THE VROL TRILOGY (168 page)

"So it was you guys who did that! Bastard!"
screamed Max, as he punched Gadreel directly in the nose (while
amplifying his punch with a gravicantus).

"Max! Desist at once! Gadreel is our only
hope to stop this insanity before we lose any more lives!" Michael
yelled.

"I think it was hot," commented Jennie, going
up and slapping Max on the butt.

Gadreel tried to hide a glare of contempt, as
he wiped blood from his nose. "I understand Max's disbelief,
Jennie. It is difficult, but please know, I am only here to
help."

"Max, we must be kind to our new ally," said
Draagh, as he patted Gadreel on the back, his hand lingering for a
moment.

"Thank you, Uncle. I believe if we work
together, without further distrust, we shall be able to stop my
brother and his hideous hordes."

"Gadreel, I want to know how you made
supposedly normal, inactive vampires into sun-resistant full
bloodsuckers," said Bagatelle.

"It is not difficult for any of us, Mr… um,
what shall I call you? Everyone seems to have given you a different
name."

"Admiral. You can call me Admiral. If you
wish to be even more formal you may call me Admiral Bagatelle."

"Very well then, Admiral Bagatelle. We merely
modified the genome of a select, few inactive ghouls and let them
run amuck. They then infected some others and it became an
outbreak. But I must say, it was not I, nor was it my idea. When
this happened I was already committed to assisting you in the
salvation of the human race - enhanced subspecies and all."

"Okay, getting back to business - we need to
locate the bug ship - the big one. I'd also like to find that
bastard Johnson and rip his throat out," said Max.

"Max, we will be back on Azul, and the
Constitution requires us to provide Len Johnson with a fair trial,"
Bagatelle stated eloquently.

"Fine, we find him, give him a trial and hang
him in the Plaza de Armas. Done deal, right?" exclaimed Jennie.

"Um, baby, we don't have a death penalty,
remember?" said Max.

"Well that sucks!"

"I know, love, but we have to follow the
rules if we want to implement permanent change."

"What if he resists arrest?" she asked with a
hopeful tone.

"Hermanita, we'll see what happens. Let's
just find him first. Gadreel, can you give us intel on Johnson's
whereabouts?" asked Bagatelle.

The turncoat Primulus seemed to pause for a
moment, and then finally revealed, "Yes, he is on what you call the
Vrol Brood Carrier."

"Oh great! And we can't find that shitshack
insectoid barge," yelped Jennie.

"I know not what shitshack means, young one,
but I can tell you that it is formidable in its own right. It has
an extremely powerful defense shield, impenetrable from the
outside, and is nearly the size of a small moon," Gadreel informed
Jennie.

Bagatelle had walked off to the side of the
room, apparently in some sort of communication. He nodded his head
a couple of times and then returned to the rest of the group,
saying," Alicia just informed me that all Vrol have basically
disappeared from New Sydney. I checked and more bug forces are
attacking Buenos Aires from the outside."

"Admiral Bagatelle, may I know who this
Alicia might be?" asked Gadreel.

"Sure, she's my fiancé."

"As is your betrothed?"

"Yes, why?"

"Get her out of there - now! In fact, get
anyone you know and love out of that place. There is only one
reason the Vrol would leave a location."

"And what would that be, Gaddy?" asked
Max.

"The final attack is about to commence, and
New Sydney is the primary target."

Chapter 36 - Mass

Nobody saw it happening. One moment the sky
was clear, and the next there was an object the size of Sienna
hovering just outside the atmosphere over New Sydney, the federal
seat of Azul System. People stopped what they were doing and stared
into the sky, squinting, and trying to discern what occupied
basically all of their airspace. There was absolutely no way any
number of Draeders could have taken it out. It would have been like
a group of kindergarteners trying to kill a tank with
peashooters.

"Ali, come with us, now," ordered Luigi
Bagatelle, as he grabbed his future-wife's arm and started to drag
her to Gabriel's location a few feet away.

