ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE

STAR BLAZERS—THE ENTROPY WARS

By: Frederick P. Kopetz

Thanks for new Artwork Contributed by “Anonymous Reader”

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THE ENTROPY WARS

Ch. 8 “MIDNIGHT NEARS”

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I. FOR THE GLORY OF THE EMPIRE

The Great Magellenic Cloud: The Gamilon Empire

The Nag Harda System: 2,000 Lightyears from Gamilon

Desslok’s Flagship Gamilstadt

Terran Date: June 19, 2231

1100 HOURS (Standard Earthtime)

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Emperor Desslok of Gamilon was personally leading the bulk of the Home Fleet in a battle with a combined Technomugar/Bolar force that had managed to fight its way deep into the heart of the Gamilon Empire.

He was commanding the battle from the bridge of his trusty old flagship, the Gamilstadt. He had brought this vessel into battle rather than his hulking Command Ship Excelsior because he desired a fast-moving cruiser for this engagement.

 “SIR!” reported Commodore Fraken, who was actually the ship’s master in this battle. “We have twelve Bolar cruisers off the port bow, and two Technomugar vessels ready to engage!”

“Talan!” snapped Desslok in return. “Communicate to Captain Raeder in the attack vanguard that we need eight destroyers there to assault those ships and four more to screen us! Also advise Captain Velden that I need attack torpedo planes and medium bombers launched from the carrier Duchess Novalia as soon as can be managed!”

“Yessir,” said Talan with a salute as Fraken ordered the Gamilstadt to execute a hard turn.

Desslok’s command cruiser evaded several shots as the carrier launched its planes, which began to assemble in front of Desslok’s flagship.

“All planes are now in the optimum position, Lord,” said one of the Gamilstadt’s weapons officers, who shielded his eyes as a wave of Technomugar fighters were shot down by the Gamilstadt’s short-range pulse lasers near the bow.

“Fraken,” said Desslok, “My request, please.”

Fraken saluted and handed Desslok the firing grip for his SMITE units on its cord.

“Have a pleasant journey straight to Hell, you Mechanical scum!” said Desslok with an evil grin as he released his SMITE devices and warped the planes into the enemy lines, where even the Technomugar commander, Ekogaru’s demonic attack dog, Lord Baron Jean St. Germain himself, was taken aback as he commanded the enemy forces in this battle.

“Leader Desslok!” cried the female comm officer on Desslok’s flagship. “A communication from the enemy flagship!”

“Put him on the main screen, Talia,” said Desslok. “Tell him he’d better make this short. I intend to finish him soon!”

Talan stood beside his Leader as the image of a foppish-looking creature that looked half mechanical, half-human appeared on the screen. He had blond hair, gleaming eyes in different colors, and wore an arrogant looking cloak and jacket as he grinned at Desslok while he ate, of all things, Terran Sushi on a stick.

“So, you are the mighty Desslok?” said St. Germain in a bored voice. “Pity you look so mundane. I was just time-travelling and I saw a stupid Terran who looked sort of like you, barring his age and his fat. I thought you’d look younger, you old blue fart.”

“I may be a little older, but I’m no dotard yet,” said Desslok with an evil grin. “Eating while you talk to the enemy, St. Germain? Don’t you have any style?”

“I’m about to stamp you out under my boot and then head to Gamilon and rape, rob, and pillage it, then, I intend to do the same to Earth. Their Government isn’t bothering to answer my recent demands at long-range to peacefully unite with us, so Ekogaru’s going to want me to get rough.”

“The Terrans are my allies, you idiot,” said Desslok as he gave a pre-arranged hand signal to Talan. The Gamilstadt made a turn and locked bow-on to St. Germain’s Goraizu Fortress as Desslok’s forces opened a corridor to the multi-towered command ship on its kilometer-wide base saucer. “You’re going to have to get past me first. And, I’d say that you’re doing a sorry job serving a ghost, even if he succeeded in assassinating some people on Terra in the Government. I have a saying; ‘As long as I live, Gamilon lives!’ The Terrans have likewise adopted it for their homeworld!”

“The Terrans have a twelfth-stringer from their Government serving as President now,” said St. Germain. “She won’t be there for very long, Desslok, not when the little revolution we are planning has its end. I’d rather not attack them openly right now, as subterfuge is better.”

“You mean you’re ruled by fear? Fear to confront the Terrans? A pity,” said Desslok as he gave Talan another hand signal.

A moment later, St Germain noticed a pulsing sound in the background on Desslok’s flagship. “What’s that idiotic noise?”

“Your doom, my unfortunate friend,” said Desslok as he snapped his fingers and an elaborate firing grip came up. “Desslok gun, FIRE!”

Desslok fired his weapon straight at St. Germain’s vessel.

