by Saxon Andrew
• • •
Rose and Cassie climbed the steps and turned right to the two-thrones next to the center thrones. Cassie sat closest to the thrones and Rose sat down beside her. She looked around and caught the eyes of her parents sitting in the front row; their pride was clearly showing on their faces. She bowed her head slightly and smiled. Who would have thought this would happen years ago when the Spider showed up and rescued them from the Red Warriors at their home?
The Orchestra suddenly became silent and the Herald Announced as Tag and Danielle stopped at the beginning of the long central aisle leading to the thrones, “I present to you the founders of the Star’s Realm, Queen Danielle Gardner and her consort, King Thomas Anglo Gardner!!”
The orchestra began playing the Stars Realm’s anthem again, and the huge gathering erupted in a thunderous ovation. The four Royals sitting came to their feet and stood erect, clapping and cheering was inappropriate for them. But their smiles said it all.
Rose saw JP sitting between his mother and father on the front row and, though he was clapping, he kept his eyes on her. She tilted her head slightly and he saw sadness in her eyes. He thought, “We’ll work around this Rose. We will be together.” Rose’s expression changed slightly, as she smiled.
Annette was watching Rose and asked JP, “What did you tell her?”
JP’s eyes narrowed, “What?”
“You told her something,” his mother pressed.
“I told her we will be together, no matter what happens.”
Annette glanced at Rose and said, “I was wrong?”
“About what, Mother?”
“She is everything you said she is, JP.” JP put his arm around Annette and hugged her.
Chapter Seventeen
Tag and Danielle finally arrived in front of their thrones and turned around, to face the assembly. The cheering and roars from the crowd continued and they bowed to the assembly together. When the orchestra stopped playing the room grew silent; Tag turned and sat down on his throne, while Danielle remained standing.
She looked incredible. She glanced around the huge room and then looked up at the ceiling. She smiled and said through the microphone attached to her gown, where everyone could hear, “The contractors did an excellent job fixing up the place, wouldn’t you agree?” The crowd roared their agreement and Danielle raised her arms high. Silence returned after several minutes, then Danielle turned to Jimmy, as she smiled, “I insisted that the rebuilding of Castle Gardner should be delayed but Prince and Princess Gardner insisted the citizens of Ross demanded it be done immediately. I gave in to them and I want to thank them and all the wonderful builders that brought it back to life. You did an incredible job.” Danielle applauded and the gathering joined her.
She finally turned back to the assembly, “Please be seated.” Everyone took their seat and Danielle stared out at them in the silence. What she did next shocked and stunned those present and the trillions watching the event on their monitors.
She reached up, removed the Stars Realm Crown, as she announced, “My first official decree is that the Stars Realm no longer exists; it ends now!” She turned and dropped the crown to the floor behind her.
• • •
The room exploded as everyone jumped to their feet screaming. The Royals present and the attendees from the Military were shocked speechless. Others present yelled out their disagreement with the Queen. Soon, everyone was screaming their denunciation of her act.
Danielle stood there calmly, while the room continued their protests. Rose smiled and thought to herself how incredible Danielle was; who would have guessed this would happen?”
Danielle stood tall before the gathering and the screams were not limited to the attendees. Trillions across the Realm’s Universe were also screaming at the tops of their voices. This was unthinkable. There were millions of planets mistreated by the Realm that had very mixed emotions. They abhorred the taxes imposed on them but they did depend on the Stars Realm to defend them. The yelling lasted a long time…until Tag stood up and walked to Danielle’s side. He glared at the attendees and it didn’t take long for them to grow silent. His anger was clear and everyone knew that was not a good thing. In the silence, Danielle turned to Tag, “Please be seated.” Tag glared at her, then at the assembly, but, after a pause, he bowed and went to his throne.
Danielle stared at the silent thousands in front of her and, finally, began to explain, “When the Stars Realm was founded so many thousands of years ago, there were three-civilizations that asked me to be their Queen; the Cainth Empire, the Glod Empire, and Earth. Those first three-members went out and took on the Alliance, who outnumbered our ships by hundreds of thousands. Those three civilizations won the war and they are responsible for the Stars Realm’s existence. The Realm grew from that small seed to a the most powerful force in this Universe. It remains the most powerful to this day.”
