top down 2d combat....out the window with that..lol HEY DEVS.. make me a game, I'll give you the specs here:
1) immersive 3d, the very best
2) first person all the way, make me feel I'm really there
3)good pve action make it seem hard to get ahead
4) make pvp unnecessary, make enough enemys of varying toughness for every taste
5)ship, lots of ships, to be bought traded or captured
6) planetary action as well,give me the choice to fight in space, or land and take a day off sitting around the lake drinking beer
7)character to character immersion as well, no drop down boxes, make things voice controlled and activated, let the characters talk to you instead (by voice controlled I do not mean ships, just actions with people)
8)rep based interaction, make rep important enough that those if experience and a good rep get things that are higher up the technology level those that dont EARN things dont get them no shortcuts
9) open sandbox after the storyline, if the universe is still there that is
10)politics in game, rules against monopolies of trade, max numbers of stations allowed in an area, payoffs to politicians that sometimes backfires and costs you for illegal bribes..etc make it a world where the game needs a warning saying :"This is not reality, go eat something and get some sleep" Maybe have a nice little captains cabin where my character automatically goes and lays down after hours and hours of play, until I leave the game and come back, after getting something to eat or a good nights sleep..lol THAT'S a serious game world.:lol:

Chapter 45: Realization

Phillip saw the broadcasts too, and he shook his head sadly. Maria was a great talker, and when she got started very few people wouldn’t agree with her, that was her strength. But Franco was a fool, and he wanted nothing but for things to remain as they were, even if that meant people died that didn’t need to. Phil thought that was the worst kind of cowardice, refusing to help those that need it, just to protect your personal position. He didn’t ask him to step down or give up one smidgen of power, just to help his people, and even that was refused and Phil decided that there was nothing that he could do about it now, and he went back to putting the finishing touches on the new school dorms and then the crews started on the new classrooms as well. With a little luck, the new school would be up and running for the new school year and that was the message that was sent, and everyone everywhere rejoiced that they would see new friends and old and get back to the training that they had to give up so soon.

Phillip had roughly half the world following him now, many countries that joined together under his new 'Franklin Alliance' and others that joined just for the benefits of the Goddess. When he spoke, people listened and many good things happened.

Once, a small country was having troubles, there was a drought and the lakes in the mountains above them were too low to let the water pass. Phillip took his machine and in a day, opened new channels and water started flowing again, and he made the construction crews add controls to the flow so that when hard rains came, there wouldn’t be any flooding, and new dams were built to control the flow better. His name meant good things everywhere and his reputation grew, but still many countries didn’t trust him and there was a growing tension between them.

Phillip took some time and called Rita and talked to her about the problem himself.

“Well you know, he's not totally wrong,” she said clearly as Phil looked shocked.”Your trying to change hundreds of years of respect and Royalty in a few years, and that really cant be done easily. There will be another war, bigger than the first, if you don’t give them some room to maneuver.”

“That’s why I called you, isn’t there anything you can do? After all aren’t you the Goddess here?” he asked giving her a funny almost comical look that she clearly didn’t approve.

“What would you have me say?” she asked as he just shrugged his shoulders and she laughed. “I think I can do something but you'll have to give a little to.” she said and he said he would, whatever was needed and she went away and he went back to work. He had no idea what she would do, but it would stop another war, and that’s all he cared about now.

The High Priest of the Church was in Amur,during their annual celebration when the alter lit up brightly, and he and his followers fell to the floor in respect. The door opened and the Goddess herself walked out to their amazement and she asked where their leader was, and they said he was in the castle, working on some serious plans and had skipped the ceremony.

“He never will again,” she said and walked back through and it disappeared as they looked shocked around the room at all the other priests and it took them a while to even understand what happened and a message was sent to the castle to let the General know they had been visited. But the message wasn’t necessary, as he sat there making plans to overthrow Phillip, a strong wind forced itself into his office even with all the doors shut, and as he screamed for security, they didn’t come but a blue light did, getting brighter and brighter and he grabbed his sidearm and waited until the Goddess herself appeared and he tried not to look as frightened as he was.

“You were not at the yearly ceremony,” she said walking towards him and he got off two shots that seemed to bounce off her like water off a ducks back. “I know that your not terribly religious, but it was the only time the High Priest comes to Amur for the ceremony, I'd expect at least you'd be there for that.”

“I was busy, there are important....” he started as she laughed out loud at him and he laid his revolver down on the desk, defeated by someone he didn’t believe even existed.

“yes, yes, getting ready to force my chosen one out of his position as world leader, did you think I'd not see something as simple as that?” she asked as he looked scared now not knowing what she'd do next.

“He's too young for your taste isn’t he?” she asked and after a minute Franco agreed.

“It takes time to be a good member of Royalty, he flaunts his power but has no grace or respect for his elders.” he claimed as she shook her head in agreement.

“Even you, at your age hold onto the title of General instead of King, why is that?” she asked.

“I've always been a military man, the title of King doesn’t suit me.” he admitted as she laughed some more.

“But you've done the job for 20 years, without the title, don’t you think you've earned it by now?” she asked as he looked shocked, she seemed to understand him somehow. “My chosen is indeed young, but that was needed for him to accomplish all the things he must. He is a bit brash, and he hasn’t had time to learn the grace and celebrity that comes with Royalty yet, but he will. The world is changing, as I have asked , and he is the one change. He will bring new ideas that this stagnant world needs, and YOU will remind him what Royalty really is. He needs to learn that Pomp and circumstance has its place, and that dressing properly and being seen as Royalty is as important as being one. You understand the old ways, the ways of Royalty, while he the future, together you'll make a new world, his side, the high tech future, yours the respect and ceremony that Royalty must know and agree to. Between you, this world will be reborn and it will be a better place. Act as his mentor, in these things, that he needs to learn to be a proper King, and he will teach you how to better serve your people, and that will be the way it should have been to start with.”

With that she turned to go and he fell to his knees in her honor.

“Be a good example of what Royalty is, be kind, gentle but firm and strong, and when he sees it, he'll learn, you'll see, and King Franco, next year....be at the ceremony.” she said with a snicker and she was gone and his room settled back down and all the papers and small machines on his desk were laying everywhere on the floor, and he wondered why she even left him live, but he learned his lesson, and he made the announcement that day. His family was now Royalty here, something they had been accepted as for years, but there was a ceremony and a celebration, and he offered King Phillip a chance to visit his kingdom, and learn what a true King has to know about ceremony, and Phillip, in shock, sent him a message accepting and the date was set.

Chapter 46: Merging

The day came and they walked off the Franklin to a playing band and all the pomp and ceremony that Royalty deserved. King Franco was there with his wives, all dressed to the teeth and as they approached each other he shook Phillips hand and then each of his wives as he commented on their attire.

“Exquisite,charming,well done,beautiful...” he went on as they each thanked him and then he turned back to Phillip and looked sad at his usual black suit with the crest of the Church on the pocket, his work attire for the last two years.

“But you, I expected as much,” he said with a snap of his fingers and a few servants ran forth and right there, Phillip was changed from Phillip the Inquisitor, to King Phillip, with the add of a beautiful flowing cape that matched his cloths, with the symbol of the church on the back, and a beautiful gold necklace, wide,and heavy looking with the same icon on it also, in pure gold. Then  he stepped back and looked and at least seemed partly happy with it. “A gift from my country, a King where once only an Inquisitor stood.” he said bowing to the ladies who cheered and applauded while Phillip tried to get in a few words himself.

“This is just...” He started as Maria stepped forward and clamped her hand on his mouth.

“Perfect, thank you King Franco, we've been trying to make him dress better for months now.” She said as Phillip stopped fighting but had this terribly serious look on his face.

“Think nothing of it, it's the job of the elders to teach the young the proper ways of doing things.” he added as he took his first wife’s arm and they started towards the waiting vehicles to take them back to the castle.