The enemy flagship disappeared in a warp shimmer as Desslok’s cannon burst hit the other Goraizu Fortress, blowing it and the rest of the Bolar Fleet to smithereens.

“Finished, sir!” said Talan.

“But the cat got away and all we got were the kittens of the litter,” said Desslok as he snarled. “That idiot will likely be back soon. Talan, disperse our forces. We can’t let them get near the homeworld or Iscandar. Intelligence Major Kaeda, your report, please, on the Terrans. We need to know who it is we are dealing with now in their Government.”

“Yessir,” said Kaeda, a bearded Gamilon officer. “Our research has determined that the Terran Parliament and upper echelons of the judiciary have been wiped out in the recent terrorist attack we learned of, along with the President, Prime Minister, and most of the Cabinet. Our Embassy there reports a radiation plume which has made one eighth of their Tokyo Megalopolis a wasteland, and one hundred and fifty thousand civilian casualties due to direct blast, debris impact, and radiation from a small, crude nuclear device. The upper echelons of the military are intact, and a Provisional Headquarters has been set up in the private home of the now acting President, formerly a military officer and woman recently appointed as Surgeon General of their Federation. The planet is under a state of emergency.”

“Who is this Surgeon, whose appointment I was not aware of in the past?” said Desslok.

“From the reports of their Press, where some in the conservative political sectors are in a state of apoplexy, she is a woman in young middle age they call the “blonde bombshell”, “girl hero”, “femme fatale”, “agent of Socialism”, “inexperienced Bleeding Heart”, and “Communist Agent” on their editorials. She has not been seen in approximately two days, they say.”

“What is the name of this unfortunate woman, so that Talan and I can send our sympathy and advise her to contact friends of mine who may still be on Terra, trusted members of the military, and…”

“A strange name, Lord. They say the name of this brainless woman is “Nova Wild…”…”

Desslok grabbed Kaeda by the tunic and pulled him up. “What was her name, Kaeda?” he said in a dangerous voice.

“Nova Wildstar, Lord. She’s an Admiral or something,” he stammered. “I didn’t call her brainless, they did. But, really, sire, how effective can some surgeon be running a world?”

“You will NEVER say that woman’s name along with the adjective, “idiot” again, Kaeda!” snapped Desslok.

“And what if she IS an idiot?” he said.

“You don’t know her. I do. She is like kin to me,” hissed Desslok. “And, as for you, Gamilon does not need idiots like you interpreting my intelligence,” said Desslok as he stepped back, unholstered his weapon, and shot Kaeda in the heart.

“Take him away and throw his worthless corpse out the airlock,” said Desslok as he looked at Kaeda’s quick death as he cleaned his weapon.

“Sir, our forces are on a search for St. Germain’s ship,” said Talan a moment later.

“Very good. Fraken, please send President Wildstar my profound condolences on the death of her father and her sudden accession to her position, and advise her that I remain true to the Alliance and will give her and Derek any aid they should request. Knowing she is in charge on Terra eases my fears somewhat. Kaeda delivered me some good news…even if he did it like an animal, with words that lacked any courtesy or tact. I don’t need sexism like his in my sight.”

“Yessir,” said Fraken.

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II. A MOMENT OF CONTEMPLATION

Planet Earth: The Wildstar Residence

June 19, 2231

1200 HOURS (Standard Earthtime)

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The Wildstar estate and its guest house and the nearby facilities of the underground city had all been left intact and undamaged by the blast that had burned out much of the Government Center of the Megalopolis, but had left Earth Defense Headquarters intact but structurally compromised; the EDF was moving its facilities underground as rapidly as possible.

The lower floor of Derek and Nova’s house had quickly become offices, meeting rooms, and a work lounge, but the upper floors were still private.

As such, the shaken, overworked President was taking a moment of privacy after an all-too early lunch in the heat. Electricity was an iffy thing, and the air conditioning in the house didn’t always work, so Nova was sweating through her wardrobes rapidly.

Right now, she was on her bed, practicing some yoga and meditation with the Matrix before taking a shower.

As such, she was currently naked, with her eyes closed, touching the Cosmos without and the Matrix within with her thoughts as she prayed, with her sweaty, elegant body gleaming with a weak light as her energies reached out.

God, grant me the strength to continue to endure all of the Pain the Matrix is hinting at. I have the sense it’s just beginning…that I will be seeing a lot of darkness before the Dawn….that Desslok is in mortal danger…and he…he was in combat…and…

Nova stopped her prayer, and then thought, as she reached out, Astrena. Astrena, where are you?

