Warlords Saga

by Brian K. Larson

  “Can you contact them or not?” Captain Shin asked.

  “With the right equipment, yesss. I can sssend out a sssignal to have them assssemble here. What will the Draconiansss bring to our allianccce? Have all your shipsss been dessstroyed, or will the Centauriansss have to do all the fighting in this alliancccce?”

  “We will recall the ships we have as well. Just instruct your ships to not fire on us, or we will retaliate!”

  “How many ssshipsss?” Zetaal insisted.

  “Roughly three-hundred that are in range. How about the Humans, or the Eridonians? What do you offer to our alliance?”

  “Unfortunately,” Captain McCartney answered, “We don’t have many ships at the moment.”

  Hiram raised his spindly finger, “Do not discount what you will bring to the table, Captain McCartney. The Eridonians have resources to add to the alliance.”

  “How many ssshipsss, do the Eridoniansss offer?” Chancellor Relegon asked.

  “The Eridonians will have fifty ships to bring,” Bertram offered.

  “Only fifty?” Zetaal protested.

  “One Eridonian ship is equal to five Antarian Warships.”

  “That’s only two-hundred and fifty comparable ships. That’s all you have?” Captain Shin asked.

  “We are producing more, you will see.”

  “Let’s get to it. Recall every ship you can reach. We will form our alliance fleet and begin to make a battle plan,” Captain McCartney said, standing to his feet, “Dismissed.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ________________________

  Serintin Palace

  East Wall

  ________________________

  Blue lightning danced down the tall spire, traveling across the stones of the palace. Dumakas led the charge of warriors toward the gaping whole left by the last artillery shell. He slowed, noticing the energy barrier dropping from above.

  “We must hurry before the shield closes the gap!”

  Dumakas pulled his sword from its sheath and held out a rod in his other hand. With a squeeze of his hand, he activated a shield from the rod. The rest of his hoard did the same.

  Reaching the breach they were met with the palace elite guard. Swords clashed onto electrified energy shields. The palace guards swung at Dumakas’ army, their swords snapping and sparking as they deflected with the electric shields.

  Two of Dumakas’ warriors found an opening. They climbed through the hole when the power field lowered across the wall breach. Both sides backed away from the field just before it vaporized the two climbing warriors.

  The hole sealed as the energy enveloped the entire castle. Each side looked through the field at each other. Dumakas noticed that Laboolaron lead the palace guards, and sneered, “You traitor!” he shouted, lowering his portable shield, but keeping his sword poised before him, “You DARE to come against Dumakas, the true leader of Antares?”

  Laboolaron lowered his sword, tip to the floor and held onto the engraved handle with both hands, “Do you not see that Danielle is the rightful Empress of Antares? Can you not see that the ancient scrolls are playing out before our very eyes, Lord Dumakas?”

  “I’ve never cared about those stupid ancient scratches! I am here to reclaim my role as Emperor!”

  “This action has been deemed illegal, Lord Dumakas!” Laboolaron shouted, “The Council of Elders of the House of Delema has confirmed the Empresses' appointment.”

  “I do not care what the House of Delema says; they do not control me, or the House of Gornash!”

  “They may not control you, Lord Dumakas, but they will do everything in their power to uphold the office of the House of Serintin.”

  Dumakas swung at the electrified shield, causing it to spark as his sword scored across it, “I will prevail, Laboolaron!”

  “Not as long as the Council of Elders is backing the Empress, Lord Dumakas.”

  “Does not my blood spirit speak to you?” Dumakas lowered his brow, continuing to stare at Laboolaron.

  “I have taken the blood oath of Danielle, Empress of Serintin of the Rising Star Antares, Lord Dumakas.”

  “Join me and I will restore you to power in my new administration!”

  “No, Lord Dumakas. I know that your reign was ill gained.”

  “I give you one last chance to bow before me and my new blood spirit, Laboolaron!”

  “As I said, Lord Dumakas, I now bow to Danielle’s blood spirit, not yours.”

