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

Derrick smiled knowingly. “I’m sure she will support it. After all, she is the one who wanted the Imperial Council to have more power.”

Chancellor Stein smiled. “Two hundred and twenty-seven more worlds opposed to Confederation rule. I’d call that a win any day.”

Derrick nodded. “So would I. And I guess I better go inform the High Princess and then figure out what fleet units we want to send.”

“I’ll start working on the defensive grid elements. We need to get those capital worlds protected as soon as possible, before the Confederation realizes what’s going on.”

“We have a lot to do over the next several months,” admitted Derrick. “Let’s just hope the unrest in the Confederation lasts long enough for us to finish our preparations.”

Andrew smiled. The Imperial Council had made its first major decision without being influenced by the Royals. He knew Layla would be very pleased with that.

-

Ardon Reull was back in the Great Council hall, waiting for the rest of the councilors to show up. So far his plans were going well. The entire Lormallian fleet would be equipped with the nullifiers by the end of the week. The Zang still needed a few more days.

At the moment he had an important decision to make. The Visth had contacted a Lormallian government official, requesting one hundred thousand of the nullifiers. Both for ships as well as individuals. The Visth had refused to say why they wanted them, but Ardon suspected they were preparing to pull out of the Confederation. He also knew the Visth were quite close to several other nearby alien races, who would most likely follow their lead.

With a deep sigh, he realized he was putting himself into a bad situation, if the Morag ever found out he had sent nullifiers to the Visth. For the time being, he decided to send them just ten thousand, all capable of protecting warships and one thousand capable of protecting individuals. If the Morag showed no signs of knowing what he had done, he would send the rest of what the Visth had requested. No doubt someday the Morag would turn against both the Lormallians and the Zang and try to force them back under Morag control. It would not hurt the Lormallians and the Zang if they had a few more allies for when that day came.

The other councilors filed into the room, followed by Morag Councilor Damora. Reull still sat in the lead councilor’s seat, as he had not been voted out of it, though he fully expected that to happen soon. Damora eyed Ardon for a few seconds and then sat in his customary seat.

“What orders of business do we have to discuss today?” asked Ardon, acting as if nothing had changed.

“We need to prepare for the attack on the Human Empire,” said Druin Councilor Clun. “We are producing large numbers of carrier ships that will be capable of transporting our attack drones. We believe these drones will handle the Humans’ small attack craft.”

“Only the Morag, the Druins, and the Zynth will be involved in the attack,” added Damora. “All other races will be responsible for maintaining peace in the Confederation, while the attack takes place.”

Councilor Reull was a little surprised by this. He wondered if the Morag had concerns about the Morphenes and the Lamothians. “How soon before this attack takes place? There is still considerable unrest in the Confederation.”

Damora’s gaze turned toward Ardon.

Ardon was certain he could sense hate in that deadly stare.

“In a little over two months. We want to make sure we have a sufficient number of the light cruisers constructed to handle the Humans’ small attack craft, before we engage them in battle.”

-

For the next two hours the meeting continued, as they covered numerous subjects. For the most part it was a normal meeting of the Great Council, though everyone could sense the undertones of distrust between Lormallian Councilor Reull and Morag Councilor Damora.

At the end of the meeting, Councilor Reull returned to his office in the massive building that housed the Great Council. He had changed his mind. He would furnish the Visth with exactly what they had asked for. He would also include a message that the Morag, Druins, and Zynth would attack the Human Empire in a little less than two months.

With a little hesitation, he added the information about the Druin attack drones and the new light cruisers, designed to destroy the Humans’ small attack craft. No doubt the Morag would consider this treason against the Confederation, but, if his Lormallian people were to survive, something had to be done about the Morag, and the Humans were the best possibility.

Chapter Eleven

Across the Confederation, the planets in revolt were ruthlessly put down. Planet after planet was brought back under the firm control of the Confederation. The Druins, the Zynth, and the Morag employed the deadliest methods in destroying cities and, upon rare occasions, entire planets. The Lamothians and the Morphene, while still using violent methods, were much less violent than the Druins and the Morag. Of course the Lamothians were taking captives to be used in their savage feast festivals.

The Zang and the Lormallians were using more peaceful methods, like negotiations, to help quell the violence. Many of the planets in Zang and Lormallian space agreed to listen, particularly after learning what had occurred in other sections of the Confederation. Already billions had lost their lives, and the worlds under control of the Zang and the Lormallians did not want to see that happen to their worlds. In most cases the worlds agreed to end the revolts for more freedom in exchange for a larger say-so in what went on in their space.

-

In the Morag region of space, Councilor Addonis was on board a battleship, inspecting the ships coming out of the reserve. The reserve was a massive collection of