THE VROL TRILOGY (142 page)

"So, you believe you are ready to attack the
world of your birth and retake your military?"

Draagh wasn't sure if Bagatelle's troops were
ready, but he could only be along for the ride. He loved humanity,
and it was his reason for taking corporeal form, so many eons
before. But he wanted them to survive. His sacrifices, his efforts,
and everything he had done for them had to lead to victory this
time.

"I am more than certain we're ready. Look, we
need to move immediately. Johnson's disappeared off the grid, and
for all we know, everything's gone to hell in a basket and he's in
hiding. The sooner we get control of the military the sooner we can
restore Constitutional rule in the system and move forward."

"Admiral, I agree with you. Yes, I do agree.
So, that being said, how may I assist in your efforts?"

"Draagh, you said you can make massive slip
portals for the troops?"

"Mm, yes, I believe I did say that."

"So, I need four slip locations. Santiago, on
Luna, New Sydney, Buenos Aires and Portlandia."

"Why those four cities, my good
Bagatelle?"

"I can answer that easily," stated
Jennie. "Santiago is the capital of Luna and the moon's most
populated city. New Sydney is the Azul Federal seat, and is located
on Oz. Buenos Aires, in Nueva Argentina, is the largest
metropolitan area, and Portlandia is a huge seaport in the American
continent-
and
full of the
biggest pussies in the entire system! All they care about are
indigenous life forms and making life as freaking difficult for
themselves as possible, all in the name of some god-forsaken
invisible… goddess … or something."

"Oh yeah. Their belief in the deity called
Gaea," snickered Max.

Draagh's eyes grew wide, but he recouped,
grinned and shook his head.

"Um, so… is there… a… Gaea?' asked
Jennie.

"No, and I would certainly have met such a
being before. I can tell you that much, my young granddaughter,"
snorted the ancient mage, as he loaded his pipe, while trying to
hide an awkward expression.

"They even tried to secede from America about
one hundred years ago," said Max.

"Gawd, that's right. Didn't they get partial
autonomy until they bankrupted themselves?" asked Jennie.

"Yeah. No one wanted to work," added
Bagatelle.

"So. No holds barred in Portlandia?" asked
Jennie, hoping for some fun.

"We'll send the Samurais there," said
Bagatelle. "They seem to have no compunctions about eliminating
their enemies."

"Oh man, you know, the Portlandiers… erm, the
Portlanders, or whatever you call them - they're really kinda
harmless. Why don't we send the Haidas? They won't wantonly
slaughter the idiots, but will definitely kill the bad ones," said
Max, knowing the target group was mostly lame.

"I can go with that. We could use the
Samurais on high-value targets. Ever seen them sneak around?" asked
Bagatelle.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Max, now with much more
enthusiasm in his voice.

"Oooh, baby! You're so… ready to go!"

Max grabbed Jennie and pulled her in close,
laying a deep kiss on her luscious, plump lips, and immediately
causing Bagatelle to complain.

"You two! Get a room! That's an… order… damn,
he's fast."

"Yes, my dear boy, he is. In some ways, that
is. In others, well, I would have to disagree."

"Draagh, that's too much information,"
replied Bagatelle, while rolling his eyes.

Max and Jennie simply disappeared from sight.
But it was the end of the day anyway, and Liliana was having a
sleepover in the Haida housing with her friends. Bagatelle went to
the castle's commissary with Draagh to eat dinner, now that
everyone had a basic idea of his plan.

"Ok, so I need to personally meet with all of
my captains tomorrow. I would have Max take me, but he's too
recognizable. Could I have either Gabriel or Michael be my
driver?"

Draagh laughed at Bagatelle's use of a
colloquialism in reference to something much more complex - and
ancient in comparison.

"Yes, my son. I believe that either would be
more than willing to escort you to your destinations."

"Excellent. Once I've eaten I have to finish
my mission dossiers for distribution. I can take the King's office
portal to Vera and use the computers in the base. The two kids Max
and Jennie rescued have been extremely helpful with computer ops,
programming and database management."

