Annihilation Saga: Lost Royalty

by Saxon Andrew

  “Were we moving that fast in normal space!?”

  “Yes. Now hang on.”

  • • •

  Danielle saw the Prime disappear and heard BC say, “They just flew away at more than five-hundred-times the speed of light in normal space.” She nodded and thought as she and Dela walked to the Communication Center, “Tag was right. He can use his talent in a Prime.” She felt her tears but she forced them back. “BC, where are we in getting the power cells installed on our warships?”

  “We’re just getting the Glod Warships covered. I’m finishing the assembly line for the Primes and we should get started on them in three-weeks.”

  Danielle nodded as she turned to Dela, “Please stay with me until we know what happens.” Dela nodded. She didn’t want to be alone either. Danielle felt immense sorrow at the attack on Ross and wondered if she had done the right thing in leaving the Milky Way behind.

  • • •

  Kogo thought to Tag, “Does this Prime have a name?”

  “I really haven’t thought about it.”

  “Every ship should have a name.”

  Tag thought about it and smiled, “There was a movie in Earth’s ancient history that became a classic enjoyed for thousands of years.”

  “What was it?”

  “Ghost Busters.”

  “Ghost Busters?”

  Tag smiled, “The creatures we’re going to confront are pretty much invisible, sort of like Ghosts.”

  “Then Ghost Buster it is.”

  “We’ll call it GB.”

  “Tag.”

  “Yes.”

  “The first teleport moved us all the way out to the edge of Creature Space. Will they be able to follow us if we’re moving that fast?”

  “No. I’m going to be forced to move at a slower speed.”

  “How much slower?”

  “I’ll have to determine that when they start chasing us.”

  Kogo hesitated and remarked, “That sounds a little…”

  “Dangerous?”

  “Something like that.” Kogo thought for a moment and asked, “Are these beings intelligent?”

  “Sort of.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Look in my mind. I can hear them now.”

  Kogo focused and said, “They’re…Uhhh…”

  “Mentally retarded?”

  “They only think in very basic concepts,” Kogo replied.

  “I can see that.”

  “Tag, these beings are only doing what all animals do. They look for food and try to survive.”

  “A T-Rex did the same thing with a lot less intelligence. The only safe thing is to kill it before it kills you.”

  “I guess.”

  “Are you ready to get this show started?”

  “Tag, if you can hear them, can they hear you?”

  “I really don’t know.”

  “I’m focusing on your mind and I’ll shut-up and not distract you.”

  “That’s a good idea, Kogo. I’m teleporting into the middle of their territory…now!”

  • • •

  The Prime instantly appeared high above a giant Elliptical Galaxy and Tag changed course to move into it. He kept the viewports open and switched between watching the long-range scanner’s monitor and the viewports. Kogo kept his eyes closed and his hands on the weapon panel. He was seeing everything Tag was seeing. Tag detected an advanced civilization off the starboard side of the Prime and started moving toward it. He stopped the Prime a light year away and stared at the monitor as numerous readouts appeared from the scanners. Numerous cities on the surface were lifeless and then he looked up and used his mind to look at the planet. He realized before he left that he had been given the Cats’ talent to look in the distant universe to see things. He immediately saw several giant pale white clouds moving over the planet’s surface and knew he had found some of the DEC’s. He thought about moving closer but dismissed it. In order for the Dark Energy Creatures to attack planets across a galaxy, they had to possess the ability to see life across great distances. But they didn’t appear to be moving in his direction…why were they being ignored?

  Ummm…could it be just one ship wasn’t enough to draw their attention? Kogo made a good point in asking if they could hear his thoughts. He thought about it and figured, what the heck, “HEY!! WHAT’S GOING ON?”

  Tag and Kogo were both shocked by the immediate reaction. A giant white cloud erupted from the planet as other white clouds suddenly appeared across the galaxy. It was like poking a stick in a giant hornet’s nest. They flew toward the Ghost Buster at an incredible speed and Tag accelerated away just before the closest cloud arrived. “It does appear they can hear telepathy, Tag. I hear them drooling over the wonderful taste of a telepath,” Kogo said anxiously.

