Chapter 16:The Battle

After dinner Jason changed into cockroach form, dressed in his armor and wrote to Lauren. He spoke briefly with Yoyo, Cassius, Jacques, Marduk and several other leaders. Philippa decided to stay with Jason and Valsam. Zafa joined her fleet.

Jason went to look outside. Tens of thousands of troops, tanks and gunships surrounded the palace. Jason spoke to Andrea and Linda. Razza and Julia returned to their rooms. Finally, Ooryphyon did so as well. Jason meditated and spoke to Porquenta and the One. He remained meditating and sleeping intermittently until he heard a noise and firing. Sophie Stone his chief bodyguard stepped in the room and slammed the door shut locking it.

“If they transport in here it opens. I will open my command hologram so we can see a bigger picture of what is going on around us. Twenty-five Azloc transported into the swimming pool and panicked. That is the only good news. We picked them off. The next batches are outside and in the palace. We are whittling them down.” Sophie reported. “They are tough customers.”

The firing outside the room and in the grounds intensified. The ‘whomp’ of explosions increased in frequency and intensity and moved closer.

“There is a full-scale battle above us. There is a huge fleet, that just appeared.” Sophie continued. “The AIs are counting the ships.”

Seven Azloc appeared in the room. Jason fired on high power automatic at them one at a time. His shield flared as he was hit by fire from the leader. Philippa was firing continuously. He saw Valsam fighting hand to hand with a large Azloc. Another Azloc fired at her. Jason fired at her attacker but couldn’t get a clear shot. He saw his shield flaring again. The door exploded inward followed by two Azloc. Jason fired at them. Behind them there was was a swirl of bodies fighting hand to hand. Most were fighting in insect or Gromelix form. Jason’s personal shield was blinking red as Azloc fired into the room from the doorway. Philippa stabbed the one nearest her with her short sword.

Jason continued to fire then took out his twin swords. One of the enemy drew close to him and tried to get to Valsam. He stabbed it in the nerve plexus. He turned and fired fireballs at another and watched them bounce off its shield and hit the wall. The fireballs were small. He tried a penetrating beam and it was deflected. He shot a flame with his sword and watched an Azloc shield fail and then he was through the armor. Too much was going on, he had no time to use his powers. His swords were better. His shield power was down to forty-percent.

Sophie Stone fell and two more of his guards fell soon after. Five Azloc entered the room closely followed by Valsam’s Azloc. Jason felt a burning pain on the top of his head and fell onto the bed. His eyes were open, but he couldn’t move a muscle or even blink. He couldn’t control his breathing at all. The pain in his increased in intensity and became agonizing. Jason was breathing, short shallow breaths. His eyes were stuck open and burning.

Green Azloc fought hand to hand with black ones. Periodically something or someone slammed into his legs or body. He could not see Valsam. Someone fell on him and covered his body.

Ooryphyon strode into the room in her large form firing a heavy weapon. He saw Azloc exploding. She was laughing manically as she disposed of the Azloc in the room then stood behind wall next to the the shattered door firing continuously into the passageway. Razza jumped into the room in her cockroach form firing and then as two Azloc transported into the room in front of Jason she mightily hit them with her lethal burning sword. There were bodies three layers deep on the floor. It went on and on, his eyes blurred and he lost consciousness.

Jason awoke in a Collective Pod. He lay back and asked it to show him what was around him. He saw Philippa looking worried. Next to her sat Lauren, Chuck, Chloe, Perdita, and Ooryphyon. He saw a doctor in beetle form.

He was transported out of the pod after the AI told him he was fine and was going to be ejected. Jason was in his cockroach form. He raised his arm towards the family and walked to the dresser. He changed form and dressed.

Chuck and Chloe dashed over to him and hugged him. “Grandpa we were so worried about you. We thought your brain was cooked. Lucky you have a thick skull and it’s mostly metal,” said Chuck. “It’s half good it was metal. It protected you but conducted heat. That is why your brain was half cooked.”

“I am delighted to make a triumphant return despite a half cooked brain,” said Jason. “I would prefer not to have reconstruction again if I could help it. How are you all?”

They took turns to hug and kiss him. Where is Valsam?”

