Warlords Saga Read online

  Warlords

  ~

  Saga

  By

  Brian K. Larson

  Warlords

  ~

  Saga

  Warlords : Empress : Blood Scroll

  Brian K. Larson

  Published by Slipstream Publishing

  Copyright © 2018 Brian K. Larson

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters and events in this novel that appear similar to persons living or dead are unintentional and are completely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To all my Sci-Fi & Fantasy fans of Earth

  CONTENTS

  Part I - WarLords

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Part II - Empress

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Part III - Blood Scroll

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Epilogue

  PART I

  Warlords

  CHAPTER ONE

  ________________________

  The Star

  Betelgeuse

  Earth Year: 1375

  ________________________

  “Eridonian scouts on scanner, my Lord,” reported the tactical officer.

  “What are Eridonians doing at the Betelgeuse system? Engage them, but I want prisoners for the Emperor!”

  “Weapons ready, awaiting your command, my Lord.”

  “Fire!” the captain of the Antares battle cruiser ordered.

  “Weapons firing, my Lord!”

  Gorax waited impatiently for the glowing lights of an explosion. He was rewarded with a flash on the forward display.

  “Direct hit, my Lord! Target one destroyed, two to go!” the captain heard Ajail report in a gruff voice.

  “I said I wanted prisoners!”

  “Sorry, my Lord. I will adjust our weapons output to disable their ships.”

  Gorax sat in his captain’s chair, extended his arm pointing his large hairy index finger, “After them! They’re running away!”

  “Yes, my Lord,” Chetran, the helmsman answered, “Altering course and increasing speed. We are in pursuit!”

  Gorax gave his helmsman a stare, “Do not let the Eridonians escape! Understood?”

  “Yes, my Lord,” Chetran answered, “We are nearing weapons range in two minutes.”

  “Weapons status!”

  “Yes, my Lord,” Ajail answered, “Weapons recharged!”

  “Very good, Ajail!” Gorax’s saber rattled as he moved to stand between his tactical officer and his helmsman. “Chetran, you would do well to emulate how my tactical officer anticipates my orders,” Gorax relaxed into his leather command chair.

  “They’re returning fire, my Lord!” Ajail reported.

  “Shields up! The fools. Those scout ships cannot damage us at this range.”

  “Sir, their scout ships are no match for ours. Weapons range on the last two targets in one minute.”

  “I said Shields up!” Gorax now stood beside his tactical officer, the tip of his sabre making his point against Ajail’s chest.

  “Yes, my Lord,” Ajail nervously acknowledged, “Shields activated!”

  Gorax sheathed his sabre and pointed a heavy finger at Ajail, “DO NOT destroy them, they are to be captured and taken to the Emperor.”

  Ajail nodded, “Yes, my Lord. I have targeted both ships’ engines.”

  “Thirty-seconds!” the helmsman counted.

  “The Emperor will be most pleased, my Lord,” Ajail cracked a smile, and became enraged when he cut his lip on his crooked and pointed teeth.

  “We need them alive! The Emperor will be able to complete our telepathy deflector with the life of one of these...Eridonians.”

  “Fifteen seconds!”

  “They will be unable to fool us with their mind tricks, once the Emperor perfects our technology,” Groax nodded, “Ajail, fire at will!”

  “Yes, my Lord,” Ajail acknowledged, pressing his firing sequence. “Target two has been hit. Their engines are disabled.”

  “Helmsman! Record their position and continue pursuit. We’ll come back for them shortly.”

  “Yes, my Lord. I have marked their position. Changing course to intercept the last target.”

  “My Lord,” Ajail reported, “I’m picking up some very unusual readings coming from Betelgeuse.”

  “Tactical, report!”

  “My Lord, sensors indicate the star is about to supernova!”

  “Our seers warned us that this star would die soon. Are you certain your readings are accurate?”

  “Yes, my Lord. I have confirmed our readings,” Ajail reported, “I suspect that’s what these three Eridonian scout ships have come this far to record.”

  “How far are we from that star?”

  “We will be destroyed
if we are here when it blows, my Lord!”

  “How much time do we have before we must make our escape?” the Captain demanded.

  “Five minutes or less, my Lord. She has already exploded. If we wait much longer, we may not make it out of the expanding gravity well!”

