by Sid Kar
“Corporatstad stands behind Grand Admiral Valorun’s proposal and will ratify the terms if he can force them upon Starfire Empire,” Wolan then added slowly but firmly, “in a way he believes best.”
The rest of the corporators nodded their heads in agreement and the admirals were stunned to see the Corporatex representatives on the same side as Admiral Valorun. They had been flanked from both sides: a political pincer.
“I can’t disagree then,” Emperor said, “Valorun, open negotiations then. If you want to impress upon Starfirians that you have the Imperial backing, I can have my personal representative be ready by tonight to return along with you.”
“Not just yet,” Valorun said, “First, I need to win one more major battle.”
This flummoxed all nine of them including the Emperor. They had come to believe that Valorun was ready to end the war. The Admirals didn’t know whether to be glad or be angry at Valorun’s twists and turns. Corporators were confused and the Emperor expressed all their feelings when he spoke, “your mind works in mysterious ways, Admiral Valorun.”
“Emperor, High Admirals and Corporators, I will lay out my plan straight,” Valorun said and stood upright, “Starfirians are not likely to attribute their defeat to our superiority in arms but to the surprise of our attack. They won’t accept our terms till they are convinced otherwise. I want to knock out their battle capabilities and show them that the longer the war goes on, the more damage I will inflict. I can’t do anything about Starfleet Majestic without risking my own fleet. But I can make it clear to them that they can’t sustain a long war of attrition against us. To this end, I am going to attack and destroy their largest Starship Yard.”
“But you don’t even know where it is?” Admiral Halan said, “And it will be most likely in their Capital star system which you won’t invade.”
“Highly unlikely,” Valorun said, “I have sent out my spyships to find its location and by the time I return, I am confident they will have done so. We have three spaceyards to build capital spaceships for our navy. One of them we have located in this very system, not too far from Mercuris Majoris, because we want to be able to protect and hold out from our Capital and keep fighting. But the other two we have spread across the Mercurian Empire to make it as difficult as possible for any enemy to destroy our war fighting capability. Starfirians must have done likewise. Starfleet Majestic cannot be at two places at once, cannot protect their Capital system and other spaceyard systems at once. Where it is not present, I am going to take my fleet to. And this will be no siege for this time I will obliterate their entire spaceyard!”
Chapter 12: Power of a Planet
Capitan Setvyk rummaged through the wreckage of Starship RedStorm looking for a survival pack and found it after half an hour of search. Every starship carried survival packs sufficient for all of its crew just for this type of contingencies. But there were no other survivors as far as he could make out. Capitan Setvyk wished that at least one other person had lived through the crash but he had to prepare to make it on his own. He had taken medicines for pain that every soldier carried on his persons and reduced it to a manageable level but did not completely eradicate it for fear of making his injuries worse if he ignored them completely. The remaining pain would remind him to be careful with his physical actions.
Thankfully, there were no machine soldiers in the arsenal of the Machine Planet. No one had come to inspect the crash site, not even the large, complex beast of the machines that were everywhere on the planet’s surface, building and repairing, working consistently nonstop just like a machine could. The machines had completely ignored him.
A part of him wanted to hide inside the broken pieces of the former Starship that were large enough to seclude him, but Setvyk made a determination against it. He was a soldier and his duty was to fight till the end. He could still be of use to the Army. He had to try to locate a weakness in Machine Planet that could be used by Starships to at least disable it in space and he also had to find a way to broadcast it back to the fleet. The second part would be easier, as there were sufficient components in the wreckage to create a broadcaster and his survival pack had instructions for the construction. But he did not want to risk alerting the Machine Planet to his presence before he had located a significant weakness.
He found it strange that he could breathe the atmosphere. He had not expected there to be one. He had a personal RocketPack in his survival kit that would allow him to float and fly around but decided against using it. He might get on the Machine Planet’s scanners as a hostile if he rose too high in the air and he wanted to conserve its energy for emergency escape.
Thus Capital Setvyk set about exploring this strange mechanical planet the old fashioned way: on foot. He walked and walked for days and days and looked around and took notes but he saw nothing but huge metallic plates making up the surface of the planet and very tall and complex machines repairing the surface of the planet where it had taken hits from rockets creating craters miles wide. There were also other types of machines, some building pipes and structures, some operating rocket and laser batteries and still others at work for uses he couldn’t fathom. But no machine paid any attention to him. He wondered what was beneath the surface plates but couldn’t seem to find any gap.
Then one day he stumbled upon one: a very large gap.
He had almost stepped over the edge of the precipice and tumbled down but pulled himself back at the last moment. The large plate he was walking on abruptly ended as if a cliff of a very tall mountain. He crawled on all fours and slowly leaned over the edge. He could not see the bottom. The metallic plate had turned vertical and disappeared miles below beyond his sight and for miles on either end all the way to the horizon.
Then he looked up and ahead and instinctively jumped back from the cliff at the terrifying sight that lay a few miles in front of him. A huge ocean of water was falling down from the cliff of the opposite plate at the other end of the vast gap. He had seen some massive waterfalls as a tourist on some strange planets, but he had never seen one that stretched for miles on either side with such a huge torrent of water to fill entire rivers or lakes by the minute.