“She is in the middle of her reconstruction,” said Philippa. “Doctor tell Jason about his and Valsam’s conditions please.”

“Emperor, you were hit in several places. Your armor was damaged and burned everywhere. One shot penetrated the top of your helmet. It hit the top of your head and burned the chitin but did not penetrate through to the brain. It heated your brain above the motor section, enough, to cause sensory-motor dysfunction. You collapsed. Your armor saved you, it kept you alive and most importantly breathing.

“Empress Valsam fell upon you to protect you. She continued to fire while lying on you. Her body was burned beyond recognition. I was amazed she survived the ordeal. She was so damaged reconstruction was the only viable choice.

“It is the most complex reconstruction we have done. We have forty-seven thousand Azloc in the Collective undergoing reconstruction. We have two hundred thousand of the allies requiring the same. It will delay the Uzliumbax re-entry from stasis marginally. Porquenta has several million in stasis awaiting reconstruction after the battle. Ouma Chatzke and Empress, Queen Philippa insisted you came here. You were the first through the portal.

“Many went to the Warriors who can do reconstructions as we do. Soon all the allies will be able to do so.

“The Azloc present unique challenges. They are a familiar insect design but have a uniquely brain. They are a species constructed for a purpose. We can see all the signs of genetic manipulation. They have a considerable amount of Uzliumbax genetic material. We have looked at all the Azloc brains sent here and downloaded them. They are more loyal to you than your own mother could be. Valsam was prepared to sacrifice her life for you with no hesitation.” Said the doctor.

“Doctor how long was I out of it?” asked Jason.

“You were unconscious for five days Emperor. We were considering a reconstruction, but your brain recovered fully. We managed several minor chitin burns.

“You survived only because you were in the form of a cockroach. As a human, the Azloc would have killed you and you would have once again enjoyed the pleasure of a reconstruction and the joys of rehabilitation.

“Emperor, since we met you, you have given us opportunities and challenges we have not had for centuries. If anything, the pace of difficult problems has increased. I had not been fully occupied for half a million years before the frenetic activity of last few years. We are learning about Zaos, Ordreg and Uzliumbax. The Schlogg are an amazing species. We are treating several thousand Destroyers here as well,” said the doctor enthusiastically. Her students moved their antennae in support of her remarks.

“Philippa how is Zafa?” Jason asked next.

“She is being reconstructed, on her own ship. She was in a nightmare of a battle in space.” She replied.

“How did Andrea, Celia, Felicia and Celia fare?” He then asked.

“We have heard nothing. We know they were doing well during the battle and were staying back and only supporting units when needed. We think they are helping secure the enemy ships,” said Philippa, “I have not been able to contact them directly.”

“Doctor, anything else we need to know?” He asked.

“There is nothing more to say, Emperor. We are pleased you are protecting us. The Azloc would have run rampant through our galaxies,” she said and left followed by her entourage.

“It sounds like a hell of a battle,” said Jason.

“Oh, it was,” said Philippa. “It was the hardest battle we have ever fought. We had more casualties than during the entire last war.”

“What happened?” Jason asked.

“Despite everything we planned, they hit us with a force bigger than we imagined they could. Four thousand ships hit us, and they have frightening firepower. We had allies hiding throughout the solar system. It was not enough. We used our portals, but the pace was too slow. The overflow used the Portals around Mars but there were not enough portals. The Azloc cut down the older ships quickly. They have superb long-range weapons,” Philippa added.

“They went for the Azloc fleet first, then the Uzliumbax and Destroyers. We had ten portals hidden with ships flowing from the Uzliumbax and allies through the portals. As the size of the attack was unexpected the out of system reserves took time to get to the portals. Without all the help we would have been slaughtered. Every single ship you have is seriously damaged.

“The Azloc seriously damaged or neutralized seven thousand ships. Our Dhoom cannon did not get through the shields of the enemy. We had to hit them with four Dhoom cannon before we could knock out their armor. That was a shock. By then, it was too late for many ships. We could not use our ships to ram them as they are nimble and have formidable short-range weapons.

