Death of an Empire aotr-3 Read online

  The young boy smiled, nodded, and turned to bow to Emperor Robbins. Scotty nodded and as they stepped away he immediately looked at TK. TK shook her head and wondered how her father, who had no active psychic ability, sensed the boy’s connection to her. She smiled and turned back to ten year old Jingos, Jingo’s youngest child. He had inherited his father’s natural ability to carry on a conversation for hours and he hadn’t even noticed her not paying attention to him. Once he got on a subject, it would take a stunner to stop him from talking for hours. She interrupted, “Jingos, you know you’ll get a Zord of your own before too much longer. Just have patience.” Jingos started complaining again and TK looked at the young boy as he walked with his parents to the other side of the huge room.

  TK sighed as she felt the negative feelings hit her. He was right. She was being pushed away from any feelings for him. Even so, he was a very attractive boy with an interesting mind. Even negative compulsions couldn’t prevent her seeing that. She was going to have a talk with her Aunt as soon as possible. Dani could tell her what to expect. TK looked around. Where was Dani and Robby? They should have been here already.

  Dani and Robby stood in a crater on the surface of a moon overlooking a huge industrialized planet. They had surrounded themselves with a psychic bubble that would hide them from the Black Ship’s sensors and used their armor’s passive scanners to view the battle taking place above the planet’s atmosphere.

  “That ship is a different model than the one that destroyed our two ships.”

  Dani shook her head, “I don’t think the ship is new although it has been modified. They’ve added a raised bridge on the hull which will give them additional weapon storage and a better view around the hull. Putting that bulge in the hull changed the lines and shape but everything else looks just like the one that killed our ships.”

  Robby stared at his scanner and said, “They’re also able to communicate without having to lower their force field. I detect a frequency being used.”

  “That is a change, Robby, but it’s not advancement in their weapons. The strength of the force field is unchanged and the beam cannons on the hull are essentially the same size, location, and barrel length. There have been incremental changes but the ship is still basically what they’ve been using since our last encounter.”

  Robby briefly glanced across the surface of the moon and saw the ruins of a base that the Invaders had destroyed directly across the crater from where they were standing. There wasn’t much left of the giant structure. He shook his head and looked back up at the planet with the fleet of huge Black Ships in orbit. The Invaders were kicking off the preliminary invasion of this universe by first attacking the strongest planet and eliminating its fleet. They watched as the Invader Ships destroyed thousands of ships jumping in attempting to defend the planet.

  One of the Invader ships had been destroyed when nine hundred ships attacked simultaneously. The destruction of the Black Ship was not good for the planet, as six more Black Ships jumped in to support their attack. Robby and Dani watched their scans as the remaining defending ships were burned out of existence. The twenty Black Ships hung in orbit, killing any new ships that jumped in attempting to save the planet.

  Dani looked at Robby, “Why are they just hanging in orbit?”

  “The task of this fleet is to soften up the forces they’ll have to face when the entire fleet arrives in nine months. It’s clear this planet has become the major force occupying this universe. More than three hundred thousand ships have already been demolished in the initial attack and, according to my scans, another two hundred thousand jumped in afterwards. They’re waiting because they want to make sure whoever is on the planet calls in all the forces available to defend it. That will weaken all the other planets that they now control.”

  “If they’re not invading to start farming, what are they going to do with this planet?”

  Robby sighed, “Dani, you know what happens next. This planet is far too industrialized for their purposes. Most of the land masses are covered with huge cities. The effort to clear land for growing pods would be too expensive and time consuming.”

  Dani watched as the number of ships jumping in became fewer and finally an hour passed where none appeared. Nineteen of the Black Ships jumped away for other military targets leaving one behind. The ship waited another hour and then it happened. A brilliant green beam shot out from the huge ship and struck the planet at the largest city’s location. The beam was more than a thousand miles wide and when it hit; the continent below was shattered and the shockwave blew the atmosphere away. The Invader moved around the planet and fired four more beams into other major population centers. The entire surface caught fire and a once beautiful green and blue planet turned into a red burning ball of smoke and ash.

  Robby watched the planet die and felt his anger start to rise. Dani felt it as well and didn’t want to control it. She was also feeling horror and grief at the huge loss of life. She looked at the Black Ship and said, “Robby, they’ve lowered their force field.”

  Robby looked at his scanner and saw that a new frequency was being used to communicate, “Dani, they must have to drop the force field to communicate to another dimension. Now would be a good time to make them pay.”

  “How do you want to do this?”

  “We know where their reactors are located. We’ll teleport in and hit them with our armor’s strongest beam and then we’ll teleport away immediately after we fire.”

  “They also have a missile storage bay on the other side of the ship from the reactors. I’ll hit that port simultaneously with the hit on the reactors. Are you ready?”

  “Let’s do this before they stop communicating”

  “Do you think they can see us?”

  Robby thought a moment, “If we were just using our camouflage there would be a chance. However, we’re using our psychic ability to hide our armor. I don’t think they’ll be able to see us through that. At the first sign of a weapon warming up on their hull, teleport back here. Are you ready?”

