The Futility Wars

by Magnus Thollander

  "I know the empire and federation attacked one of your farming systems, ballsy move considering my fathers wrath when he returns, and not if. Anyway, You Vanguard need options, and I'm one of them." Ricardo chuckled at the arrogance of his speech, his father was the top dog of the galaxy but his children? Mostly arrogant youths that had the patience and attention of small children, whenever something was boring they simply leave it there no matter what if it was a person or a object, he had known his boss two daughters that were constantly moving about the garden and paradise system, wasting their lives playing around with their parlor tricks, telekinetic and psychic energy might be impressive if you want to throw a chair, but battles were won in space by ships and guns, no matter how much they pretended to be better than anyone else.

  "Unless you can get me ships and resources then you are not needed, We know how to fight and win battles, we do not need your input in that. Boy." he said bluntly at his officers surprise at the remark, he was the child of the strongest warrior in the galaxy and probably the universe as well considering, "Seems you got this covered Ricardo, I just wanted you to appoint me leader of the Vanguard, Garden and Paradise system, which would anger my father, and he would approach me to tell me to step down, as long as you are present he will be there, and we can have a little chat." Daniel said.

  Ricardo was shocked and thought about it, if he were to elect his son as leader that would pretty much S-4XN-001 was de facto leader considering he would never let his son come to harm openly, and the people would see it that way as well. Ricardo thought about it and led Daniel to the command central, several commanders and officer watching, and he spoke the words into the microphone about electing Daniel as the emperor of garden and Paradise system, and he waited. Daniel waited as well and the screen changed to the Black-Gold colored armor that all high-ranking Vanguard commanders wore, It was a easy spot to know who was inside it, or possessing it considering.

  "Ricardo, You will not listen to my son, or obey any of his silly orders, You will chart your own path and you are no longer under my employ, as per agreement, with the rest of humanity." S-4XN-001 said through the screen, Before Ricardo agreed Daniel shouted at the screen "Where did you take Seyla!? She vanished off the ARK and i know you had something to do with it, you always do things without telling anyone! Especially me, your son! You have not even greeted me like a son the moment you speak! You-!" Daniel roared before he was interrupted.

  "Enough! I gave you enough to show my love for my children, and i will not be chided by you. You never see the simple things, like how much i cared for your in resources or in time!, There is still challenges facing me, and humanity as a whole you people have no idea about! And i will not be distracted with you and humans small conflicts, Humanity will persevere no matter how small or big the size are, two human can make four, and so on. If a few billion have to die then so be it, they might learn to value something and become something." S-4XN-001 said coldly with his mechanical voice that was so used in broadcasts, Ricardo and the commanders looked at each other and felt they could not interject, and they needed a in they looked at Daniel.

  "Seyla is fine, she is here. She claims she was bored with being on the ARK or the tediousness of the galaxy as a whole, She is here currently working with me on a few diplomatic progress which she enjoys by the way, so do not say she is being treated unfairly."

  Daniel quickly shot in a word "Can i speak to her?" S-4XN-001 pondered for a moment, "Yes, I will pick you up at the "Summer House", So be there by noon tomorrow, also Ricardo these empire and federation people are not a real concern, their fleets are massive, but they are just outdated battleship designs abandoned in the galaxy, simply portal one of the battle station to one of their military systems and let it loose, it will destroy the system no matter how many ships they have."

  Ricardo thought about it and it was quite simple really, the massive battle stations that guarded the paradise and garden system were numerous and quite deadly, why not simply use one or two to do a invasion instead, they were close too impenetrable to ship fire, and the enemy would lose the entire systems to its massive arsenal, Ricardo thought about four jumping into a system would deny the battlefield and strand the completely while a small vanguard fleet would take back the resources, "I will do as you asked" Ricardo said and the commanders saluted, the video stream ended and Daniel let out a sigh, and then walked back to his ship under escort.

  Daniel took his ark toward to the system he only visited once in his youth, that cold steel station hidden in middle of nowhere in the depths of space, He had been there once and it was just a pointless piece of infrastructure like most of his fathers were, they probably had a reason to them or a purpose, but they were shrouded to him and his family, there were countless hidden installations across the milky way galaxy, but they had no idea what was going on in the mind of his father, Daniel entered the system and it was only a station that was tiny, Lana tugged on his arm.

  "I don't think we are invited here Daniel, We should stay on the ship. I have a bad feeling about all of this, I know he's your father but to us he's a dictator and a mass-murderer." Daniel did not like hearing that about his father no matter how "bad" he was, he never struck first, but he had to agree that technically he was a mass-murderer and a dictator but that's how the galaxy operated, he would probably been a warrior in the southern section alone minding his business until he got he struck by the massive armies across the galaxy.

  Daniel did not live during the chaotic era of the olden days, things were chaotic now too but there was a semblance of order, when his father roamed the galaxy it was a wild west with crime not a statistic but a reality, Daniel docked with the station, and he walked into the station, his crew decided to stay on the ship including Lana, he could not convince her to join him but that might be for the best, he needed a face to face with his father and mother.

