Annihilation: Book 06 - Demon's Sacrifice (24 page)

Sprig looked out at the multitude of beings surrounding Colony Park. He tuned his thought recorder to verbal and stepped up on the dais, “I welcome all of you that have made the journey today to honor our warriors that once again have given their lives for the Realm. I’m sorry that all of you that requested to come were not allowed to attend. We can only accommodate twenty million and more than sixty billion asked to be here. For those of you watching on your home worlds, the Realm appreciates your viewing this ceremony. One thousand warriors on five hundred ships confronted a race of beings that were ancient when our universe was born. That race evolved to become universe destroyers and designed species to go from universe to universe killing all intelligent life. Their technology was so far ahead of us that we had no chance of matching them for their destructive capability. A race in our universe called the Reg built ships for us to meet them in battle, and without their help we would not be alive today. The Reg have now left our universe for a new home in another dimension and we will greatly miss them.”

Sprig paused a moment, “The Reg told us that they would provide the ships but we had to provide the warriors. We were also instructed that the ships would select the crews. The five hundred ships chose their two man crews and the ones chosen were the best our Realm had to offer. Out of five hundred ships, only a hundred and fifty survived. Just like the public square where our marines confronted the green horde, the numbers are identical. I don’t know what this means and greater minds than mine will ponder the significance of those numbers for centuries to come but we paid a heavy price for the continued existence of the Stars Realm. One of those lost was one of my children and his mate. They moved into the Demon’s attack and gave precious seconds to reform our line. Two Gresh gave their lives to slow the tide of Demon ships and there were many other sacrifices made by those who faced the Red Demon attack. I am going to show you a recording of the battle so you can see what those brave warriors faced to save our universe from destruction.”

The monitors began showing the battle as the huge fleet of Demon ships arrived a hundred miles from the line of blue ships. The Realm saw the savagery of the battle and saw once again that the Realm’s warriors did not flee but stayed and fought even when it looked hopeless. The appearance of the Kosiev and the sudden turn of tide as all of the remaining ships except Matt’s dove into the Kosievs’ outer skin made the viewing trillions marvel at the power of the two mile long ancient ship as it moved forward and destroyed the Demon Fleet.

“The Reg provided us with the most powerful ships in the universe but they would have failed except for the arrival of one of the Realm’s ancient ships. The Alexander Kosiev once more proved that it is the most powerful weapon ever built. That ship has now become intelligent and is the Stars Realm’s newest member. As king of the Realm, I have granted it the complete freedom to fight the enemies of the Stars Realm.”

Sprig paused and looked out at the huge gathering. “We are making a change to the hallowed ground we are standing on today. The cleared section next to the statues honoring the colonists killed on Ross to start the Realm will be dedicated to those that gave their lives saving the Realm from its most deadly foe.” Sprig turned and nodded.

A blue field appeared and suddenly a statue of the Kosiev and one blue ship appeared firing a bright blue beam into bright orange ships. The statues were made from the crystal structure left behind by the Reg and would last for eternity. The detail of the ships was incredible and the Realm gasped at their beauty. Sprig turned back to the gathering, “Those were created by the Reg and given to us for what we accomplished. Every warrior that fought in that battle is awarded the Crimson Crown and will be interred here with all of the Realm’s heroes. Those that survived will be brought here on their death and will be interred with their fellow warriors.”

Sprig paused and then turned back to the podium, “Those that perished with their ships will have a marker with their name on it placed here beside the statues. The name of this place will be changed from Colony Park to Life Park to honor those that placed their self in harm’s way to protect us all. It is a place for all of us in our universe to come and see that our Realm has been built and maintained by the lives of those that believe in what we stand for and were willing to die for its continued existence.”

The huge gathering erupted into a roar of approval. It continued for thirty minutes and grew in volume. Sprig raised his branches and the crowd grew quiet.

“We are going to change the structure of the Realm immediately.” The trillions of viewers leaned forward and listened for what was to follow. They knew something monumental was about to be announced. “We have made progress, but we are not doing the things necessary to insure the Stars Realm’s continued peace and prosperity for its members. The Realm has grown too big to rule from just one location. We have learned that there has been an emergence of pirates attacking ships and killing innocent crews. Planets have been attacked by fleets of ships robbing them of their riches and valuables. Some members do not understand the responsibility of being a member of the Realm and protecting every other member as if they were a member of their family. Other members joined to save themselves from the attack of the green invaders and have not truly accepted the Realm’s ideals and principles.”

“There are also planets that have been colonized by our members; colonies that have declined to join the Realm and are currently causing havoc against our members. I am telling every member today that you will be allowed to leave the Realm immediately if you prefer to be independent; we will freely allow you to choose your own course with absolutely no interference from us. Every member will be contacted within the next thirty days to make your choice. We will not force any world to be a part of what we are building. You must freely accept our company; no one will be coerced.” The huge crowd was silent. Sprig then turned and said, “Will the Gardner Family please join me.”

The five couples move up to the platform and stood behind Sprig. The members of the Realm saw the humans that so much had been written about and so much witnessed. Sprig turned back to face the gathering, “The Realm will be divided into five provinces. The first province will be named Life’s Land for the Gresh who died in the final battle. The second will be named Grena’s Glory for his mate that died with him. The third will be Stem’s Ground for my child that died. The fourth will be called Petal’s Path for his mate that died with him. The fifth will be called Kosievs’ Quest to honor the ship that saved the Realm in three wars.”