"G, what's up? We just heard that a massive
ship is in the sky, over the comm. All of the rebellion is here,
assisting in the fight."

"Luigi, we have no time. We must go," ordered
the archangel.

Bagatelle looked around and saw impending
death.

"Gabe, can you create a doorway to Vera?
Quickly? We can't let these people die."

"Die? What? What's happening?" Alicia
demanded.

Before she could say another word, Gabriel,
former enemy of all that Mankind stood for, created a massive
doorway, and yelled, "Everyone! Through this portal, now! Your
lives depend on it! Stay at your own peril!"

Nearly everyone in the large room immediately
ran through the glistening door, and found themselves in the
temporary safety of Vera, which was many hours away by normal
transport. Bagatelle, Alicia and Gabriel followed, with the
archangel closing the portal once they had safely passed through.
Gabriel then created an infoscreen, showing activity on Azul.

"Oh crap. Those are mass drivers," gasped
Alicia Vasquez, as she watched craters the size of small, rural
cities being created in the middle of what was the pinnacle of
Mankind - the glistening, beautiful city of New Sydney, Oz.
Buildings toppled, grav trains fell and structures turned to
dust.

Man learned long ago that mass drivers were
the most efficient way to destroy cities. It was a matter of taking
a sufficiently large object, say, a meteor three kilometers in
diameter, and simply pushing it towards a planet from out space.
Gravity takes over, and the objects strikes to ground at terminal
velocity. The devastation is unimaginable. A small meteor collided
with Earth and destroyed the dinosaurs millions of years prior, and
the Vrol had decided to create the extinction of Mankind on a much
larger scale. The collective mind reveled in its ability to change
the destiny of the Universe.

Gone were the Plaza de Armas and the Federal
Complex. New Sydney military base followed - all completely wiped
out, their only legacy being massive craters, many kilometers deep.
Millions of people had their lives snuffed out in seconds.

The Vrol had decided to forgo the attack of
virulent amoebas, as the Grigori informed them of the presence of
Draagh and other Prīmulī, who they assumed had activated health
particles in the planet's atmosphere..

###

"We need to get to Buenos Aires immediately
and help with the fight. Gadreel, this is where you can show your
true colors, if they aren't yellow," said Max.

Gadreel looked at him with a strange
expression, not being familiar with the concept that yellow was the
color of cowardice. "I shall assist, Max. It is all I can do at the
moment."

Draagh, Jennie, Max, Michael and Gadreel
gathered together, while the old mage slipped them to a safe
location in Buenos Aires, near the police headquarters. The Vrol
Ship was so large they could see it on the edge of the atmosphere,
Buenos Aires being many thousands of kilometers away from New
Sydney, and on an entirely different continent.

"Max, who's in charge of the Reagan right
now?" Bagatelle asked.

"Logan Stor. I thought he'd be a good
fit."

"Excellent choice. Let's get him on the
comm."

"
Captain Stor,
what is you location at this time
?" asked
Bagatelle.

"
Hello,
Admiral. We're in orbit around Vera. We just finished destroying
the last of the known Vrol ships left out in deep space, so we came
back to protect the moon
."

"
Stor, I'm
sure you heard the main Vrol ship is attacking Azul
?"
asked Max.

"
Yes, Captain
Gunnarsson. Would you like us to go
planet-side
?"

"
Absolutely!
Come in on the far side from the Vrol craft, and take care. It is
quite large
," Max answered.

"Everyone, prepare for side space. Activate
the hook," ordered Logan Stor, naval captain and now activated
lycan as well.

An ensign at the command control console
flipped a switch and a massive panel structure opened out,
revealing a large apparatus. Something that appeared to be a giant
spear, littered with electronics. It started to glow, and a rift
opened above, displaying a different part of the physical universe.
Within seconds the ADF Ronald Regan was off all scanners on its way
to Azul.

Max, Draagh, Jennie, Michael and Gadreel ran
into the Buenos Aires Police headquarters and went straight to the
chief's office. They found a distraught Jake Williams who was
holding his head in his hands.

