The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire by Raymond Weil (ereader ebook .txt) 📕

everywhere, as ground vehicles collided, and aircars dropped from the sky, knocked out of the flight lanes. Fires were already spreading, and loud sirens sounded.

From the sky came a roaring sound, followed by a sudden flash of light, then the blast wave struck. Aircars by the thousands were knocked from the sky. Ground cars burst into flames. Buildings collapsed, as the damage spread farther out. For ten kilometers in every direction, the damage was nearly absolute. In the center of the now-ravished city, a firestorm formed. A massive mushroom cloud rose into the air. Dust and smoke was everywhere, making it hard for the few scattered survivors to even breath.

This was the scene in twenty cities on the planet Daneb. In less than twenty minutes nearly forty million citizens died.

-

In orbit, Admiral Colane nodded his satisfaction. Inform the government of Daneb that we will soon land troops once more. If there is any more resistance they will lose twenty more cities.

The communications officer sent the message and, after a few moments, turned toward the admiral. They say there will be no more resistance.

Colane expected that response. We will land troops once more. After we’re satisfied the resistance is over, we will leave six battlecruisers and a battleship in orbit to ensure the planet stays peaceful. We will also leave twenty thousand of our troops.

-

Six hours later Admiral Colane was satisfied the resistance on Daneb was over. Time to move on to his next target. He now had a method that worked. He was satisfied it would not take long to put down all the remaining uprisings.

Chapter Seven

Lormallian Councilor Ardon Reull was meeting with Lormallian Admiral Zed Garr. He was in charge of the large fleet patrolling near Proxy Seven.

They were in Garr’s office on board his flagship. On Garr’s desk was a small simple-looking headset. Garr picked up the small device and eyed it dubiously. “You claim this will completely block the Morag’s telepathic abilities?”

Reull nodded. “Yes, we found its design in the archives on Bator Prime. I’ve brought enough to completely protect all of your warships, and, in addition, these smaller devices will protect individual members of your crew.”

“What is it you want, if we install these devices on all my warships?”

“Freedom,” replied Reull, without hesitation. “Freedom from being influenced by the Morag. I’ve studied what our worlds were once like before the Morag influenced us telepathically. We were a much different race. The Morag have turned us more toward darkness and have hidden much of our history from us.”

“I do not like being influenced by the Morag,” admitted Admiral Garr. “It would be nice to be free of their influence. You should be aware the Morag are deploying some very large fleets across the Confederation. We can’t possibly defeat them.”

“No,” replied Reull. “But we can use this technology to bargain with them. We can demand they not use their telepathy to influence anyone on any of the worlds of the other six races of the Great Council. If they refuse to meet our demands, we will broadcast the secret of the telepathic nullifiers across the Confederation. In order to do that, I need this fleet behind me, when I return to the Great Council.”

Admiral Garr stood, putting his hands behind his back, as he considered what he had just been told. “Are you certain these nullifiers will work?”

Reull nodded. “We’ve ran some tests, and they block the frequencies that the telepathy uses. They will work.”

Admiral Garr nodded. “Very well. I will give the approval to install these devices immediately. How soon do we set out for the Great Council?”

Reull smiled. Finally things were looking up. “As soon as all the devices are installed on your ships and an adequate portion of your crews are equipped with the personal nullifiers.”

“Let’s just hope your plan works, or we could find ourselves in a battle we cannot win.”

Reull was well aware of this. He had no idea how Councilor Damora would react when he found out the Lormallians had a working telepathic nullifier.

-

On Golan Four, Layla was in her office in the Imperial Palace, going over the list of worlds that had recently requested admission to the Empire. Already word of the Human Empire’s counterattack was spreading like wildfire. Most of the worlds that had not yet been subjugated by the Confederation were requesting immediate admittance, plus defensive grid parts.

Orders had been sent to all the core worlds—the Hagen Star Cluster, the Vortex Worlds, the Lamina Stars, Vidon Seven, and Helgoth—to produce as many defensive grid elements as possible.

“Can we do all this?’ asked Krista, as she looked at the list Layla was working on.

“We’ll try. I’ve asked Andrew to take the Royal Dreadnought High Kingdom to speak to a number of the more heavily populated worlds who are still wavering. Having a member of the Royal Family come to their worlds should make a big impression.”

Krista looked concerned. “Will he have a fleet with him? If word got out of a member of the Royal Family leaving the core worlds, the Confederation might make him a target.”

Layla smiled. “Already taken care of. Rear Admiral Carrie and her fleet will serve as an escort. They plan on being gone from three to four weeks.”

Krista frowned. “What does Kala think about this?” Krista knew she would hate going that long without seeing Mathew.

“Kala’s going along also,” replied Layla. “Several of those worlds have women governors. Kala will be very useful in the negotiations.”

Krista laughed. “Has she been told that?”

Layla shook her head. “Not yet, I’m leaving that to Andrew. If she were to find out now, she might go into hiding.”

“Will you send any samples of our defensive grid elements?”

Nodding, Layla slid over another list for Krista to look at. “Defensive satellites, missile platforms, ODPs, and