After 3 years I finally continue this story
Wren stepped from the sonic shower feeling completely refreshed. “I hope that the offers are still coming in Trigon.” She spoke to her ship’s A.I.
“At present there have been no new offers.” Trigon replied.
Wren sighed as she sat to eat. Opening up her comp she nodded approvingly at the eight hundred thousand credits she had siphoned from the Grontec, Baroton’s account. Skipping to the next page she again nodded at the two million she had drawn from the Grontec government’s coffers.
“Master Wren?” Her A.I. interrupted her thoughts. “Agent X, has again sent a message. I believe she was angry that you haven’t answered her in due time.”
Wren let out a frustrated sigh. Damnit! She didn’t have the time to argue with her mother. Hell, the last time she had all but disappeared for a few years to train with the Death Bringers. Shit she thought the training had been very hard, hell finding Ceti-5 had been hard enough.
Ah Wren thought, the Death Bringers, they were as deadly to the cosmos as the legends of the ninjas of earth prime. Though she had been born on earth she had few memories.
Had the Earth have, had a little more time things would have turned far differently.
Wren Activated a special com. entering a very complex code. “Agent X, this is Agent 1. What the hell are you bothering me about mother?”
“Damnit girl!” Came the rather gruff female voice. “That’s no way to talk to your mother, let alone the galactic Empress!”
“Look mother, I am still gathering funds to aid us, that is unless you wish me to vanish again.” Wren spit out irritated.
“Vanish? Please I knew where you were almost the whole time. You think I wouldn’t keep tabs on you? Plus, Master Flugret owed me several favors.” Wren’s mother replied.
“How in the hell did you know? I covered my tracks better than any other time. How do you know Master Flugret?” A shocked Wren replied.
“What? You think you are the only royal that has learned the Death Bringer way? Please, I am a level three Master, you father was a level four the only human one ever. He made the both of us together seem like amateurs, though I heard you achieved level two faster than anyone. That and you were on the verge of three also.” Wren’s mother said.
Wren’s hands clenched into fists, damn nosey bitch Wren thought. Rapidly typing several commands, she smiled. “So, going back to the first of this what the hell do you want?”
“Your marriage is ready; I need you to return. We need a new heir; I can no longer produce children. This leaves it on you, now come in NOW!” Wren’s mother said forcefully.
“I told you before I will not be bossed around like this nor will I marry a pissant, piece of flotsam. Nor will I submit to said pissant to be bred like I am nothing!” Wren snapped.
“Don’t make me override your ship, it…” Wren’s mother started.
“HA! Like you ever could, I built Trigon with several thousands of override blocks. Plus, the fact that he has several brain cells of mine. So no, I foresee you NOT taking him over. Bye mother!” Wren sneered as she cut communication.
Almost immediately the ship accelerated into hyper space. A quick look showed she should be there in about three hours. Just enough time to limber up, not good to meet her Master stiff as a board.
Three hours later, Wren entered another complex code as she approached the Ceti system.
“Control, pupa one coming into the cocoon.” Wren said.
A moment later a harsh voice replied, “why should we not blow you out of existence?”
“I made a pledge and promise to my Master that I would return, that I would continue.” Wren said.
“Who is this supposed master, that allowed you to break with tradition?” The harsh voice snarled at her.
“Master Flugret was this unworthy worm’s Master.” Wren said.
There was a moment of silence, then a different voice came on. “Ah! My little Wren has returned. Follow the guide system, do not deviate, you know what will happen.”
“Yes, Master it is good to back.” Wren said her head lowered in respect.
Wren’s ship landed a few minutes later, a soul figure stood waiting at the space port. Bending on one knee Wren bowed to the old appearing humanoid. “Master” Wren said.
The older male seemed not to move as Wren dodged an apparent attack. “Ah! It is good to see that you have not been ignoring your art. We need to test you, to see if you have regressed in any of your training.”
With that the older male launched into a rapid fire of attacks that Wren, easily avoided. A minute later the male nodded then started to move far faster, Wren, still avoiding all the attacks.