  Dani connected with Robby mentally and they teleported together. The force field went back up behind them and the two knew that the communication had stopped. They arrived on the hull of the giant ship and they simultaneously fired their armor’s main beam at their selected targets. They immediately teleported away as the Giant Black Ship exploded into a huge fireball and then fell toward the planet. There was no atmosphere to burn the ship as it rolled over and descended. It crashed and added its mass to the burning surface of the now dead planet. The fire was so hot that the entire ship melted and merged with the magma rushing out of the cracks blown into the planet’s molten core.

  Dani went into Robby’s arms back on the moon’s surface and held him as they watched the ship turn over, slowly at first, then faster, fall toward the surface. It finally hit and shattered into a huge debris field.

  “Do you think they can trace this back to us?”

  “I don’t think so. Even if they have a probe recording everything, we were inside their force field when we fired. The probe will see that nothing penetrated their screen and that the explosion came from inside it.”

  “Let’s go home, Robby. It’s your Father’s birthday.” Robby sighed and nodded. The two of them disappeared from the moon. The Invaders were one universe closer to finding their home.

  “Alex, getting the teleport module to draw power from the reactors is not going to work. Aligning the field inside the core is just too delicate a maneuver to make consistently happen within the walls of the reactor. A piece of the reactor gets taken with the energy and causes the reactor to explode. This process is entirely too dangerous to use on a large scale.”

  “Vring, I’ve seen that but without the additional power, we can’t face the Invader’s ships. The new model is impenetrable to any weapon we have. Even the reflective hulls won’t function at their current level. Their beam overloads the collectors too fast to focus back at them.”

  Kreej
said, “You would think it could handle that much power but it overloads and fails. Obviously, there is a limit to how much it can handle. It would work if the power could be loaded at a slower, increasing level but the Invader’s beams hit at maximum power. It’s the initial, sudden surge that makes the hulls fail. We just can’t charge them to a high enough level to match the Black Ship’s beam. We need a larger power source to charge them to make them effective. This is frustrating.”

  Vring was silent for two minutes as the three contemplated what to do. Then Vring said, “I agree Kreej.”

  Alex looked at the data again and asked, “Do you think they would work if they were charged properly?”

  “We can’t charge them to a high enough level to handle the Invader’s beam with the power we currently use. You know those cells will handle a much higher level of charge than we’re currently able to give them. However, hit them with a massive charge above what they’re using and the hulls will overload. The power level the two ships used was significantly below the threshold of the Invader’s main beam. The two ships were in another universe and weren’t able to continuously charge their hulls. They only carried the charge from our universe and over time, that charge will diminish and that makes the ships vulnerable. There were no additional red reactors beyond those on the ships to recharge them after their arrival. If the hulls had been at maximum charge, I believe they would have worked. We are not capable with our present technology of bringing them to their full capability.”

  Alex thought a moment, “So they will only work in this universe where we have the reactors to keep them charged, however, using the reactors is too dangerous. Have we wasted our time on this technology?”

  Kreej said, “Why do we have to use reactors?”

  Vring said, “Where else would you get the necessary power to penetrate their force fields?”

  Kreej smiled, “Can you think of any other power source that is as strong as ten red generators?”

  Vring looked at Kreej, “Where are you going with this?”

  Alex said, “You’re right. It would be easier but more complicated.”

  Vring said, “What are you two talking about?”

  Kreej smiled, “Why not use a star to get the power for the weapons and force fields?”

  Vring was surprised by the suggestion and started thinking out loud, “There wouldn’t be a reactor containment wall to deal with.”

  “And you can start the sending screen far enough out to charge the hulls and then move it closer to send the maximum energy.”

  Vring understood, “You’re right, Alex. However the field would be exposed to an extremely high level of radiation.”

  “Only if a blue giant star was used. Class G Suns don’t emit that high a level of gamma rays; most of them are kept in the core. The most numerous stars in most universes are the Class Gs.”

  Vring sighed, “We’re back at square one.”

  Alex did a quick computation, “Yes, but the challenges using this method are easier than trying to use power from inside a reactor. This involves gross modifications that are easier to handle than the delicate fields used inside a reactor.”

  The three were silent as they thought about the idea and Alex said after thirty minutes, “This is the way we must go. Let’s get busy and see where we are with what we have on hand.”

  “Well, pick a target and try to teleport an energy charge at it.”

  “There’s a moon circling a planet not far from here; let’s start there.”

  “Good idea Kreej; you and Vring go there and take some readings. That will give us a baseline to work from.”

  The two Zord turned on their armor and teleported out of the Defense Facility.

  Chapter Two

  Timmy sat with Virze and smiled, “It’s just about time, isn’t it?”

  “It is. You better be thinking of a name.”

  “Junior has a nice ring to it.”

  “It does, doesn’t it?”

  The nurse stepped in and smiled, “It’s time to go.”

