It was a worrying moment. The heavy cruisers need the nimble alien ship's speed to be reduced to be able to hit it. For that, the frigates and destroyers had to get close and be in the combat zone. All our hope was placed in the electronic warfare ships, which were supposed to stop the Hermit from aiming normally. According to my calculations, the Hermit would have up to twenty webs on it in thirty seconds, which meant it would come to a complete stop. The heavy cruisers won't miss an immobile target. But in those thirty seconds, the Hermit will be able to get off two shots... That means I'll lose two frigates...
The seconds ticked by, but there were no losses. One after the other, the captains reported that they had placed webs on the Hermit. The small enemy destroyer disappeared in the swarm of combat drones. The alien ship's shields began quickly deflating.
"Heavies, at the ready! Shoot from all cannons, fire at will! Anti-support, Warhawks, put some pressure on it!"
In a few shots, the enemy shield had fallen to zero, and a few seconds later there followed a bright explosion! “The Hermit has been destroyed! We did it!” A roar of joy bellowed out on the channel from a multitude of voices, not nearly all of them human.
"Great! All frigates, warp to the receivers! Tusks, join up too. Heavies, go slowly in an organized group toward the Sledgehammer, go up to 30 miles out. Electronic warfare, follow twenty-five miles behind the heavies, don't come any closer. Destroyers, don't come, go out to the Tria, this is not your battle."
"Dad, are we gonna win soon?" Lika's voice rang out from right above my ear. I turned and jumped up.
Behind Lika, there were two uncanny-looking, huge, armed praying mantises.
"What's this then?" Despite the untimely nature of the moment, I decided to clarify why these Alpha Iseyek assault soldiers had come on my yacht.
"Uncle Savasss Jach gave them to me when you were on the station."
"Bionica?"
Clearly, my facial expression was very threatening, as the android recoiled as if I was about to hit her.
"My Prince, Likanna asked General Savasss Jach to give her a couple of the biggest and strongest praying mantises to give her something to brag about to her friends," explained the blond android, innocently batting her eyelashes. "The general did not refuse her that little caprice."
"If that's what you call little..." Each praying mantis was more than 10 feet tall.
"Because the general did not consider Crown Princess Likanna of legal age, he did not make her the primary controller, but you. The Princess can talk to them and give them some orders, but they will only obey and serve you, the Crown Prince."
"How will they understand me or Lika?" I asked in surprise.
"They are learning human speech bit by bit. While you were out negotiating, Lika was playing with them for a few hours, and I helped. They already understand some words and commands. These bodyguards' vocabulary is still very limited, but they are very quick learners."
Well, screw it... Quite the gift! I'll need to have a chat with the general after the battle. But for now, both Lika and these insects needed to be kept busy and out of my hair.
"Bionica, order these praying mantises to carefully and promptly take my daughter to the shuttle hangar. Nicole Savoia will show them the way. Make sure Crown Princess Likanna puts on her armored space suit, then carefully sit her down inside an emergency rescue shuttle. And make sure she doesn't crawl back out!"
The offended shrieks and screams from the young Crown Princess slightly bewildered the huge bodyguards. One of them lifted the young Princess in its pair of small arms and pressed her close. Another took a big piece of soft, gray fabric from a plain belt-bag and in literally two seconds had the kicking child swaddled up in a tightly packed cocoon. After that, both insects, carrying the cocoon in several pairs of pincers, followed Nicole Savoia out of the headquarters. The thick door closing behind them sharply cut off my daughter's dissatisfied screams.
I was probably doing something wrong with my daughter, as the officers all looked at me in shock. Ah, yes. I remembered that it was forbidden to touch a Crown Princess even with one finger. Oh well, we'll figure it out after the battle.
"Joan the Fatty, get to position!" the voice of Captain Oorast Pohl sounded out at precisely the right moment, reminding those gathered that this wasn't some playground squabble, but a real, heavy battle.
"Release combat drones. Fire cannons!" I commanded.
