I was accosted from every direction. Short metal clubs and 12-inch-long daggers with bifurcated blades were their weapons of choice. It felt like being in a blender set on puree. I fought with speed and abilities that they could not even imagine much less believe, which is probably why they would not stop the attack. I was spinning throwing punches and kicks reminiscent of an old Kung Fu movie character, but at speeds that made me look like a blur of motion.
Each blow killed instantly, but this didn’t dissuade my attackers, they continued to come. Bodies with crushed bleeding skulls, faces, and chests were piling up around me and they continued to come. The obstruction of bodies became cumbersome to my opponents and this slowed their attacks, so as they crested the mound of corpses, I would occasionally use a neck braking technique instead of a punch, kick, elbow or knee. Finally, the flow of guards ceased. Over 500 guards lay dead and a general panic ensued amongst the staff of the capital building. They ran from the building like fleeing rats. The building housed over 5,000 employees, including council members, support staff, and the Emperor. Those brave enough to remain, stayed only long enough to sound a general alarm and call in reinforcements from their military. The war had begun.
I leaped over the mound of corpses around me and walked out through the massive ornately carved wooden doors of the capitol building and stood at the top of the stairs leading down to the enormous courtyard, that was surrounded by other large stately buildings. If the war took place here, severe damage could occur to this richly ornamented town square of polished stone and ornate statues and fountains. It would seem a shame to demolish such exquisite architecture and art. Beyond the building on my left was what looked like a large open field or park, so I decided to head over in that direction and see if it was a more appropriate venue for a battle?
As I walked toward the field, citizens scurried out of my way and an occasional group of guards would attack me. I dispatched the guards as easily as picking wildflowers in a field, and I ignored the scurrying masses. I arrived at the edge of the field just as the military forces of the Junock arrived. The field was largely flat and stretched on for miles. It appeared to be some sort of parade ground or training area. Well, I was right on both accounts.
About 2 miles away at the edge of a coniferous forest were a group of barracks. From them poured a large number of soldiers. By this time, I had walked a few hundred feet into the field and the faster of them were only about a mile away from me cascading down a hillside. I didn’t think they were the welcome wagon, rushing to invite me over for brunch. I continued walking into the expansive field, to get further away from the capital buildings.
As I walked, the first wave of the aerial combatants began their attack. An immense squadron swooped down on my position firing an endless bombardment of pulses from their energy pulse cannons. I continued walking unabated and unharmed, with the pulses being harmlessly absorbed as they danced across my mentally projected force shield. As I walked, the attacks continued. It was as if they were attacking more out of disbelief and desperation than in accordance with common sense. They knew the attacks had no effect, but they continued. The aerial attacks didn’t stop until the first of the soldiers arrived at my position.
I expanded my force shield to about ten feet and stood watching as the soldiers, running at full speed, slammed headlong into my shield. Several were knocked unconscious, which is understandable considering that they were running at about 75 miles per hour when they hit. As they gathered around and pressed against my shield, I abruptly removed it. The Junock soldiers came pouring in. They stood no better chance than the guards did, and they were fighting without weapons. Not that it really mattered. Over the next several minutes I slaughtered them effortlessly, and as the last of the barracks soldiers mortally succumbed, the first full-strength battalion-sized cohort arrived.
The cohort attacked in a much more sophisticated, tactically proficient manor. They attacked in the form of a large crescent with individual squads in wedge formations to increase overall forward firepower. They launched both conventional missiles and fired seemingly endless energy pulses from vehicle-based pulse rifles and from small arms carried by each soldier. The maneuver was reminiscent of an ancient and highly respected battle technique of Earth, first developed by Chinese General Sun Tzu. No wonder these beings are so feared and successful. They have the knowledge, strength, speed, dexterity, and skill to destroy any opponent. Well, except me of course. I was very impressed.
The first few blasts hit me with my shield down. I was thrown several yards away and my clothes were scorched and torn, so instead of allowing myself to gradually be disrobed by my enemy’s onslaught, I reestablished my force shield. Without my shield, I could easily withstand the heat and forces generated by a supernova, but it would render me nude. Why be rendered nude when it’s preventable. So, with my force shield in place, I stood fast and allowed my attackers to come to me. I had hoped they would see the futility of their attacks, but they were very stubborn and proud. They seemed content to fight to the last man.