  “Helm, take us away from the supernova!”

  “My Lord, what about the Eridonians?”

  “Never mind them now! We must make our escape! Prepare for jump sequence!”

  “Yes, my Lord!” Chetran acknowledged, “Spooling jump drive. I’ve changed course to intercept the disabled ship. They have launched an emergency escape pod, we can scoop them into our landing bay before we jump.”

  “Are you certain you will have enough time?” the nervous Captain tugged on his stringy goatee.

  “Yes, my Lord. We will intercept in two minutes.”

  “Tactical, report!”

  “My Lord, the supernova shockwave will be on us in three minutes.”

  “...and time to jump?”

  “It’s going to be close...my Lord.”

  “I didn’t ask for your analysis!”

  “Yes, my Lord. Just under three minutes.”

  “Engage locking beam and bring that pod onboard! NOW!”

  “We have them in our locking beam, my Lord.”

  “Jump coordinates set for Antares, my Lord!” Ajail reported, “We have the pod onboard! One minute to shockwave!”

  “HELM!”

  “Jump drive is nearly ready, my Lord!”

  “Lock down the landing bay and jump!”

  “Yes, my Lord. Landing bay secure. All stations report ready for jump sequence.”

  “All personnel,” Groax ordered, “Activate auto-restraints!”

  The battle cruiser began to shimmy with the approaching shockwave. Sweat rolled down Groax’s hairy forehead and dripped from his scraggly beard as he studied his monitor. “JUMP! Jump the ship! Jump the ship, NOW!”

  The ship rattled and shook as the supernova shockwave hit. “Jumping now, my Lord!” As Chetran finalized the jump sequence, a brilliant display of color played across the ship’s forward screen. Stars bled from one color to the next in the spectrum from the instant speeds of the jump engines.

  Then all was quiet.

  The shaking stopped.

  Only the engines, winding down from the massive energy spike of the jump sequence, could be heard.

  “Report,” Groax ordered, wiping his sleeve over his bony brow.

  “My Lord,” Ajail reported, “We cleared the supernova. We have minimal damage to our aft thrusters, and to the inertial dampening systems. I’m dispatching repair teams.”

  “The Eridonians?”

  “They are alive, my Lord,” Ajail smiled with satisfaction.

  “Bring the prisoners to me at once!”

  “Yes, my Lord,” Ajail replied, and then signaled on his comm station for the security detail.

  “Chetran.”

  The helmsman turned to address his Captain, “Yes, my Lord?”

  “That was brilliant bringing those Eridonians on board just in time.”

  “Thank you, my Lord.”

  “You may have earned accommodation.”

  “Thank you, my Lord,” Chetran answered, bowing before his Captain.

  “Set course for home. Enter our home moon Serintin’s orbit when we arrive.”

  “Yes, my Lord. Plotting course to Serintin. We shall make orbit in two hours.”

  “Yes, I cannot wait to see the Emperor’s face when he sees we brought him one of the Eridonians,” Groax’s expression turned a more serious look, “We all need to be aware of the mind tricks these Eridonians have on us. DO NOT be fooled by them.”

  The security detail entered the widespread bridge from the rear door. Five armed Antarian guards escorted two rather short, bald, and unassuming humanoids before Groax.

  “You are the Eridonians? You’re much smaller than us.” Groax laughed, and then stood, towering over the white skinned androgynous creatures, “However, we understand size makes no difference in this Galaxy.”

  The two Eridonians were dressed in light blue, long flowing gowns. The lights from the bridge caused their garments to sparkle as they stood emotionless before their captors.

  Groax leaned closer to their faces, “I know you understand me. You can hear everything I say telepathically. Now speak to me! Tell me what it is you were doing in the Betelgeuse sector?”

  The two continued without movement, simply returning Groax’s stare.

  “Speak to me, NOW!” Gorax pulled his sabre and thrust it into one of the Eridonians.

  The short humanoid buckled on Gorax’s sabre, then slid off the blade and collapsed on the floor. A pool of blue spread outward from the Eridonian’s body.

  “Speak now or you will have the same fate as your partner!”

  The Eridonian nodded and made a hand gesture, please, give me a moment. We have not spoken Antarian for some time.