On New Pellias, came the response. I know what has happened already on Terra, my Nova. My condolences…and your Way to your cross is just beginning…

The Matrix has already shown me terrible hints, Nova thought as her body began to gleam. I will be arrested by Ekogaru, pulled from all I know, stripped utterly naked, cast into prison, then enslaved as a barefoot, naked slave, beaten with the lash, and finally crucified before I die stopping him from destroying some world…then, hints of some new life appear before me, but they are so hazy, they are like a distant story…acclaimed…leading cavalry charges, much in the way of battle, and then possibly brining Ekogaru to heel at last…and then…

I know, Astrena said. Why have you contacted me?

Desslok is being hunted by Ekogaru’s lieutenant St. Germain, Astrena. I think he’s drawing him into a trap! He needs protection. Tell him I’d send aid, but we are preoccupied now…

We understand, Nova. Thank you for the warning, and tend to your home. When the time comes, we shall all be together and you will live and I foresee you will win through the Fire if you stay true. Have no fears…trust in Him who is above all plans and thrones…

Thank you, Astrena. Indeed, my hope is in God.

Nova stretched again, letting energy run through her from her head down to her toes.

A moment later, Derek came into the room, dressed in only a towel. “Nova…you’ll need a shower…I….are you all right?”

“I’m fine…Derek,” Nova said in an unconvincing voice. “I….the Matrix showed me things again,” she said as she realized tears were running down her cheeks.

“What did it show you?” Derek said in a compassionate voice, closing the door behind him as he sat beside Nova on the bed as she kissed him, and, with a wink, took away his towel.

“What it showed me isn’t as cute as…that,” Nova said with a girlish blush as she tenderly exposed and then caressed Derek’s majestic fancy. “It showed me horrible visions…terrible ones….let me show you…”

Nova took Derek in her arms, and sobbed softly as she opened the Matrix to him, showing him the terrible visions that had been shown to her, including, once again, the terrible vision of her in her lab coat and uniform, having it torn away by the Dark Lord before everyone on the Yamato’s Bridge, and then fending off a horrible beam of energy against her nude back, and then dying naked in a pool of blood in Derek’s arms.

“I can’t allow you to board the Yamato,” was the first thing Derek said out loud. “Not this time. Not this mission…since all that awaits you there is Death.”

“I am the Resurrection and the Life,” Nova said softly. “HE said that. There are these other visions I’ll show you…like a storybook, almost…”

Nova showed Derek the other visions…of her variously clad in white, or in nothing at all, like Trelaina herself, leading cavalry charges….one of her bringing St Germain to the sword…some of her calling out coordinates from her old radar while the Yamato attacked Ekogaru’s Fortress again and again in battles that seemed to last days…or weeks…and in some of the visions, she wore a white version of her uniform at her post, while in others, she gleamed with light and went naked with the Crown Imperishable burning at her brow, up to a battle where, miraculously, a naked Nova, burning with light like an angel, brought a heavily armored Ekogaru to defeat at the point of her crystal sword at his chest…her small bare foot on his chest as the Victor in a great battle, and his Sphere broken in fragments around him.

“What do these mean?” Nova whispered.

“They mean…if you die…apparently you…by the Grace of God…live again…and behold, Humanity, in only its skin, triumphs over the worst of the Machine.”

“I feel cold, my darling,” Nova said.

“It’s warm in here,” Derek said softly as he kissed her.

“Please warm me up,” Nova said as she lay there shivering in her sweat in the hot room.

Derek kissed her and said he would be right back.

When he returned from the bathroom in their bedroom, he had a basin of water, a warm rag, and warm oil.

There, he tenderly bathed the sweat off on Nova, kissing her frequently while he did so. Many of the kisses were very initimate, done without shame.

Derek then polished Nova’s toenails and then gently massaged her feet with oil. The massage covered her whole body, and went up and down.

At the end of the massage, Derek kissed her from her navel downwards, kissing and licking her all the way downwards to her secret garden as Nova’s eyes closed and her trembling mouth turned into a smile at what was now lovemaking; a pleasure they had not indulged in for days due to Nova’s flu and her exhaustion and having to pull the frayed Government of Earth back into some semblance of function so that Derek could order, as acting EDF Commander, a counterattack against Bolar and Dark Nebulan raids that had now come as close to Earth as Pluto.

“Tell me what you want, Nova,” whispered Derek as she gasped, riding the first wave of pleasure in her naked loins as her first climax hit, leaving her hidden parts as dewy as a new rose, and waiting for her husband.

 “I want you…and you alone, inside me…I want to cleave to you, my Admiral…my darling…..” Nova whispered.

So, Derek followed Nova’s wish, gently touching, teasing, and then taking his President, his darling, with an ardor that made them both weep, and a sheer pleasure like their wedding night that made them melt into each other like ice cream with joy, utter joy, as their minds and bodies connected in utter happiness. They rode and clung to each other, desperate in their desire to enjoy their love.   