“I have to wear this?” Phillip asked as they walked along and Maria reminded him he was a King now, not some school boy, and he looked sad and upset, and Cara elbowed him in the ribs and reminded him he was on camera and he started smiling and waving and later officially thanked King Franco for the expensive gifts, but it was clear that he wasn’t too happy being dressed this way and Franco took him to the side while the women talked and reminded him that a King was always in the spotlight, and that people expect certain things from their leaders. If you don’t look successful, how can they think you can make them that way? And after a little while, Phillip started to see what he meant and he tried getting used to the new cloths and that awfully clunky looking chain he was now wearing.

But some distance away the High Priest of the Church was having spasms. This new look was wonderful, he loved it, his King was now real Royalty, and he kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner. He could also see that King Franco was very traditional about these things and Phillip had never been and he ordered another cape made exactly like that one, and a long, flowing overcoat that matched, so that even in cold weather the Inquisitor would make a good impression., and Phillips whole wardrobe started changing even before he got home.

During the dinner that followed, Phillip tried his best to make a good impression and the girls all saw that he truly was giving it his all, as they smiled and helped him when they could. Franco was an old school King, believing that Royalty needed to be seen and heard and that every word must be very carefully thought out. That alone was driving Phillip crazy, because he often said things before thinking and had gotten into trouble for it before.

Maria took this opportunity to hand the Queen a small box and told her it was the new medicine that she knew her people needed, and she took it and handed it to an attendant that rushed away with it as if it were solid gold.

“My husband has been a bit of a pain,” she admitted as Maria just smiled and said nothing,” but we appreciate this offering. Our country had been plagued with this decease for decades and with your help many can be saved, we as a people thank you.” She said with all honesty as Maria shook her hand and said they were glad to do it.

“Our countries need to learn from each other,” Maria said as the woman nodded agreement,” and if King Franco can get Phillip out of those work cloths, we all will be eternally grateful.” she said as they both got a good chuckle that even got the mens attention from the other end of the table.

“It appears our wives are getting along,” Franco said as Phillip just smiled and nodded.

“Its a good sign for all of us,” He said and made a proper toast as Franco looked very appreciative that he was at least trying. “To Peace, and a better world.”

“To peace,” Franco returned and they went on like this all night and every wife there wondered when they'd run out of Royal Steam and Phillip would drop back to his old self, but he held it in, and they finally called the cerebration over and shook hands as they stood before the Franklin at the docks.

“Are you sure you cant stay a while, I have much more to teach you yet young King,” Franco went on as Phillip said he had much more to do, there was a lot of work back home and finally Franco agreed and they waved as the Franklin pulled up the walkway and they turned and started towards home, and Phillip didn’t wait a second taking off that chain, and cape as everyone gave him stern looks and he totally refused to wear that while sitting the bridge and they all got a good laugh.

Chapter 47: Changes

“He seemed to try rather hard at least,” Franco's wife,Emily said as they rode back to their castle and he agreed, all smiles.

“He's not as arrogant as I first thought, he may yet learn to be a proper king.” he said as she smiled. It was like having a son, something they never managed to do and she saw him chomping at the bit to teach him all the new things he thought he needed.

“Give him time he's a bit busy right now,” she added as he laughed out loud, his harem would keep any man busy, and that didn’t count getting his country repaired after the war, and his people also said he was personally overseeing the rebuild of the University so that everyone  could get back to school, he very definitely was a busy young man.

“With so many fine young women, he'll be having children right and left soon enough.” she said as she smiled wide, she knew something that he didn’t and that was good enough for her ego for the day.

“Oh, no doubt,” he added as they both smiled and sat in silence for the rest of the ride back.

The Franklin docked back at Glade a day later and the girls made him wear the new cloths that the church had made for him. He now looked the part of a prosperous young King and King John who knew him better than that tried hard to not laugh out loud as he walked down the walk wearing his new cloths and making a real spectacle of himself.

“Help me,” he whispered as he walked by King John who could stand it no longer and began to laugh loudly to the amusement of the news crews that hadn’t heard the comment.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” John said loudly,” our new King, finally taking his looks seriously.” he added as the crowd cheered and applauded and Phil gave him a look that made even him think twice about making jokes in public. He didn’t want to look like a King he was just Phillip Hanson, and that’s the way he liked it, but not anymore, and he soon saw that he’d have to get used to it for the countries sake.

“Long live the King,” rang out from the crowd and it went on and on as Phillip and the girls all waved and some threw kisses to the watching throng. They went to the waiting vehicle and soon was back at the castle where Phillip immediately changed back into his normal cloths.

“So, that was the reason for the sudden visit,” John said as Phillip nodded looking sad.

“King Franco thinks that I need proper training in how to look the part of a King, I believe that a King is what he does not how he looks.” Phillip said as John just laughed right along.

“It's actually a little of both, no matter how good you look in public, if you aren’t getting the job done, then the people wont stand for it.” He added as Phil agreed that he understood that part.

“You do fine, don’t worry the people of your country see you as a miracle worker, and they love you, so now, just try looking the part.” John added as Phillip rolled his eyes and got another cup of coffee while they waited on the girls to come down from upstairs.

But upstairs things were going on a little differently as usual as they all gathered around Cara and demanded that she tell him right away.

“I've been waiting on the right time,” she said embarrassed as they gave her hugs and smiled like they'd all burst.

“Your father will be so happy and so will Phil, you wait and see, there’s nothing to be scared about.” Maria assured her as she finally greed that dinner would be a good time and they all cheered for her. They walked back down and joined the conversation while they waited and when dinner was ready they went to gather around the massive table and have their evening meal, but this was not a normal meal and even before the main course, the room was deadly silent while everyone stared seriously at Cara and she finally saw that they weren’t going to leave it go.

“I have an announcement to make,” she said as her face went beet red and her father looked up to see what was going on,” I'm having Phillip's baby.” she said as quickly as she could get it out and while John cheered and hooted, Phillip dropped his fork and looked around in total surprise.

“How long?” he asked slowly as she explained that she was 6 weeks along according the doctor and Phil sat thinking hard for a minute while the girls wondered what he was doing.”six weeks...oh THAT night...” he said as Cara's face went redder still.

“I would have been amazed if you didn’t get pregnant after such a...” he started as everyone cleared their throat at once and he saw he was being crude again but he got up, walked to her side and got down on one knee and kissed her gently.

“You'll be a wonderful mother, just as you are a great Queen.” he said and that made her look a hundred times better as she hugged him and cried as they all looked on with huge smiles.

“The First Wife and the First Child, as it should be.” King John said as the room cheered but there were a few looks around the room while the other girls looked back and forth, wondering which one of them would be next.

“And as his No 2, my turn should be next.” Casi declared as a few evil stares went flying and she pretended not to see.

“Wait, then that would mean I have to wait to be no 7?” Catherine asked almost not out loud at all and everyone smiled and a few got a small chuckle.

“Ladies,please this is a happy occasion, it'll happen when it happens, believe me, the order we were married means nothing here.” Phillip said as even Cathy got a bigger smile and everyone seemed surprised that they all seemed to be thinking about children too, but Cara had beat them to it, and since she undoubtedly loved him enormously,they were glad for her. But there was some serious thinking going on, and Phil could see his next couple weeks were going to be busier than he had planned.

“To Family,” King John toasted as they all joined him and the dinner became a celebration as Cara cried thinking she had worried so much about it.

Chapter 48: The Royal Family Grows

Cara became the center of attention for the next few weeks. Phillip would run out get his work done and run back asking constantly if she was alright, to her wonderful amusement. He was a doting husband now, and they all saw that he would be the same with his children.

“I believe that a military academy would be the best thing for the boys,” King John said as a few thought seriously about it even now before any boys were even born. “It provides excellent training and they learn discipline, something always needed.”