  “Ahhhhh!” Dumakas screamed, “I will kill you! Lower this shield and I shall fight you to your death! You are nothing more than a Gorech! You are not an Antarian Warlord!”

  “I am afraid, this force shield cannot be terminated, Lord Dumakas. You will not gain access to the palace, nor will I allow you to take your power back.”

  A squadron of fighters made a low pass overhead. Dumakas looked up as they flew by, “Your fighters will be taken out! Bring down the cruiser!” Dumakas ordered over his headset.

  The sky lit up from the South as Dumakas’ cruiser opened fire on the fighter squadron. The fighters split off, avoiding most of the ship’s artillery guns. They turned to circle around the cruiser, but instead flew vertically several thousand feet high into the atmosphere.

  “Haaaa, Haa, Haa, Haaaaaa!” Dumakas roared, “Your fighters are turning tail and running already! What a bunch of Gorechs’!”

  But before Dumakas could bask in the sweet satisfaction of victory, his battle cruiser suddenly turned to the East and began climbing. A thunderous noise deafened Dumakas and his warriors as three Antarian Destroyers descended upon the escaping cruiser from the North. The three ship’s guns blazed as round after round pummeled Dumakas’ smaller ship.

  “Looks like our reinforcements just arrived!” Laboolaron smiled.

  “Dumakas, my Lord!” Baelak shouted, extending a long hand toward the North, “Transports!”

  “They’re bringing in ground reserves! Each of those three landing ships carries fifty warriors!” Charge! Dumakas activated his blue shield and headed toward the landing transport ships.

  The transports fired full reverse thrusters, sending debris into the air. Doors on each side of the ships were already extended wide open. Antarians hung on to poles and then jumped the few feet to the ground.

  The two factions engaged one another. Dumakas continued to lead the charge, swinging his sword, slicing and killing the charging Antarian warriors.

  Their swords clashed as they fought. Sparks flew with each sword strike, the blue shields reverberating with every blow. Dumakas’ one-hundred warriors found themselves outnumbered two to one.

  Explosions rained from above as two destroyers laid down weapons fire on Dumakas’ position. The third destroyer from Delema gave chase to Dumakas’ cruiser, firing their missiles and artillery guns.

  Two missiles missed the fleeing cruiser. The third one struck the fuselage, tearing off the ship’s left corner. A stream of molten metal trailed from the wound as the cruiser tried to spin up its jump drive.

  The cruiser jumped into high orbit over Serintin, “Condition report!” The Captain demanded.

  “My Lord, we have jumped away from the pursuing destroyers. We have taken major damage to our aft stabilizer and port engines.”

  The helm officer frantically manipulated his console, “My Lord! We are heading straight into the Lebencha energy stream!”

  “Evasive maneuvers!”

  The helmsman grew a panicked look on his face, “We’ve lost all maneuverability, my Lord! We’re going in!”

  “Brace for impact!”

  The sleek cruiser fired all thruster power to avoid the energy stream, but it was unable to change course quickly enough. The ship’s damaged rear section hit the energy stream, sending the flailing cruiser out of control. Explosions rocked the ship. The ship’s atmosphere began venting out of the damaged area, pulling several Antarian crew into space before the ship ignited and blew apart.

  The explosion of the cruiser was so p
owerful it was seen from the surface of Serintin.

  The vanishing cruiser sent a backlash wave of energy toward the destroyer. The destroyer listed and began to pull up and away from the energy force. Being too close to the jumping ship, the energy wave struck the destroyer, causing power disruptions across their systems. The ship descended out of control toward the mountains of the east. The crash sent a fireball a thousand feet into the air. The impact shook the ground and crumbled rocks from the highest mountain peaks causing them to roll down and smash into the crash site.

  Artillery shells zipped past the fighting army, impacting and exploding behind them. The ground shook with each strike, making it difficult for either side to battle.

  “We are losing ground, my Lord Dumakas!” Baelak shouted.

  The two fell back to assess their situation, allowing other warriors to advance the front lines.