“The Azloc shields are better than any shields we have previously encountered. They cut down the Collective, and Empire fleets with ease without sustaining damage. The only ships to fight them on even terms were our new ships. Our older Uzliumbax ships could damage them but the Azloc knocked them knocked out much faster than the new ones. The Una, Parzool, Warriors and Orcs performed at the level of our old ships. The Azayal ships are old and frail,” said Philippa continuing her explanation.

“Every facility on Mars and Porquenta is filled with serious casualties. We suffered many casualties boarding Azloc ships. They neutralized the dogs on the ships with ease and knocked out the boars on the ground and under the ground,” Philippa reported.

“On the ground the Azloc were relentless. Porquenta was hit by a bunker buster. He is seriously damaged. New Paris was flattened, except for some underground residential facilities. We had fighting underground everywhere. They landed far more troops than we thought possible. Casualties on both sides were enormous.

“The boars and dogs were of great help on the ground as they could attack from underground, but if they were above ground for more than a few seconds they were cut down. Later in the battle the Azloc knocked them out below the ground. The Ordreg and Parzool were the most effective on the ground. They landed first and in strength. We made a strategic error. We can turn into Tyrannosauruses, but we don’t have the armor or weapons. Cassius and Felix landed twenty-million troops each as did Brecht followed by the Coven, then the Gromelix and Uzliumbax. At one time we had a hundred million combatants fighting on the surface. This was the biggest battle any of the ancients has ever heard about.

“It got worse. The dogs ran out of juice or were incapacitated, the boars were neutralized. We told both sets of animals to retreat.

“We lost seventy percent of our ground forces. It was touch and go until we landed the third set of reserves from the Uzliumbax, Warriors and the Coven. We were running out of people.

“The planet is like a killing field. We are involved in an epic clean up effort.

“We have been plagued by the media. They want you to comment on the battle and they wanted to interview us. The Uzliumbax media representatives are intrusive and persistent.

“Jason, the broadcast media believe you can do no wrong. You are regarded as a great hero as you and the empresses fought the enemy hand to hand. They the footage of the flattened palace and the devastation repeat over and over. Yoyo was similarly honored. He must attend a parade in the capital,” said Philippa laughing. “He hates that stuff as much as you do.”

“Not all was bad. Our people fought back heroically. We have a million dead, largely migrants, civilians and scientists killed during the underground city attacks even though the Azloc spared unarmed civilians. Many civilians were armed, but not in armor. There were eight million seriously injured and fifteen million less severely incapacitated.

“The allies sent hospital ships and they surround the planet. We had twice the casualties that we experienced, in the war against the Coven, the Dhoom and Grork.

“The Gromelix, Ordreg and Parzool were effective but we ran out of reserves. The Uzliumbax reinforcements were a lifesaver. The Orcs were solid and effective but we didn’t have enough of them. The Collective and Coven helped as did the others. Cassius and Felix faced disproportionate casualties both in space and on the ground. The Una ships surprised us once more. The Una cannon showed us they are rapid to reload, and powerful. The Una have effective shields. Half of them were knocked out. The Azloc neutralized half the Parzool fleet and tried to board once of them. I bet the Azloc were shocked once they got through the thick hull.

“Ten damaged Azloc ships and many scouts got away. It took three days to capture the damaged enemy ships. Six ships managed to repair themselves and escape before we could board them. Had there been another thousand enemy ships they would have eaten us for breakfast.

“The Leaders of the alliance all met with your Kings and Queens and Senior Military the day after the battle. They know how narrow a victory it was and realize if Valsam’s mother had attacked with most of her forces we would have lost. They know you have decreased the risk of future attack by the Azloc and the Destroyers enormously,” said Philippa. “It is a great pity we have not yet concluded our alliance negotiations with the Dinnion.”

“What happened at the meeting?” Jason asked.

“The allies are in shock, this was a wakeup call. They are intending to act quickly to ensure we are able to defend ourselves. They intend to repair and upgrade ships at an unprecedented rate. Before this they were not in a frantic rush. They know we are vulnerable to the Destroyers and also to the Azloc Queen if she attacks again soon, but the consensus is it is highly unlikely. They think the Azloc Queen’s emotional reaction is what saved us from an onslaught aimed at Cassius or Felix.