“Lets not rush things,” Cara said as they all laughed and she joined in. Now Phillip was front and center, even running for drinks and massaging her shoulders when she said they hurt, but they had a reason to hurt as he mentioned silently in her ear. Her bosoms were out of control and she informed him that feeding a baby took a lot of time and effort and Phil just smiled wider as she gained weight and got bigger and bigger.

Finally the pains started coming and a doctor was called and moved right into the room across the hall so he’d be there when she was ready, they set it up as a delivery room with all the necessary equipment and three weeks later, Cara delivered a beautiful baby girl and both Phillip and her  father were in joyous revelry over the amazingly easy birth.

“Your wife is just fine, she'll be up walking around before the day is out.” The doctor said as they started gathering their things,” She's a lucky woman, it was a very easy delivery, and she seems able to have many more.”

“We wont test that anytime soon,” Phillip said as the room laughed and he shook the doctors hand and the word went out, Queen Cara had delivered, and pictures and videos of her with the new baby went out on all the news channels and everyone from their friends in other countries to the High Priest was happy, there seemed to be some thoughts about wither Phillip was capable of such things here, and that would have been embarrassing, but that was now settled and they all cheered for him and his first child.

The new baby, officially named Karen, was on the news every time she was in public, and Cara made it clear that even as a Princess, she would have privacy, and the news started backing off when she went off on them a few times. By now the contest to see who would have the next child was in full swing, and Phillip, as strong as he was, seemed scared to go to the bathroom alone.

“It cant be that bad,” King John said as Phillip looked everywhere at once and tried to hide behind the big chair he was sitting in.

“You have no idea, its like they all went suddenly mad.” Phil said softly as John laughed out loud.

“A new baby will do that, they all feel they have all the time in the world then suddenly someone beats them to it and they feel they have to catch up.” he added as Phillip rolled his eyes. He had enough to do without all this and he felt that just getting a few minutes to himself was getting harder and harder.

“They’re wonderful beautiful girls...” Phillip said softly as John agreed, “ but right now,it's like Cara built a bunch of monsters.”

“If Cara built monsters,” John mentioned all smiles,” I feel they'd guard you and you'd have no one else.” He said as Phillip smiled widely, she did make him a happy man, and sometimes he wished they really were all alone as a couple, but then there were other times when he was even more happy, and he just shrugged it off.

“The work of a King is never done.” Phillip said as John laughed again and agreed and Maria walked in, bowed and asked if she could have some time to talk about some serious negotiations that she was going through, and John smiled and Phillip got up and went with her, to 'negotiate' somewhere about 'something serious' and he thought that he'd be very happy when this sudden rush was over and things got back to normal.

As it turned out she really was asking for his help with negotiations as she clearly saw his surprise.

“What did you think I wanted?” she asked as his face got red and she looked shocked, “I'd never drag you away from King John for something so personal, to think you'd consider that...” she went into a shocked look bordering on spasm, and Phillip apologized to her for the misunderstanding.

“I'm not Cassiopeia, I don’t drag men screaming into my bedroom,” Maria said as Phil saw she was pretty angry with him now.

“I'm sorry, I should have known better, forgive me but I've been under a little strain lately.” Phil said as she finally started to chuckle and she agreed that while she was in no hurry, a few of the others were trying pretty hard.

“Cassiopeia drags men into her room,screaming?” Phil asked almost not wanting to know as Maria laughed loudly.

“Hasn’t she?” she asked as Phil admitted that she did drag him along at least once but he refused to say he was screaming for help. “But no one else, don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worried, I trust you all implicately.” Phil added giving her a soft kiss as she gave it right back, in spades, and he thought maybe she wasn’t waiting as long as she had said before. Things got a little more complicated for a little while, considering this was a conference room, and that made Phillip both excited and surprised. He knew Maria as a shy, very serious young woman with great political knowledge, but here ,she was a completely different person, even more so than in her room, and that little bit of knowledge surprised him more than he left on, Maria it seemed had her own little fetishes.

A couple of the other girls walked in as King  John was doing his work and he looked up and smiled.

“Have you seen Phillip anywhere? “ Cybil asked as he said that Maria took him into conference room 3, and with that Kate nearly ran that way, but Cybil stopped her cold as the King tried hard not to notice.

“She doesn’t bother you in the hot tub with Phillip, give her some time alone.” Cybil said softly as even King John saw that something was going on.

“But, you know what she says about the conference room, its like a crazy dream of hers,” Kate whispered as even Cybil's face grew red, everyone had a little dream of some kind, and she was no exception.

“Still, it's a courtesy, let it go.” she said and even she thought about checking just to see if Maria could be as crazy as her dreams, but she wanted a little private time someday as well so it seemed only fair. “We'll hear about it later I'm sure.”

With that, they went back to their work as King John sat back smiling to himself. It had been many years since he had his children, and these times were forever written into his memory, he just hoped that Phillip enjoyed them as much as he did, and with this group, he couldn’t see how he could fail. As he sat back getting a good laugh and wondering to himself what really was going on in conference room 3.

Chapter 49: Reopening the Future

The University reopened a few weeks later with all the fanfare that would be expected. Engineering crews from 4 countries worked around the clock to get it done, under the watchful eyes of the Church, but now it was ready... better than ever before, and more than capable of defending itself again if need be.

The dorm rooms were bigger and more luxurious than before so even regular students had something to brag about. And they were ready as well. Many had their belongings with them ready to move back in, and the teachers had classes set up so they could jump back in as soon as enough students were available.

Phillip and the High Priest were there of course as well as his family. Cara wrapped the baby well to keep it warm even though it was a nice spring day and many,many pictures were taken of them and Phillip together. The school was abuzz with the news that Phil had started a family and some who had been at home , far away from the battles had a lot of catching up to do when it came to learning the facts of the war and the massive losses everyone suffered.

To some it was a sad day, they had lost friends and comrades during the attacks , but to others it was a new beginning, with a bigger and more powerful school with its own military contingent there at all times. They were even worked into the schedule, so that graduating seniors could test themselves against the best the military had to offer, and give them a first taste of what war might be like in the future. But no one was thinking that now. Phillip, with his fine new cloths and a family already started was a happy man, and the school as well as all the countries that supported it now, looked towards him for leadership into the future. His abilities were well known and no one guessed as he matured that they'd gain even more. His wives... once a worry, had become friends and they all looked as happy as they could be, making his legend and storys about his prowess even greater.

This day everyone was happy and celebrities from all the countries joined together for the celebration. The war cost many lives but now this was for the survivors, the ones that made it to see the future, and with it, a new world. King  Franco slowly came around as Phillip made use of his new look to impress others and even where  countries were not joined physically, there were treaties and agreements of non aggression. It was the best the planet had ever been, looking forward, and everyone wanted more than anything to see it happen for a long time.

Back on Atria, Rita and Helen watched the celebration from afar. They too were happy and as Helen looked her way Rita threw her a big thumbs up sign.

“It looks like we did it, the planet will make huge progress now. With almost every country working together, they'll become a member of the Galactic Council in no time flat.” she said as Helen nodded seriously.

“They've seen his power, both friends and enemies, will he remain safe there?” she asked, worrying as any grandmother would.

“His abilities are coming right along, getting stronger by 1% a month just as planned, in a few years, he'll be unstoppable on this world, and he'll truly be their King and champion.” Rita said smiling as Helen started to smile too.

“Then it's done, we can rest assured that he'll be both safe and happy there, and we can visit anytime we like, so that’s another good thing.” She said as Rita agreed. “I'd like to see my great-granddaughter after the ceremony, if that’s alright...” she mentioned as Rita agreed and they waited for just the right moment so they appeared when no one was looking. Helen held her new great grandchild while Cara watched on all smiles. She was truly beautiful, the face looked very much like Phillip but the ears were Cara all the way and she smiled saying they had done well.

“Others will be coming soon,” Cara mentioned as Helen laughed. Nothing like a little competition to get things rolling.