The enemy's shield condition was displayed on screen. The little pillar jumped up and down a few times, then returned to one hundred percent. Now that's shield regeneration!
"Stop! Reload the cannons. Shoot on my command. On the count of three. One. Two. Three!"
The Sledgehammer's shield fell to zero, but a few seconds later was restored back up to maximum. I wonder if we did any damage at all? And, if yes, how serious? The admiral anxiously said:
"The enemy is firing on the Legash-1. Each volley takes forty percent of the shield; we won't be able to recharge it fast enough!"
"Light cruisers, approach to fifty miles! I need the Sledgehammer not be able to get off a shot every time! It has fairly weak sensors; the Iseyeks were able to jam them. Heavies, have you reloaded? On the count of three. One. Two. Three!"
The camera showed a couple shots hitting the cruiser nevertheless. I saw explosions on the Sledgehammer's armor. But how serious are these hits for the enemy? And by the way, the alien ship's energy shield was already back up to maximum. Aw, hell!
"Crown Prince Georg, your ships clearly cannot do anything to the alien cruiser. Perhaps you could use our help after all?" Admiral Nill ton Amsted could clearly see what was happening on the battlefield perfectly.
Maybe I really should call my allies in? No, I decided. It's too early.
"Nill, we're in no rush here. The Sledgehammer has been successfully pinned down, it's not going anywhere. My goal here is to train soldiers and try out various approaches, as we've had the luck of capturing an alien ship. If your ships are needed, I'll call you in."
"I need a frigate to volunteer for a dangerous mission," I said on the fleet channel.
"Tusk-1 ready!" the chameleon frigate managed to answer a half second before the others.
That's what you call bad luck. I'd be burying a ship crewed by such a low-population race if my theory was wrong... But I couldn't refuse now without offending my allies.
"Tusk-1, listen carefully. Your mission is to check in practice if the Sledgehammer's cannons are able to hit fast-moving targets. Jump to the cruiser, get up to full speed and take a small orbit. Change trajectory and basically just act unpredictably. Also, place a web on the enemy, take point and shoot from your cannons. That is your order!"
"Order heard!"
Silence took over on the channel. Everyone froze, watching to see how the experiment would end. The frigate looked very small in comparison with the cruiser. It began spinning tight circles. Twenty seconds went by, and the Sledgehammer made a shot at the Legash-1, having ignored the fast-moving target.
"All frigates warp to the enemy! Do the same as the Tusk-1! Before the heavies shoot, make a pause in the shooting, and everyone fire with them at the same time! Heavies, get ready. On the count of three. One, two, three!"
This time the result was much more successful – a whole scattering of bright dots bloomed up from the alien ship's armor. And though the enemy's energy shields recharged in a second again, I could visually make out damage to the Sledgehammer's hull, and one of the cannons wasn't shooting anymore.
"Great! Let's do it again."
After a harmonious volley from the alien ship, some ship fragments flew off it. The ship had clearly taken a serious blow.
"Prince, I'm simply delighted!" Clear admiration could be heard in Admiral Nill ton Amsted’s voice.
"Yes, Admiral Nill, we've figured out all we wanted. If you'd like to join me for a meal, I invite your battleship and heavy cruisers to dine. But only them. If support ships come, I swear on everything that is holy th
at I'll order them shot down."
A minute later, the huge battleship, Master of Tesse, and five heavy cruisers of various types came to the place where the alien ship was being shot down.
"Shoot on the count of three!" I ordered on the common channel. "One, two, three! Volley!”
Finally! Where the Sledgehammer had been, a bright white flower bloomed. The joyful screams were enough to make you deaf! I took off my headphones and turned around. The staff officers were clapping and shouting. Admiral Kiro Sabuto jumped up on the touch-screen table, cleaving the screen in half with his boots and did some bizarre, wild dance while shouting at full-throat:
"No losses! We did it without losses! That's just not something that happens! But we did it!!!"
