that anyone else does could ever shake their foundation. Even with everything that we’ve done, their arrogance has reached a point that they’re blind to their losses. They aren’t turning their economy over to start building more ships and prepare for our arrival. They think of us as nothing but a minor annoyance. As such, they’re bound to do something in order to fight back. They’re not going to be cautious about it, either. We’re going to have to scramble and bring everything to bear and crush whatever they do. If we don’t, then they’re going to keep on doing it again and again. Just as we wore down the Jukal invasion fleet, they’ll wear us down. They might be arrogant bigots, but they have the firepower and fighting ability to make us have to take every action they do seriously.”

  They lapsed into silence, hearing the noises coming from the main house as people talked and laughed.

  “Are you two coming for dinner?” Deia yelled over to them from the main house. On her hip, she held the growing Koi, who was happily chewing on some toy of hers.

  “Coming.” Dave stood and Bob joined him. They put smiles on their faces and moved to the main house. There, Draculs, members of Party Zero, and their friends were all gathered. Even with the war only paused, the house was filled with laughter and joy as they all moved around a massive table on the house’s back porch.

  Desmond, Fire and Mal’s son and Deia’s brother, and Koi, as well as Quindar and Fornau’s children, were all pooled together at one table, with the parents doing shifts to look after them as well as people from the adult table.

  Dave held Deia’s hand. His finger rubbed over the engagement ring he had given her and he looked into her eyes.

  A true smile spread across his face as Deia squeezed his hand.

  “All right, pass some of that boar down here, Malsour. You could eat like a dragon!” Dave yelled.

  People around the table chuckled as food was passed around.

  “I told you we should have left earlier! There’s going to be no food left!” Steve’s voice could be heard, as could his thumping footsteps.

  “You can’t even eat or drink!” Lox sounded as though he were in pain.

  “You’re a peer-pressuring drinking bully,” Gurren said.

  The trio came around the corner of the house, Gurren pointing at Steve in accusation.

  “What? It’s funny seeing you guys trying to drink a barrel of beer all by yourself.” Steve shrugged as if it were perfectly normal.

  Lox made moaning noises as he held his head. His eyes fell on Jung Lee, as if he had found his savior.

  “Jung Lee!” The pale Gurren and Lox both cried out at the same time.

  “You know, I was a world-renowned potion maker in my time,” Jung Lee grumbled, pulling out two potions and tossing it to them.

  Lox drank it down all in one go, his face becoming a healthier color. “Tastes god-awful, but in my book you’re the greatest potion maker in two star systems!”

  “No, in thirty-nine!” Gurren declared before he turned to Lox. “How many of them have we captured? I lost count.”

  Lox looked at Gurren in disbelief.

  “You have permission,” Kol, Dave’s mentor and Gurren’s grandfather, said.

  Without even a second of pause, Lox clipped Gurren around the head.

  “Grandad!” Gurren yelled out in betrayal as he rubbed his head. It was clear it hadn’t hurt him as much as he was complaining.

  “Learn how to count!” Kol said with a huff. “Now sit down and get some food!”

  The table laughed, used to their antics, as everyone joined the table. In minutes, Kol was fussing over Gurren, and Lox was having a drink with Jung Lee.

  “Seems that Lee might need a remedy or two of his own tomorrow,” Deia muttered to Dave.

  Dave chuckled, saying nothing, and took a bite of the food on his plate. He smiled, letting his worries go as he looked over the table—the joking, the talking, the smiles, and laughter.

  ***

  Celebrations continued on for a week. People’s spirits were lifted and many, now without the pressure of the Jukal at their doorsteps, went out and raised their levels, working harder than ever before.

  Dave and Malsour appeared in mid-air. They looked out over a group of citadels. In the middle of them, instead of there being a portal, nothing remained; the portals had been collected together, altered and then used in the war effort.

  Even without the portal there, the citadels were a hive of activity. These now had four rings of defensive walls around them as the Emerilians had controlled them for so long.

  Just a few moments after they had arrived, the ground around one of the citadels started to shake violently.

  “Cutting it close?” Malsour asked as the citadel started to rise from the ground. Rocks fell from it as the runic lines that were part of its structure glowed and a soul gem island underneath the citadel was revealed.

  “Close enough.” Dave shrugged.

  “It was a good idea to upload the plans from the flying citadels to the soul gem constructs that were already in the other citadels. We’ll get another forty-eight citadels ready to fly with nearly no manpower needed in just three months,” Malsour said.