He worked up the courage to lean forward and stare down again. Another sight shocked him in a different way: there were elevators and steps built into the edge of the vertical metallic plate. That meant this Machine Planet was a creation of another force, some individuals mad enough to try to turn an entire planet into a war machine. Not try, he corrected himself, they had done the insane deed. Where were they now? Had they lost control of it? Or were they operating this mechanical beast from beneath its surface? And who the hell were they anyhow?
He decided to investigate and walked along the side of the cliff till he had come to a place with elevator platform and the stairway to down below.
He decided against using the elevator in case the builders and operators showed up and seized control of his elevator midway. He took the staircase and slowly started descending the metallic steps. The stairs winded down in a spiral shape and there was a safety guardrail that he could hold for comfort. But he dare not look over it into the invisible darkness below or in front of him at the massive wall of water.
He kept walking down for at least an hour and then he saw waterfall mist rising from below and felt it on his face and hands. That meant the waterfall was finally hitting a hard surface somewhere not too far below. He kept walking down on the stairway and half an hour later when the air had become thick with mist and his face and hands were wet, he squinted and barely made out the object on which the water was striking. Then a second later, he could see clearly the real nature of the beast. It was a massive water turbine that stretched on either side for miles just like the waterfall.
At that moment Capitan Setvyk realized exactly what this Machine Planet was powered by.
A long time ago, a crazy electrical engineer had suggested to the Army his plan to generate unbelievable amounts of electricity. All he wanted the Arm
y to do, was to take a planet with oceans, dig a massive trench all the way to the core of the planet and combine and channel the entire ocean full of water over the edge of the trench and pour it straight into the superheated core of the planet. A large succession of huge water turbines would be built into the vertical surface to generate electricity all along the way of the waterfall all the way down to the core of the planet and when the water turned into steam upon contact with the core, it would be used to once again generate more electricity through steam turbines as the steam made its way back up to the surface cooling and condensing along the way and finally turning back into water to start the cycle over again.
The Army engineers had rubbed their foreheads at the gargantuan madness of the plan and dismissed it out of hand.
But now someone had actually built it.
Capitan Setvyk turned around to walk back up. He believed he had found a weakness. This is where a large number of rockets could do real damage. A Starship was too large to enter this trench, but a squadron of daredevil starfighters might just be able to accomplish the task. Destroy the power center of the Machine Planet and its machines would stop working.
Capitan Setvyk turned around to walk back up the stairs to the surface. He had to find or create a broadcaster and contact the fleet. Just then his sights fell upon a box attached to the wall surface with a strangely familiar warning sign of electric danger. Setvyk reached out and yanked open the box panel. He saw the instructions and the script and in an instant he knew exactly who had constructed the Machine Planet. But the horror of the realization of creators’ identity had not hit his face just when he heard a shout of ‘Intruder’ that startled him enough to stumble him and nearly make him go tumbling down the stairs. He held the guardrail with one hand, pulled out his laser pistol with the other, looked up and saw his nightmare come true in the form of multiple machine soldiers with laser guns rapidly descending down the stairs. He aimed up and fired laser shots in quick succession even as the machine soldiers let loose upon him with their own laser bolts.
*** The End ***
To Be Continued…
COMING SOON…
Book Five: Conquest of Stars Saga
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sid Kar is the author of this novel and of six other novels.
Visit his website: http://actionadventurebooks.net/
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Author’s Other Books:
1. Starship Conquistador (Conquest of Stars Book 1)
https://www.amazon.com/Starship-Conquistador-Conquest-Stars-Book-ebook/dp/B01EMJKRJ8
When powerful and mysterious alien spaceships start attacking the exploration and mining vessels and abducting their crew, the Nestorian Republic realizes that it faces an enemy whose weapons and technology it cannot equal.
But there may be hope. The faraway Starfire Empire has guaranteed protection but the journey is treacherous and there are forces both within the republic and the empire who don’t want to help the beleaguered Nestorians.
But one Commodore Raptor is on his way with his Starship Conquistador. Armed to the teeth, built to conquer and carrying secret weapons even its crew doesn’t know about, it will have to dare the aliens all alone. But only if it can cross the vast swaths of deep space, for there are great powers waiting in ambush and the clock is ticking as a massive invasion fleet from the uncharted space prepares to descend upon the capital planet Nestor.
Will Starship Conquistador fight its way and reach in time…
2. The Storm Maker
https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Maker-Sid-Kar-ebook/dp/B0115QNE8C
There are those who dream of reviving an ancient empire and one will dare hatch a secret plot to this end by starting the construction of a ‘Storm-Maker’: a super-weapon that can create hurricanes and tornadoes. And he will have the support of elite ranger units and spies who share his vision.
They will stop at nothing to bring their plot to fruition. They will rob banks, they will kidnap scientists and they will engage in massive gunfights with anyone who stands in their path.