When it was all over, Nova held Derek on her gentle breasts, and comforted and reassured him like a child as he gently kissed her breasts.

Her beautiful gleam, and theLight of the Imperishable Crown burned at her brow, making her look like an angel, a work of art from head to toe in her slender, lovely nakedness.

Derek had once painted his Angel sitting on the bed after the act of love at a time like this, playing a small wood and brass hard she had made, smiling softly like an angel as she sat naked with her harp on her knee. He had never shown the painting to anyone, but both of them knew that, someday, it would hang in the almost-completed High Queen’s Palace on New Pellias.

“I wish I could gaze at you like this forever,” Derek whispered to her.

“Not quite forever, nothing lasts forever, Derek; not here, this side of Heaven. But a time is coming when you and many will see me like this...I am not yet sure why, but I sense that somehow, when I pass through the Fire, my Light will finally become my Royal Raiment…”

Both Derek and Nova then noticed someone banging at their bedroom door and heard Venture’s voice.

“Hey, you guys, what are you up to in there?” demanded Mark as he finally threw open the door.

Then, he, Lt. General Wendy Singleton, and former President William Garrison beheld Nova and Derek lying there, as bare as Adam and Eve, and with Nova gleaming like an image of glory.

A startled Derek looked at them, but Nova kissed the top of his head and said, “So many people have seen me nude before; it bothers me a little less than it used to…”

“But your gleam,” he said.

“Someday, everyone shall see it. The time is coming where the High Queen has to reveal herself,” Nova said to the shocked group.

“You…you look like Trelaina like that, Nova,” Mark said in shock. “Is that part of what you’ve been hiding from us?”

“Yes, and someday, if I live through my hour of trials, not even clothing will conceal this flash of the Glory of God that resides in me,” Nova said.

“Well…you’re going to be on the telly in two hours,: said Wendy. “Madame President, with all respect, we hope you’ll…uh…get dressed?”

“I intend to,” said Nova.

“Give us a few minutes of privacy before we meet with the Jushin?” said Derek.

“The Jushin? Who are those?” Wendy asked.

“The surviving former Presidents and advisors I’ve called forth,” said Nova before she closed the door. “They will give me advice. Now, if you would, please leave? Or I swear, I will go downstairs naked!”

Venture smirked at that. “I’ll bet you twenty credits you would, Nova!”

“BEAT IT!” Derek yelled through the closed door as they heard Nova giggling loudly behind the door (Derek was tickling the soles of her bare feet, a very convenient target).

“Let’s go,” said Wendy. “Least I can tell them she’ll be downstairs soon….”

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III. A MEETING OF THE JUSHIN

Earth

The Tokyo Megalopolis

The Wildstar House: Nova’s Personal Office

June 19, 2231

1320 HOURS

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“Have you located the Yamato yet?” asked Earth President Nova Wildstar as she held a meeting in her office in her home in the Megalopolis.

She was meeting with an ad hoc Defense Council she had thrown together, since, after all, in the attack upon Parliament two days ago, most of the Defense Council had died with Parliament and the Commander.

Her ad-hoc Council consisted of General Gil Alexander, the Acting Vice-Commander of the EDF, along with Lieutenant General Wendy Singleton, who was still acting as Chief of Staff. Derek was there as the Acting Commander of the EDF and the Commander of the Combined Fleet, along with Admiral Mark Venture, who was now the Commander of all remaining Special Missions Forces.

Derek was in his full uniform and black peacoat, while Nova had on a her glasses, a white blouse, tie, brown jumper, pinstriped grey skirt that matched a suit jacket she had on somewhere, and ladies’ dress thong sandals on her bare feet. As she talked, unfamiliar with the feeling of wearing shoes in her house, she kicked one sandal off and let it lie on the floor as she sat half-barefoot on her office chair.

Mark answered first, shaking his head, as he said, “No…ma’am. I’ve had the North Carolina on her last known path for the past day. No contact, as of yet, from the First Star Force, Jonathan, or the Yamato.”

“He’d be running from the North Carolina,” said Derek. “He’s probably thinking it’s another hostile attempt to catch up with him and the other kids.”

“Ma’am,” said former President Garrison, one of the former Presidents of the Federation, or Jushin, that Nova had called there along with what remained of her Ministers.  “I think you need to take off the gloves and send out a fleet and engage them head-on. We don’t know if they’ve sold out to the Gamilons, the Pellians, or someone else even worse.”

“Captain Hartnell-Wildstar is not in the habit of selling out to anyone,” said Nova. “Neither is his first officer, Alex Wildstar III.”

“How do you know that?” barked Garrison.

“Because we helped raise Jonathan,” said Derek heatedly.

“And because I changed Alex’s diapers and nursed him at my breast,” snapped Nova. “I know that young man’s character. He would not sell out to anyone. “, and in “Don’t talk to me like that!” barked the prior Federation President. “I’m the former President of this Federation!”