"Chief! New Sydney has been attacked! We need
to evacuate this facility!" Max yelled, as he burst into the small
office.

"They're dead… my son and daughter-in-law are
dead," he moaned.

"Oh… shit," said Jennie.

"Why were they there, Chief?" asked Max.

"They wanted to help. They were hunting
vampires. We were on the comm, and they said they saw the Vrol ship
in the sky. Then… they just stopped communicating."

"That doesn't mean they're dead, Chief," Max
said hopefully.

"No, I can feel it. These comms enable us to
touch the person with whom we communicate. They are no longer."

"He is right, son," said Michael.

Max lowered his head and tried to hide his
remorse, but he had much bigger issues at hand. No one knew if the
Vrol Brood Carrier would move over to other landmasses on Azul.

"Chief, where are your grandchildren?" asked
Jennie.

"They are safe, on Krynos' land."

Max felt at least some relief, knowing Tommy
and Janie, Chief Williams' grandchildren, were his daughter's best
friends. At least she would be spared some grief. The twins,
however, were not to be given the same consideration.

"Chief Williams, we shall need to take you to
safety. Please contact all of your tribal members and have them
come to this location. Then we will take them to Krynos' castle,"
said Michael.

The old Haida chief shook his head. "No,
Michael. We shall stay and fight to the end. We are not cowards. My
children may have died, but at least my grandchildren are safe."
Pausing briefly, he looked over to Max, and said, "In case I do not
survive, would you do me the honor of caring for my
grandchildren?"

Max was thunderstruck. He had never before
witnessed such bravery. Jake Williams wasn't even from Azul. He was
from an alternate Earth, and had no reason to sacrifice his life
for anything aside from his own family. Gadreel was also astounded.
He looked at the Alaskan, wondering how someone could sacrifice so
much, even in the face of having lost his own child.

There is so much more to Mankind than I ever
thought.

"Of course, Chief. I'll take them back to
Córdoba and put them in the same school that Liliana will attend.
We'll make sure they get great college educations and have
productive careers and all that," Max responded.

Jennie went up and hugged the Haida chief,
whispering in his ear, "Don't worry. Besides, you'll be safe. We're
going to take those bugs out."

"Come, children! We must make haste and act
while the ship is present," bellowed Draagh.

"
Admiral,
we'll have the Vrol Brood Carrier in visual range in about ten
minutes
," Logan Stor informed over the
comm.

"
Good. Once
you see it, start annoying it with cannon
fire
."

"G, who's in charge of the Revolution?" asked
Jennie.

"Topper Stanton. That's why I felt Max's
choice was so appropriate."

"Yup, they're buddies, alright," answered
Max. "So, where's you ship at?"

"Guarding Luna and Sienna, if it actually
can. We have it parked in between their orbits, picking off Vrol
attack ships."

"
Stanton, I
need a status report
," Bagatelle said over the
comm.

"
Sir, we were
achieving a 100% success rate destroying enemy craft until that
damned main vessel came into orbit. Now we can't hit a single
one
."

"
Logical. The
Brood Carrier, as it's called, provides a form of shield. I'm sure
the ground troops are experiencing the same difficulties. Keep on
trying. Captain Stor is bringing the Reagan around to
assist
."

"
Sir, yes
sir
."

"Luigi, if you will allow me, I believe I can
shed some light on the situation," said Draagh, as he conjured an
infoscreen, showing the Brood Carrier, and both the Revolution and
the Reagan, which looked like gnats hovering around a city
block.

"There's no way we're going to do any damage
to that thing. Gaddy, it's time for you to help out," said Max.

"Max, Samyaza refuses to bring me to his side
at this time."

"Cool, then we're going to a ship. G? The
Revolution?"

Bagatelle nodded his head, and in a matter of
seconds the team was in a hallway outside the command bridge of
Bagatelle's beloved vessel. Following the admiral, everyone entered
onto the bridge, with a junior officer jumping up and bellowing,
"Attention on deck!"