The male again nodded as Wren concentrated. The male took one swing at Wren, when she felt something almost shift inside her. To her amazement she avoided the attack that her master had always hit her with.
A smile came to his lips as he nodded then started in with several far faster attacks. Almost all, Wren blocked, the last few she avoided actually getting a hand on her master.
“So, you took to heart all the things I told you when you left.” Turning Master Flugret looked behind him. “What say you all?”
“I see that she has passed through almost all of the third level. So, say we all, she is only the third human to achieve this. Also, she has done this in much less than half the time, than the other two.” The voice said.
“We should test her to the fourth level.” Came another voice.
Master Flugret nodded as he stepped toward Wren, seeming to vanish. Wren concentrated again then also seemed to vanish.
There was the sound of several harsh sounding blows, the Master and Wren appeared. Both were flowing backwards; both had a piece of cloth from the other.
Master Flugret look at the area above his heart seeing the piece of cloth that was missing. Wren was doing the exact same thing, then noticed that almost half her chest was exposed.
Both landed bowing to each other. “It is good, she has entered the fourth level. Master Flugret you should assist her.”
Master Flugret, was beside Wren immediately as her legs started to tremble then buckle. Catching her as she started to sink to the floor, the Master nodded.
“Master?” Wren asked as she was lowered to the floor of the space port.
“Ah little one. Have you forgotten that, new higher levels require more energy? You may have conquered the third level, though the fourth is something altogether different. I’m also afraid as hard as you pushed, you might be asleep a few days.” Flugret explained.
“Yes Master, I apologize for forgetting.” Wren’s eyes closed almost immediately, the darkness claiming her quickly.
It was almost two days later when Wren’s eyes opened. A quick look around her let her know she was not in her normal quarters. A moment later the door opened to reveal her Master and several other men.
“Ah! So, the Wren is awake. You may have noticed that you are in different quarters. They are yours; you are beginning the fourth level; they are to fit your new status.” A male older than her Master said.
Wren bowed low, “I will try to prove myself worthy.”
“Ha! You have done that; you just need to move on. I am afraid though, that your royal status can take president over training. As we have discussed before, it is the only thing that can.” Master Flugret said.
Wren sighed as she tried to rise slowly, almost making it to her feet. Erect a moment she suddenly, ungraciously, tumbled to the floor on her face. Well, she thought she was as she stopped, mere millimeters from the floor.
Wren sat back down seeing the smile on her Master’s face. “Patience little one you need to train to use your energy more sparingly. I am afraid that, we only have a week, then you mother has sent for you. I, do not like the idea she has stated about you marrying for duty. We are far more civilized than that.”
“Master? Mother has said that it is my duty, this is not a duty to me it is anything but. Master? I am afraid that I may execute this supposed groom. If I am as high as you said I am, am I not allowed to do this? Master, I am higher than a great many have ever been.” A frustrated Wren said.
“I will speak to the others of this. With you beginning training in the fourth level, it makes you eligible for full clan status. If you are granted this, then yes, it may be possible.” Master Flugret said.
It was a week later; Wren had pushed herself as hard and far as she could. She’d gained half way through level four.
Everything was going good ’til her mother showed up.
“Master Flugret, I am here to collect my daughter.” Wren’s mother said with a bow. “I wish to thank you for keeping her here ’til I arrived.”
“Empress Esmeralda, I am afraid that I cannot allow that.” The Master said.
“WHAT!? I though the clan had an agreement with the empire, well such as it is.” Esmeralda said.
“We do your highness; it is tradition for a full clan member to not be forced to leave.” Flugret said a slight smile on his lips.
“Oh my god! She has actually achieved level four? Huh, like father, like daughter. Master Flugret, please express to her that she is needed to strengthen our present position.” Esmeralda stated.
“I realize this your highness, though you have to realize that she is right now the most dangerous human alive. Also, she told me that if she had to suffer even a moment of her time with the pompous prick? I am repeating her words though I am unsure of them. That she would, in no uncertain terms, kill the twit. Again, she used words I do not know.” Flugret said.