“Yoyo kept calm but said it was the worst scare he has ever had.”

“How badly damaged are the ships?” Jason asked.

Your Azloc ships were the most severely damaged as the hostile Queen wanted to get them out of the battle fast. They had the highest proportion of serious casualties, but they provide superb medical care. They have medical facilities in the most protected part of their ships.” She replied.

“How did the Destroyers fare?” Jason asked.

“They took a severe pounding but have effective shields and cannon on the ships. The reverend mother fought back a boarding party on a Destroyer ship and was critically injured. They say she has extraordinary powers. She swept back several waves of Azloc boarders and when they finally got through the defenses she put her hand into the Azloc and removed their hearts. She destroyed hundreds with her psychic attacks.

“She needed a full reconstruction. The doctors tell us she is a different super-species of Uzliumbax and say her memories go back more than fifteen million years. Her crystals are twenty-five million years old and they are of a unique construction and demonstrate advanced functions. The doctors estimate it will take them three weeks to complete her reconstruction. They were salivating at the opportunity when I spoke to them. The head honcho of all reconstructions was so excited it looked like he would burst. Jason he can’t wait to tell you about her,” said Philippa laughing.

“There is another even more interesting story. There is a different species of Azloc who are priestesses. We have one of them here. She has a huge brain even bigger than Valsam’s and she is unbelievably old. The doctors estimate she is older than Marcela. She has radically different DNA. The doctors have never encountered DNA like hers. She presents a special challenge for them. Millions of Doctors are working on her to try and ensure we can reconstruct her. Her DNA self repairs faster than any of ours. They think they can rebuild her but they believe it will take years to fully understand her DNA. They say her memory goes back many more years than Marcela. She spoke a different language in the past.

“I hope to find out more about her,” said Philippa.

“Please can you tell me more about Porquenta’s damage, Philippa?” Jason asked.

“Porquenta is so seriously damaged we can’t repair him, but will use his backups and put him in a spare Uzliumbax planetary AI.

“Sheila was incapacitated during the attack and is being repaired by Mars. Mina was found bruised and crying on some rubble. She was placed there safely by one of the Azloc according to a witness. The Azloc did not destroy any of the clone pods. They left medical facilities strictly alone. That saved many of your Uzliumbax Jason.

“King Osman Ebdelkader and Queen BibiNana Kullahati-Wukrat were incinerated a week ago along with thirty percent of the criminals in stasis. The Intelligence services have kept quiet about their trials, convictions and sentences. Our replica King and Queen have ‘appeared’ back in the Empire, resumed their duties and are meeting ‘associates’ who have appeared out of the woodwork and are re-establishing their networks. The guards are relieved that the King and Queen are back. As Chuck guessed we did discover substitutions and missing criminals.

“We recognize many of the visitors to the rotten king and queen as criminals and enemy agents from the memories of ex-King Osman and Queen BibiNana. We are mapping their networks and contacts. It is a web across the Empire opaque to every database.

“Without reinstalling the fake King and Queen we would not have picked up some of your worst criminals. Some of them have turned out to be criminals who were previously caught but were recovered by criminal groups.

“We can’t identify some of the criminals, and that is of considerable concern. We may find who they are when we begin to wipe out the criminal networks,” said Philippa.

“I wonder how many societies have similar problems?” Jason asked rhetorically. “It is sad to discover how much corruption was part of the society and how extensive the criminal networks are. This must have had a huge negative effect on the Empire. I wonder how far they corrupted the thinking of the whole society?”

“The criminal gangs have stolen bodies from vaults and run people trafficking. They have efficient methods of getting military material extracted, transported, and sold and have several pirate fleets. They have their fingers into several civilizations in adjacent galaxies as well as our own. They all have the devices to neutralize the AIs. One of the major players is the covert husband of BibiNana,” said Philippa.

“Philippa has been blabbing for nearly an hour. Let’s take a break or her throat will fall out. Jason and we are taking you for dinner to Brecht,” said Ooryphyon throwing her hands up. “Let us eat drink and be merry, and forget all the gloom and doom for few hours.”

“What else happened in the room I was in and in the palace? I only have a superficial idea.” Jason asked.