“No rush, we have all the time in the world.” Helen said but Cara looked embarrassed and said that she was an older lady and her time would be limited, but Helen just smiled and pulled her to the side and as she looked Helen's face changed into that of a woman not much more than 30.

“It's a trait of my people ,” she said as her face returned to its 'disguise' “we live long lives,and we have a treatment that we get shortly after birth that makes it so, she'll get it too...” she said pointing towards the baby. “ I may look like a grandmother when I want to, but right now, I'm 200 years old and have many hundreds of years to go. We might even see about giving you girls the treatment too, since Phillip had his when he was tiny. He'll age normally until his 30th birthday then, all aging will slow, or stop until the 'treatment' wears off. Even we don’t want to live forever.” she said as Cara asked why.

“These days,these wonderful days that happen so rarely, they are what we live for, for family stretching out and seeing and doing new things, other than that, let me say this...immortality is largely made up of daily boredom.” She said with a short chuckle that Cara joined in with, being with Phillip for hundreds of years didn’t scare her a bit, and she was sure the others would agree.

“We'll talk about it later, this is a celebration for you and your people, enjoy it, and see that you finish your studies, the world waits for no one, and time... even for us, marches on. Someday this will all be memories, and maybe legends, of the great first King who joined the world, but that’s what life is about, making legends come true, so do your best, and we'll meet again.” and with that the door opened and Helen walked back through and Cara waved goodbye.

“What was that?” Someone asked as they just caught the end of the doorway shutting.

“”Just a taste of our future,” Cara said as she went back to Phillip and they smiled and made their way to the small mansion and they all started getting set up there. The future would be great, and with them all living to see it, they'd be there to see about training their children to do the right things. That’s what parents do, and that’s what one man with a lot of potential and strength can do when he puts his mind to it.

Chapter 43: Rebuilding

They went a couple days later and saw the work for themselves, and as they walked around they saw some things getting done while others were still on hold.

“Sir, “ Phillip called as one of the engineers came walking over. “Why hasn’t this rubble been cleaned away? Its clearly in the road of the machines that are trying to level the holes made by the explosions.”

“We're waiting for a bigger moving machine, the little ones we have now cant break up the rocks that make up that old wall, many are the size of small houses.” He exaggerated, while apologizing to Phillip for not getting it done.

“Is that all?” Phillip asked as the man agreed and Phil took off his jacket and handed it to Maria and he waved the girls all back as Cathy looked very worried for him.

“Just watch,” Cybil whispered as Phil walked over, got a good grip on a rock the size of a vehicle and tossed it away, onto a pile that the other machines were making from smaller pieces, and the whole team stopped to look. He then got behind a wall, and after a little grunting, he rolled it end over end until it too was on the pile or actually, became the pile, and he looked around wiping sweat from his brow.

“It's been a while since I did any real work,” he admitted as the construction team just nodded, dumbfounded, as he moved things by hand that their machine couldn’t move, until that area was clean and the old foundation was open again.

“There, now you can get started on that one,” he said as the man just nodded for a second then caught himself and screamed for the cleanup crew to get over here.

“The Inquisitor has done the hard work for us, for gods sakes, don’t make him do it all!” He screamed as many men and women ran over and started working where the old building was and Phillip put his jacket back on and waved as they all walked away.

“Hurt didn’t it?” Cybil asked after they were a little piece away and Phillip swore it didn’t, so she slapped him on the back and he nearly fell over from the pain as everyone there laughed at him for overdoing it while he had an audience. “I'll give you a message and some pain pills when we get back.”

“No,please let me...” Cathy asked as Cybil finally smiled and agreed and Phillip thanked her for being so kind and her eyes were still wide open, filled with the sheer joy at the sight of her husband, the superman, helping others right there in front of her.

“He does things like this from time to time.” Cara said as everyone laughed, “so we take turns giving him massages after he gets too sore to get out of bed the next day.”

“I just need more exercise that’s all, sitting the bridge or going to meetings just isn’t my style.” he complained as there were a few agreements and a couple chuckles about him saying that, but they all knew no matter how much strength he showed people, he never has used it all yet, and they hoped he never had to.

When they returned and left the ship to go to their rooms, King John saw Phillip moving a little slowly and he started to smile as he waved Cara over.

“I see he was helping,” he said as she smiled and agreed,” what did he move that got him so stiff?”

“The library,” she said as he looked at her oddly, they hadn’t even been gone half a day and the library was a three story rock building.

“NO, no I mean what did HE move that made him so stiff, not the crews.” he tried again as she just laughed out loud and her father looked shocked.

“The LIBRARY, they didn’t have a machine big enough for some of those pieces so...” she said with a wave as John's eyes nearly fell out, those rocks weighed tons, and his respect for his son in law jumped by a huge leap, while Cara seemed to think her idea of him fell a bit. “He never listens, and then gets all stiff for a few days, of course the construction crew there will never forget it.” She said laughing and walked away while her father just stood there with a shocked look that slowly faded into a big grin, and he sent some of his personal pain pills over to his room to help him through this little 'mistake' as Cara called it.

Cathy was doing her level best to make his pains go away and after a little while he thanked her for helping him out.

“You give great messages,” he said as she smiled and thanked him.

“My father is a bit of an athlete,” she said laughing to herself softly,”at least he thinks he is, so hes always stiff and sore. My mother and I would take turns giving him messages after his workouts went on a little too long.”

“I have no excuse, I definitely need more exercise, I used to do things like that every day.” He said as she looked shocked. “I have an older cousin, and if he were here, we'd just break those big pieces up and then throw them on the pile. He's the only person I ever met yet that is stronger than me.” he admitted as she swore that it couldn’t be but he had to admit that he truly was, to her amazement.

“And...” he said while very slowly turning over and laying flat while wincing in pain,” he'd think ahead before doing something that made him like this.”

At that she got a good laugh and he joined in but only for a second and she apologized for making him laugh when he hurt so bad.

“NO, its my fault, and there’s not a person in this house that doesn’t know it, you wait I'll be hearing about this for weeks.” He admitted as she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and walked out while he tried to find at least one spot that he could sleep that didn’t hurt.

“That's the real Phillip,” Cathy heard as she looked around at Cara standing there all smiles,” he'll do whatever it takes to help people even if it costs him personally later, and yes, he's right, he needs to do more stuff like that for exercise, and yes, we aren’t about to let him forget it for a while.” she admitted as she and Cathy laughed and went to the kitchen for a snack and for Cathy to hear more stories about Phillip helping people that got him into trouble.

Chapter 44: Political Pressure

Replacing the University was going at a frightening pace, as crews from several countries rushed in to help. King Franco was amazed at what the 'little king' could get done when he put his mind to it, but that didn’t stop him from thinking he was still way too young for the job that the world seemed ready to lay on him.

“The Glade/Glen boarder crossings are all fully repaired and even upgraded now,” One report said,” Florentine has seen the error of their ways and upgraded their security under the eye of Maria, the Inquisitors wife. She gets her info directly from him and he from the Goddess herself, or so the reports say.”

“He's started work on two major medical centers, one for a major hospital to thank King John for his support and one for research of new medicines and treatments. When all his new ideas hit the streets, medicine on our world will never be the same again, and a whole new generation of doctors will have to be taught to use the new technology.”

“It's too much too soon,he thinks he can change our whole world simply by waving his hand and asking for it, but its not going to happen. We are a proud people, we've been on this planet for centurys, and we don’t need some outsider coming in and making sudden changes that make us all look like fools.” He demanded as the men in the room loudly agreed.

“But what can we do? The Church supports him in everything and some of his ideas have already started getting used and they're reaping the rewards of having first contact with him and his ideas.” One man said as Franco agreed, sadly.