She paused and then, continued, “But somewhere along the way, the Stars Realm lost its way. It attacked Cainth, Glod, and Earth.” Danielle’s eyes narrowed, “They brutally taxed the members of the Realm and used heavy handed tactics to force the members of the Realm to do their will!” The room was now deathly silent. “The Realm the Cainth, Glod, and Humans created died long ago. WHAT REMAINS IS A TRAVESTY OF WHAT IT ONCE WAS AND ITS SIN IS UNFORGIVEABLE!!” Danielle turned, picked up the Stars Realm Crown, and tossed it off the stage. The crown made a metallic sound as it bounced up the center aisle.
The billion citizens on Ross hung their heads as they watched their monitors. She was right and they had participated in the Realm’s destruction.
Danielle glared at the audience, as she took a deep breath and continued, “When the war with the Alliance was won, the members of the Alliance requested to join the Realm. I went to the Alliance and told them that if they intended to become a part of what we created, they would have to accept the principles and standards of our new Realm. They were also told they would have to prove they meant it.” Danielle paused, to let it sink in, “I stand here today and weep for what Dorg-Ross, Tgon-gee, Alexander Kosiev, and all the other heroes of the Realm would feel at what’s been done to our creation. My shame is almost more than I can bear.”
Silence crushed the room. Danielle looked down at James and said, “Emperor Robbins, Bristone is the one small spark that survived. I thank you and your fore-fathers for keeping it alive.” James nodded and Danielle turned her attention back to the assembly, “Every current member of the Realm is now independent. There will be no more taxation; you are free to go whatever direction you choose. If you’re worried about being defended, we will defend any civilization attacked in this universe.”
The Throne Room was silent until Admiral Solomon said in a voice barely heard, “Who do you mean by ‘we’?”
Danielle looked at Solomon and the corner of her mouth went up, “My most consummate Commander. The Warriors of the Realm were always faithful and did what they were ordered to do. You still believed in the Realm. You followed your orders, even when your leaders lost their way.”
Danielle looked up at the assembly, “I have promised the citizens of Ross that I would forgive them and be their Queen. I am establishing a new entity here today called the New Stars Realm and the first three-members will be Cainth, Glod, and Earth. They never lost their way. I detest the name Stars Realm but it was chosen by the first founders of the Realm, I would be showing disrespect to them if I chose another name. The Glod, Cainth, and Earth named the special creation that became our universe’s most powerful entity for doing good. This New Stars Realm will follow the principles and standards that were a critical part of that creation.”
Danielle stared out at the room, “There will be some of you that might want to be a part of this New Realm, however, you will not be accepted into it without proving you will follow our ethics. When we founded the previous Realm, we insisted that every member treat all the others as bothers and do to them as they wished to be treated. They agreed to c
ome to the defense of their brothers and any offender would be attacked by all the others. Conquest was forbidden and we would only fight against those that threatened us. Now look at what the Realm has become.”
The room was silent and James stood up, “Your Majesty, I humbly request you accept the Bristone Empire as one of your subjects.” Danielle looked at him and he smiled, “Two-leaders is one too many.”
Danielle smiled, “Do you agree to the principles I’ve just described?”
“I do, Your Majesty, and we’ve always followed them.”
“I humbly accept your offer, Emperor Robbins. Together, we are stronger than we are separate.”
Others stood up, but Danielle raised her hand above her head, “No others will be accepted until you prove you will abide by our rules!”
Tag stood up and the room grew silent again. He looked out at the gathering and said, “Gren-Dorg, Tgon-cee, please approach the stage.” The giant Glod and short Cainth stood up and walked to the stage. Tag turned to Rose and said, “Please join them.”