But there are those who will confront this mad scheme at great risk to their own lives.
Top Detective Sayett who has been assigned the out of control bank robbery cases, rising politician Slyntya Karwyk who is appointed to oversee the investigation and her husband who is a national hero: Colonel Sthykar of the Mountain Army.
As their investigation turns deadly with ambushes and kidnappings, the dream of the plotters stands on the verge of becoming a reality. Boss Hantex’s Storm-Maker is rapidly approaching completion and if it goes live it will unleash the mother of all hurricanes - the likes of which has never been seen before.
The only way to stop it maybe a helicopter attack right through the Eye of the Storm!
3. The War Machine
https://www.amazon.com/War-Machine-Great-Powers-Book-ebook/dp/B01FK9M41S
An Epic struggle for power between the world’s most powerful country – Narducat Empire – and the world’s most dangerous country – Starfire Kingdom – takes a terrifying turn into a mad dash to become the world’s first atomic power.
As Narducat Imperial Fleet invades Karaln Nation, whose scientists alone have mastered the deep mysteries of Atom; Starfire Kingdom’s only hope maybe finding a secret base of Karaln scientists, hidden inside an occupied territory watched over by fearsome Imperial Special Army.
Colonel Sthykar of Starfire has been tasked to lead his Mountain Army for a rescue operation deep behind enemy lines, while Detective Sayett rushes to unravel a plot involving almost a hundred spies, a plot which threatens to morph into the largest act of sabotage on Starfire territory.
4. One Man Army
https://www.amazon.com/One-Army-Great-Powers-Book-ebook/dp/B01FLJULMQ
In this Second and Final Volume, the Narducat Empire launches the largest invasion fleet in the history to attack Starfire Kingdom and prepares an atomic strike on Starfire's experimental reactor.
It is a race towards destiny, as Starfire's own program rapidly approaches completion and it gets ready for the epic battle.
It is a titanic clash of armies and machines where the warriors will dare all for the victory; from aerial strikes on to the decks of the enemy ships to a mad plan to sink a gigantic six-decked airplane carrier, from the steel shattering showdown of the tanks to the booming battle of the artillery, and above all a test of mettle and a collision of will between the Empire Builders and the Steppe Warriors.
And in this Panoramic War Epic filled with a Kaleidoscopic cast of characters such as Colonel "IronHeart" and "The Ringmaster"; Colonel Sthykar of Starfire is the most dangerous man in the world and with a half-million man army racing to stop him - he is coming to the Imperial Capital with the most dangerous weapon ever created.
An Absolute Slobberknobber of a War!
Star Map
* Map Not to Scale or Accuracy
Appendix
Major Characters [Entire Series: Conquest of Stars Saga]
I. STARFIRE EMPIRE
Crew of Starship Conquistador
Alvina Lytar: Capitan & Laser Officer
Antrar Wyft: Ex-Commodore: Starship Thunder & Guest
Avyk: Shields Officer
Barryett Wuft: Vice-Commodore: Starship Conquistador
Dorrvyk: Capitan & Communications Officer
Flyptar: Capitan & Flight Officer
Hedgewyk: Signals & Electronics Officer
Horyett: Gravitron Scanner Officer
Jarvyk Wilwyk: Colonel: Strike Soldiers (Commander)
Legtar Pytar: Law Officer
Overyk: Capitan & Navigation Officer
Pulf: Assistant Laser Officer
Raptor Warwyk: Commodore: Starship Conquistador
Styx: Capitan o
f Starship Guards
Tollvyk: Colonel & Rocket Officer
Zurryvk: Artificial Intelligence Officer
Garyett Tyf: Colonel: Secret Superweapons
Aurvyk Tokar: Colonel: Chemical Weapons & Chief Chemist
Hartar Pytar: Army Chief Detective: Starship Conquistador
Kartar Ryft: Colonel: Spacefighters / Top Rank
Maktar Wyft: Colonel: Strike Soldiers (Second-In-Command)
Moltar Karan: Capitan & Plasma Officer
Kyrtar Prym: Stardjacker: Starship Conquistador
Gonzovyk Tulkar: Capitan: Electronics Section & Armored Suit Electronics Specialist
Landtar Mykar: Corporal: Team Leader Heavy Laser Cannons
Norvyk Lehyett: New Stardjacker
Mobar Omyett: Colonel & Chief Medical Officer
Coryett: Colonel & Chief Surgical Officer
Crew of Starship RedStorm
Setvyk: Capitan – Laser Batteries
Bobyett: Technician – Laser Cannons
Melvyk Rytar: Commodore – Starship RedStorm & Commander – Starfleet Majestic
Buntar: Corporal – Laser Cannon
Other Starfirians
Carvyk Botlar: Regional Star Commander: Zarrvyk Province & Sixth Frontier Fleet
Jiggermaster: Space Pirate
Jontvyk Tubyt: Capitan: Palace Guards
Magyar Harwyk: An Assassin (AKA The Silencer)
Rockvyk Torryen: Chief Detective SPASI: Zarrvyk Province