“He buys peoples trust with new ideas and then turns that trust into dependence. Soon every country on the planet that doesn’t prepare ahead of time will be in his debt, and he'll control everything.” He said sourly as many there agreed. “put out the word to all the countries that will listen,we don’t want our world to become a mirror of his old one, we have our own ideas that we follow, and we'll not be forced to do his bidding even if he tries to get our cooperation with a gun, or a smile.” He said and the meeting broke up and men started sending messages to their friends and relatives in their home countries that King Phillip wasn't needed or wanted there and many new ideas and plans for cooperation stopped right there, and they asked his people to leave them alone, and it took no time at all for the info to reach the Franklin and Phillip looked surprised.

“Don’t be, the old guard have been in control for generations, even though they might not start another war, many countrys are weary of new things, and new people. Even you, with all you've done are just a new person trying to force your ideas on them.” Cara said as Phillip tried to explain that he wasn’t forcing anyone, but he could help them a great deal, but she just waved it away. “They have their pride, and they'll stick to it so long as they live.”

“Pigheaded old men,” Phil said sourly as she tried hard not to laugh,” They'll ruin everything and their people will suffer from sicknesses that we can cure in a few days. What good is it to be proud when your killing your own people because of it?” he asked not thinking anyone would answer at all and no one did, but he looked sad and went to get some rest as the ladies sat for a chat and seemed worried for him.

“He expects everyone to greet him and his ideas with joy and cooperation,” Maria said as Kate agreed and said that he had many great ideas and wither the older rulers liked it or not, they would seep into their countries with new medicines and new scans for patients in their hospitals, not to mention newer weapons and sources of power that were in development.

“They can be as stubborn as they like, but they cant stop progress,” Casi said but many there didn’t look too sure. They might not stop it, but they could surely slow it down and with it their own countries technology would fall further and further behind the rest of the world.

“Nearly half the world listens to our husband now, gladly,” Cathy said softly as everyone smiled and agreed,” hes the greatest leader in our history, and those old fools that try and protect themselves will only look more foolish as time goes on. Have faith in him as I do, he'll win in the end.” she said as everyone smiled widely. She was the newest here and her admiration could still be seen in her eyes when she spoke of him just as theirs had been when each of them had first arrived.

“Your right of course, we just need to give it time.” Kate said but Maria didn’t look too sure, and she didn’t say anything but she had her own plans that she'd work on later.

A month later, and they were back in Florentine, as Maria and her mother the Queen had a grand meeting with all the news broadcasters there. They were there to thank Phillip and his crew for saving Florentine much of the damage that other countries closer to the fighting had seen.

“With this great foresight, and the help of the Goddess herself, our new King has made some startling discoveries. New medicines, new sources of power even new weapons to make sure that the future will be as peaceful as the present,” Florence said as the room buzzed with excitement. “This one bottle,” she said holding it up for all to see,” can cure one of our most resistant blood diseases, where the patients blood carries less and less oxygen to the body, until one day they die. In the past, it was a serious threat here, but with this shipment, brought today by my daughter and my new son in law, that ends. Hundreds will be saved, and we thank him and the Goddess for their help even in these hard times.” She said stepping aside as Maria took her place.

“What good is it to know the future, if we force ourselves or others to live in the past? We, of the Franklin Alliance ask only this, let your people be better, feel better and live longer than before, this is my personal goal, as my husband is busy with the rebuilding of the damage from the war, this is my calling, to help everyone to live a better, more healthy life.” Maria said loudly as the room cheered and her mother looked like she'd cry any minute.

The quiet little girl that was afraid to even consider marriage a year ago, was now a full fledged woman with a mind and will of her own, and she was proud of her as she told the whole planet that good things were coming, and the room cheered at her good news, and it went out on every news broadcast that night, and when Franco saw it, he was enraged. She mentioned one of the most deadly diseases that his country had and that it could be cured, but he wouldn’t allow it. This bribery for his support, and he made his own broadcast, saying that the new King was a fraud and that he made his women do his fighting for him, and the people started seeing him as nothing but a charlatan, that would say anything to get what he wanted.

Maria and her mother saw the broadcast too, and she shook her head sadly.

“He and his people wont give in so easily,” Queen Flora said as Maria agreed,” he's a stubborn man and he wont give up even an ounce of power. If that means killing his own people then that’s what he'll do.”

“Stubborn old fool,” Maria said softly as her mother smiled and agreed. They might save a lot of people with the new medicines and treatments, but it might be years before they reached some places that needed them most, and that was the true tragedy.

Chapter 41: Emergency Plans

Garish had an emergency meeting in the wee hours of the morning as his generals all came running in and sat down to see what was happening on the front.

“We have an emergency, the Inquisitor has brought out a new machine one custom built for his massive power.” One man said as the video started to run and small and medium mechs didn’t last a second against it, and even heavies were destroyed when the massive cannon he used hit them square on.

“Bring out the reserves , get that thing brought down before he ruins everything.” Garish screamed as the room looked sad, thinking he didn’t get it yet.

“We did that, before even calling this meeting,” One general said as Garish's face dropped to new lows,” we cant stop it, we threw everything at it and the only thing that stopped him was waiting for his fleet to catch up and resupply him.” He said and a video showing the gathering fleet made even Garish lose his cool and sat back looking lost.

“So, what do we do now? Any suggestions?” He asked as many there just smiled and he felt bad about what was coming.

“It's being broadcast on every channel, that if you step down and we surrender the Queen will take control of the country once more,and there will be pardons for many of those that betrayed her before this. She's a kind and generous woman who only wants her rightful place back.” With that a few men there agreed and Garish saw his time was about up.

“Any ideas BESIDES that?” He asked again as one big man, in his high ranking uniform stood and walked to the front of the table and laid a handgun down in front of Garish, who immediately slid back away from it.

“MY estimate says they'll be here in less than 6 hours if they rush it, then it'll either be prison, or this for you. Some of us will be joining you, I'm sure, it's the only way to have an honorable end to this fiasco.” He said as many looked sad he had to say it just like that. “3500, men, women and children dead or dieing, from your poison attack. How can a career soldier carry his head high in service after something like that? Against other soldiers, maybe, but children?? It was a bad plan from the beginning and now,” he said clicking the screen to show the massive new machine coming for them,”you've angered a god, and there's no place to hide.”

He turned away and nodded and many there got up and left with him. The meeting never really ended, but the men just left their former commander there to consider what he had done and what was coming for him. They hadn't even cleared the building yet when a single shot rang out and the big man smiled and shook his head.

“What an idiot, quickly now, to Entropia.” He called as everyone ran to get into vehicles and turned their attention to the one country where military men and women were always welcomed and where they might find some meaning in their lives after this.

The city was all lit up and thousands lined the streets when Phillip finally walked in in his machine. They called to him on the coms and said that Garish had taken his own life and that the country now belonged to the Queen once more, and he thanked them for the info that he sent back to Kate who sat and cried that it was finally over.

His fleet hung over the city silently as he dropped from his machine and went to verify that Garish was dead, and it was a sure thing. He ordered the body to be buried and the offices cleaned and he went back and entered his machine once more.

“This country now is under the control of Queen Katherine the First, long live the Queen!” He called as the thousands there cheered and Kate heard it on the coms and she started to laugh, in her short life she never would have thought that this day would come so quickly but it had, and she got her best cloths on and made the public announcement that she was getting married and the country rejoiced in it. Now they had a King as well and the rebuilding started almost immediately to fix the damage the war had caused.

“So, where will you call home after this?” King John asked on the coms as Phillip smiled back.

“The Church has given me control or partial control over 4 small countrys, they seem to think that                                     I came here to unite the world, as you do.” He said as everyone around him agreed. “I'm sure that Katherine would want to rule from here, and Cara from there, but for me, I think the Franklin is a good center piece that allows us to travel from one to the other when we want to.” He said as a few there thought about it and it did make sense, by having a traveling base they could be there for all the major ceremonies that each country would be having and it was set up for the personal use of a Queen so it was more than just comfortable.