“And I’m the current one,” Nova snapped back.

“Ma’am, Earth needs to see you,” said former Prime Minister Gerald Fink. “You haven’t been on the media since the night your father died. And what about going to his funeral? What’s left of him is lying in state right now in the Vatican alongside the casket of the remains of President Kueller. Your mother is screaming at you in her e-mail messages to come and sit Shiva for him!”

“They’ll need to wait a little,” Nova snapped. “I intend to get there in my black mourning clothes as soon as I can guarantee the security of this planet and of the Government. And, they will have to be content since I will be on television tonight at 7PM local time to address the Federation from my living room.”

“We know what we are doing,” Derek snapped. “I have the Fifteenth, Tenth, and Nineteenth Fleets on the way to Pluto. They should contact the enemy at 2000 Hours tonight. And, in case you are wondering, the Aquarius is being readied, and Nova and I are going to the battlefront in forty-eight hours to drive the enemy away from Arcturus.”

“Then a counterattack is planned a day later,” Nova said.

“How?” barked Fink.

 “In case you’ve forgotten, the Gamilons and the Pellians are still our allies, Mister Fink,” Nova snapped. “I happen to know that Desslok and the Pellians are getting ready to assist us.”

 “Are they, ma’am?”  said former Prime Minister Jose Alvarado, another one of the surviving Jushin Nova had called upon for advice. He had been a Prime Minister around 2218, and even though he knew of Nova’s medical accomplishments and heroism in many battles, he thought the pretty youngish-looking blond President in her rumpled suit skirt, jumper, and askew tie and hair, down to a ladies’ dress thong sandal on only one bare foot, looked like an intellectual lightweight.

A moment later, Nova looked disgusted and kicked off her other shoe as she smiled at Alvarado.

He thought, And so her other shoe drops, literally, like a barefoot teenager in high school. She should be a President’s Secretary; not the President, he sneered to himself. Admiral Wildstar is probably pulling all of her pretty little strings.

“Sir, no one pulls my strings,” Nova said quietly.

“How did you know I thought…that?” said Alvarado.

“I have my ways. I have heard from the Gamilon Ambassador just this morning,” Nova snapped. “I have Desslok’s support. “And I know exactly how Ruling Queen Aisha and Past Queen and Gamilon Empress Astrena feel about my Administration.”

“How?” snapped former President Hiro Akayama. “We haven’t even heard from Pellias in two days!”

“Nonetheless, I know their opinion of things and I even know they have an idea of where the Yamato is,” Nova said as Derek smiled, and Mark, Commander Alexander, and Wendy smiled back.

 “How?” demanded Garrison.

“The secret of the exact nature of my knowledge must not leave this room.” Nova said as she raised her hand and the shocked Jushin saw the door slamming shut and locking by itself.  “I was born on Earth, raised in Colorado and in Japan,” Nova said. “But thousands of years ago, Iscandarians and Pellians were in touch with Earth. In fact, they mated with humanity. A long strain of descent has come down through time to the current day. I am not fully human,” Nova said…as the mouths of the old men dropped open. “I am part-Iscandarian and part Pellian. In fact, I am of the High Royal Line of Pellias. As such, I am the mysterious, hidden High Queen of Pellias and the bearer of the Pellian Matrix that disappeared beyond the ken of humanity in 2209. I am in regular psychic touch with Ruling Queen Aisha and Former Queen Astrena. The Yamato has left Earth for good reason. They left to investigate inklings that Ekogaru is alive, right?”

“So they say,” said Akayama.

“That is the reason they left,” said General Alexander.

“I know they fought him years ago after his supposed death,” said Nova. “And he is still alive,” she said.

“How do you know that?” said Garrison.

Derek said, “Because I was there when Nova tried to kill him and failed.”

“You fought him?” said Garrison. “When?”

“It’s highly classified, but she fought him face-to-face several times in 2209,” said Commanding General Alexander.

“How do we know…?” said Garrison when Nova sat up and lifted her own skirt, baring her thighs and most of her bottom, since all that she wore beneath her skirt in the heat was a scanty pair of lacy bikini panties in black.

Nova said, “Do you see this dimple in my bottom? It’s all that remains of an old, long-healed wound from Ekogaru’s sword.”

Nova then huffed, unbuttoned one of her cuffs, and rolled up her sleeve. “This line here below my heartline? It’s where my hand was cut off in the battle. I later healed it again with the help of Mother Miarahl of Ralkhandar.” Nova then undid her tie, pulled up her jumper, and unbuttoned her thin silk blouse, baring her breasts as she said, “And here, on my right breast, is where I have a small dimple from when his sword almost pierced my heart. What else do I have to do to convince you people? Strip naked? There's a few marks on other parts of my body, especially because, thanks to him, I was stripped practically naked when I fought him. Need you men see any more?”