Standing change. Empire Military faction opinion of you has improved.
Present Empire Military faction opinion of you: +3 (indifferent)
Standing change. Chameleon race opinion of you has improved.
Chameleon race opinion of you: +4 (indifferent)
The sheer number of standing change messages was blinding. I closed them all without paying much attention, before my conscience suddenly told me a bit too late that I had just seen the number +100 somewhere in there. I was curious who had been able to raise their opinion of me so much, so I flipped back. Huh, I never would've guessed – it was the girl officer with a model's looks, who I had almost purged from my ranks and forced to redo all examinations to prove her professional abilities. Her name, by the way, was Valian ton Corsa.
I looked around for the girl among the officers and caught her beautiful smile. She saw that I was looking at her and walked up closer:
"Prince Georg, I'm simply indescribably delighted and don't know how to express my admiration. Would you be offended if I kissed you in front of everyone?"
Without waiting for my agreement, she took a step closer and actually kissed me right on the lips. In addition, the girl's gaze was promising much more, and she whispered, barely audibly, through the scent of cherry lipstick:
"Prince, all you have to do is call..."
"It's a good thing Miya isn't around to see this," said Nicole strictly, standing nearby.
Bringing up the name of the Truth Seeker had somewhat sobered Valian up, and she left right away after muttering some apologies. I walked up to my seat behind the console and took the microphone:
"Great work, soldiers! Today we acted harmoniously, as a unified whole, and earned that beautiful victory. But don't relax yet. We've still got the pirate capital, Unatari, to go. It's time to pay that pirate’s nest a visit before they figure out what's going on! All ships, prepare to warp in three minutes. Captains, check energy levels for warp jump. Admiral Nill ton Amsted, I thank you for your help in the battle, but we really can deal with this all ourselves."
"I have no doubts, Prince Georg. I still haven't come to my senses from all the admiration with which I observed your fleet's work. We're going back to Tesse just as soon as my ships recharge. Good luck in Unatari.”
"Thank you, Admiral. We'll meet again!"
I turned off the common channel and asked the communications officer to create an encrypted channel with the local station. I was interested in the guard group at the warp beacon.
"Sergeant Paul Vell on the line, my Prince!" reported the beacon guard division commander.
"This is my order, Paul Vell. As soon as the Tesse fleet leaves the star system, turn the warp beacon off."
"Uhhh, could you repeat that, my Prince? I don't think I heard you right..."
"You understood perfectly, sergeant. The alien base must be very close, given how fast they got to the warp beacon after it being turned on. When we need a portal back, I'll let you know. But I don't need any strangers showing up in the Hnelle system!"
A Hole in My Pocket
A hot sun, which was almost the "correct" color, an endless blue sky with thinly scattered white clouds, a light, pleasant breeze, a calm sea that stretched to the horizon. From the low cliff, a surprisingly beautiful, calming landscape opened up. It was so similar to the surface of earth, that it actually surprised me. All it would have taken for me to finally believe I was on Earth was some soaring seagulls with their unique iodine smell.
We arrived to the former residence of Velesh the First on our third day in the Unatari system, after nearly all hotbeds of resistance on the planet Unatari-VII had already been suppressed by the Alpha Iseyek landing troops and the governors of all large towns had recognized the legitimacy of the new regime. The small tropical island, which had once been selected by the local "King" for his palace, had been carefully checked over by unified divisions of praying mantises, humans and chameleons. But other than two hundred confused, frightened servants, there was no one in the residence. The notably lusty criminal King's personal guard and the large part of his concubines had left on the first day of the invasion, taking one of the four planes and a recreational submarine from the underground base with them. The runaways had taken a multitude of expensive pieces from the criminal King's extensive collection of paintings and sculptures. Also, according to eyewitness accounts, before their flight, the guards had taken a big safe from the wall where Velesh the First kept his valuables.