“WE agree,” Casi said and others nodded as well, “We'll live on the Franklin and travel around the world making peace.” Phil smiled and agreed and it was set, and their 'mobile capitol' started back to Glade for some rest and relaxation, as Katherine thanked her people for their support and they started doing the necessary repairs to bring the country back up to its former glory.

Chapter 42: Elsewhere

General Franco watched the whole thing with disgust. Garish had his chance but had failed to organize in time and never saw the new weapon coming that the church had built for the Inquisitor. It was a wonder, with a main gun bigger than any the regular army carried, but then it was slower and had more armor. That made it both a serious threat and showed its weakness. He'd have to watch, he gave Garish support but kept his name out of it. Now, he alone had the intelligence to see where this was going. The countries of the world rushed to Phillip as their savior, and they wanted him to govern them with the wisdom of the Goddess herself, total rubbish. He had never been a religious man, so the tricks they pulled to impress the rest of the world had no effect on him, goddess indeed, just a short little woman that had a good acting career going to make them think she was invincible. Only Phillip had true power and it was power that needed  studied before anyone ever made a move against him again.

He watched the ceremony when Phillip and the fleet came back into Glade and docked. That was one strength he had, friends and now relatives that would support him no matter what, and through them other countries as well. That would need worked on but it would take time, and he sent him a personal note thanking him for ending the war and asking who he'd appoint over his new kingdom, since he personally was thought of as a 'child of the Goddess' and not yet a full grown man. But Phil said that he had a team that couldn’t be beat, and that he and them could rule without the old prejudices of the past, and that made Franco even more upset, with him daring to say that countries had old grievances that kept them apart. It might be true, but that was normal, since wars had gone on for many years and people were slow to forget.

Phillip and his wives waved to everyone and he told the world that with their help, he could make true Peace, and not a single country would have any reason to fear anymore, and that made Franco so very angry that he threw the pad he was watching. A young boy, barely a man, telling HIM that he knew better and that the older rulers were as good as fools for living the way they had for so long? How dare he, and he started right that second to gather his allies as well, under the cover of 'looking for friends to Trade with' he started gathering the countries that thought Phillip was too young or inexperienced, to rule them all or those that just didn’t like the Church having total control, and he was happy that he got such good replies so quickly. He wasn’t the only one who was worried about the 'new King on the block' and many totally refused to give up their sovereignty to anyone.

The party went on for two days and finally Phillip called enough. They had shown the world that war was not the way, and that through peaceful negotiations anything was possible. They all went to get some rest and the morning meetings started again and there wasn’t much to talk about, thankfully, or at least for now. The war damages were starting being repaired,and Phillip asked that certain materials that other countries had be shipped to where they were needed, and it was done. This kept the cost of reconstruction low, lower than any had hoped and not only were some structures repaired they were improved as well.

“We'll make our world a better place,” He kept saying and everyone would cheer because he was slowly showing that he could do it, and that things would be getting better for them all after this. He emphasized schools and hospitals and research into better medicines and even gave them some 'ideas' that Rita sent him to help out. Things were going very well, and the people loved him and the older class of rulers like King John were seen less and less as they faded into retirement and left the new younger class rule in their place.

“He is a wonder,” Franco heard as even he agreed. For someone so young he had a massive amount of information coming from somewhere, and new medicines would be ready for the doctors of the world in less than a year,and that alone was worth the wait, that and watching for more weaknesses, and those started being seen easily. He might be a strong warrior, but he had 7 beautiful young women under him, and he loved them all greatly, as his face showed at every ceremony that they attended. Many were Royalty that had rushed to him and prostituted themselves for his protection for their countrysides and a few others just seemed to be regular women he took a liking to, but either way,they did constitute a weakness and that was added to the list and he had professionals watching them from up close, and asking questions that would give them some better chances when the time came. It might not be a war, but the time would come when King Phillip would step down, and he'd see to it personally.

Meanwhile at the next meeting, Phillip brought up something that everyone had left go for a while now, but since many repairs were nearing completion, then he felt it was about time.

“I suggest we start sending units to the University, to clean up the grounds from the attacks and start rebuilding there.” He mentioned as everyone agreed wholeheartedly.

“Actually, its already begun,” Kate said as he looked her way and smiled. “Maria and I talked about it a week ago, so we both sent some workers there to start the cleanup.”

“Very well done,” King John said as they both smiled and Phillip agreed and thanked them for getting started so soon.

“Now as soon as some of the major repairs are finished we'll be ready to send construction crews there to get the rebuilding started.” John said but Phillip was looking very serious for a minute and he excused himself for a second to make a call, and everyone knew he was up to something.

“Your Majesty, good to hear from you after this time.” The High priest said as Phillip gave him a warm welcome as well, “what makes you call at this time of day, I hope there’s no troubles where you are.”

“Not really TROUBLES exactly....” Phil started as the Priest leaned in to hear better what was troubling the Inquisitor of the Church. “I am in a meeting with King John of Glade and of course, my wives. They are quite happy to announce that reconstruction of OUR University is getting ready to start, and King John mentioned he'd have construction units there by the end of the week, and Katherine and Maria , have people there even now, cleaning up the rubble and getting ready to start rebuilding, and to tell you the truth, I had nothing to say. After all we haven’t even discussed it yet and our good friends are making the first moves to rebuild so that the students can resume classes sooner rather than later.”

“I see....” The High Priest said seriously while Phillip tried his best to look embarrassed by the whole thing. “Don’t you worry my friend, we had a meeting just yesterday about that very thing,” he started as Phil tried hard not to smile too widely , “ and we have units ready even now to be moved there, if Queen Katherine wants to help then that’s great but it IS our University after all, so we will definitely take the lead in rebuilding it.” he added with his nose held high.

“Excellent!” Phillip declared as the old man looked happy he pleased him,” I'll tell them we'll be there at once, making even the dorm rooms bigger and better than ever!” He said as the old mans eyes popped and Phillip just waved and closed the link.

He walked from the room back to the meeting hall where everyone was sitting with a huge grin as he looked shocked at their faces.

“How did it go?” John asked and Phillip could stand it no longer as his face burst into the biggest grin anyone had seen for a long time.

“You'd never guess...” He started as everyone smiled and there were a few chuckles,” it appears that the Church already had teams on the way. Why, since they actually own the University they didn’t know anyone else would help, but anyone who wishes to are very welcome , since they'll be starting construction as soon as the teams arrive.” He added as King John sat back laughing and even Cybil got a huge chuckle from it all.

“They'll catch you making up stories one of these days,” Maria said softly as everyone just smiled. He was the Church’s icon, even if they thought he 'embellished' a little they wouldn’t dare say so, it would make them all look bad. Besides with him around the Church had gotten rid of a dozen or more crocked priests and their people that were stealing from them, so anything he asked for he got, with no questions asked.

”It'll be nice to see our old friends again,” they heard softly as Phillip looked around at Cathleen, his newest wife, and the daughter of the King of Sibia. She was such a quiet little thing,thin with short brown hair and the sweetest smile you ever saw, people often ignored her, but she was kind and sweet and made friends easily, and could just as easily be hurt, but not while Phillip was on watch.

“Soon I promise.” He said softly,as she smiled wide and it lit up the room and even the other women smiled back, it was just impossible to not like her and she had made friends of them all in just a few days time.”We'll even go back and see if there’s anything we can do to help.” he added and everyone agreed and the meeting was over as they all talked about seeing their friends again now that the war was over.

I went back to check it out, bought the pre alpha and got into the game for a little while. I'm on the public build which is way behind the test build. It has good graphics and decent information. You can and will eventually run out of fuel, that's making it more realistic, but the public build has a bad bug still, you can mine but not gather anything, the extractor throws you back to the desktop. The report I sent said it was fixed in the test server but hadn't been moved over yet. Will wait a few days and try again, thats the bugger of an alpha game with two different servers, but thats to be expected.

