“Two fronts are diversionary. This is what he will do to reduce your resources. We should concentrate our forces on his main front.”
“Do you know which side that would be from?”
“He will most likely attempt at the only side that does not face a major province; the East wall.”
“Do it. Keep them out while my aide takes me to that power station up there.”
“You want me to climb you up there?”
“Yes, now let’s go!”
“You are more brave than Antarians give you credit for, my Lady. I am impressed. The ancient writings are correct.”
The aide began making his way to the tower. Laboolaron led the warriors to the east wall to wait for Dumakas, keeping a small number to fight from the walls on the two diversionary fronts.
________________________
Serintin Palace
East Wall
________________________
“Our men are in position,” Baelak smiled, “Everything is ready, my Lord.”
“Excellent, my first general,” Dumakas raised his hairy hand in the air, giving the charge, “Attaaaaack!”
The warriors marched forward, the artillery gun fired rounds at the palace wall shaking the ancient stone structure.
“Keep pounding on that wall until it breaches!” Dumakas shouted.
“Yes, my Lord!”
“How soon before our men are in position to storm the palace?”
“Ten minutes, my Lord,” Baelak answered, “We should be through the wall before then.”
“Very well. Get Shotzgren on the line. Tell him to bring in the cruiser and begin taking out the fighters!”
“Yes, Lord Dumakas, right away, my Lord.”
________________________
Serintin Palace
Tower
________________________
“Sure hope you know what you’re doing?”
“Yes, my Lady. I can climb this wall with ease.”
“What’s your name, anyway?”
“Leshreel, my Lady,” the aide answered, as he carefully scaled the sixty foot tower.
“Why didn’t you put stairs in?”
“There are stairs, but the door has been sealed for so long, it will not open. This is the quickest way. The window will be open for us to climb through.”
“I do like your direct approach,” Danielle said, continuing to cling to the Antarian’s fur.
“Just a few more feet, my Lady,” Leshreel said before being shook by a stray mortar shell.
Danielle nearly lost her grip, but Leshreel reached around to catch her before she fell. He hoisted her up to his shoulder, allowing her to climb into the room at the top. He quickly joined her and nodded his approval for her bravery.
“Well done, my Lady.”
“Yeah, fine...get this machine fired up. I think they’re going to breach the wall any second now!”
Leshreel looked over the dusty equipment. Reaching to one lever, he pushed it upward, but it failed to move.
Taking both hands, he pressed up underneath the lever, pushing his entire body into it.
“Help me, we must lift this switch!”
Danielle grabbed the lever with Leshreel. It creaked and groaned from not being moved all those years. Finally, the lever relented and moved to the upward position, sending a power surge through the palace.
The machine lit up with dancing yellow lights. It shot blue colored bolts of energy down the spire and across the stone facing of the palace.
Dumakas’ artillery struck the eastern wall, blowing a hole in its side, sending the charging warlords toward the gaping opening in the side of the palace.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
________________________
Sigma Draconis
HMS Bristol
________________________
“Captain Shin, Commander Styr,” Captain McCartney said. He sat at a conference table, his hands folded in front of him.
Styr nodded his address, “Thank you for allowing me to attend in absence of my Captain, Rothgarson.”
“You tell Trygg that he’s welcome aboard my ship anytime. I hope he is able to be freed from his duties soon.”
“I shall pass the word along,” the white-haired, wide eyed Draconian answered.
“Chancellor Relegon,” McCartney said, turning to the Centaurian, “I trust you are recovering from your injuries? I also thank Captain Zetaal for attending along with you.”
The Chancellor turned his head slightly away from Captain McCartney before answering, “Yesss, I am feeling much better. I thhhank you for asssisting with my recovery.”
Zetaal, being as he was, leaned forward to address Captain McCartney directly, “Let’sss, cut to the chassse, ssshall we?”
“My apologies, Captain,” McCartney answered, “Humans tend to begin with pleasantries when we are having these types of talks. It helps to lighten...”
Zetaal made known his seething anger by slamming his fist hard to the table, “Enough of thisss wassste of time! Our planet wasss decimated, and you wisssh to ssspeak of pleasssantries?”
Chancellor Relegon reached a green scaled hand and rested it upon his Captain’s, “Zzzetaal! It isss alright. I find the Captain’sss act of interjecting amenitiesss isss an interesssting concept, to be sssure.”
“It is a concept I’m sure the Centaurians know nothing of,” the Draconian interjected, holding his crooked smirk at bay.
Zetaal hissed at Styr.
“Gentlemen, gentlemen, please,” McCartney said with raised hands, “Captain Zetaal is right. We haven’t much time, so we really should get down to business.”
Zetaal smiled from his thin lizard lips and gave Styr a stare, “Thisss isss acceptable to me.”
“Captain McCartney,” the Centaurian Chancellor began, “You mussst underssstand. Sssitting here in this sssmall room,” Relegon looked around the room, “isss not an easssy tasssk.”
“I will agree with Chancellor Relegon,” Commander Styr added, “Our two races have been at war for centuries. Neither of us would have ever thought we would be sitting across from one another.”