I wasn't too worried about the stolen valuables. First, as a Crown Prince of the Empire, it wouldn't be proper for me to own things of suspicious origin. Second, I already ordered my new palace decorated with artwork from Queen of Sin. I publicly staked my claim on the former residence of Velesh. I chose the twenty-acre island because of its beauty, but since it once belonged to pirates, technically it should have been confiscated. None of the local powers had opposed my demand and on the interactive map, the island was already marked as property of Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky.
As a matter of fact, I had declared my right to another similar paradise island to give to my daughter. First of all, Likanna really had been seriously offended by my rude behavior during the battle with the aliens, and I hadn't been able to reconcile. I was planning on using this gift to apologize to the Crown Princess. Second, I still felt a certain discomfort with the fact that my brother, Roben, had been able to give my daughter a palace, but her own father hadn't.
However, there had been a problem with giving the palace and island to her: a real gate to hell was discovered in the basement of the otherwise excellent palace. It once belonged to the pirate brotherhood's treasurer and contained whole halls filled with sophisticated instruments of torture, while in the dungeons, in a great many cells, there were haggard, maimed prisoners from captured ships. The pirates would stop at nothing to beat banking information from rich passengers and starship captains. There was no way I could give a palace like that to my daughter, even after the whole sinister basement has been cleaned out – too much evil has been done there for too many years for new inhabitants to be able to live there happily.
Thankfully, I was able to fully reconcile with my daughter soon enough without any palaces. I happened to look in at the language class that Lika and Bionica were giving to the two praying mantis bodyguards. After watching what was not quite a lesson, not quite a game for a few minutes, I suggested the pair of huge, sinister looking, ten-foot-high insects be named Phobos and Deimos (Fear and Dread) and that their chitin armor be painted for a more impressive effect.
"Can I really?" asked Lika, her eyes lit up in surprise.
I said yes. Actually, before that, I'd have to have a long conversation with General Savasss Jach about giving two dangerous killer assault soldiers to an underage girl. I had to hear out the fairly long and complex explanation about the system of subordination priority in the Iseyek race, but the important thing I understood: for Phobos and Deimos, the whole system of values had been realigned under two people – my daughter and me. Now, protecting the lives of Crown Prince Georg and Crown Princess Likanna and carrying out their orders had become the most important and only reason for their existence, fully replacing concepts like the "Swarm" and "clutch." There was no cir
cumstance under which either of the bodyguards could even think about allowing aggression or violence to come to me or my daughter. The general pledged that either of these Alpha Iseyeks would give their life without a second thought to stop any possible threat to the individuals they are guarding. Popori de Cacha was present for this conversation and fully reaffirmed the general's words. The chameleons had come across such "overly attached" bodyguards before.
I apologized to the general for my cutting words (yes, I confess, it happened) and mistrust, and wondered about the Alpha Iseyek soldiers' day-to-day needs. I was interested in everything: what they eat, how often and how much, how the other end of the process works, whether they need to sleep and they continue to grow, if they shed their armor... I had a whole ocean of questions, and I received very detailed answers to all of them. Bionica accompanied me and acted as my interpreter, so now the android was also in the loop on the special features of these huge "house pets."
For the last few days, my daughter had been experimenting with the paint sprayer. Phobos and Deimos had changed their colors over one hundred times since my suggestion. Sometimes I helped Lika; sometimes Bionica also joined our art sessions. And now at breakfast time, to my right was the silent and serious, hot pink Phobos, and to my left was the also statue-stiff Deimos, painted in a folksy, floral pattern. Over her food, Lika was making plans to bring her guards to school, imagining how surprised her classmates would be. From time to time, I would say yes and laugh with my daughter, not wanting to upset her before I had to. General Savasss Jach had warned me – and in this issue I was in full solidarity with him – that it was entirely impossible for her to bring those bodyguards to school, as all it would take is Phobos and Deimos misinterpreting one little joke on Likanna for someone to get killed.
Sector Eight (Perimeter Defense: Book #1) Page 23