“For dust of the nebula, you do go on Jason. Give it a rest. Do you have to know now? I am hungry. Brecht is waiting. You sound like a nag.”

“Jason we will tell you at dinner, my mother does not like to be kept waiting,” said Philippa primly.

“Jason, how are you?” Brecht asked.

“I feel fine. I am relieved I am alive and we survived. Thank you, Brecht. We wouldn’t have survived without your aid. I was shocked and saddened to hear of so many casualties,” Jason replied.

“Jason, all of the allies played an important role. You are in much worse shape on Porquenta than we were after we were attacked. The damage is extensive. After Emdar Grept Porquenta quintupled his defensive missiles and added Uzliumbax missiles. He fired three times as many missiles as was used at Emdar Grept. He had hundreds of thousands of missiles in space.

“The Azloc construct formidable ships and shields and are a dangerous force. Their ground assaults were devastating. Lynas said her assault troops were shocked at the fierceness of the Azloc attacks and how they persevere even when the odds are against them. The Parzool report never seen anything like it.

“We were down to our last reserve fleets. Our Admirals and Generals are in shock. Even your new ships were hard pressed in that battle. Our ships were cut down by them with ease as were many of the others,” said Brecht.

Jason interrupted.

“I should have contacted the Dinnion, but we did not yet have an agreement and I was indecisive. I made a critical error,” Jason said. “I apologize for interrupting you Brecht, go ahead.”

“The allies met with your people after the battle. Most were in shock; much as you were after the battle of Charassa; none more so than Cassius and Felix who could have been the targets rather than you. They know they could not have defended themselves. They are relieved we may gain a short respite, but no one believes it will be for long.

“For some reason we are facing one enemy after the other. We remain at risk from the Destroyers and the Azloc. Both threats preceded you. Yes, you focused the Azloc Queen on you, but she was in too much of a hurry to attack you and her daughter, which was to our advantage.”

“I recall ‘The One’ saying there are two types of enemies, those from other galaxies and others who are often more dangerous, those from other universes.

“I hope we can ally with the Dinnion, Destroyers and Azloc against our enemies in the future.

“Brecht, we had an interesting experience with the reverend mother of the Destroyers,” said Jason and told Brecht what she had told them and what they experienced.

“We had another odd experience; Valsam made a remark the other day which was from the religion of the Destroyers. It is a part of ancient documents of theirs, but they have no independent concept of a God. Who constructed the Azloc and why? It doesn’t make sense. Why do they have Uzliumbax DNA?

“We know the reverend mother is very old but a 25 million-year-old crystal is a surprise. How old is she really? I wonder. Who made the crystal and what was their level of technology? Also, what are the implications and meaning of her as a super-species?” Jason asked. “You must have heard of the other kind of Azloc with odd DNA who is even older than Marcela.”

“Well, we can go back 12 million years in Marcela so far,” said Brecht. “There is a lot more that precedes it but we can’t understand what we are seeing. There are different forms. We have no frame of reference for most of it. Past twelve million years, we don’t recognize dates or what is going on. The beings are not lizard-like or humanoid. We cannot understand the passage of time either,” said Brecht. “We see Destroyers as Lizards, ages ago but the priestesses are humanoid. We will have to ask her what it all means; it is a puzzle,” said Brecht. “We are working on the Azloc priestess but can’t work out what is going on there. Anything else happen since we last met, Jason?”

“The children lost their superpowers. They can do what Julia and Razza can do, pretty powerful stuff but not the higher level stuff,” said Jason.

“Let me change direction if I may? I would like to find out what happened in the room in the palace. I recall bodies three layers deep. Then I was hit and paralyzed, but my eyes were still open. Then I felt someone lie on top of me. I saw Ooryphyon in her large-form wielding a heavy weapon and saw Azloc exploding, before I lapsed into unconsciousness.”

“We reconstructed the events from our memories and our crystals,” said Philippa, “I assume you recall Sophie Stone coming into the room and shutting the door. Several Azloc transported in, but luckily for us three of them were stuck in the wall. We are lucky, none of them transported inside of us in our room. Some Azloc transported into our people. It was an ugly sight. They died miserable deaths.