  “You think!!” Tag accelerated and was forced to teleport around a huge cloud of the creatures bearing down on them from the edge of the galaxy. He moved the ship above the Galaxy and turned toward the last known location of the Black Warships. But clouds were rising from the galaxies between them and their space at an alarming rate.

  “It appears they are all connected in some way, Kogo. Keep them off us, I’m headed back at my fastest speed.”

  Kogo kept his eyes closed and saw the mass of clouds moving toward them like a high-speed fog. Tag teleported outside the outer-edge of DEC Space and accelerated to a speed to keep them ahead of the swarm. He looked behind the Prime and saw the massive cloud of creatures were pursuing at an incredible speed. He sighed heavily and thought, “Our ships will not be able to match their speed. They can even keep up with a teleporting ship.” Kogo nodded and kept his focus on what Tag was seeing. Tag turned his gaze forward and saw a giant white cloud moving down on them from directly ahead. The closing speed was incredible and he turned the Prime vertical to go over the approaching cloud. Two of the giant creatures came rushing in cutting off the angle and Kogo hit them with three-blaster beams each. They heard the mental screams in their minds and the telepathic roar from the others in pursuit was mentally deafening.” Kogo knew that the creatures coming at them from head on had left to attack other galaxies. Their numbers were impossible and Tag kept sweeping his eyes from viewport to viewport. And still they came in giant waves. Kogo fired and killed ten more creatures and the roar grew even louder.

  Kogo knew that the only reason they survived was because of Tag’s talent to move psychically faster than any object in normal space. But the numbers were working against him. He was constantly firing to keep the creatures away and the number of attackers were growing by the second.

  Tag hit the thruster handle and went to full power as he flew over a huge cloud of the creatures and then he turned and headed back toward the Black Ships. He knew he could have teleported far beyond them but he had to keep them moving toward El Prado’s former location. These creatures appeared to be able to lock on a target and keep it in their senses.

  Kogo saw that when Tag went vertical to go over a mass of the creatures, the ones behind them flew ahead of them and attacked from head on. He knew Tag was a supreme pilot but what he was witnessing was beyond anything he had witnessed since boarding the Kosiev. Anyone else would have already been killed and still Tag was able to blow through small gaps between the Clouds and keep moving toward their target coordinates. But he was being forced higher and higher above the former location of El Prado and at some point, he was going to have to dive toward the coordinates.

  Kogo could hear the creature’s thoughts and it was clear that consuming a telepath was an addiction that all of them possessed. Tag had offered them bait they could not refuse when he sent a mental message to those attacking that planet. The chase was impossible and he was constantly firing the Prime’s Blasters and he was barely keeping them at bay. He suddenly realized that he was doing things at a speed that was impossible as well. He was using Tag’s talent and had no idea how that was possible. He fired on a Creature less than a hundred-yards from their hu
ll and its death scream deafened both of them. After what seemed like years, Tag thought to him, “I’m going to have to make my move toward the former location of Bristone’s Galaxy. Open fire with every blaster and keep them firing. In three-two-one…NOW!!”

  Kogo pressed the release button on the blaster controls and then saw Tag look out of the left viewport. One of the creatures was coming through a gap in the blaster’s coverage and it was moving too fast to avoid. It slammed into the Prime at full speed.

  • • •

  Jimmy and Lola sat on the Kosiev and Jimmy said, “Alex, we’re going to be in big trouble for coming out here without orders.”

  “I’ll ask permission after this is over.”

  “I’m surprised Danielle hasn’t missed us.” Jimmy muttered.

  “She learned that Ross is under attack by the Black Ships and that has all of her attention, Jimmy. We have to be here to draw them in if Tag and Kogo fail.”

  “We won’t be able to outrun them, Alex.”

  “I’ll use the dimensional drive to escape if it comes down to it.”