As their attack brought them too close to me for weapons fire, they reverted to hand-to-hand combat techniques. I dropped my shield and began a campaign of brutal savagery that lasted for hours. As the corpses began to pile up creating obstacles for efficient killing, I moved to clearer ground, killing enroot. As the cohort was depleted, reinforcements arrived and the fighting continued. They would not stop, and if I had stopped, they would have assumed that I was showing weakness and attacked me with renewed vigor. So, the bloody slaughter continued, but there were signs of apprehension in their attacks. Perhaps they were finally getting the hint.
As the second cohort dwindled to just a few men, the sky grew dark. Not due to clouds, but due to the city-sized ship that was looming over my head. I saw them preparing to fire their main weapon, so I completely encircled myself in a sphere-shaped force shield. The blast hit me with considerable force. The area around me was completely destroyed, including the remaining Junock soldiers that were in the vicinity.
The crater beneath me was about a half-mile wide and fifty feet deep. I was suspended above the crater in my bubble-like force shield, still standing on the inverted convex clump of ground that was also encircled by my shield. They continued to fire until the crater below me was a mile wide several hundred yards deep, and their ability to continue firing was exhausted. As the ship pulled away, I allowed the clump of soil I was standing on to slip through my shield, and then I floated over to solid ground that wasn’t littered with bodies.
As the battle lulled, the Emperor, his staff and all their support staff were being shuttled off the planet. “I hope they’re not thinking what I think they’re thinking,” I said aloud. “Goodness they’re arrogant and pig-headed, they won’t quit.” I sighed deeply and shook my head. As I looked up and surveyed the area, I spotted a bench in a coniferous thicket, so I walked over and sat down.
It was a warm day but not too uncomfortable. If there was a slightly stronger breeze it would be quite comfortable here in this thicket. This planet seemed very well kept and attractive. I saw no flowering plants, but there was an abundance of coniferous trees and shrubs, I also noticed a lot of ferns and there were no grasses, just lichen-like ground cover. This must be a relatively primal planet. From my research, I’ve found that all planets that can support carbon-based life forms go through similar stages of evolution. Fern forests are always followed by coniferous forests, and then deciduous trees, grasses, and flowering plants evolve. This planet is either in its coniferous stage or this region of the planet must be a naturally occurring oasis for conifers.
Unconscious in the hospital, Bob thought: “Old research based on evolutionary dogma, without substance or substantiation.”
I’ve also noticed a direct correlation between sapient traits amongst species. In order for a being to achieve sapient status, it must have the following traits: a large well-developed imaginative brain, dexterous grasping appendages (hands), and curiosity. Dolphins are both imaginative thinkers and curious, but they can never be truly sapient without hands. They can’t build, intricately create, or tangibly demonstrate their imagination through art or scientific endeavor. They can only sing and perform an athletic aquatic dance. No, without the necessities I mentioned, being sapient is impossible. This is precisely why all sapient life forms capable of space flight look similar. Most are bipedal, freeing their hands for intricate work and those who aren’t bipedal always have four or more appendages, still freeing-up at least two appendages for intricate work and creation. The wonders of the universe…
As I sat relaxing and reflecting on the bench in the little coniferous thicket, darkness swept over the area again. I looked up and said with a depressed sarcastic tone, “Great, I had hoped they weren’t thinking what I thought they were thinking, but it looks like that’s exactly what they were thinking…who’d of thunk it?” A moon-sized ship loomed in front of the sun in a low orbit. I stood and reset my force shield just as they fired. I was right, it was a planet killer and the planet I was standing on was completely obliterated. Debris was blasted in a conical plum for thousands of miles. Millions of people…their own people, millions of plants and animals were obliterated; unique species were lost forever. What were these knot-heads thinking?
I was still holding a stationary position at the site where I use to be standing. I reached out my hand emitting a beam of energy cutting a hole half the size of the ship through the juggernaut. The ship imploded, crumpling into rubble as my energy beam passed through. The other ships accompanying the planet killer turned and ran. I followed in hot pursuit, filled with rage. I was defending myself; somewhat justifying the bloody carnage I was indulging in, but they were killing their own people. They destroyed their own governing planet with the entire citizenry still present, and without even discussing peace or surrender. All the art and architecture I so thoughtfully tried to preserve was obliterated. I was infuriated…their audacity, pride, and ruthlessness…how could they do this to themselves? They must have very different views and attitudes towards life than humans. Savages…
Their ships were very fast and without folding space, keeping up with them was a chore. There were three planets that made up the nexus of the Junock Empire, the governing planet, the commerce planet, and their military stronghold planet. I was rapidly approaching their military stronghold. The trip took about 2 hours at 20 times light speed. As the ships reached the solar system they slowed and I noticed that several large contingents of spacecraft were converging on the site. There must have been 300,000-500,000 ships of varying size and configuration, and they were strategically positioning themselves between me and the planet.