The Jushin shook their heads as Nova buttoned up her clothes again. “We need to pull together,” Nova said. “Unless you want to see lots of naked people in the streets, hanging crucified on telephone poles. That’s what Ekogaru has been known to do to worlds he has conquered. They are turned into vast slave camps, with the men and women he can use turned into his cyborgs, and the men, women and children he cannot use made destitute, stripped down to rags or total nakedness, and put in chains to labor day in and day out as his slaves in the dirt with barely any food or shelter until they die; and the weakest are simply shipped straight to death camps and killed. What do you think of that picture? Would you men welcome that for Earth?”

“NO,” they said as one.

“Then you’ll just have to trust us,” Derek said.

“You’ll hear more from me at 7 PM tonight,” Nova said. “Leave us be for now, but ready a mobile video unit to come here and see us. Tonight, the High Queen shall finally reveal herself.”

Nova got up, kicked back on her sandals, took Derek’s hand, and they left, staring at her as she walked away.

“You heard her!” barked Wendy Singleton. “GO!”

At her words, they all left.

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IV. THE HIGH QUEEN IS REVEALED

Earth

The Tokyo Megalopolis

The Wildstar House:  The Living Room

June 19, 2231

1900 HOURS

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“Tonight,” Nova said as she sat reclining in her living room chair with her legs crossed, not using a Teleprompter or any prepared text whatsoever, “I speak to the people of the Terran Federation regarding a matter of vital importance. My tending to this matter is the primary reason why I have seldom been seen since the grave disaster of a few days ago which destroyed the Terran Parliament and seat of Government and led to my accession as President. This attack was a matter that Admiral Wildstar and I feared but did not quite expect.”

Nova stretched on the grey chair she was sitting on and put up her legs in nervous apprehension as she played with her tie. Then she put her hand behind her head (she had on a white hat which was actually a Pellian chapeaux) and she continued with, “We have discovered that this attack was carried out by a coalition of forces;  the terrorist Josiahite Cult, working with the Bolar Federation, the Dark Nebulan House of the Cometine Empire, and the Technomugar Empire, which has again arisen. These forces were aided and abetted by traitors in the Earth Defense Forces who have decided to sell out the planet to Lord Ekogaru rather than to obey the authority of the Federation. We have also learned that these same forces have attacked the Gamilon Empire, the Pellian and Rikashan Federations, and have attacked Iscandarian science vessels on peaceful missions. You do not know it yet, but, tonight, war rages across the Cosmos, a war which even now laps at our doorstep,” Nova said as she put her feet on the floor and gained more confidence.

Derek came into the picture, saluted, and handed her a note. “Admiral Wildstar, as Acting Commander of the Earth Defense Forces, advises me that units loyal to our Federation are now in combat with Bolar, Technomugar, and rebel Terran forces near Pluto, at the edge of the solar system. He is directing the battle, for the time being, here from Earth. He intends to leave soon in the flagship Aquarius to conduct a counterattack against the Enemy in a location I cannot yet reveal.”

“Therefore, these are my first five official acts as President, which I have carefully considered.”

Nova paused and said, “Number One. Pursuant to Article 250(c) of the Constitution, The Terran Federation, under my sole authority, as Parliament is unable to act, is now under a state of total emergency, effective immediately.  Special Elections will be held at an opportune time to fill the overwhelming vacancies in Parliament, since only four Senators and five representatives survived the bloodbath of a few nights ago, and as of right now, we do not have anything near a quorum, so Parliament cannot meet. Terran communications have also been severely compromised, so we cannot hold elections right now, either. These matters are not some matter of selfishly arrogating power to myself as some dictator. I actually find dictatorship to be abhorrent, but in this emergency time, we cannot wait for elections to act, not with the wolves encroaching hard upon the very gates of all we hold dear in our civilization on Earth. I do make my most solemn promise, however, that when the emergency ends, and a new Parliament is elected, I shall hand back to Parliament the Constitutional powers I have temporarily picked up, hand them to the new Prime Minister chosen by the next new Parliament, and then ask that person to become Acting President until a new Presidential election can be held….because on that day, I intend to resign my office as an act of my sincerity to restore the full Freedoms, Checks and Balances of the Constitution that I hold for the time being in trust. I also renounce and refuse any pay as President, and intend and ask to only collect my normal pay as an Earth Defense Forces Admiral, which is much less than that of the President.”

 Nova again paused and said, “Number Two. Pursuant to Article Five of the Constitution, I now state that the Terran Federation is in a State of War with the Bolar Federation, Dark Nebulan Empire, and the Technomugar Empire. This is a foregone conclusion, as we have not attacked them. They have instead attacked us.”