  The Kosiev was hidden behind a masking field and used the DEC scanner that Sprigly had installed to watch the approaching wave of white clouds. They saw Tag’s Prime suddenly engulfed by the white cloud and Lola said, “Oh no!!”

  Grace announced, “It appears the Black Ships are able to see those creatures on their scanners. They’re moving out to meet the cloud. It also appears the Cloud sees them as well.”

  Jimmy watched the scanner and saw tens of thousands of Black Ships moving out toward the massive approaching cloud and Alex said, “We’re not needed. I’m getting out of here.” The Kosiev disappeared and five-seconds later, twenty of the Creatures rushed into their former location. The Creatures turned and flew at their maximum speed toward the approaching Black Warships.

  • • •

  Danielle watched the data from a sliver that just arrived and she saw the giant harvesting ships arrive at Ross and start teleporting all the metals and advanced alloys out of the rubble of the cities. The specialized teleportation beams only removed the metals and other substances used by an advanced society into their giant holds leaving nothing but rubble behind. Danielle put her head in her hands and wept as she observed the huge loss of life on Ross. Thousands of Black Warships were in orbit over the planet and Danielle saw more moving toward the planet. Suddenly, the thousands of warships in orbit began disappearing as they teleported away. The giant harvesters stopped their gathering and began boosting toward orbit at high-speed where they immediately hit their universal drives and disappeared.

  Danielle looked at Seedel, “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. We’re going to have to wait for another sliver to find out.”

  Dela looked at Danielle, “Tag and Kogo had to have something to do with this. Another sliver has just arrived.”

  The data began downloading and Seedel said, “This sliver came from the Algean’s Galaxy.” They watched the monitor and saw planets being attacked by the Black Ships with the same ferocity they saw at Ross. Seedel examined the data before saying, “This data comes from thousands of probes. It appears the advanced civilizations in the Algean Galaxy are being attacked. As they watched the monitors, they suddenly saw the Black Ships start disappearing from the civilizations being attacked. Seedel looked up, “Something has interrupted them.”

  Danielle smiled, “You’re right, Dela! This has to be Tag and Kogo’s work.”

  Suddenly, Jimmy appeared on the wall monitor and he looked at them with an expression of extreme sorrow. “WHAT’S WRONG!?! Dela yelled.

  “We went back to our universe in the Kosiev and planned to lead the Dark Energy Creatures to the Black Ships if Tag and Kogo failed.”

  “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!” Danielle yelled.

  “Because we had to be sure, Danielle!” Alex answered. “However, we didn’t need to do it. The Black Ships detected the approach of the Creatures and we jumped away.”

  Danielle stared at Jimmy on the monitor and said, “Something has happened.”

  The recording of the approach of the giant white cloud appeared and they saw Tag’s Prime swallowed up by the white cloud. “I’m so sorry, Danielle. I’m so sorry.”

  Danielle wailed and Seedel instantly wrapped her branches around her and Dela as they broke down. Sprigly rushed into the communication center with Newton and they all wept for their loss. Jimmy and Lola teleported in and joined them a moment later. The Ultimate Warrior was gone and the sorrow of everyone in the Dark Dimension was more than could be expressed in mere words.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  After ten-days, Danielle realized that Tag was right. If she had forced him to take her with him, the sorrow enveloping the Galaxy would have been despair at losing both of them. All would have been lost if he had given in to her. She spent her days in the Communication Room watching what was happening in their universe as slivers arrived and downloaded their data. Sprigly had modified the computer to be able to see the DECs. It made a huge difference in seeing what was going on.

  A sliver arrived and Sprigly pulled up the data on the main monitor. “It appears the Grang was right.”

  “About what?” Danielle asked.

  “The Black Warships have more than just the ships we saw originally. Millions of their warships are arriving from another universe to join the fight.”

  “That means they must have a universe that is their base of operations.” Sprigly looked at her and leaned left in agreement.

  Dela walked in and looked awful; she was clearly not sleeping well. Danielle stood up and hugged her before she sat down. Seedel came in and relieved Sprigly and the three sat in silence. Finally, Danielle said, “It appears there is a sort of stalemate.” Seedel leaned left in agreement.