As I approached the planet (approximately 5,000,000 miles) the ships I pursued turned and opened fire. As the energy pulses slammed harmlessly into my force shield, I continued my forward trajectory at a reduced speed. I flew unabated through the lead ship…yes, I said through it. The ship imploded and the accompanying ships spun around and were now in pursuit of me with their guns blazing. In an incredible nonlinear ballet of coordination and control, the rest of the ships opened fire. They were amazing…they were hitting me with more firepower than I ever thought possible, from every direction, and all without any of their ships succumbing to friendly fire. Masterful…they were absolutely masterful in their attacks. I found myself, watching them without retaliation for several minutes, admiring their skill and coordination. I really would love to finally be at peace with them. They were truly an amazing species.
After my brief respite of awestruck admiration, I began retaliating. They still couldn’t believe my invincibility. This was obvious from the ferocity of their fearless attacks. I had to make them understand the futility of continuing their attacks, so I stopped all forward progress and hovered in space. I changed my force shield into high energy explosive plasma and spherically extended it into my attackers. The entire fleet was obliterated within seconds. It looked like fireworks bursting in air back home on Earth on the 4th of July.
I left only one ship unscathed, and it turned and made a run for the planet. The planet’s satellite defense batteries, and land bases batteries opened fire as I approached. I modified my shield to deflect instead of absorbing the energy of their weapon’s fire in such a manner that each shot was deflected back to its origin. The satellites and land-based weapons were destroyed by their own energy pulses. As the weapon’s fire stopped a small fleet of ships darted out of the atmosphere, but not to attack me. They were fleeing. I thought about pursuing but decided to continue on to the planet. If their leadership had departed, perhaps the rest of the populace would be receptive to surrender or peace negotiations.
As I touched down in a crowded military compound on the planet, the Junock warriors just stood staring at me with sorrow in some faces and anger in the rest. Then a brilliant flash of light pierced the evening’s twilight. For the first time in years, I felt pain, I had almost forgotten what it felt like. It was an intense crushing pain that totally engulfed me. I instantly diverted all my mental power to my shield and the pain subsided. “What the heck was that?” I said aloud.
My clothes were tattered and barely maintained my modesty, and I started looking around to see if I could determine what had happened. The planet…well, what used to be the planet was a mass of flame and churning magma, as I looked away, I could see the exploded fragments of the planet redirecting their trajectory back toward the planet. The gravity well of this exploded planet was already attempting to coalesce its fragments. I knew that it would first form rings of debris that would gradually fall into the planet reforming the planet or coalesce into moons over the next few million years.
Unconscious in the hospital, Bob thought: “That is dubious science at best because particles disburse, they don’t coalesce.”
Wait a minute…they wanted me dead so bad that they blew up their military stronghold and most of their military assets, and their personnel have been obliterated. The leadership of this species must die. No wonder the military personnel on the planet were just gawking at me instead of attacking. They knew they were going to die, and hoped they were taking me with them…poor misguided blithering idiots. After a mere moment of grief, a wave of anger swept through me. How could they do this to their own people? The leaders of these people must die!
I focused my attention in the direction the small fleet of fleeing ships took and folded space a few million miles in that direction. I continued my pursuit in this fashion until I could see them, and then pursued them at my best speed as they entered the solar system of their commerce planet. As their ships landed, I landed and waited for the personnel aboard to disembark their vessels. I wanted to give these idiots a piece of my mind before I slaughtered them.
It took several minutes for them to decide to leave the comforting surroundings of their heavily armed vessels, but they finally disembarked. As soon as I saw the Emperor step down onto the tarmac, I folded space and appeared in front of him. He stopped dead in his tracks in fear as I glared up at him. It was obvious that he had never known fear. He was trembling violently and was involuntarily flatulent, and incontinent. I took two steps back from him and had to smile, even despite my absolute infuriation, I had to smile at this would be supreme ruler of the galaxy. His fear and loss of composure and control were laughable, but I was still in no laughing mood.
“I am King David, Emperor of the Terreus Empire. You have destroyed your own people without mercy. You have destroyed your homeworlds. What were you thinking? Have you no sense of morality or compassion? You, the former Emperor of the Junock Empire, will die, but your people can be spared. You can yield to me for peace talks, or continue perpetuating violence toward me and I’ll usurp your Empire in the name of my Terreus Empire. Take your pick!”