  Virze looked at Timmy and he felt her love, “I’ll be right here.”

  Carter teleported in and gave Jenna a huge hug, “It’s good to see you; I’ve missed you. Carter kissed Jenna and said, “Are you up for a trip?”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Weed and Seed are close to trialing the new spores on the orange pods. They said we could join them.”

  Jenna smiled, “How long will we be gone?”

  “They said that the trial should be done within six months.”

  Jenna smiled at Carter and lowered her head, “Then I guess I won’t be able to go.”

  “Why not?!?”

  “Because I’ll need to be near a hospital in six months.”

  “Is something wrong? Are you ok!?!”

  “Yes, I’m fine but the baby will need some attention.”

  Carter stared at Jenna with confusion written all over his face until he saw Jenna smile, “Are you serious?”

  Jenna laughed out loud and jumped into Carter’s arms, “Yes.”

  Carter turned circles and laughed out loud, “Then I’ll stay here with you.”

  “No, no, you should go; just pop in once in a while. We need to understand how the spores work and you are the perfect one to go with them. I can’t think of anyone else that can think on their level.”

  Carter sighed and kissed his wife. He was going to be a father.

  Greyson sat in orbit and saw that two more couples who possessed high passive psychic readings were going to have children. Mike and Carrie had a young son and it appeared he was going to be matched up with the Emperor’s Daughter. Robby and Dani were the first but it looked like there were going to be other active psychics joining them soon. Greyson thought about the history of the Ancient Realm and knew that psychics appeared when there was going to be a conflict that endangered the universe. The war was not far away.

  “You’re right to worry.”

  Greyson was startled, “Hi, Grace. I didn’t notice you arrive.”

  “That’s because I’m trialing our new stealth software. It appears it works.”

  “I thought I was distracted but I usually don’t miss another ship. Are we going to get it?”

  “Yes, you should go see Alex as soon as you’re free. We’re also moving you into a new Zeta-A ship.”

  “I thought I couldn’t be moved again?”

  “This ship makes the move less dangerous. You’ll be fine and we’ll preserve the backup on your current ship.”

  “I’ll go tomorrow. What did you mean by I’m right?”

  “The coming war is not far in the future. Matter of fact, it’s not far at all.”

  “I would have thought it wouldn’t happen until the children had grown up.”

  “There are two strong psychics and that’s all that’s needed. The others are a failsafe against something happening to them. It is coming…and soon.”

  Greyson thought about what Grace was saying, “You sound worried.”

  “I’m not sure they’ll be enough, Greyson. I worry that they may only minimize the damage and not prevent it.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “The Stars Realm fell and trillions lost their lives in the civil wars afterwards. The three galaxies that escaped were just a small part of the former Realm. They represented less than a hundredth of a percent of the Stars Realm’s total populations. Their tremendous psychic abilities did not prevent the Realm’s downfall.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because we may have to make hard decisions about who survives and we shouldn’t wait until the last moment. The release of our spores will cause a violent reaction from the power behind the Invaders.”

  Greyson looked down on the planet and said, “The psychic children must be protected at all costs.”

  “Now you see it. Go see Alex and get upgraded. Time is growing short.”

  Greyson watched Grace jump away and th
ought about their conversation, “Anglo.”

  “Yeah, Greyson.”

  “Are you able to relieve me for a few days?”

  “You want to be upgraded?”

  “Have you already had the upgrades?”

  “Yes, I’ll take over. You should go now.”

  Greyson teleported away.

  The orange colored creature rose from its couch and looked at the communication panel that processed all of the millions of conversations sent by its fleets. The last message that had caught its attention was the decision to continue normal planting operations instead of searching for the troublesome ships that had slowed the harvests. It observed the destruction of the two large ships and had almost decided to intervene to force the search but the quick kills had made it pause. The four Council Members had pressured it for a reason why the shipments had been reduced and were not at all pleased with its response. It had grudgingly decided to allow the return to normal operations but had set up a reminder alarm to remind it to follow up. The alarm is what brought it off the couch.

  It checked the scans of the last harvest and no more ships had come to attack his fleets. It appeared they knew they stood no chance against the new ships and had ceased their activity. Production levels were getting back to normal and had actually increased, but the stockpiles were still below the desired level. The Council had turned their attention back to their drug induced state and left him in peace. It wondered how the Council had even noticed the reduced levels but decided that they must have set their own alarms.

  Well, perhaps its concern was unfounded. It turned, reclined on its couch, and wished his time as Distributor would hurry and end. There were just so many things that kept it having to wake up and handle. He wished he could just get a good thousand years of relaxation like the Council Members. He briefly thought about the former family that had exiled his group for their drug use. It thought about looking in on them but quickly decided the risk was just too great to take. They were best left in the past. It worried that they may one day come and eliminate his group. It was their loss. They had no idea how wonderful the drug could be to help make the millennium pass pleasantly. Time ceased to exist when the drug kicked in. The couch made the connection and he felt the drug enter his system. Ahhh, that’s better.