Chapter 38: Family

“Flawlessly logical I'm impressed,” They heard as the coms link came on and a small redheaded woman was standing there  with an older lady all smiles as well.

“Hello Grandmother, and you too doctor, finally come to pay a little visit?” Phil asked as they both got a good laugh, her brain washing was wearing off quicker than she planned but now it was alright, and Helen asked if he was happy there and he looked around at all the smiling faces and  said yes, he was happy here, and she said she was glad.

“You need to end this war quickly, your way past your coming of age party, so we're setting it up with the King of Glade, I believe that's your father is it not?” Helen asked as Cara stepped forward and gave her a bow and introduced herself as Phillips wife and both women smiled widely and Helen welcomed her into the family as Casi jumped in and said she was his second and as Grandmother gave him a serious look Phillip finally agreed and the room laughed out loud and the coms link showed a map, with over a dozen installations on it and Phillip smiled.

“This should come in handy, but remember, we'll be at the castle in Glade in three days so make sure your there.” grandmother said as Phillip agreed and the coms link went closed as Phil looked around at several people who had dropped to their knees while the link was active.

“Come on get up that wasn't the Goddess that was my Grandmother.” He said but they insisted that they'd seen pictures of her in their church’s scrolls and books and it wasn't his grandmother, but the other woman that was the Goddess, and Phillip saw another of the good Doctors experiments coming back to bite him.

“Now WE have the intelligence,” He said as the map was brought back up and they cheered,” lets finish this, full speed ahead.”

They flew with a speed that the ships barely had and Phillip split them up and Shawn was sent one way and the main force went the other,they hit 4 bases each in lightning like raids and many very serious looking explosions were seen and they ran quickly to the next one. In two days they had done what they set out to do, and there were fires that burned even now as they got back together and started back home. Their ships took some damage, but they did a huge amount to the behind the lines forces that Garish had so carefully placed there to harass them. The prison in Glade was overflowing with agents of Garish and his operations came to a halt, all in less than a week, and when government officials asked how it was done, the map was used as evidence that the Goddess had stepped in to help her chosen one to find peace for them all. It wasn't exactly true but they saw it that way and the Church was there, in all their finery and pomp and circumstance to greet her when she opened the doorway and walked out, with Brian,Queen Helen and Emily in tow.

The feast was both festive and elaborate, as many many questions were asked and Phillip finally had the coming of age party that he should have had at his 16th birthday, but Cara was thrilled to meet his family, as every girl there made sure they got in a few good words before the party ended, and Helen took Phillip to the side and gave him a huge hug and said that if they ever wanted him they knew where he was,and if he needed them again call, and she slipped him a coms unit that the doctor had given her for him.

“Your a man now,and Cara and the others are very nice and they love you, its plain to see, even that scary one with the attitude.” she said pointing as Cybil tried hard not to see, and Phillip laughed in spite of himself.

“I have a war to finish but that can wait until later, today was nice and I'm glad that everyone got to meet my real family.” Phillip said as Grandma gave him another hug.

“Be happy,” she said as she waved to everyone and the family walked back through the portal as fast as they came.

“What was that about?” Cybil asked when no one was watching and Phillip smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“Nothing no. 4 nothing at all.” he said as she said good she was a little worried... and then it hit her and she gave him a scary stare, as he walked away, and yelled right out loud,

“Why no. 4? I'm not good enough for three?” and the room stopped and the entire party started to laugh as she hid her face and tried to forget she had just done that, but no one, especially Kate would ever let her forget it again.

“I think that was a sort of announcement right there,” Phillip said loudly,as Cybil looked embarrassed beyond belief. “ My Grandmother rushed me a bit, and so now officially, Casi is my no 2, if she'll have me, and my no 3 will be Uki, if she'll have me as well, and now Cybil for my no 4.” that’s more than enough announcements for one night I think.” He said as the room applauded him and his new wives and while she looked very surprised to have it announced so openly, Uki and Casi were all smiles as the party ended.

“Now we have a war to finish, and then all these countries and all these friends can be joined together into one big happy country and together we can make this world a better place.” Phillip announced and the party cheered and applauded,and broke up as everyone went to get some rest, and Cara nodded silently as she went to her room, and Casi followed Phillip into his.

Chapter 39: The Goddess’s Gift

Garish was thrown into complete panic when he saw the celebration on the news networks. He saw the Goddess herself saying the war must end and she was backing Phillip, as her appointee to the Church. He had also used some information that she gave him and every one of his secret bases behind enemy lines were now gone. Hundreds of tons of supplys and men and women gone, and he was right back to where he started all those months ago. A tightly held front line and every country of any consequence against him and now this...he felt like his head would explode and had he known that Phillip really was the Goddess’s chosen, then things might have gone differently. But they hadn’t and he called all his allies and said they needed a new plan, and they made one, the dirtiest, most shameful plan he could imagine, and he knew if that failed, his war was over, and he set the plan into motion.

Many vehicles filled with a toxic mixture of chemicals was sent across the boarders. There were three main watersheds that supplied drinking and bathing water to all the major cities in three out of four of the allies countries. If they could get there and dump this cocktail of death, the cities would literally die in the streets, and after the army fell dead, he'd move in and take over one country after another.

It was a cowardly way to do things but the victor writes the history books  so a different ending would be written when that time came, and tens of thousands of gallons of the mixture made it to its destination in the middle of the night and they started adding it to the glaciers and lakes that supplied their enemys with water, and they left the barrels and cargo containers and fled before anyone could be the wiser.

The next few weeks seemed normal, as the war seemed to come to a standstill. There was attacks and counter attacks but Garish seemed to lose some steam after his bases were all smashed and everyone even Phillip knew he was up to something, they just didn’t know what. Then the reports started coming in, reports of a strange new sickness that killed almost instantly, at first a few then dozens died in a day. Then it started rolling, as hundreds more got sick and the doctors were at a loss. It was nothing they had ever seen before, and small towns near the mountains were wiped out, and Phillip heard about the deaths and felt bad, so bad he stepped outside and made a call to Doctor Rita to see if she knew what was going on. She made a few scans and even she was shocked. It was everywhere, it had been spread naturally for days and weeks and now, it covered most of the countryside with its toxic poison. She analyzed it and decided that it could be stopped if they worked fast, and she gave him a recipe for a new mixture and they made it as quickly as possible and sent it to the towns and people that were most effected. Then they sprayed it into the aquifer, and it started cleaning things up there, but it was too late for many, who had been poisoned in the first few days.

Thousands were still sick, and hospitalized and even some military bases were effected. Now more than 20% of the military was down with this sickness, and even though it wasn’t what Garish had hoped for, it was enough. He brought out his reserves and poured across the weak places in their lines,and took over several boarder towns and the front lines started to slip back towards the capitol of Glade and even the King started to worry.

“Without reinforcements we're doomed here, we cant get supplys in now, he has the trade lanes blocked, we'll have to start rationing soon, but what will we do for ammo for the mechs and guns for replacements?” he asked as everyone looked sad indeed.

“We just need to hold out until the sick men get out of the hospital,” Phillip said as everyone smiled, he was always like this, trying hard to stop everyone from worrying, but it might just be too late for that.

“Garish will push on again at dawn, he's been gaining miles a day on us while our military is so weak, and now we're losing more men than we can afford, even if we hold him for a few days, the men getting out will barely replace the ones we lost.” John said and he looked like he'd cry.

“Then we'll use surprise as a weapon,” Phil said as everyone wondered where he was going with this.

“Flo and I have finished our tests, my unit can take full on attacks from even heavy mechs and survive,and I have a new helmet that protects me while letting me talk on the coms. We get the remaining forces ready here...” he said pointing and John nodded he understood, “then at dawn, when they start up this road, all hell is going to break lose, and I'll be there personally to see to it.”