“From this day forward the name Gardner will only be used by the King and Queen of the Stars Realm. Ross will be the home of the chosen ruler of the Stars Realm and this galaxy will be its Royal Possession. This galaxy alone will be ruled by the Royal Family. Each of the five couples will take the name of the female for their Royal Name. Tag and Danielle Ash will be the Duke and Duchess Ash of Life’s Land and will rule that province following the ideals of the Star’s Realm. Rose and Chris will be the Duke and Duchess Andrews of Grena’s Glory. Matthew and Melanie Grace will be the Duke and Duchess Grace and will rule Stem’s Ground. Anglo and Jenny Connor will be the Duke and Duchess Connor and will rule Petal’s Path. Tommy and Cassandra Dodd will be the Duke and Duchess Dodd and will rule Kosievs’ Quest. They have sworn their allegiance to the Stars Realm and will follow the Realm’s Royal Couple’s decrees. They will move to their provinces and bring order and peace to their members. Each of them will be assigned four million Searchers to assist them with protecting their citizens and a corresponding number of Red Warriors. The future ruler of the Stars Realm will be chosen by those families. It has also been decreed that the Stars Realm’s rulers may not rule longer than a thousand years. The successors chosen by the provinces to replace the provincial rulers must be approved by the Crown.”

Sprig paused and looked out at the trillions watching and said, “Those of you who are not currently members of the Realm as well as those that choose to leave the Realm may rule yourself as you deem appropriate, but I want to be sure you understand this; we will protect our members. We will not tolerate any form of aggression and will deal with it quickly and effectively. I think you know the power of the humans being sent to bring in a new age of peace and prosperity to the Realm. I am also sure that our future rulers will represent many other races in our realm. It is my belief that the Realm at this moment in time is in the best hands to help shape it into something that will amaze all of us in the future. To those that are attacking ships and planets, I caution you to stop immediately. If you continue we will not ask questions; we will act decisively. Those that are being honored here today died to preserve the Stars Realm; we will not let them down. Stars Realm, may I present your new provincial Rulers.”

The Realm exploded into cheers. The celebration moved from planet to planet and grew to a fiesta of joy and great expectations. Members began to immediately lobby to be selected for the new government centers to be located on their worlds. Those planets that felt pressured to join the Realm began rethinking their wish to leave. They knew the power of the new rulers and the immediate effect of them ruling their provinces. At the end of the thirty day period, only eight hundred and fifty six planets chose to leave the Realm. All eight hundred and fifty six asked for membership again within a hundred years. Thousands of years later, historians incorrectly said that this day was the day the Stars Realm truly began. Everyone correctly agreed that the golden age began on this day.

N
ot everyone bought in to the new order. Thirty ships appeared out of nowhere and the first to appear shot the teleport emitter off the front of the huge commercial liner that was parked in orbit over a member planet. The liner was then hit with a beam to prevent it jumping away on its null drive; then the pirates moved toward the ship to board, take hostages, and remove the cargo. Suddenly a small, white ship appeared and fired red beams disintegrating twenty nine ships. A Red Warrior appeared on the last ship and moved through the corridors killing everyone on board. The ship jumped away but the Red Warrior was still on board moving inexorably toward the bridge. The bridge crew barred the door but the Red Warrior burned a hole through it like it didn’t exist. He stepped on the bridge to find the five man bridge crew cowering in a corner as far away from the door as possible.

The huge warrior walked up to the five and stopped just in front of them, “We did not destroy your ship because we are sending you back to your base in the Veumag System.” The pirates flinched when he mentioned their main base. We know that there are more than a six hundred ships that operate out of there; we could destroy all of you now but we have decided to give you a chance to survive. Go back and tell your leader that if one of their ships attacks another ship we will come and destroy every ship and remove the planet’s means of space travel. There will be no exceptions and all will perish. Do you understand?”

They all nodded, but one young Brageth stood and faced the Red Warrior, “I was captured by the pirates and have been forced to be a crew member. I do not want to be sent back; I’d rather die here now.” The other four tried to silence him but he ignored their efforts. “I humbly ask you not to send me back.”

The Red Warrior looked at the other four, “Is what he’s saying true?” The four looked at each other. “I can tell if you lie, my sensors allow me to determine if you’re being honest. If you lie, I’ll find others to send my message.”

“Yes, he’s telling the truth.”

“How many of your crew members are forced to join you?”

“About one third of the crew.”

The Red Warrior reflected that he had killed the crew too quickly; he pressed a button and teleported the hostage to the bridge of the Searcher. “Unfortunately, we are going to have to change our plans. That means we are not sending this ship back.”

The four pirates jumped up and started begging for their lives but the warrior was gone. An instant later the Searcher fired and destroyed the last ship.

“Do you know the crew members that have been forced to serve on the pirate’s ships?”

“Yes, I do. We are kept in chains when not serving on a ship.”

“Searcher, are all their ships still docked at their base?”

“Yes, they are.”

“We are going to free some captives and destroy the other ships. These pirates have no redeeming qualities and slavery is something the Realm does not tolerate. This captive is a citizen of the Realm and we are authorized to take whatever action we deem necessary.”

“How do you want to handle it?”

“I will enter one of the ships and eliminate the crew. I’ll start at the bridge and work my way back; teleport the captives to the landing bay where this young citizen will be waiting to give them their instructions and then you can eliminate the others.”

The Searcher arrived in the Veumag system and the Red Warrior teleported to one of the larger warships and killed every pirate on board. “The ship is clear.” Immediately more than seven hundred captives appeared in the landing bay and cowered away from the Red Warrior.

The red warrior began communicating, “You have been brought here to free you from those that have enslaved you. We have placed the coordinates of one of our bases in your jump drive and we will work to either reunite you with your families or provide a place for you to live in peace in the Stars Realm. Brandt will organize you to make the jump.”