“Number Three. According to the terms of the Alliance, which are still in force, as I have been assured today by messages from Queen Starsha, Emperor Desslok, President Cha’rif, and Ruling Queen Astrena, we shall act according to the Alliance.”

“Number Four. I call by name our Enemy, the mad puppet master behind these efforts, and I swear to you we will not stop fighting until we bring to naught the Power of the deranged, mad, evil, and blasphemous Being we fought in 2202, twenty-nine years ago, and knew then as Lord Ekogaru. I state tonight that I know you are alive, Ekogaru, and I swear to fight you and all that you represent, to my last breath, my last drop of blood, and even beyond that,” she said as she smiled slowly at Derek.

“Number Five. I pardon the crew of the Space Battleship Argo, wish them Godspeed, and state they are not rebels. I have been shown beyond a doubt that Ekogaru lives and that the High Queen of Pellias, that mysterious figure you have heard of who is a ceremonial and yet mystic figure above Queen Astrena of Pellias and her daughter. It is She who reigns but does not rule, since She is the Enemy of Ekogaru, sworn to stop him. A mystic figure, possessed of the Pellian Matrix, a mysterious bit of life force we feel to be a small bit and spark of the essence of God Himself, a Power which creates as well as destroys. Trelaina of Telezart, who still lives, I now declare, as a spirit Being, holds an Essence like this force and Being discovered centuries ago by the Pellians. The first daughter of Astrena, she who we no longer name, was to be this August Figure, this High Queen. She fell years ago into evil and she forfeited this birthright.”

Nova paused, standing up, as Derek stood close behind her. “Tonight, I declare to you a mystery,” Nova said. “The Cosmo DNA, as you know, healed Earth. I was near it the first time it was activated. I was dying, but it saved my life. It also caused a profound change within the cells of my body, slow at first, but a change that has grown over the years. We have found that the first High Queen of Pellias was partly human, and came from Earth long ago. Her name was Queen Pellas. She dwelt for a time on Earth, long ago, and bore children. These children melded with humanity, and they also melded with representatives of Iscandar who walked the Earth long ago in days when Moses of the Scriptures was a young man. Ekogaru also dwelt on Terra then, and he was also part human.  Indeed, the Pellian Race began, literally, in the cells of our ancestors.”

Nova paused again. “Ekogaru sought long and hard for the children of Pellas, over many centuries. Eventually, he thought only decades ago he had destroyed the last of her Line. However, a small strain of her Line lived on, in a place he did not bear worth searching in his arrogance. It lived on here, on Earth, joined with the DNA of the Iscandarians, and with native Terrans. Traces of this line live on to this day, in greater or in lesser degree.”

Nova took Derek’s hand, and then let it go. “The Cosmo DNA awoke, in me, certain powers and abilities, which were finally brought to the fore by the accursed daughter of Ruling Queen Astrena. She touched me…”

Nova then kissed Derek’s hand and stood with her arms spread. “…and, you may think me mad, but the Matrix came to dwell in me, years ago. As the Line of the High Queens slept here on Terra, the Matrix slept in me. But, tonight…”

Nova then bowed her head, shut her eyes…

…and an amazing thing happened.

A bright light flashed from her body, overwhelming the video cameras for a moment.

That same terrible Light roared straight up to the ceiling of the room, and roared up through the upper floors of the house, passing through the roof.

It roared up high into the sky, up, even into low Earth orbit, and then a thunderclap went off.

When the terrible Light faded, Nova stood utterly transformed.

She was now clad all in pure white, and she seemed slightly taller. Her raiment became a white sheath dress, and an elaborate over gown, gleaming with diamante crystals.

A White Orchid had appeared in her hair, and her sandals looked like they were made of glass, like crystal. A breeze blew about her, blowing her mid-back length hair free in a dramatic spray of warm air and flowers and life that affected everyone in the room, and, truth be told, almost everyone on the planet who watched with an open heart.

Thoughts of hope and warmth came to most of them, along with a renewed sense of defiance against the Enemy.

Nova smiled at the group and at the people of Earth, and she said, “I am still Nova Wildstar of Terra. But I am also the Matrix-Bearer, the kindler of fear-filled hearts, the Light of Freedom and a Servant of the Grace of God. I am also Nova The Third, the New High Queen of Pellias, with the Matrix in my heart and spirit. I have seen visions from afar, and have fought Ekogaru both far and near over the years in silence, known by only a few, seen by very few. I know he means to destroy us. Strange I seem, for I am partly Pellian now, with a little bit of Iscandarian. But the bulk of my blood, like that of Queen Pellas herself, is Terran and Human. By every breath I take, I shall stand at war with Ekogaru, along with my warriors on the Argo, which we have rechristened as the Yamato. “

Nova said, “I will not sit in a Palace or cower in a house while we must Fight. I will myself be in the vanguard of the battle, as I have always been. I will soon attend my father’s funeral at the Vatican, and mourn him. But soon, I will have other Business. I pray you recognize that, and realize that now, this Planet endures under My Protection.”