Esmeralda sighed, her daughter was definitely serious about this, if she was threatening death. “Tell her that we need to talk, this heir she is to produce has to happen soon.”
“I will relay your message your highness.” Flugret replied. Leaning close Flugret whispered, “From all I have seen and heard from her, I do not believe that her answer will be a positive,”
Esmeralda nodded her head, so damn much like her father. Look where it had gotten him, lost in an unknown part of the galaxy. Almost three years now, she’d finally had no recourse to declare him deceased.
“I will be in contact Master Flugret. Somehow, I will have to convince her, if we wish to revive the empire then she’ll have to make sacrifices. God only knows that I have.” Esmeralda said.
Wren’s head appeared, not far from her master as soon as Esmeralda’s ship lifted off.
A scowl on her face, she then stuck her tongue out toward the rapidly, shrinking from view, ship of her mother’s. With a quick turn she started to retreat when her shoulder was held fast.
“Little one, you should remember that she is your family. The only family you have left as far as we know.” Flugret said.
“FAMILY!? Yeah right, an old earth saying I remember, applies well to this situation. With friends or in this case family like that? Who needs enemies.” Wren spit out.
“Ah yes! that one we are well aware of. I only ask that you consider the pressure that she is under. She may not have as much of an empire now; she still has a large part.” Wren’s master said.
“I know all of this Master, though I am not going to be tied to a little prick, I’d rather decapitate than look at.” Wren replied.
Both bowed to each other as they went to their respective duties.
It was only two days later that Wren was standing on the bridge of her ship.
“It is good to have you back on-board Master Wren.” Her A.I. said. “It is also good to see you again Master Flugret.”
“You will have to return soon; it takes much more practice than you have received. Call me on this frequency so that I may try to train you more. Do not stop practicing.” Flugret said.
In the storage area of the ship a loud pinging was heard. Wren ran to her control room, damnit, the skin droppings was almost free.
“Master I need you off the ship now, that is far more dangerous than any think it is.” Wren said.
Her Master took one look at the container that was slowly starting to crack. Nodding he was gone faster than Wren could blink. Sealing up the ship, Wren made for space as fast as possible.
Wren walked into the storage area then sat to wait. Less than an hour later there was a loud crack, then a hideous laugh.
“Hello Temprotron, thinking of escaping? Not going to happen!” A humming from the strange weapon in Wren’s hands had the oozing black liquid to pause a moment.
“NO! I refuse to return to the receptacle! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!” The liquid screamed as the weapon again pulled it into another vial.
“This is a far better made container, though I need to look into what the original was made of.” Wren mused.
“You are dead human female; we will never rest ’til you are no more! We…” The liquid said.
“God! Shut the hell up! You know better than to make empty threats. I know what and who you are Temprotron, I know far more than you think. Things such as this,” Wren said as she adjusted a dial on the weapon. A slight humming started, then the liquid started to scream as if it was being tortured.
“Turn it off! You win for…” It started then screamed louder as Wren twisted the dial more.
“I expect you to shut the hell up, don’t push me I have no qualms about using this on you.” Wren said.
Wren took a last look at the liquid in the vial, then twisted another dial. There was a loud sucking noise then all was quiet.
“Ah! So much better when you can’t talk.” Wren said happily as the liquid seemed to boil a moment then was still.
With a turn Wren headed back to the bridge. “So, I need an update on all the offers that we have received.”
“Yes, Master Wren. After the debacle on the Grontec home world, it seems that vial was becoming a very hot commodity.” The A.I. told her.
“So, I take it that the offers had started to increase exponentially?” Wren asked.
“It would appear so Master Wren. When you left, I put out the message about the two billion credit starting point. Most offers stopped a few days, then after news came out about the what happened on the Grontec world, they rapidly increased. The latest has grown to just over eleven billion credits.”
Wren smiled, that was more like it! “Who was the offer from?” Wren asked.
“A corporation that, I am still finding difficulty in ascertaining just who they are. As of yet, I have run into two thousand blocks, military strength. At least three thousand false and dummy companies. Though there has been, though only briefly, mention of a single name.” The A.I. said.
