“Uhhh, Sir?”
“I know you fleet types make designations that have double meanings. What’s the real meaning?”
There was a pause and he heard, “First Conqueror, Sir.”
Chris knew the officer expected to be reprimanded for his remark but Chris was impressed with his honesty. “Fleet, the four pods assigned to me will be designated as Falcon One. Please repeat.”
“Ensign Simmons unit is now designated as Falcon One, Sir.”
“Thank you, Fleet. Keep up the good work.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Chris changed the frequency, “I just looked at your victory in the last fleet maneuvers. I must say that you’ve impressed me.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“How long have the four of you been flying together?”
“We started when we were thirteen, Sir.”
Chris shook his head, “I am going to ignore you for the most part. I expect you to decide what to do in any situation we are in. If I decide to issue orders, I will. However, most of the time I’ll be focused on other things and I expect you to do your jobs.”
“Yes Sir.”
Chris heard the young girl’s nervousness but he expected her to relax over time. He was surprised when the four pods moved in and assumed a formation around Barbie. They were all less than ten feet from his pod’s hull. “Uhhh, we might need to train with you before we can keep this formation.”
“That’s not necessary, Sir. Our ships will have direct contact with the flight instructions your computer uses. We’ll respond to them in plenty of time.”
Chris looked at Audrey and she shrugged. Chris said, “Barbie, we’re going to meet the battleships outside the Droken system.”
Barbie was actually hesitant, “On our way.” Barbie went to full thrusters and made multiple turns on the way to their destination. Chris and Audrey watched the four ships maintain their positions around them without a single waver. Chris knew of no pilot that could have pulled that off. He smiled and looked forward to getting to know these four superb pilots. He pressed his communicator and saw Lukas appear on his display, “How are our allies doing?”
“They and the leaders of their militaries are currently being taken on a tour of the new battleships. I’ve been told that they’re really impressed with what they’re seeing.”
“Have the Droken been contacted about our arrival?”
“They have and it appears many of the other civilizations are sending ships to their system.”
“The more the merrier.”
“Chris, this is your show.”
“I know.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“They have to understand their place in this galaxy. I understand that a large number of primitive planets have been discovered since the war with the Invaders started.”
“More than six hundred.”
“Do we know if any of them have been approached by a Fellowship Civilization?”
“Quite a few of them, as a matter of fact.”
“Does fleet have the location of those planets?”
“They do.”
“Is that how we know they’ve been approached?”
“Yes. One of them has been invaded by the Cosregs. It appears they no longer abide by the rules that the Sentinels established.”
“Do you know if the Cosregs have sent ships to the Droken?”
“They have.”
“I think we should wait a while for any others to arrive before we begin our soiree.”
“Make the announcement.”
Chris looked at Audrey and shrugged. He looked at the feed coming from the probe at the Droken Planetary System and saw more than two hundred thousand warships gathering above the planet. He set his board to the assigned frequency of the new battleships and pressed the activate button, “I am going to delay our arrival for a while to allow any latecomers to arrive. I want as many as possible to be present to hear what we have to say.”
Barbie said, “The four ships have acknowledged your request. We’ll be arriving at their location momentarily.” Chris watched his tactical and saw the distant ships hanging motionless in the void. They were growing larger by the second and he came flying in, along with his escorts at an incredible speed. He assumed a position in the middle of them and continued to watch the feed from the probe.
Chapter Four
The Welken Royal looked at his Fleet Commander, “Kyel, there are a lot of warships above that planet.”
“It does appear you are right, Great One.”
“You don’t sound worried.”
“Did you hear what we were told about this ships defensive capabilities, Sire?”
“I guess I was thinking about what was going to happen here.”
“Then, I’m thankful you invited me to come with you. We can escape anything they throw at us, if it comes to that.”
“Do you think it will?”
“You know the Droken Ruler. He desires to rule the Fellowship. You’ve stood in his way for a long time and I think he’ll act rashly.”
“But we are no longer a part of the Fellowship.”
“Which makes it even more important that he learns that he cannot act with a free hand without fear of consequences.”
“You’re starting to sound like the humans.”
“Thank you, Sire.”
The Royal smiled and chuckled, “You’re welcome.”
They turned and heard an announcement come in over the wall speaker, “Admiral Barber.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Link the firing systems on your four ships prior to skipping in on the planet.”
“Yes Sir.”
“You will not open fire unless you are attacked.”
“Order received and understood, Sir.”
The Royal looked at Kyel, “They appear to be quite disciplined and organized.”
“War will teach that, Sire. They’ve been bearing the heavy lifting in the fighting and I’m glad that we’re getting involved now. It’s time we did.”
The Royal nodded and looked at the huge tactical monitor above the large forward viewport. A large red X on the screen was designating all of the warships above the planet. Each X had a number one through four beside it. He looked at Kyel and he said, “The number beside each X designates which of our four ships has targeted it.”
The Royal shook his head, “We can target that many ships?”
“It appears we can, Sire.” The Royal turned back to the monitor. This was impossible.
The wall speaker said, “It appears all the attendees are present. We will skip in to the gravity limit in five, four, three, two, one, and NOW!”
The brilliantly glowing Silver Warships came out of the Void into normal space with a half a mile between them. Chris’s group of Pods were a mile above them and he pressed his communicator, “I didn’t know you were throwing a party for us. You really shouldn’t have.”
The Droken Ruler sneered, “Humor is not called for at this particular time.”
“Speak for yourself. I’ve brought the four Rulers of the Earth, Welken, Myot, and Johan Civilizations to tell you how things will be done in the future.”
The Droken’s face showed his anger, “Do you think you can dictate anything to us with those five ships!?”
“Actually, there are nine ships here. You need to take a closer look at the smallest vessel and you should see that there are five ships, not just one.”
The Droken looked away from the display briefly and then turned back, “Who do you think you are coming here issuing orders to us? Five or nine, you’ll need to bring more than that!”
“Actually, I’m not planning to get involved in any rough play that might happen. My friends here insist that I shouldn’t take part if anything nasty happens and I’m going to comply with their request. However, I will remove any ships that move toward me.” Chris paused, “But let’s hope that we can have an adult discussion without fighting among us. You should be familiar with someone ordering you around and telling you what to do.”