  “How are the modifications going on the first two flying citadel groups?” Dave asked, watching as the newly minted flying citadel moved off from where it had risen out of the ground, the flight crew testing out the citadel. Another citadel started to shake and then lift into the sky.

  “The new cannons have been put in, as have the drop runes to teleport the forces inside to the ground, just like the arks and destroyers. We’ve got a few tubes for the grand working missiles. They’re so powerful that using them
inside a planet is risky. It will help a lot in the final battle,” Malsour said.

  “The shields were upgraded and the portals added?”

  “Yeah, and some of the magical coding techs have been working on a spell formation that will allow the citadels to make a shield that not even the Jukal’s orbitals will be able to get through,” Malsour said.

  “Good. I’m also worried about how strong the Jukal forces are going to be on the ground. They’ve been fighting us with their enhanced slaves—they’re going to be a pain in the ass to fight. They were powerful on the other planets. However, on the home world they’ll be undeniably stronger. Then there’s the rumor that the emperor has nanites running through his system and can call down magic much like the members of the Pantheon can,” Dave said.

  “It’s disturbing, but then we do have a plan in place to deal with him.”

  “I hope it works,” Dave said.

  They teleported away from the rising citadel, going through teleport pads and onos until they reached another location. Here, there were sixteen citadels dotted around the sky. These were the original flying citadels that had taken part in the event and watched as the Pantheon was torn apart.

  Their walls were scarred from battle and their cannons were the same as those that were mounted on the spacefaring ships. They dominated the sky, with an imposing aura that made one look at them in awe and respect.

  These citadels all had seven walls around them, heavily upgraded Aleph repeaters that would now be able to take down drones, not just flying creatures. Interceptor modules lined the outer walls and some of the strong points.

  As they watched, the runic lines under the citadels flashed with light and fighters appeared on the ground. They were running multiple scenarios. The crews of the citadels fired their weapons and went through the motions; however, the ground didn’t explode and instead of spell formations unleashing powerful spells that would make the ground shake, they faded out of existence.

  Dave looked off into the distance. There was Goblin Mountain. It had been through so many evolutions that it was thoroughly different. It looked as if the top of the mountain had been cut off; in fact, it lay off to the side in pieces. Instead of a mountain peak, a massive ship portal stood in its place.

  Dave looked off into the distance. Casting his Touch of the Land spell, he was able to see recently completed flying citadels that were headed for Goblin Mountain.

  Once again, they continued on their path, checking over the various projects expanding to cities across Emerilia. People were moving in bands to check out the abandoned areas across many zones. Farmers were returning to their fields and cities were once again bustling without being overcrowded.

  They went to the moonbase, which was covered in techs, both checking weapon systems built into the moon and building more missile boats between the multiple catwalks that formed slips, extending through the moon.

  They took a shuttle to look over Terra that was itself undergoing massive changes.

  Dave and Malsour went back to the moonbase, what had been the Jukal base but had since been converted for use by the Emerilians. Then it was off to Ice Planet and Nal. The portal on the Nalheim home planet had been reactivated and a new settlement was being started there. Some people didn’t like living in a city that was surrounded by a Mana barrier that kept them from freezing.

  They went through the asteroid base, seeing the damage to the Pandora fleet up close; crews were working hard to get them back into fighting condition. One fleet was holding position over Emerilia while two more had portaled into the Jukal Empire and were once again assisting the Deq’ual system ships that had been fighting through the heart of the Jukal Empire.

  Many had been asking why the Deq’ual fleet hadn’t been helping against the Jukal invasion force. The reason was that their stealth runes weren’t as powerful as the ones on the Pandora ships and they didn’t have teleportation spells or portals in their ships. They were more likely to become a liability and harder to resupply and evacuate than the Pandora ships.

  Though they hadn’t been sitting back by any means. They had advanced system by system, covering the forces that went down, and removed the Jukal influence while clearing the skies and dealing with any Jukal ships that had escaped their sensors as well as defenses and stations.

  Dave and Malsour parted, Malsour headed to the Densaou Ring of Fire while Dave exited into Cliff-Hill and then teleported into his home.

  There were people throughout the home. Bob’s carrier, the Datskun, had techs poring over it, trying to learn all of its secrets, so, he and Anna were spending time with each other at Dave and Deia’s home, even though they both had places in Ice City. Here they could get away from their worries for a bit longer.

  Suzy was working from the main office of the Grahslagg Corporation in Cliff-Hill and Induca was helping people out around Cliff-Hill.