“Oh? What name and is there any indication that they are at the heart of all this?” Wren asked.
“From all I have seen yes, they appear to be, the name though is somewhat of a mystery. A Thomas Tygoron is the name that seems to come up repeatedly.” The A.I. replied.
A shocked look passed over Wren’s face, that quickly twisted into rage. A rage that she, to this day, was still unable to completely quash.
A small growl came out her mouth as she whispered, “follow up on all leads, find out who the fuck dares to use my dead brother’s name. Once you do, I will use every advantage, every weapon, I have to thoroughly destroy them!”
“I will do everything I can to the best of my ability Master Wren.” Her A.I. said to her retreating back.
Wren stepped into the small training area she had on the ship. Damnit, she thought. She had to get under control before she wrecked most of the ship.
“TRIGON!” Wren shouted, “I want training regime D-1, all safeties off!”
“Master Wren, I cannot as your servant allow you to…” The A.I. started.
In an almost animalistic growl Wren said between clenched teeth. “Trigon, Omega, Theta, Epsilon, Psi one, one, one, A-three enact!”
A very unhappy sounding Trigon paused a moment then said, “enacted Master Wren. Going to failsafe mode.”
“Whatever!” Wren growled as a shadowy robotic figure appeared, then seemed to vanish as did Wren. A moment later there was a loud ripping sound as the destroyed robotic figure appeared in a crumpled pile.
“Increase speed a factor of .5.” Wren said. The next figure disappeared faster only to appear a moment later, just as fast, as a pile of metal.
“Increase speed!” Wren yelled.
“Impossible, D-1 limits reached.” The A.I. replied.
“Begin regime D-2, same parameters!” Wren yelled.
Wren went at this for almost an hour before she started to feel the strain of her waning energy. The only problem was her seething anger had hardly abated. “Trigon, transfer all that was recorded to a data cube. I need to review all that I just did.”
“It has already been done; I anticipated your request.” Trigon said. “Do you wish to remove countermanding orders?”
“Yes, countermand revoke Omicron, Rho, Epsilon, Nu, two, two, two, A-one reset.” Wren breathed out.
Wren then sat to meditate, though it took a while for her to relax enough to actually slip into it. She was replaying over and over in her mind the last day of Earth Prime over ten years ago.
The cracking then shattering apart of the earth. She could still hear her brother, his screaming for them to go while he held their enemies at bay. A small smile came to her lips they had lost earth though, their enemies had paid a high price, a very high price indeed.
Six races had combined to attack the earth that day. Someone had estimated that the combined forces had numbered well over two trillion ships. Even caught as unaware as the earth forces had been, they had destroyed well more than half of those ships.
Of the six well, three now, the Pescules had been the first to pay. Her father and a great many ships eradicated them two years after the end of earth.
The Second race the Begules had become masters of hiding. It was three years later that they were finally destroyed. Again, it had been her father and a great many allies.
A little more than two and a half years ago, Wren had found the third race. The Eloagones, a seriously superior thinking race. Well, as they thought, superior to humans.
Wren’s father had arrived a few hours after Wren had bombarded the planet. She had used a highly toxic, dangerously radioactive chemical, that caused a slow painful death. The few that had escaped, Wren had blown out of the sky with no remorse.
Wren’s father had immediately sent her to Ceti-5 to train. To this day though, Wren wondered if it was for her to gain control or prepare her. Only her father knew why, that she might never know as he’d gone after the fourth race.
Wren remembered the day he left as he was sending her to Ceti-5, “our enemies are half gone. Remember we must defeat them totally, though quickly not like you did on the last world. It is my hope that Master Flugret can teach you this.
An alarm alerted her to the fact that they were approaching the edge of what was left of the earth galactic empire.
A quick scan showed that she had an hour to go past that, to get to the buyer. This was the second highest buyer. The highest, she had felt betrayal from, too much hidden for her liking.
She shook her head, she’d have thought that her reputation had preceded her. Well, the one who was supposed to be her master in this masquerade she used.
Well, she thought, we’ll see just how stupid they thought she was. Programming the ship, she went back to train more, she was still using too much energy.