Rose’s eyes flew wide-open and Cassie pulled her up out of her chair. She walked forward and stood between the two-warriors. Tag looked at Tgon-cee and asked, “Do you and your warriors accept Danielle to be the Queen of your people and swear to follow her commands?”
Tgon-cee turned to Danielle and lowered his head, “We’ve never stopped, Your Majesty. She is our Queen.”
Tag walked to Rose and said, “Do you and your people accept Danielle to be the Queen of your people and swear to follow her commands?”
Rose looked at Danielle and said, “We’ve lost our way in the past but that will never happen again! I accept Dannielle to be Earth’s Queen and will follow her commands!” Tag pulled a fencing sword out of a scabbard on his belt and handed it to her.
The people on Earth watching their monitors were jumping up and down celebrating; Earth was part of the New Stars Realm and their Duchess was incredibly Royal. She made them all feel a sense of pride at her composure in representing them.
Tag moved to Gren and asked, “Do you and your people accept Danielle to be the Queen of your people and swear to follow her commands?”
Gren turned to Danielle, “I hated the Stars Realm and all it stood for, when it attacked our planets, and that included you!” The silence was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Then, Gren lowered his head, “But you were right when you came and took Kogo and Dela, it was not your Realm that attacked us. I accept Danielle to be our Queen and swear for my warriors that we will follow her commands!”
Tag turned to Danielle, “Please bow!” Danielle pulled her gown up, went to a knee, and bowed her head. Tgon-cee stepped forward, pulled his Glod Long Sword, and tapped Danielle on each shoulder. He stepped back and raised his sword over his head in salute. Rose watched the giant Glod and stepped forward. She touched her fencing sword to Danielle’s shoulders and raised it over her head. Finally. Gren stepped forward and pulled one of his four-short-swords. He tapped Danielle on each shoulder, stepped back and raised all four-short-swords over his head.
Tag turned to his right and nodded toward Cassie. Cassie stood up, took a box out from under her chair, opened it, and took a gleaming, jeweled crown out. She walked forward and, stopping just in front of Danielle, she raised the crown over Danielle’s head and said, “When you came to Ross and found me starving in the ruins, you chose me to be your daughter. By doing that, you chose everyone on the planet to be a part of your family. I represent all of us here on Ross and we swear that you will be our Queen and we will never…ever…let you down again.” Cassie lowered the crown and placed it on Danielle’s head. Tag took Danielle’s hand and assisted her to her feet.
Turning to face the assembly, Tag proclaimed, “I present Queen Danielle Gardner, the first Queen of the New Stars Realm.”
The room jumped to their feet and cheered. The members of the military were cheering the loudest. JP leaned in and asked his father, “Does this mean she rules you?”
“Has she made a mistake in the wars with the DECs and Black Ships?” JP shook his head. “What do you think would have happened if my father and I had been in charge?” JP lowered his head and looked away. James smiled, JP saw it, too.
JP looked up at Rose and felt his love grow even larger, if that were possible. She was so…so…beautiful and poised. It was like she had done this her entire life. He was right.
• • •
The cheering continued for a very long time and finally, Tag raised his arms high. The room slowly grew quiet, before he announced, “There are two more items to be addressed. Please be seated.”
Everyone sat down as Danielle gazed around the room, “My first official act is to announce that I will keep my promise to the citizens of Ross that this New Stars Realm will be governed from this Castle. Ross will set the example that every member of our New Realm should follow.” The room remained silent but the people on Ross erupted in cheers that could be heard in the castle. Danielle then signed a decree Cassie brought to her. Cassie turned and went back to her chair.
Danielle paused and looked out at the room as her expression became serious, “Recently, Ross was attacked by an overwhelming force of Black Warships. Our pilots were outnumbered by more than twelve-to-one and they persevered and prevented the Black Ships from attacking Ross. Then, another fifty-thousand Black Warships arrived and still those four-thousand pilots prevented them from attacking Ross. Admiral Kellie Mongovie commanded the ships that defended Ross; Admiral Mongovie, please come forward.”