  Dave changed into simple comfortable clothes, his armor disappearing. He could hear Deia talking softly and encouraging little Koi. He came around a doorway, his steps coming to a halt as he looked at the sight of Deia watching little Koi as she crawled and wandered around the living room floor, a pleased and excited smile on her face.

  Dave crossed his arms, a proud smile on his face as he watched Deia and Koi. Dave had never had this, being able to come back from a day of work and come back to a family. He leaned against the doorway, taking it in.

  It took a few minutes before Deia realized that someone else was in the room. She looked over, seeing Dave. “Seems like your daughter is going to get up to all kinds of trouble now.” Deia smiled.

  “Oh, I like how she’s my daughter when she gets into trouble.” The corner of Dave’s mouth pulled up slightly as he pushed off the wall and moved toward Koi.

  “Well, if she didn’t get in trouble, she’d be like the paragon of virtue her mother is,” Deia said, putting on airs as she flicked her hair over her shoulder.

  “That’s a good girl. Look at you. You’re crawling all on your own.” Dave crouched down, talking to Koi to rile up Deia.

  Koi, seeing her father, happily slapped the ground with her little hands, and pushed herself toward him with wobbly movements.

  Dave stretched out his arms, waiting for her to get into reach before he picked her up into a hug. “That’s my girl! You’re going to get all big and strong.” Dave pulled up her shirt and blew a raspberry on her tummy.

  Koi let out happy noises but turned toward the floor again.

  “Okay, off you go!” Dave lowered her back down to the floor as she continued on her adventure.

  Deia and Dave sat on a couch, watching Koi as she crawled through the living room. Dave rubbed Deia’s leg as she sat on her legs and curled up close to him, her eyes following Koi’s every movement.

  “Out of everything I’ve made, I’d say she’s the best one,” Dave said.

  Deia chuckled as if she were holding onto some great secret. Dave looked to her as Deia smiled at him slyly. “Just wait till she’s a teenager.” Deia laughed.

  “Can we just keep her at this age?”

  “I wish.” Deia sighed as her fingers traced lines up and down his arm.

  Koi started to pull on a tablecloth with things on it.

  Deia made to move as Dave teleported over, holding the tablecloth in place.

  “I now know why we shouldn’t look away for a moment,” Dave said, organizing things so Koi couldn’t hurt herself.

  ***

  Anna braced herself, her flickering emotions making her anxious as she played with her fingers.

  She would prefer to go and fight off the Jukal Empire and bring destruction raining down from the heavens all over again than deal with the anxiousness that was building up in her guts.

  Alkao hadn’t come to the get-together at Dave and Deia’s home. Anna felt as though she had been on a tightrope with her emotions, looking around and expecting for him to show up at any moment. When he hadn’t appeared, she’d found herself feeling upset by
it. She had faint memories of Alkao, but they were more like a confusing bundle of emotions than anything tangible.

  A part of her just wanted to run away; another part of her made her grit her teeth and dig her feet in, as if nothing would stop them from meeting.

  She knew that Alkao had excused himself from the gathering by saying that he had things to deal with back in Devil’s Crater. Even though it made sense to her, a part of Anna was disappointed.

  So now she found herself in Devil’s Crater with her father, who’d pushed for her to go. The different guards looked at Anna with complicated expressions. They all knew how she didn’t have all of her memories.

  They reached Alkao’s office, his secretary waiting for them.

  “He’s ready for you.” The secretary smiled to Anna.

  “I’ll be here,” Bob said.

  “Okay,” Anna said, not giving herself time to back out as she walked toward the door into Alkao’s office.

  She passed through the door and looked at Alkao, who was working on documents. Clearly his secretary hadn’t told him that Anna was coming.

  “What is it?” Alkao asked, not looking up.

  Anna didn’t say anything. Her emotions pulled her in multiple different directions as she was unable to do anything as she studied him. Conflicted about what she liked about him, knowing her own stubborn personality, she remembered the videos of her and Alkao fighting for him to gain a place in her heart.

  She could see how that Anna had allowed him into her heart long before their sparring stopped.

  But as she had watched it, a stranger looking through a window, it felt as if she were stealing that Anna’s position. She hadn’t gone through those moments, only seen some of them from afar.

  Alkao frowned and looked up. His eyes widened as they met with Anna’s.

  Anna felt something stirring within her as time seemed to pause. The two of them looked to each other, a complicated expression on Anna’s face as Alkao’s bloomed into a smile while his eyes watered at the same time.

  “Anna.” He said her name softly, as if breathing too hard might make her disappear.