"Oh, do you mean Josh and Becky? Yes, they
are good children. In fact, they are going through the same trials
that plague Max and Jennie at this time," responded the ancient
mage, a sparkle of candlelight twinkling from one of his clear,
blue eyes.

"Um, plague them? What are you talking about?
Jennie's not sick is she? I mean… Max too. Are they alright?"

Draagh waved a servant over with some food,
and then looked down at his large plate of elk and roasted
potatoes. Stabbing his fork into the shank, but hesitating slightly
he looked over at the young admiral.

"Luigi, have you not noticed how Max and
Jennie are frequently disappearing to be together?"

"Yes! And it borders on the annoying. I mean,
I know they were apart for six months, but sometimes it's almost
unbearable."

"It is genetic, my son."

"Huh?"

"I cannot recall the name they have for it
here, but it is a seasonal breeding instinct that affects all
lycans."

"They're trying to have a baby?" Bagatelle
was shocked. Not mortified, but startled. "Jennie can't have a kid
now. We have a lot of battles coming up and…"

"Now, now my boy, worry not. Jennie is, at
this time, quite infertile, as is her friend, young Becky. In fact,
I have made sure that all female lycans critical to this effort
will pass the season without being impregnated. However, that does
not prevent them from having fun, and speaking of fun, when was the
last time Alicia visited you?"

Bagatelle gave Draagh an odd stare, not
knowing how to respond. He took a bite of steaming elk and chomped
voraciously before responding.

"Two weeks. Why?"

"You are also affected, and it would calm
your frayed nerves immensely if you were to spend the evening with
your mate."

"Now I don't see where that's any of your
business!"

"Luigi! Do not be a… prude! It is a perfectly
natural part of the lycan lifecycle. Now, if you would like, I
believe we can provide adequate cover for Alicia so that she may
spend the night with you. Please, accept my offer. I would hate to
see all of your hard work go to waste over some sexual tension.
Once you have accomplished this mission I believe you will be in
command of your system's military again, and will not have to sneak
around to be with your beloved."

Bagatelle looked down, almost sheepishly and
cut a potato.

"Okay. Yes, please. I've actually been going
nuts lately."

###

"Are you confident in your plan, hun?"

Alicia Vasquez was relaxing comfortably next
to Luigi Bagatelle in his massive four-poster bed, smoking a
cigarette. She usually enjoyed a smoke after making love, and even
though Bagatelle wasn't a smoker he not only tolerated her
occasional vice, he also enjoyed the scent of Sienna tobacco. It
wasn't as acrid as the varietals brought from Earth centuries
before. Genetic modifications had made a nearly harmless smoke with
a pleasant odor. Bagatelle looked at his fiancé and nodded, but
maintained a grim look on his face.

"We should be fine. I'll tell you, without
the assistance of the Rhönen, Haidas and the Samurai this would
probably be the most blood ever spilt since we colonized Azul."

He was referring to the difficult times when
Mankind had first reached Azul. Despite previously made agreements,
there were many with different ideas and plans, and some genetic
vampires were guilty of creating a great deal of distrust in the
Exodus leadership. Sporadic fighting occurred, and roughly 15% of
the emigrants lost their lives in senseless battles. It took five
years before the new Constitution was officially ratified and all
violence came to a halt. Still, Bagatelle worried. He loved his
worlds and his people, and wanted the reacquisition of Azul
Military and Government to be as bloodless as possible.

Chapter 17 - Portals

The slip cavern was an awesome sight, and if
it had been created by mere mortals it would have easily been
considered one of the modern marvels of Azul System. A polished,
flat floor and a ceiling of over 300 meters in height, it had a
diameter of one kilometer - enough space to assemble many military
regiments. Draagh, Michael and Gabriel had worked to make unusually
large slip portals for their troops to pour through - surprise
would be the element, and would be necessary as the majority of
invading forces would be foreign to Azul and would most probably be
considered hostile, despite the fact that they were there to
liberate the population, not to enslave them.