  “My Lord, we must break off our attack! We are greatly outnumbered. Our diversionary forces have been destroyed. Our artillery guns have been silenced by the destroyers, and their fighters are taking out the camp near Glavin!”

  Three more artillery shells zipped overhead, exploding a short distance away. Shrapnel flew in all directions. Baelak grabbed Dumakas by his lapels and flung him to the ground on his back. The flying debris pierced Baelak through his chest, stabbing one of his hearts. With his breath taken away, he groaned and fell to the ground on one knee.

  Dumakas rolled Baelak to his back and kneeled over his fallen comrade. He held him by his shoulders, explosions continuing to ring out all around them, “Baelak! Hold on, I’ll call for help!”

  “No, my Lord, do not be concerned for me,” Baelak struggled to say, “Get yourself to safety! You will have to retreat to fight another day.”

  “You will bleed out, Baelak!”

  “My Nanites are closing the wound, and I have a second heart. I will be alright, my Lord,” Baelak tapped his headset, “Shotzgren, emergency pickup for Lord Dumakas...yes, operation secure!”

  “What is operation secure?” Dumakas quizzed.

  “It’s a plan Shotzgren and I put together, my Lord. We must protect you at all costs. Operation secure is just that...any second now, an emergency pod will arrive southeast of our position. Go now! Take the pod to Gornash. You will be safe there.”

  “Be safe, my friend,” Dumakas said. He understood the determination of his closest officers in ensuring his success.

  Dumakas stood and ran to the escape pod. He looked up and noticed a streak of fire heading in the same direction he was going. He knew that was his escape craft, and double-timed it across the terrain.

  The pod set down in the thick of the forest, the thrusters igniting the foliage that surrounded the pod. The door rose, giving Dumakas an inviting welcome. Dumakas carefully ran through the fire that now raged around the forest. Finally arriving at the pod, he climbed aboard and closed the hatch. The pod fired full power to the thrusters and took off, screaming across the sky toward Gornash.

  ________________________

  Serintin Palace

  Main Court Yard

  ________________________

  Danielle climbed from Leshreel’s back as he finished descending the tower and then addressed Darnash. “They are in retreat! We have prevented this hostile takeover!”

  “Excellent, my Lady!” Leshreel sounded.

  “Where is Laboolaron?”

  “He has led the charge at the wall breach, my Lady, along with Chelek and Rotheg.”

  “Ah yes, those two came along on our hunt. Bring them all before me, at once!”

  “Yes, my Lady,” another palace aide bowed.

  It wasn’t too long before Laboolaron and his men rounded the corridor, entering the courtyard.

  Laboolaron knelt on bended knee before Danielle, “My Lady.”

  His army followed suit and went down on their knee.

  “To your feet!” she ordered.

  “Yes, my Lady,” Laboolaron said as he stood. “We have successfully defended the castle. Dumakas and his army have been repelled.”

  “Yes, Laboolaron, my army is strong.”

  “Ma’am,” Darnash began, “The House of Delema sent the destroyers. Without their backing, I’m afraid Dumakas may have succeeded.”

  “Darnash, please send word to the Council of Elders. They have the House of the Empress’ sincere thanks for upholding the Law of Appointment.”

  “Yes, my Lady.”

  “Laboolaron, for your help in fighting your former Emperor, you have gained my trust. You shall be freed. But, Laboolaron…”

  “Yes, my Lady?”

  “…do not disappoint me.”

  “Thank you, my Lady. I shall never disappoint you.”

  “Where is Tumaleka?” Danielle asked, looking among the assembly.

  “My Lady,” Rotheg said, standing forward, “She was seen a short time ago, heading to the landing bay.”

  “Fetch her at once!”

  Chelek stood forward with Rotheg, “I also saw her on a secured comm link, my Lady.”

  Just then the roar of engines drew everyone’s eyes to a shuttle rising from the landing bay. Darnash pointed at the shuttle as it faded away into the night sky, “There! She is fleeing the palace, my Lady. Shall we pursue?”

  “No. Let her go. I know now that she was the one that freed Dumakas. I will deal with her in due time. Have our entire fleet assembled at Antares. Recall all ships that are in communication range.”

