Written by: Miggy Lee
Last Updated: 1/25/99
Word Count: 2,134

Prologue

THE MIGHTY LEGIONS OF THE STEVONIC EMPIRE, composing of more than two million worlds, advanced towards the newly discovered planets of the Michaelian sovereignty... Nothing, nothing could stop him now. He ruled over the most powerful force in the galaxy (or he thought). Even the glorious Jamesian kingdoms dared not to get in his way. His dynasty was 300 years strong.
However, his precious planets were dying... Natural resources were virtually gone. Only solar energy now existed. His starfleet was massive since there was plenty of titanium, but there were not enough forests and a multitude of other factors missing to sustain ecologies galaxy-wide for another fifty years on the overpopulated worlds "Expansion!" he thought, yes, that was the answer. "but where?", he asked himself. To the south were the Scottian and Jamesian kingdoms. To the west were an asteroid field and a couple of black holes. No habitable planets. To the north, to the north... well no one had ever tried to expand to the north. There was almost nothing to the north. But there must be something to north...
That was how he had encountered the rich and fruitful planets of the Michaelian sovereignty; planets that were fertile beyond imagination, his planetologists had confirmed that. The resistance of these almost non-martial worlds was futile and weak...
Never, did he expect to find out that they were only a commonwealth. A small part of an immensely greater force. The Michaelian worlds were part of the Derekian federation, a vast EMPIRE that had expanded over 30 galaxies and had a history of over four million years. To him, this Empire that stood in the way of his seizing of the fertile Michaelian worlds was a "terror"... He had heard the viceroy of that outer Michaelian planet boast of how great the federation was, and that he and his petty fleet would be defeated faster than you could say "By the Galaxian Spirit."
He had to choose. If he didn't expand, his planets would die. If he expanded, he had to face this "terror." He knew. He needed an ally, more than one ally of course. Otherwise it would be suicide. The majestic emperor called to his royal ministers and emissaries, "Go to the Scottian kingdoms, the Davidon league, and the barbaric worlds of Hana the warlord. Tell them that every planet in this cursed galaxy will die in a century or less, every world will decline in technology, science, and become dissolved in a state of anarchy. We will revert back to the barbaric ways of an society sustained on agriculture!"
"They must concede. They must realize that this is their only hope", thought the Emperor of the Stevonic Empire. The messengers returned in half a month. The Jamesian kingdoms was now his greatest ally. Together the fifty thousand starcruisers of the Stevonic Empire, the twenty thousand strong atomizer fleet of the Jamesian realms, the five thousand barbaric kamikaze fleet of Hana the barbaric, set out to meet their greatest doom...

Chapter one : two weeks of chaos

THE LORD SUPREME OF THE JAMESIAN REALM ruled over a hundred and fifty eight thousand, two hundred and twenty seven star systems. Normally this would be considered enormous, but compared to the mighty Stevonic Empire that overwhelmingly outnumbered him in starfleets and utterly dominated over the galaxy, it was just one region of many controlled by some local warlord. However he was the strongest of these warlords, that was why he was the first to receive the alliance offer from the Stevonic Empire.
What puzzled him and concerned him greatly was that the royal emissary who had come had said that he must respond quickly and with his best fleet of atomizers class alpha. What was so powerful and terrorizing as to make even the Stevonic Emperor call for help, and with so much urgency! The emissary had said that this horrifying power was called the Derekian Federation. Its fleets were had never been seen before but the information obtained from the outer planets of the rich newly discovered Michaelian worlds confirmed it to be a vast Empire stronger than the Stevonic one tenfold. Yet he and the Stevonic Emperor both knew that they had to risk it.
His planets were dying just as everybody else's. Expansion had ceased twenty thousand years ago. The last fertile agrarian planets were expiring due to overpopulation and de-naturalization. After they were gone, famines would ravage the whole galaxy. The populations would just tear up the metal masses that covered up every planet. Underneath that metal would be the ancient soil which their ancestors had farmed twenty thousand years ago. But without the metal coverings to organize the masses and allow max-occupation, quintillions would die and strong government would cease to exist.
"My lord? Prince Angelo of the Davidon League has come to see you, he says that it's extremely urgent." said his imperial orderly. "Oh well, let him in then." replied James drearily. He remembered a time when he was a prince himself. In his youth, he was called the "Sunshine Prince." His radiant smiles and outright mocking of the fat viceroys that would come to visit his father the Lord Supreme every month or so and flatter his highness to such a extent that it was ridiculously obvious, lightened the entire Imperial court and gave everyone a merry chuckle. But now he was nearly fifty-five years old and had no heir. He did like this one young baron though, whose name was Philip. Philip ruled over seventy-two planets in the Stentor quadrant. His youth and vigor reminded the aging Supreme Lord of himself n his youth.....
"Your highness, I humbly present to you Prince Angelo of the Davidon league." said his orderly. Prince Angelo stepped in the regal fashion learned by every royal. "How are you my lord?" said Angelo. "Fine, fine, thank you" dully replied his highness. "I have come to make you an offer." Angelo said. "I want us to forget our differences in the past. Let us be allies. I'll assist you in your effort to claim these new worlds the Stevonic Emperor speaks of, and in return, you will help me overthrow Kuo, the last incompetent ruler of the Davidon dynasty!"