  “You just did it,” Gorax smiled, “I heard you just now. Why did you wait for me to kill one of you before responding? You must have known that I was going to do that...you can tell these things, can’t you?”

  The white skinned humanoid gestured once more, our lives are of no consequence. Our mission was a success.

  “Your mission?!”

  Yes, our mission was to cause you to return to Antares after the supernova.

  “I fail to understand your reasoning?”

  We entered the Betelgeuse star system, knowing that the star was about to supernova. We have been studying this star for some time now. All we needed to do was clear the sector and your people would be locked on this side of the portal.

  “Portal?” Gorax asked, “What portal?”

  The supernova has created a wormhole. However, the wormhole, or conduit, will not be stable for over six-hundred years. Two way travel will be impossible, so your ruthless Empire will now suffer from isolation. Jump drives will not operate through that sector of space for some time now. Our mission was a success.

  “Suicide?”

  Yes. Individually, we are expendable. We understood this was a one way trip for us. Now we have rid our sector, and protected other star systems from your tyranny, the Eridonian smiled with a slight nod.

  “We will discover a way through! You cannot stop us! We are the Warlords of Antares! We will not be defeated!”

  The Eridonian cocked its head to one side and closed its eyes.

  Groax and crew grabbed their ears in pain. Most of the bridge crew fell to their knees from where they were sitting. Gorax struggled to maintain his composure. “What are you doing!? You will not take us!” Holding his blue stained sabre, he looked at the blade and then back to the Eridonian, but before he could act, the helmsman had already lunged with his sword, piercing the Eridonian.

  The pain in their heads ceased. Groax shook his head and stumbled back into his command chair with a thud. Pressing a button on his command chair, he leaned closer to the intercom, “Get someone up here to clean this mess up, on the double!” he looked over to Chetran, who was still holding his bloody weapon, “What have you done!?”

  “I-I don’t know, my Lord.”

  “You let his mind tricks get to you!”

  “I am sorry, my Lord. The pain...the pain was too great.”

  “You are weak!”

  “My Lord, I ask you to forgive me. Please-do not kill me,” Chetran begged, backing away from the Captain and his sabre.

  Groax stepped closer, pointing his saber at the helmsman’s chest, “I will not stab you.” He wiped the alien’s blood from the weapons across his sleeve and returned it to his sheath.

  “Thank you, my Lord.”

  “I would not thank me just yet, Chetran.”

  “Sir?”

  “You killed the Eridonian! Now our Emperor will not be able to defeat these creatures!”

  “I will try harder not to fall to their mind tricks in the future, my Lord,” Chetran bo
wed before his captain.

  “There will not be a next time for you, Chetran!” Groax reached for his side arm, pointed it at his helmsman and fired, incinerating him. His screams echoed in the minds of his crew as his flesh burned away, vaporizing into the air.

  The remaining crew held silent and waited for their next orders.

  “Don’t just stare at me! Get to your stations! Someone take over the helm and report on our arrival time!”

  Another crewman slid into the helm station. The ship resumed its usual routine as they made their way to the third moon of the fourth gas giant of Antares.

  _______________________

  Epsilon Eridani

  Earth Year: 1375

  ________________________

  The misty green planet occupied the fourth orbit around the star known as Epsilon. Five Eridonian leaders had gathered in the center of a courtyard, in the center of the continent which was centered on the equator of Epsilon prime.

  Towering spires surrounded the courtyard, signifying the leaders meeting place.

  A slight nodding motion from each Eridonian was the only visual clue to their communications.

  It is done.

  Yes, we all felt it. The last of our teams have perished at the hands of the Warlords.

  Our mission was a success.

  Yes. However temporary it was, we were successful in keeping the Warlords from entering our space.

  We must not let them find the others when the portal stabilizes.

  Yes, we must protect the planet called Earth. They are not technically suited to defend against the Warlords at their current state of development.

  It was agreed that this was the safest course of action. The Betelgeuse supernova couldn’t have occurred at a better time.

  Yes, it was an advantageous time. However, this only grants us a small respite. The conduit will stabilize, making two-way travel possible. The Antarians will traverse the conduit in six-hundred and forty years.

  We must use the time prudently.

  Is it possible to help the Earthlings advance to a state where they can fight against the Warlords in the time we have given them?

  I see them advancing to a state where they will accept help from outsiders by then.