  Daniel took the lift down to the only floor that was active, and he walked out the door into the lush forest landscape that seemed to be the only thing on the station, He looked around and saw a table with his mother sitting next to his father which came in person for once, a rarity even for family occasions. He walked up to his mother and gave her a hug, his father Matthias was not a "loving" person in a sense. "Mother." he said lovingly.

  Seyla smiled, and they released from the hug, Daniel glanced at his father who simply nodded and motioned him to sit, probably eager to see this little pointless meeting coming to an end, "Mother, I must know what you been doing and why you left, Did you leave willingly?" he said bluntly, He had his doubts about his mother simply leaving, but what could he do except berate his father if he did "kidnap" her from his ship.

  "Of course not Daniel, Your father would never do something like that, besides he thinks I'm still a bother and put me to "work" negotiating with several of the alien factions he has contact with, You also have two new brothers named Marcus and Kenny, They are studying abroad to learn more about the aliens psychic abilities and psionics, they are making great progess, and they like it aswell, so they wish to stay longer." Seyla said.

  Daniel was not shocked about having two more siblings, but he was shocked at them not being in the milky way galaxy but studying in a alien "school" or whatever it was, Daniel wanted to ask more questions but his father interrupted him "You have seen your mother, and you have my attention. You are being a bother by trying to steer my actions and humanity actions against something they do not want as yet, I have plans for the milky way if they ever vote to bring me back, and i will tell you this there will be no next time for them, I have learned and contemplated about my next move and it will be the final time i have to put some time into it, there will be only order in the milky way, and i will control every aspect of it, like a seamless machine like they always think i am." Matthias said and Daniel frowned at learning his father stance and answer.

  Seyla interjected "Do not worry, Daniel. I have helped your father adjust appropiately, and they will live better liv
es than they have currently, but there will be a price of servitude using a system of merit to advance, there will be no more incompetent rulers or any criminal conduct in the galaxy." Daniel did not like what he was hearing, but he knew if his mother had to interject it was already set in stone, he would not even begin the futile struggle to change his fathers plans, and he just prayed for the galaxies sake that they shaped up and the hidden people that could vote on returning their father had better lives than they used to have.

  "Daniel, Leave the milky way with us and help us unlock the massive potential of the telepathic and psionic energies, You are one of the ones that have a great grasp on your powers and could be useful learning more about it, one of the next frontiers in technology and spirituality." Matthias said, Daniel was shocked at his father expressing a need for him to join considering he never asked for help, he opened his mouth but closed it immediately after and frowned, "You worry about those people on the ark? Let them live there, it can contain them. They will not poke around if you tell them not to, or i could dump them in a system of their choosing. You are not some Shepherd guiding lost souls like you pretend to be doing, you are a human and can learn to become more with us."

  Matthias spoke with conviction and Daniel was tempted to take up on the offer, but he shook his head, and he saw his mother letting out a sigh seemingly happy he did not agree, Daniel closed his eyes to think about the situation, and he knew that going with his father would probably mean endless science and practice which he hated, he would have stayed and honed his skills if he was still in his fathers care considering how much he got prodded and poked the time he spent with his father, He simply stated "No" and that was the end of that.

  He stared at his father and mother which were showing various degrees of happiness and sadness at the same time, his father was a complicated man and his mother was overprotective as usual, he felt like he was being protected still by his mother which he hated, but in this instance he would not reject her like he used to. He felt that going with them would not benefit him or advance him in any meaningful way, he was just a human nothing more or less than that, He wanted to iron out some details and resources he needed, so he spoke bluntly, "I will need a lot more resources and ships which you have been skimped on, I need at least five more arks un defeatable a portal to a extremely wealthy farming system, a fleet of ships and defenses for the farming system obviously, at minimum."

  He heard his father laugh and his mother instantly said "Of course you can get those things, this is no problem. But I- no we need to know that you will NOT do anything to stir up problem in the galaxy or help in any war, If you wish to roam around in the ARK saving a few lost souls that's fine, but we do not want you to supply any faction or help any factions, let them sort things out by themselves." Daniel listens to his mothers word and it was the same promise he had accepted when he first got the ark, and he had followed it to the letter, he had technically broken the rule by engaging pirates and freeing slaves, but that was an acceptable breech in a sense, slavery had no place in this universe. "Father" he said.

  Matthias scratched his chin and then leaned into his mothers side and whispered a few things, Seyla whispered some things back he could not hear, and he could almost see they were arguing in whispers, it seemed he got his way when Seyla spoke "We will get you these things, there are countless farming systems and battleship fleets in the milky way, if you want a fully protected farming system, someone going to discover it or tell someone considering your crew of unknown loyalty. If you want resources that are easily supplied and hidden and ships as well if you wish to stay mobile, so what do you want to do?"