  “What do you mean, Danielle?” Dela asked.

  Danielle rewound the video and explained, “It appears that one of those DECs stakes out one of those Black Warships and stays just outside its blaster range. For the Black Ship to teleport out, it must drop the teleport field that protects its hull. If they do that, the DEC will immediately attack and consume everyone on board. The Black Ships can’t teleport away and they can’t outrun them in normal space with their thrusters.”

  “What I find interesting is that once one of those creatures stakes out a Black Ship, all the other Creatures stay away from it,” Seedel remarked. “They must possess a territorial imperative when it comes to prey.”

  Danielle shrugged, “There’s more of them. Those that don’t have a ship staked out, go and attack planets. Billions are dying while this is happening.”

  Seedel agreed, “These new Black Ships arriving from another universe will pull many of those away that are attacking planets.”

  “But it will still come down to a stale mate,” Danielle remarked.

  “Not really.”

  “Why do you say that, Seedel?”

  “Those ships don’t have enough food on them to last forever, Dela.”

  Danielle’s eyes widened slightly and then she nodded. “At some point in time the Black Warships will have to make a break to escape.

  Danielle saw Dela staring at the monitor and heard her softly say, “I miss him so much.”

  Danielle sighed heavily, “I just can’t make myself believe they’re gone.”

  Dela turned to her, “You saw what happened!”

  “I know. It’s just that…I don’t know. I’ve just always believed that if I lost him I would feel it inside me. I would know he was gone.”

  “And you don’t feel it?” Dela asked. Danielle shook her head.

  Seedel said, “I’ve moved one of the probes to the site where Tag’s Prime was overrun. We should be getting a sliver from it soon.”

  • • •

  The three sat in the control room and watched the data coming in from the probes. Two-hours later, a sliver arrived and Seedel announced, “This one is from the probe I sent to the Prime.” She do
wnloaded the data and the image of the Prime immediately appeared drifting in open space between galaxies. The vast clouds of the DECs had moved on. Danielle felt her tears begin to well up but heard Dela ask, “Why does the Prime have one of those creatures staking it out?”

  Danielle’s head jerked to the large wall monitor as Seedel said, “I have no idea.”

  Danielle stood up, “PULL UP A RECORDING OF A BLACK SHIP THAT THE CREATURES HAVE KILLED!!”

  Seedel began pressing buttons and they saw the huge white cloud engulf a large Black Warship. After twenty-minutes, the cloud moved away from the warship and disappeared. None of the creatures remained behind. “THEY’RE STILL ALIVE!!” Danielle shouted.

  Seedel pulled up the image of the Prime and zoomed in closer. “There appears to be a very small white field surrounding it. That has to be the Coronado Power Cells.”

  “ALEX!!”

  “Yes, Danielle.”

  “TAG AND KOGO MIGHT STILL BE ALIVE. Teleport me up now.”

  “NO!”

  Danielle looked at Dela. “If you endanger your life, you’ll make Tag’s sacrifice meaningless. I’ll go!” Danielle stared at her and shook her head but Dela insisted, “You know I’m right. You can’t risk being killed.”

  “There is also another problem.”

  ‘What is that Seedel?”

  “How are you going to get inside the power cell’s field?”

  “SPRIGLY, COME TO THE COMMUNICATION CENTER NOW!!” Danielle ordered.

  Sprigly teleported in and thought, “What’s wrong?”

  “We believe Tag and Kogo may still be alive but their prime is surrounded by a power cell field. How do we turn it off?”

  Sprigly stared at them as Seedel brought him up to speed telepathically. Sprigly’s leaves turned brown and he thought, “Colonel Jack Turner, report to the Communication Center immediately.” Sprigly turned to Danielle, “A Red Warrior’s armor can make it through the field. But to move the Prime, that creature staking it out has to be removed.”

  “Danielle, don’t you think if they were alive they would have moved and come back here?”