Artwork: Nova Revealed as High Queen © 2015 by Anonymous Reader. All Rights Reserved

“Until that time continues, I bid you good night.”

Nova closed her hands, and a crystal Sword appeared and floated to her hands. She saluted with it, nodded and Derek stood at her side.

“That did it,” she said softly to Derek as she kissed him and most of the others stood flabbergasted with the rest of the Planet.

Then, she and Derek vanished from their sight as the room went dark as Nova turned off the video lights and the feed and the broadcast thus ended. Nova knew in her heart an enraged Ekogaru was trying to cut off her broadcast, but he failed.

The word was now out.

Then, there was just silence.

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V. THE BLACKNESS TREMBLES

Deep Space, Near R’Khell’eva

The Grand Technomugar Fortress

Ekogaru’s Conservatory

June 19, 2231

1950 HOURS (Earthtime)

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Ekogaru the Great snarled as soon as he felt Nova’s challenge to His thrusts into the Cosmos.

He had been playing a melody of Doom on his Grand Organ; his favorite tune, the Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.

He slammed his newly regenerated hands down on his keyboard and roared like an animal as soon as he felt Nova’s Challenge.

“YOU WHORE! YOU BITCH!” he roared into the darkness around his Organ keyboard even as fear boiled up from him like a cold vapor.  “How dare you throw the gauntlet in my face?”

 “How dare you throw your declaration of war into our faces?” Nova’s voice demanded from nowhere as her image appeared behind the Dark Lord from the shadows, blurred, but hard for Him to behold because of the burning Star on her brow. “An attack demands a counterattack, Ekogaru. You have gone quite far enough. I demand that you cease this diseased aggression of yours, and at once!”

“I gave you no leave to be here, you BITCH!” yelled Ekogaru.

“Nonetheless, behold, here I am. My knowledge of your morbid lore increases daily as I study my scrolls and books and the secrets the Matrix reveals unto me,” Nova said. “You are becoming as transparent to me as a book.”

“You’re becoming like me, you little shit,” said Ekogaru.

Nova just smiled bitterly. “I love your diseased language, Ekogaru, which only shows me how mean and impoverished your mind really is. My fear of you is almost non-existent, now, since my Hope is in a Power FAR Above yours.”

“How would you like to see a prophecy of what I’m going to do to you, you slime bucket organic being?” Ekogaru hissed.

Then, he licked his twisted lips as he made Nova behold an image of him holding her corpse, which was nude, dead, and soaked with her own blood.

“Lovely, isn’t it?” Ekogaru hissed. “YOU…dead…in nothing but your own blood…mine at last to devour! This is a prophecy, Nova, my High Queen. And you are creeping right towards it with every move you make against me.”

 “If that is what you love, I tremble for your soul, Ekogaru,” Nova said.

“This is your destiny, Nova Wildstar. You cannot change it,” he said. “Step back. Wither into the shadows. Die already.”

“I will die when it is my time, and not a moment before,” Nova said. “Do you remember Queen Pellas’ resting place on New Pellias? Do you recall her temporary resting place? Namely, the empty mausoleum that lies near the forest not far from the High Queens’ summer palace, which was their first Palace, actually?”

“She lay there rotting, Nova. The worms came for her and ate at her face and fingers and toes,” he said. “She turned nice and green over fourteen days and nights.”

“The mausoleum was and is still there, but it was her temporary resting place because I know what happened to her,” Nova said.

“It is a LIE!” roared Ekogaru. “A LIE!” he said as he trembled and turned cold.

“It is no lie. The Matrix came to her, purified, and brought her back to life in the full time of the Most High,” Nova said. “Five other High Queens after her were likewise laid in that tomb and rose again with the Matrix to fight you before they finally died. I feel I will be the seventh one to lie in that tomb and rise, Ekogaru. And seven is the number of completion, O Dark Lord. The circle is about to close. I am Terran like Pellas was. Think!” Nova said as her image vanished.

Ekogaru shut his eyes and said to himself, “It shall never be. The old fire of the Matrix is Dead. She is its last little spark before I take it. I will crush her like an insect.”

Ekogaru began to play his music again.

That, and only that, soothed him as his mind filled with bitter memories and dark visions from the past…of all of his previous defeats.

Defeats that he knew he would soon bring to an end.

With Death.

Death was his dearest friend.

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TO BE CONTINUED….

For the sound of the Dreaded “Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor” …Please Listen Here on You Tube.