  “My Lady?” Darnash asked.

  “It is about time that I show the people of Antares that I am their Empress. We shall assemble our fleet and make way to Earth. We will conquer my home world. Their resources will be added to our own.”

  “By your word, my Lady,” Darnash bowed. “I shall do so immediately.”

  Danielle turned to Laboolaron, “I shall put you in charge of fortifying the palace. I do not want any chances that another attempt by Dumakas could succeed! Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, my Lady. I will alert you when I have completed this task.”

  “Very well, then. We can resume our sparring in the morning. I shall retire for the night. Thank you all again for your support, you will be handsomely rewarded.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  ________________________

  The Rock

  Epsilon Eridani

  ________________________

  “Final jump to Epsilon sequence check!” Admiral Fitz barked.

  The noise of the Rock’s engine winding up forced the crew to shout their reports form the various stations, “Sub light is GO!” ... “NAV station ready!” ... “Tactical; GO!” ... “Checking jump resolution, GO!”

  “Generate negative energy densities!” Commander Jamison ordered from his station.

  “Generating negative densities,” Lieutenant Foster reported.

  “FTL is a go, jump drive is spooled, Sir!” Erica acknowledged.

  “Flight Deck Condition?” Jameson asked.

  “Flight deck is secure, Sir,” Chief Kelly relayed from within the flight deck operation center, “...and Sir, Colonel Jennings is on his way to the CSC.”

  “Race?” Jed asked turning to his XO, “He knows we’re about to jump, right?” he whispered.

  “Yes, Sir,” a familiar voice echoed from the entrance of the ship’s CSC.

  Jed looked up and smiled, “Well, there you are. Come in, you’re holding everything up.”

  “In other words,” Commander Jameson pointed, “I think he wants you to take your seat.”

  “Sorry, guys...you know how it is.”

  “No,” Jed smirked again, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “I really wanted to see this last jump to Eridani for myself, you know.”

  “Are you going to sit down, or just keep flapping your gums?” Commander Jameson demanded.

  “All set over here,” Race said with a wide grin.

  “Well, it’s about time,” Jed kidded, “Flight operat
ions team, continue final sequence check.”

  “The board is green, Admiral!” Commander Jameson reported.

  “Initiate final jump!”

  The ship shook as they crossed the jump field, the engines spun down in an instant after the ship moved to the designated coordinates. The shuddering and shaking ceased, returning all systems to normal.

  “Report!” Jamison barked.

  “Yes, Sir!” the helmsman reported, “We are at our programmed jump coordinates. Epsilon Eridani is in range!”

  “Sir!” Lieutenant Collins reported, “Picking up several ships on an intercept course.”

  “Battle stations!” Commander Jameson shouted.

  Malcom interrupted the Commander before he could give the order to launch fighters, “Relax, Commander, these are friendlies. They are your escort to Epsilon Prime.”

  “Secure from General Quarters,” Jameson ordered. “Sorry, I was just...”

  “It is quite alright, Commander Jameson. It is a credit to your crew that they are alert and ready for a battle at any moment.”

  Jed sent a grin across to Jameson from his station, “Lieutenant Henderson, open a channel to our Eridonian friends.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” his comm officer answered.

  “Sir,” Lieutenant Payne reported, “I’m getting course correction and requested speed settings.”

  “Henderson?” Jed asked, “Can you confirm those course instructions?”

  “No, Sir. They’re not coming from the comm link.”

  “Come again?”

  “What Lieutenant Henderson means,” Malcom explained, “Is that Lieutenant Payne has received her instructions, telepathically.”

  “Well,” Jed said, waving his hand hesitantly in the air, “Proceed.”

  “Aye, Sir,” the Lieutenant smiled, “They’re forming up on our flank and we’re on course to Epsilon Prime.”

  “What’s our ETA?”

  “Pitch nose down fifteen degrees,” Malcom suggested with a smile.

  Lieutenant Payne pushed her controls forward and adjusted the ship’s pitch. The green planet eased into view of their front screens.