Draagh surveyed his and his sons' works -
four gleaming slip portals, each ten meters wide by four meters
high. They were this large to facilitate some of the vehicular
equipment to be utilized by allied Azul military ground forces. The
Navy was behind their efforts, and remained in stand-by mode,
waiting for Admiral Bagatelle's command. Overall, he could count on
ground and air superiority and encounter only minimal resistance.
He desired no resistance at all, as that would equate to no losses
on either side, but this was to be a revolution, not a coup. They
were to reinstall constitutional rule of law, not engage in a
military takeover. He was prepared, however, to temporarily take
command of Azul system if the politcos didn't cooperate, but
politicians were generally a cowardly bunch and would acquiesce if
the barrel of a gun were pointed at their heads.

The portals were a beautiful sight. They
provided a one-way view into their target locations, so anyone in
the massive chamber could actually see people milling about on the
massive naval base in New Sydney. All four portals went to military
installations. Bagatelle demanded this against the advice of
others. He felt they would give Azul military the chance to join
with the resistance, hopefully avoiding massive bloodshed. On a
suggestion from Max, they were going to created massive vid
displays in their target locations through which Bagatelle would
address Azul military. Immediately following his address his troops
would pour into their targets and begin occupation. Each of the
portals would be used first in New Sydney, enabling troops to enter
and surround any potential opposition, and then once those forces
had gone through the portals would have their addresses changed to
Buenos Aires, following a similar pattern. Santiago and Portlandia
would follow immediately afterwards.

As troops gathered, Max, Jennie and Bagatelle
coordinated weapons distribution, with every troop being assigned a
stinger pistol, as well as a katana and a tornado rifle. Tornados
were not accurate sniper rifles, but more like riot control
scatterguns. If all went well, not one should have even had to draw
their sword, but in the game of war no one is ever sure.

"Admiral, have you prepared your address for
the vid displays?" asked Max, speaking to his commanding officer in
formal fashion, as they were in the midst of arriving troops.

"Yes, Captain. In fact, Draagh suggested I
record it instead of speaking live. Would you care to opine?"

"I believe that's a great idea. That way if
the base in New Sydney starts to mobilize against your wishes you
won't have to cut your speech short - just go through the portal
while you are still on the displays. It's crucial that they are at
least informed, and it may be the one thing that keeps them from
fighting against us."

"Very well. I'll go record my speech. Oh, and
Max? It was a great idea, you making Azul military uniforms for
everyone. Once we have assumed control and things settle down we
can introduce our foreign allies."

Max nodded at his brother-in-law and moved
off to the side with his beautiful wife, who was looking
particularly fantastic in her khaki field uniform with triple
commander stripes on her shoulders.

"I'm kinda nervous, Max," admitted
Jennie.

"Why so, love? This is all going to work out.
I really believe we have all the bases covered."

"Well, having G address the bases
before we attack is kinda going against all protocols, but
we
are
attempting a bloodless
revolution. Besides, anyone stupid enough to engage in a live-fire
attack against 500 huge lycans deserves to die."

Max grinned and nodded, agreeing with his
wife. As the looked around at the milling crowd of lycan soldiers,
they saw Draagh and Bagatelle leave the chamber, assuming the two
were going to record the Admiral's video. They had to start
gathering their own troops soon enough, even though they were to be
the last group to exit the chamber. Their target, Portlandia, was
assumed to be the location of least resistance, but they couldn't
be sure. They could only follow orders and do their best.

"
Pops, G, are
you guys ready to go?"
Max asked via the officers'
comm.

"
We are done
and Luigi shall greet you momentarily, my
son.
"

"
On my way,
Max. Do the troops look ready to go?
"

"
Yea, they're
fidgeting a bit - best get going while they're
ready.
"

"
Brother, are
you sure you don't want us with your team?
" asked
Jennie.