  Daniel thought about it and it made sense, he mostly operated on mobile bases hidden in the depths of space helping people in small quantities while he could, but if he had a system of many planets under his rule he needed a lot more people and a lot more management than just simply living in the ARK which were simplicity in themselves, designed to be lived in and all their needs taken care of by a intelligent AI that would do their bidding, Daniel spoke "The resources then and a few more ARKs, and a few special battleships, I think we can pick them up occasionally instead, and the fleet can guard the Arks although they do not need to guarding considering their ability to disengage any battle, but a few battleships would help."

  Seyla added in quickly "You can have one of the freshly built Dreadnought's, they are quite powerful, and they are currently-" "Enough! He is simply a brat roaming the galaxy playing cops and robbers! He will get resources and a few ARKs, That's that!" Matthias added angrily interrupting Seyla.

  She frowned at his mood and felt like berating him but their son was in presence, and she would never argue in front of the children, She whispered in his ears, and he whispered back with a more angry face and Daniel just stared and waited until they were ready to speak, Matthias stood up and left and did not even say goodbye, "He is his own person, but he loves you Daniel you must know that, you will get the arks and resources you requested, and a freshly built Dreadnought, it will be all you need, nothing in the milky way can best it. Not even the Vanguard or the defenses in the garden system, should keep you safe. You can pick up the resources at any inactive portal, just simply dial the gate and state what resources you need and the portal will open, I must leave as well, Your siblings are more vulnerable alone after their training, and need my comfort." Seyla said.

  He hugged his mother, and she hugged him back, she vanished into a lift, and he guessed there was a connecting portal to a ship somewhere in the station, a current technology that was well hidden, but he had known about it consider his gossiping mother, He left to the elevator, and he boarded the ship and his communication started to work again, he felt the light crackling when the static removed from his speakers, and he stepped into the Ark under the gaze of everyone aboard, he motioned them to travel back to headquarters which were just basically the garden system, he had several properties on the planet in several fake corporations.

  Ricardo stood on his flagship and watched the fortress engines slowly started to churn, this fortress had been guarding this old mining system for as long as anyone could remember and it was the most state of the art one in the entire galaxy, Ricardo had no idea what S-4XN-001 thought was worth guarding in this system, but it was empty of resources completely but just several suns which still had their massive mining stations churning out resources constantly, Ricardo managed to see their resources collected, and he instantly knew why there were four fortresses in this system, This was the primary A1 mineral mining system, with several hundreds of tons being mined every year. He had managed to dock with the mining stations and collect the stored resources in the fat warehouses which were not even half full, He guessed a drone would pick up the resources every year, but his group needed the resources more urgently right now, so he simply took it all and left a message which he knew he would get.The engines were finally ready, and he saw the massive fortress warp into the staging system where he knew most of the food stolen were stocked at, and he and his commanders would watch the mayhem that in sued.

  Erik stood on the warehouse dock controlling the massive drone that pulled the cargo out of the ships filled with baskets of processed food, his stomach rumbled when he saw the massive freezers filled with meat which he had not eaten since he was visiting the garden system a decade ago, the empire most ate a nutritional supplement or vegetables which was norm and also a luxury in the "dark space" as it was called, He would rather live in the garden system, but he was exiled for breaking a few too many rules, he could not take it anymore with the oppressive military and police hassling him, so he punched back and got exiled immediately, He was happy with his job here when the alarm sounded out, and he and the other crew froze for a second and started to slowly shuffle down the corridor to the bunker area, He sat down and strapped himself in the detachable bunker if anything happen it would serve as an escape pod. The camera was activated, and he could not believe what he saw, he saw a massive f
ortress simply standing above the planet firing wildly killing ships by the thousands every second while his allies tried to engage the structure.

  Erik knew it was not a good sign when he felt the force of the bunker deactivate from the station, and he was now in middle of space, After the gravity turned off he and the rest of the crew slowly levitated toward the locker and strapped their spacesuits on, they got back in the chairs and strapped themselves in while watching the battle taking place over the same planet they hovered.

  "Get everyone in here, launch everything and try to flank that goddamn thing!" the commander shouted out while the battle was ongoing, he was on the planet where that cursed fortress suddenly appeared and started to kill any transports or warehouse it saw, and when the fleet arrived it would start to shred it as well. He had limited knowledge in warrior technology but this was beyond his understanding his fleets were not even able to dent its shields and it fired wildly like it had unlimited energy, He could only bark out orders and watch that nightmare destroys the system ship by ship. He felt a shaking on the planet, and he saw a massive trading station slowly crash into the core of the planet, he looked in horror when the shock wave blasted every living being to shreds while the domes cracked and were exposed to the deadly effects of the space surrounding it, millions just died instantly and every dome on the planet were in critical condition. He gave the order for the fleet to disengage and save as many as they could, and he broadcast a surrender which there was no reply, he did another broadcast that he wanted to save the people on the planet, and the fortress ignored that as well and started to fire randomly. He grits his teeth in anger and told everyone to leave the system, He would have to wait it out and hope it would not target the planet deliberately.