“Both of your races are facing extinction,” Captain Shin interjected, “I took my ship to Theta Centauri to meet with the Centaurians in hopes we could form an alliance. What we saw when we jumped into your system was horrifying to say the least.”
“You have my admiration, Captain Ssshin. You risssked your life, and your entire crew to sssave usss,” Chancellor Relegon nodded, “You have proven your tenacccity among your kind. An allianccce between usss isss acceptable.”
“Thank you, Chancellor Relegon,” Captain McCartney smiled. He extended his hand to the Centaurian, and the two shook.
“Now,” McCartney smiled, “What about forming an alliance with the Draconians? It would be in all of our best interests to join as many of us together as possible.”
“An allianccce with the Draconiansss?” Zetaal protested, “That could never work! It isss hard enough to fathom our kind isss actually consssidering thisss proposssal.”
“That isss quite enough, Zzztaal. You ssshall hold your sssplit tongue! An allianccce with the Draconiansss may be hard to fathom, Captain Zzzetaal is correct. However, I agree with my new human friendsss that if we are to sssurvive, we mussst change, and look to the future.”
Styr slyly returned a smile to the Centaurians, “I think it is wise that we all join forces. Of course, my vote is to form this alliance, and to include any others that we could recruit. However, I will have to defer the final decision to Captain Rothgarson, as I have no authority to make these most important decisions.”
“Well, of courssse you do not!” Zetaal once again protested with the smack of his fist. “The only reassson Captain Rothgarssson is not present isss to delay thisss allianccce in hopesss the ressst of our kind will be wiped out ssso they don’t have to decccide!”
“Nonsense,” Styr again smirked, “You’re kind has always been the suspi
cious type,” Styr turned to McCartney, “Pay no attention to the Centaurians, Captain. I assure you, the Draconians will be forthcoming with our final decision within a few hours.”
“I don’t wish to bring negative thoughts about,” McCartney said, “But I do have to wonder why Trygg didn’t give you full authority to make any decisions?”
“There is nothing that should cause concern, Captain. It is just our way, that’s all.”
“I will not lisssten to thisss Draconian and their double talk!” Zetaal argued.
Styr leaned toward Zetaal, “If memory serves me, you did not wish to entertain an alliance in the first place!”
“Everyone, just calm down!” Captain McCartney insisted, “We all have different protocols. We all come from different cultures; I suggest we take The Draconians at their word. A few hours will not matter.”
“It mattersss not to you, Captain,” Chancellor Relegon added, “It isss not your race that facesss extinction.”
“...and what of the Eridonians. Are they a part of this alliance we speak of today?” Styr asked.
“I kept the Eridonians from this meeting so that we can learn to trust each other. I felt that if they were present, they might accuse any of us as being deceitful, and I wasn’t going to have these talks break down. Perhaps I was wrong about that.”
“Hmmm,” Chancellor Relegon mused, “A leader that can admit when they are wrong. Thisss isss refressshing.”
“Thank you, Chancellor. We have a trait that allows us to recognize when we’ve made mistakes, and to admit our short comings. It’s how we learn and grow.”
“Very interesting, yes indeed,” Commander Styr added.
“And to answer your question, Commander, yes. The Eridonians will be a part of this alliance. They’ve been extremely helpful to us. If it wasn’t for their intervention, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation; I’d be stuck on some ocean vessel patrolling our coast lines back on Earth.”
Chancellor Relegon sat back in his chair with folded arms, “We trussst not the Eridoniansss.”
“Why? What have they done to make you mistrust them?” McCartney asked.
“We have not had many dealingsss with the Eridoniansss,” Zetaal answered for the Chancellor. “They keep themselves far away from us.”
“And with good reason,” Styr interjected. “You’d most likely kill them all!”
“We cannot get clossse enough to one of their shipsss,” Zetaal answered, “Their mind tricksss prevent usss from ssseeing with our own eyesss where they are...otherwissse, we could defeat them, easssy.”
“Trust is something that you must try, Chancellor,” Captain Shin added. “You trusted us to rescue you. Trust us with the Eridonians as well.”
With one eye pointed in their direction, “We will proccceed with caution. Trust isss sssomething not freely given, rather it isss earned,” the Chancellor said.
“Yes, I agree that trust is earned. But in some cases, trust is necessary to preserve life, such as when we rescued you from certain death back on your home world,” Captain Shin said.
McCartney turned to Commander Styr, “How soon could you formalize this alliance we’ve proposed?”
“I could try to present this to my Commanding officer right now. If he agrees, we can agree now. That is if that pleases the Centaurians?”
Zetaal gave Styr another hiss of dissatisfaction, “Why? Ssso you can back out of the alliance, usssing your protocol as a crutch when thingsss go bad?”
Chancellor Relegon rested his hand on his Captain’s shoulder, “We will trussst thisss one to do asss he saysss.”
Zetaal backed away and sat back in his chair, not taking his eyes off of the Draconian.
“Then I will take that as a yes. If you will excuse me, Captain?” Styr said, scooting away from the table. “I will make the call and return in a few moments.”