“I will give you a brief sequential summary. A team of twenty-five Azloc transported a foot over the pool and fell in. They were terrified and moved aimlessly in the water. Our people dispatched them quickly. The next team of ten landed on the lawn and assembled a portal behind some cover despite our people firing at them. A team of twenty emerged near our room, where our Azloc soldiers were assembled. Sophie Stone and her team of ten helped dispatch the intruders before she and two others went into your room and shut the door.

“Fortunately, only three Azloc successfully transported into your room, which you and your guards dispatched quickly. Further Azloc teams entered the large space and while being covered found unoccupied rooms to assemble portals. Minutes later they began to pour out of the passages. A squad of six blew open your door. The fight in your room intensified.

“We found the portals the palace and destroyed them. Eight platoons with forty Azloc in each charged into the palace fighting off defenders and tried to kill off our Azloc and defending soldiers. Six managed to break through the defenders and entered your room. During that time, you were hit. Your fireballs and beams bounced off the Azloc shields, but they weakened the shields.”

Philippa shook her head.

“Luckily for us Ooryphyon managed to get to us. She charged into the room and killed the remaining attacking Azloc. All your Azloc guards were down.”

“The Azloc were relentless,” said Jason. “We were lucky to survive!”

“Valsam made sure we had plenty of troops inside the palace and in the cavern,” said Ooryphyon, “but it wasn’t enough.”

“We couldn’t have fitted any more troops, gunships and tanks inside the cavern,” said Philippa. “The Azloc blasted a hole into the cavern. Thousands of Azloc in tanks and gunships raced into the cavern. The battle outside was fierce. The cavern was a mass of maneuvering gunships, tanks and later Azloc fighters. The gunships landed Azloc troops. They leap out of the gunships while the gunships are ten meters from the ground. The gunships have portals and can continuously reinforce the other Azloc on the ground. We hit the gunships first.

“Few Azloc made it to the palace but those that did went upstairs. A scant few minutes later Azloc poured into the palace through two portals in upstairs rooms. Ooryphyon and I defended the door against several further Azloc intrusions. The troops in the palace were continuously reinforced from outside. By then, Valsam was down and covering you on the bed.

“Further reinforcements arrived from outside including Gromelix and many more of our Azloc. They defended the palace internally and externally against two more waves of Azloc transported in and destroyed the portals inside and outside. The defenders were reinforced by Gromelix, Orcs, Azayal and many more Azloc.

“A second wave of Azloc flew in through the cavern roof. Eight hundred Azloc accompanied by tanks and gunships and supported by fighters hit us. The cavern was filled with gunships tanks and fighters trying to destroy each other. Our people fought back heroically. The Gromelix were in their Dragon form and fought tirelessly. That was the only time we heard of the Azloc running away. They fought off several much smaller attacks. The palace was attacked three times by fighters. Corvus came to find us five and a half hours after the battle commenced. He brought the eighth wave of reinforcements, which included thousands of Ordreg and Azayal along with missiles, tanks and more gunships.

“I don’t know how many subsequent waves of attacks we faced, but eventually we had many more defenders than the enemy and all began to go quiet.

“Your beautiful palace is ruined. As we left, you could see bodies everywhere. Nearly everyone was injured. We were exhausted. You could hear the plaintive calls for help from those injured. As soon as it was safe to do so, we put you on a ship to go to the Collective along with Valsam and tens of thousands of others. We were the first through the portal and saw hundreds of huge ambulance ships passing through the entry portals towards Porquenta.

“As we traveled towards the portal we could see the scale of the carnage. There were damaged ships everywhere and wreckage as far as the sensors could see. We had an escort of frigates cruisers and many battleships.

“Not a single ship was intact.

“Your beautiful dreadnought looked as though holes had been punched into it every few yards. There were big holes and small holes, but it signaled it was damaged but functioning. We passed several of Valsam’s ships and they looked even worse. The fleets of Cassius and of Felix were shattered. Many of my mother’s ships were in a similar condition. We saw severely damaged Una ships and even badly damaged Parzool ships. The Ghoul, Warrior and Orc ships were much like yours, badly damaged but functional.