Kellie was sitting in a chair next to the center aisle and she was caught off guard. The surviving pilots of the attack cheered at the top of their voices and Kellie’s face turned bright red. She stood up and walked to the raised stage. She bowed to Danielle and Danielle returned her bow. Danielle faced the assembly and whispered to Kellie, “Face the room.”
Kellie turned to face the assembly and the room cheered. Kellie’s tears were flowing with immense pride for what her warriors had accomplished but felt huge sorrow for the ones that died. She was proud to represent her fleet in front of the immense gathering.
Finally, Danielle looked out and said, “Please be seated.” The PA system made her request loud enough to be heard. Everyone sat down and Danielle smiled, “The New Stars Realm has a medal that we’ve chosen as our highest award for Valor…Courage…and Accomplishment above and beyond the highest expectations we place on our wonderful Warriors.”
The giant monitor behind the thrones illuminated and a gold circle appeared on it. Across the upper edge of the circle was engraved, Valor, Courage, Accomplishment. Around the lower edge G-E-C was engraved. Everyone understood that those three-letters stood for Glod, Earth, and Cainth. In the center of the circle were three huge letters, N S R.
With a huge smile, Danielle continued, “We collected all the recordings from the warships involved in the fight against the Black Fleets and I want to share one pilot’s actions with you. Please keep in mind that these recordings come from one pilot’s ship.”
• • •
The monitor changed and Kellie turned around to watch it. A Prime flew into a mass of Black Warships and exploded three of them instantly. The scene changed and they saw the ship rush into another group of Black Warships and destroy four more. It changed again and four more Black Warships were blasted into vapor. It continued as seven more groups of ships were attacked. Danielle paused the video and looked out at the room, “This pilot destroyed thirty-eight enemy vessels.” Kellie looked over her shoulder at her pilots and wondered which one had accomplished the feat. Danielle glanced at the assembly, “Now the real action begins.”
The monitor changed and the gathering saw four-thousand Primes lined up above Ross with the Alexander Kosiev in the middle of their lines. Suddenly, the line leapt forward and they saw the giant Black Ship formation move toward the monitor at an unbelievable speed. The Prime in the video flew around the edge of the giant formation and blasted fifteen-enemy ships. T
he scene changed and it dove into a group of ten-black warships and took out five of them.
The recording continued for forty-five minutes and the room was mesmerized by what they were witnessing. It finally ended and Danielle said, “This is a greatly shortened record of what happened. We’ve only included the attacks this one pilot made. The battle lasted twenty-hours and we felt including all of it would take too long to present.”
Kellie turned around and was staring out at her pilots. Which one? This was incredible!
Danielle announced, “This pilot recorded the highest number of kills of any other pilot fighting across our universe removing ninety-six Black Warships.” Danielle turned to Kellie and saw her staring out at the assembly. “What are you doing, Admiral Mongovie?”
“Trying to determine which of my pilots did this. This is incredible!”
Danielle lowered her eyes and said, “Admiral, that pilot was you.”
Kellie’s jerked her head around with eyes wide open and she put her hand over her mouth. She began weeping and there was no holding her pilots back; they jumped out of their seats and rushed the stage. They gathered in front of it and cheered, “KELLIE, KELLIE, KELLIE…” over and over.
Kellie had her hands over her face and wept. She had no idea what she had done and didn’t even recognize the recordings her Prime made. Cassie came forward and handed a small box to Danielle. Danielle took Kellie in her arms and hugged her as she whispered, “Why are you crying.”
Kellie answered in a sobbing voice, “For the pilots I lost, Your Majesty.”
“I need you to come to attention, Admiral.”
Kellie dropped her hands to her sides and came to attention as her tears continued to flow. The room became silent and her pilots knew she was crying for their lost comrades. Danielle took a red and blue medal, with a gold circle under it, out of the box and said loudly, “Admiral Mongovie, for actions above and beyond any of my expectations, I award you the very first New Star Realms Metal of Valor.” Danielle pinned it on her uniform and the room exploded as Danielle hugged Kellie tightly and whispered, “Now you can weep. Your warriors deserve it.”