Captain McCartney stood to shake the Commander’s hand. He was shocked by the lack of feeling, other than cold, from the Draconian’s hand. He withdrew from the clammy hand and returned to his seat. Styr pulled out a communication device from his uniform pocket and exited to the corridor.
McCartney pressed a button on a control pad situated on the table, “Send in the Eridonians.”
“Yes, Sir. They’re on the way,”
Just as McCartney switched off the comm, the door slid open bringing Hiram and Bertram into the room.
“Captain McCartney,” Bertram began, “You did not need to call for us. We knew when we were to come to the room.”
“I’ll never get used to your telepathic abilities,” McCartney chuckled.
The two Eridonians sat expressionless at the end of the conference table.
“Yes...well,” McCartney nervously began, “I wanted to bring you here to formalize our alliance with everyone here today.”
“You should already be aware of our stance with the alliance, Captain,” Hiram said.
Bertram broke in over his counterpart, “We support this alliance to fight the Warlords. Our actions should be all that is needed of asking.”
“Yes, Captain McCartney. We will support all who are with us. We must defeat the Warlords or they will continue to decimate solar systems. Soon, there will be no stopping their tyranny.”
“What did your mind reading...”
Bertram interrupted the Captain, “...There were some very interesting things we have discovered through our mind probe, Captain.”
“That’s wonderful, but I’d prefer if you allow me to verbalize...”
“...your sentences,” Hiram finished, “Yes, of course, Captain. It is just that we forget other species have…limited communication abilities.”
“It is rather discerning.”
“Please, tell us what you’ve discovered?” Captain Shin added.
“Yesss, yesss,” Chancellor Relegon nodded, “We would be interesssted to know asss well.”
Commander Styr entered the room sporting his usual smirk, “I am pleased to say that my commanding officer has agreed to the alliance on all points. You can count on the Draconians all the way.”
Zetaal leaned forward toward Styr once more, “You had better not be lying about thisssss.”
“I agree with Zzzetaal,” the Chancellor said, “Allow the Eridonian to scan your mind, then the Centaurians will be satisfied.”
Styr raised his hands in the air, “If that will assist, then I have no problem doing that.”
“Captain,” McCartney said, extending his hand toward Styr, “I’m sure that’s not necessary...”
“It’s alright, Captain McCartney, I am alright with this. We are here to help. If the Centaurians wish to confirm that I am not lying, then so be it.”
“Very well,” McCartney relented, “Go ahead and probe his mind.”
“We already have, Captain McCartney,” Bertram answered.
“...and we can guarantee, with all certainty, that Commander Styr Valbrandrson is being truthful. He spoke to Captain Rothgarson, and he has given him the authority to enter into this alliance.”
Styr sat back and rested his hand on the conference table, “You see? We are trustworthy. Does this satisfy the Chancellor?”
“Yesss, I am sssatisssifed. The Centauriansss will agree to the alliance on all points.”
“Good!” Captain McCartney sighed. “Now, can you please tell us what your findings are from your mind probe of the Antarian ships that attacked?”
“Yes, very well,” Hiram began, “Our mind probe revealed that these two captains were not under any orders for their attack.”
“Not under orders?”
“They were acting on their own diminishing lust for fighting. They are losing their blood lust. There is turmoil at Antares.”
“Yes...great turmoil is what we sense,” Bertram interjected.
“The two captains were acting in desperation to re-energize their blood lust. They were not a part of the main fleet we encountered at Theta Centauri, but rogue ships that splintered
from their main fleet.”
“I seriously doubt that five hundred war ships comprise the Warlord’s main fleet,” Captain Shin added.
“Quite right, Captain McCartney,” Bertram answered, “Let me correct myself. The Warlords have four main fleets that operate in separate quadrants. The one the Yamoato encountered was but one of the four main fleets.”
“Are you saying that the Warlords have over two-thousand ships in their fleet?”
“I am afraid that is the case, Captain,” Bertram answered.
“How are we going to combat that number of ships?” Captain McCartney asked.
Captain Shin grew a smile as he addressed Captain Zetaal, “I’m sure with your intellect, Captain, you would be able to send a message to your remaining five-hundred fleet ships you spoke about? Have them assemble here at Sigma Draconis.”
“Why here, Captain?” Styr asked, “Why not at Theta Centauri?”
“They’ll be waiting for us there. They came back twice. The first time to take your fleet out. The second time was apparently to see if any additional ships were recalled. Now that they have discovered the Yamato, they’ll be looking for us there.”
“Won’t they be looking for any fleet here?”
“Let me ask you, how many attacks have arrived since the first? What was the ship count of that fleet?”
“Just the main attack,” Styr said, lowering his head, “And these two rogue ships.”
“How many ships came on the first attack?”
“Roughly five-hundred.”
“Sssame asss the firssst wave that attacked usss,” Zetaal added.
“Only they didn’t see a need to bring in their second wave. They took care of us with the first.”
“And only these rogue ships coming back indicate that they’re not interested in your system.”
“They already took as many resources as they could. I’m sure they will return at some point,” Styr said.
“Thisss isss ridiculousss...full of ssspeculation,” Zetaal argued. “I won’t have it!”
“These are our allies!” the Chancellor answered, “What isss sssaid here makes sssence.”
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