Chapter 15: Waiting for the Storm

Jason awoke feeling refreshed and made his way to the gym. He found everyone already working out including Valsam who was smiling and waving. She bounded over to him and gave him a kiss. “I feel wonderful today, full of the joys of life. I had that same dream again of that temple, but when I awoke, I felt top of the world and ready for all-out war with the minions of my mother.”

“You think it is going to be a war?” Jason asked.

“The more I think about it the more convinced I am we are going to have a nasty fight and this battle will not be the last. She will not rest until she has killed you and I suspect she will try and kill me as well. Often, amongst our people a strong Queen that grows up with another strong Queen will move elsewhere with her King and build her own Empire. We have historical precedents where the Queen that leaves is relentlessly pursued, and she and her King are killed.

“We have been scouted and probed. This is not a small effort. We were followed to Porquenta and now she will make her move,” she explained.

“Do you think your mother will be with the fleet?” Ooryphyon asked.

“I don’t think so. She will send one of her best Queens, one of my sisters, with a fleet that is large enough to deal with us with ease and establish a beachhead here. She thoroughly assesses her enemy then hits them with an overwhelming force. She likes to wait for a counterattack and then she takes the next planet. She must be very angry as she usually makes sure that she understands the enemy in full. I am far from convinced she has enough information to launch an attack in an unfamiliar galaxy and with an unfamiliar civilization. It is very unlike her to act so quickly. When she does decide to act, she acts very fast and we can expect her to hit us hard,” said Valsam. “She will stay behind because of her concerns about a Destroyer attack on Azloc planets.”

They moved on to unarmed combat. Valsam was awkward in her humanoid form and observed, “I can see that this is not a form I can use to fight. I have much to learn. I can change back to my original form quickly, but it is a big effort to return to the humanoid form. If we come out of this battle intact, we need to go to the Collective to see if we can use their method of conversion with us Azloc. I like the Orc form and think I would use that form on a day to day basis.”

Ooryphyon giggled. “You would have to be careful not to tear Jason’s lips with your tusks or roughen up his face with your beard.”

Valsam giggled along with Ooryphyon.

“Valsam please tell us what we should do to fight the Azloc more effectively?” Jason asked.

“If you do land up fighting the Azloc face-to-face you will do better in your insect form inside, and in your dinosaur form outside. The Azloc encountered the Parzool in the past and did not have a good experience. They stay well clear of them. If you shoot at an Azloc, make sure you aim at the upper back. That is where the brain and the nervous system resides. We use shields and armor, but the armor does not cover our feet and claws. Don’t aim for the feet unless they are stationary, you will never hit them. You will find it hard to get through both shield and armor so make sure you continue shooting. We cannot use our fangs when we are in armor. Our poison is lethal and fast acting but is not usable by our soldiers.

“They will look for underground tunnels and caverns, and will teleport into them. If you go to an underground vault you will be trapped there. It is safest to be in an area saturated with troops. Tonight, I suggest all of you sleep in armor. Remember the Azloc learn quickly because they transfer what they know through to group mind. We have never found a way of blocking it. They will quickly disable the AIs. Tell them to remain at least 100m away from the Azloc. Porquenta is looking at a way to harden them against our attack but has not found a solution. If I die, I have ensured the data from my mind has been stored elsewhere. I sent all my educational material to the crystal overnight. By the time we are attacked tonight, you will have my knowledge and you will be able to neutralize my mother’s advantage.

“The rank and file Azloc fighters have powers that you can counter. If they are Kings and Queens, they have powers at the level of Julia and Razza. Use your psychic shields and use your shields at an angle. If they directly hit your shield it will not last long.

“Let us practice defending against the psychic attacks. You need practice. You are weaker than you were before you were sick. We will attend at the ceremony here and then return to the palace. All the competitors must be armed and warned they cannot leave. I have minor Kings and Queens who will instruct them as we instruct the military. We cannot show the enemy scouts the position of the ship portals or they will barricade them and we will struggle to get reinforcements.

“We will return to train here. We have all day to get it right. I will fight in my Azloc form. Don’t shoot me, I will not be happy and I will shoot you back. My people will be in green armor. My mother’s wear Matt black. Today we will spend training. I have had some targets made at the shooting range. We will go there afterwards; make sure everyone comes with us,” said Valsam a little hoarsely.

“That was a productive and interesting session, thank you very much Valsam,” said Ooryphyon. “I enjoyed your method of training enormously. The chemical learning method is quick and efficient. It is exactly the same as us trying to use our octagons at night. One doesn’t need to practice a lot afterwards. I also enjoyed being plugged into the single mind and learning how to navigate networks. It is a very useful system and effective.”

“I agree with you Ooryphyon, it works a lot better than our own combat communications. We need to find a way of implementing it. What I like about it is that it has an excellent range, and no one knows how to block it,” observed Jason. “What happens when Azloc fights Azloc?”

“We do try and penetrate our enemy group mind, but most times we can’t find it. You need somebody else to show you where it is. It is almost as if there are infinite bands and unless someone shows you which one is being used you cannot find it. Once you know where it is you can show others. As soon as I was sure of you Jason, my Azloc changed to a different band,” said Valsam. “We did it too early and alerted my mother. She assumed it was a declaration of war, or one of betrayal.”

The master of ceremonies handed over the podium to Pleb Chatzke, President and Executive Chancellor of the War College on Mars and director of the colleges on Earth and Charassa.

“I thank you all for participating in the inaugural War Tournament on Porquenta. This will be the major annual tournament spanning the Multiverse and the first to include the Uzliumbax, the Destroyers and the Azloc all much more ancient than the rest of us.

“While we have competitors from the most sophisticated Civilizations, we have Earth our most recent planet to join house Kargo, and the Cassius Empire.

“It was a long exhausting competition. It spanned three days, the first day was a warmup on new equipment and then fifty hours of competition over two days. I thank all of you for taking the time to get here and making the effort to compete.

“We expected 1434 competitors but received 12347 eligible applicants. Broadly speaking we have two groups of competitors: there are those who are part of the respective armed forces and are selected on the basis of internal competition and the other group are individuals who rank highly. The second group consists of individuals who obtained a ranking by playing network based simulations and achieved the criteria required to compete in tournaments.