Chapter two : An joining of forces

THE DAVIDON LEAGUE, a group of more than four hundred princes and warlords united under a common name and a crown, made up a total of nine percent of the galaxy. Its current ruler, or specifically, "Holy Divinity" Kuo David cared more for hunting rhinodoctens and playing holo-golf, than ruling this enormous coalition. The one person who made it possible for Kuo's reign to continue without any coup de' tat or serious revolutions was his royal minister Sandrinos Mattenbur.
Sandrinos walked past the royal indenants and clerics through the gilded Imperial hallway and into his over-sized but comfortable office. The Divine One was on a trip to the peasant world of Sangras, where rhinodoctens thrived in the vivacious safaris. The emperor knew that Sandrinos would manage everything. Sandrinos knew it too. Sandrinos kept the citizens of the league content with his free intergalactic feasts. The credits used to pay for these feasts came from spoils that came from the sacking of "barbarian" worlds. He also used the money from the spoils to expand and update the navy even more, as to scare off any over ambitious prince who dared risk to overthrow his divine emperor. "Bbeeeeppp", Sandrinos looked up at the screen above his desk. A prince Angelo of the Obesquian Sector was attacking the royal grounds with S-77 falcon-jets. At the moment, the high general of the Imperial Navy could not but burst out laughing. Falcon-jets were as old as holo-graphic televisors, which were invented six hundred years ago. After he had finished laughing, he wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at the screen on the mainboard. The color disappeared from his face with amazing speed. The image of two gigantic alpha atomizer vessels marked with the symbol of the Jamesian realms had appeared on the screen!


Hunting was the most you could get out of life nowadays. Kuo aimed, fired, and hit his desired target. The graceful fall of the male rhinodocten onto the mud of the safari was an incredible sight to behold. The majestic animal spent the last minutes of its life moaning with a hollowed and deep pitch. It was an incredible sound to hear. Life was easy and tranquil, the only thing that bothered the Divine One was that he would have to leave in a couple of days. The foundation of an empire depended on the presence of the emperor at his imperial court. He would have to at least stay there for two months before departing again.
"Oh Divine One! The capital has been besieged! I cannot believe it but I just received an official report that a small prince by the name of Angelo has taken over the capital world with the assistance of the Jamesian realms. But do not worry your divinity, Lord Sandrinos was able to escape with the entire Imperial Navy, and is heading for Sangras right now to protect your divine majesty. Once he arrives, he will somehow find a way to rally up the most loyal planets of the league. But we will have to remain here until you can be assured a safe journey back to the capital after Sandrinos has re-conquered it."
The only reaction of the Holy Divinity after he had heard this news was joy that he would be able to continue to hunt in the safaris of Sangras, until the Galactic Spirit knew when!

Chapter three: The Hordes of Gold

SHE WAS STRONG-WILLED AND CUNNING, but she was a dreamer. She dreamt about destroying the technology that while granting man a huge number of options, at the same time caused so many problems. She wanted to revert back to the savagery of a life based on agriculture, however savage it sounded. The world would be more even, more fair. Food and money would be distributed more evenly rather than to the rich first and the poor last. She commandeered an army of 60,000 "savages" who had left their dying home planets looking for any form of work. They came and were inspired by the hope she had given them in her dreams.

                Her name was Hana. The planets that were under the control of her barbarian armies had been wrestled slowly from the Scottian kingdoms who had little resources to defend its peripheral systems, and little interest left in these planets that all contained extreme climates, either desert or jungle. She was only able to feed her people by extracting yeast cultures from fungus near the jungle mountains and dying sand in an acid solution taken from beneath the dry earth that makes it soft and partly nutritious. Even her own daily meal only consisted of yeast bread, yeast eggs, and sand poebe, with two bits of real ham looted from passing merchant starships. Luckily, water was easily available through the jungle climate.

                As the hordes of gold eased through the shower of meteor dust, their leader pondered whether she was making a mistake in aiding the Imperial imbeciles on their quest for new worlds. She never wanted anything to do with those empires that had slowly forged this galaxy's ruin over a period of twenty thousand years by sapping up every know natural resource left in their knowledge. But this was a time of desperation and action had to be taken immediately to ensure some kind of hope upon the people of this galaxy, where hope had become more precious than life itself. She also had one major concern, what would the people she was going to aid do after they had their planets? Would they drain those new planets of all their resources as they had did in their own galaxy? She was going to see that it must not happen.

                "Hana, we are arriving at the Inter-galaxy spaceport," she heard her high chief call out. She walked out and saw her chiefs gazing disgustedly at the gigantic titanium space port, thinking of how many caves were mined and how much fuel it took to mine the caves to the build the thing. The port docked with her vessel and she led the way into the gravitator. They took off their suits and entered the center.

They were greeted by a couple of imperial orderlies who escorted them into a conference hall. "Well, Queen Hana, its been quite a while since we last meet," were the first words Hana heard as she stepped through the doorway. Her eyes found those of Steven III, emperor, and lost lover…

To be continued...