He looked down in submission and reached into a pouch that dangled from the belt of his tunic. He pulled out a small mechanical device with a single bright green button. I immediately increased the power to my shield in anticipation of this planet blowing up as the last one did. But instead, the Emperor said, “Death before humiliation,” and then looking into my eyes with a sorrowful look on his face, he pushed the button. It appeared to me that nothing happened. There was no explosion, no weapons fire…nothing. What did he do? In the time it took to formulate these thoughts, his deed materialized. Everyone around me, including the Emperor of the Junock Empire, grabbed their heads, suffering searing pain, and then a moment later dropped to the ground dead.
“What the heck?” I shouted aloud and immediately looked inside their heads with my mind to determine the cause of death. What I found distressed and troubled me so much that I plopped down on my butt, crossed my legs Indian style, cupped my head in my hands with my elbows resting on my knees. I couldn’t believe it, but I was sure it must be true. What sort of beings could even think of such drastic measures? They were just being defeated in battle, not exterminated.
The Emperor knew he had a choice and knew what I wanted, but couldn’t accept it. He wouldn’t even talk about it. Filled with despair and sorrow, I reached out with my mind to the farthest reaches of the galaxy in an attempt to discover the truth. I was looking for Junock life signs, but there were none…none at all anywhere. The Junock were extinct, and by their own hand. What a waste.
As I sat cross-legged on the landing pad with my hands cupping my head and my eyes closed grieving in disbelief for several minutes, and then I suddenly felt a presence. I looked up to see a beautiful Zeelok warrior walking down the ramp of the vessel that the Emperor was commanding. I rose to my feet as she approached. About four feet from me she dropped to her knees, head bowed and with her arms folded across her breast and her fists clenched she said, “I am your servant.”
I looked down at her with tears in my eyes, still filled with sorrow. I just stared at her and said nothing. After a couple of minutes, she opened her eyes and looked up at me. Still staring, I finally said, “Did your people know about the devices implanted in the brains of the Junock?” “Yes,” she said. After a pause, I continued, “They knew that if the Junock couldn’t find a way to defeat me they would commit suicidal genocide.” She paused for a moment, and then I yelled, “Answer me!” “Yes,” she quickly responded.
“I knew I was being used but had no idea to what extent,” I said, turning away from her in disgust. “Please do not destroy us, King David. The Junock would never have let your Empire coexist with theirs. War was inevitable. We merely hastened its occurrence,” she pleaded. “Merely hastened its occurrence…great…,” I said with cynicism and disgust. I exhaled a deep sigh and said, “Well, you’re probably right, and destroying them before they reached my Empire definitely saved a lot of my subjects’ lives. Have you been in contact with your people?” “Yes, my King,” she replied. “Well, get back in touch with them. Tell them that I expect them to join my Empire, and for the first time during my reign, I’m demanding that they join.
Heed what I’m saying, and remember it because if you fail to inform your people of my commandment exactly as I presented it to you, I’ll reach across time and space and crush your bones into dust. Understood?” “Yes, my King,” she quickly replied. “They are required to join my empire and have no choice in the matter…tell them!” “Yes, My King. I will communicate your commandment to them immediately.”
She pulled a communications device from her belt and reported in, sharing exactly what I demanded. The ruling council of her planet immediately capitulated and asked how they could serve the Terreus Empire. I instructed the girl to convey my acceptance of the Zeelok into my Empire and asked that they contact the other planets with space flight capable sapient life in what used to be the Junock Empire, and respectfully request that they join my Empire. I reiterated my philosophy of rule to them and made them promise to not use coercion or threats. All are welcome, but no planet is required to join, except theirs of course. I considered it penance for using me, regardless of the inevitable outcome of the Terreus and Junock Empires predestined encounter. I still felt very used and abused. I still felt sorrow for all the innocent members of the Junock that never knew what hit them.
While talking to the Zeelok warrior I learned that all Junock had the device implanted in their heads directly after birth. After thousands of generations, the Junock grew to accept this practice as normal. They thought they were invincible, so they never felt that the devices would ever be used. I wish they never had been used. Although, with the devices in place, I also knew that eventually, when our two Empires met, this same fate would have befallen them. Well, wait a minute…If I had known, I could have possibly deactivated the devices. Great…now I think of it, after already being lenient on the Zeelok. They deserved a good hind-end-kickin’, I thought to myself. …Oh well, too late. But they better never give me an excuse to execute my wrath. They already had one strike against them. I hoped they appreciated that fact.