“We'll all come,” everyone said at once but Phil said no, Shawn could come with his cruiser, in case it was needed to help men and women to retreat if this didn’t work, and with his cannons he could waste the countryside for miles and slow their approach while Phillip and his team attacked the main forces and destroyed them.

“We hold this point or we all die,” Phillip said as they looked shocked he had said that but they slowly agreed and everyone got ready, either to defend the castle if things went badly or to retreat to Florentine after that and Queen Flora made the necessary arrangements just in case and fortified her castle and offices as well.

Lets speed things up a bit....

Chapter 34: Major Worry, minor Annoyance

The next few hours, Phillip under went test after test and they looked inside and out to try and see what had happened and after a while, the doctor walked out of the examining room all smiles as the waiting room was full of Royalty and waiting for his report.

“He has no serious damage to his skin or internal organs, but the sound of those shells going off against the armor so fast and so many, has made him temporarily deaf. He'll be ok in a few days, there's some miner damage to the inner ear,but it'll heal, until then someone needs to be with him to help him watch out for things he wont be able to hear around him.” He said as Cara agreed, saying she was his wife and the doctor agreed as well, and soon Phillip came walking out smiling with muffs over his ears to protect them from any more noise while they heal.

“Why the glum faces. I'm starving lets eat.” He said as everyone started to chuckle, hurt or not he was still Phillip and they all started back towards the castle while Casi kept a close eye on Flo the whole time and even King John saw it and he pulled her to the side for a second and told her they wanted no trouble over this.

“She set the test up, she operated the guns, its her responsibility that he got hurt, in MY country...” she went on but John stopped her dead.

“This isn't your country,I rule here and I say this matter is closed. Didn’t you see how fast she got to him after the accident? Don’t you see she's hurting now more than him, BECAUSE she set it all up? Phillip agreed to this test and even after we all tried to stop him, so its not her fault, if anything, it's mine for not checking ahead of time to see that things were done differently. If you cant see that, then you'll have a hard time convincing Phillip to marry you,he's a good man, brave and fearless and strong, that’s why your here isn’t it? So be happy he'll be ok, and let Flo alone, she's hurting now more than you could make her hurt yourself.”

With that the talk ended and Casi went back to the castle and then went to her room to consider what the King had said. It seemed Phillip had serious friends here, even to the point of refusing his own request to test things that they didn’t even do this time. She was also surprised that many of the improvements made were Phillips ideas and he came up with things so fast even Master Gwen was amazed and had a full staff working to try them out, back at his base. Phillip was exceptional, and he had many women who knew it, and she was new here and at the 'end of the line' as it were, and that made her more sad than knowing he was hurt,that she really did have a lot of women ahead of her here and her title meant nothing, she'd have to win him over on her own,being herself. Something she had never done since the day she was born.

In two days Phillip started hearing voices again, but it was hard to figure out what they were saying, and the doctor made him wear the ear protectors again for a while longer. But everyone was happy about it and when they came down to breakfast the next day, they all turned to see Casi,now dressed much better and with her hair done properly, come and sit next to Phillip while Cara was busy elsewhere for the minute, Her hair and dress were immaculate, and even the King got a good look as she sat down and thanked them for their hospitality so far.

This was a far cry from the military monster that stomped in the first day demanding everything and offering nothing, But it seemed things had happened to change her mind and as Cara returned she saw her place was taken and even she was impressed with the sudden change. So great was the shock that everyone stared and after a minute Casi felt that something needed said.

“I am a Princess you know, so dressing like this isn’t so strange, but on my way here it would have been out of place, our small ship had no one on board but my guard and I.” she admitted as everyone nodded.

“Princess Cassiopeia has brought a newer model escort craft with her. It was obviously the fastest thing she could get to when it became time to leave.” King John said as she admitted that while small, it was very fast and without it they would never have made it across so many enemy lines.

“We could use a good escort ship in the Franklin's task force, King John had given us one to help in our defense, so if you wouldn’t mind, I'll check it over and see what it's capable of so we can use it on our next attack run.” Flo said as Casi agreed and Flo had that look again, the one that said she found a new toy to play with and everyone chuckled as she looked embarrassed.

“It has great speed and maneuverability, but it needs a crew. Even with Shawn and I on the bridge all we could do was run, there was no one to operate the weapon systems.” Casi said as Flo nodded she understood. Escort ships had small weapons, many times 20mm cannons and machine guns for close combat with ground forces and shooting up supply caches, so that would help when they attacked the front lines again but Flo saw more, and all she needed was time to check and see what the little ship had to offer.

“Perhaps Shawn can command it while your here, he has experience with it and is an officer under you isn’t he?” King John asked as Casi reminded him that he was her bodyguard not just a regular soldier, and he reminded her that Phillip was here now and that she didn’t know even a fraction of his abilities and finally she agreed and Shawn accepted the command of the escort vessel while Casi was on board the carrier.

“Looks like I'm in your hands,” Casi said to Phillip as many smiled and he, just asked ,”what?” and she finally laughed that she had wasted such a good come on under these circumstances. She watched as even now, Cara doted on him and he told her to stop, he could eat himself his ears had nothing to do with his hands working, and she finally sat back down to eat herself while Phil watched her and smiled a wide smile that the entire room could see. Cassiopeia wasn’t lost from seeing that either and she saw that the First Wife position was taken, happily by Cara and approved by Phillip very much, and as they got up from the table and Cara walked out along beside Phillip, going to the morning meeting, Casi walked up beside her and whispered softly so no one else would hear,

“I see your very much in love, and I approve of that, but I will not be the Third wife, understand THAT.” she said with a smile and Cara smiled back and nodded she understood. Even Casi had acknowledged her as the First and Main wife so she just might approve of her as number 2, in what she was sure would be a large and wonderful harem that would unite the world, just like her father had said.

Chapter 35: Flo's Life

The meeting went quickly and Flo was away before anyone could ask her anything. She spent the afternoon on board the escort, going over the power grid, checking the little guns that only seemed to point forward, as she shook her head sadly. She was like a woman possessed, and she smiled the whole time. Since she was a small child, it fascinated her how things worked, and her family had seen her abilities when she wound up tearing apart half the stuff in their home, and many times, putting them back better than they were before.

As she got older, she took a part time job, not because her family thought it was a good idea, even if it was, but because then she could buy new things, that she just couldn’t understand and tear them apart, and see why someone would do things this way. Her science skills were top notch and math and even some design classes she took at her middle school went like clockwork. So easily had her skills developed and so quickly did she make her instructors look like children themselves that her name was sent to the Academy of Science and Technology, where Master Gwen taught and did all his research.

The day he got the report, he went personally to meet her and see her ideas on things in general. She was shocked, to be sure, that a man, a teacher of his caliber would travel to meet her, but he waved it away and said without purpose people had nothing, and his was to seek out young people like her, and she smiled until it looked like she'd burst. He asked her many things and she answered and sometimes even got very agitated when he disagreed and even that made him smile. She was a woman after his own heart, with a strong will and quick mind and he asked her to join his class with a full scholarship, and she looked shocked and was speechless for a few minutes while her parents weren't much better.

Master Gwen was the premier teacher in the subjects of science and mathematics on the planet, and his research papers were required reading in many other universities, and to have him give her a full scholarship so he could teach her personally....well it was almost unheard of. She agreed a minute later with a wide grin and she gathered her things and went back with him that very day, and since then her skills blossomed until now, where she could run through checklists and do new things where old had been, faster than any student he had ever had. She was his No. 1 and he proudly told everyone that, and she smiled and went on thinking that one day had changed her life so much and made her so happy, so that she'd be here today, helping an Icon and good friend to safe the world from tyranny.

The small escort ship had a rapid transformation, the little almost worthless guns that the Entropians had mounted were gone now, and a pair of 50mm guns were there instead. They were made to swivel slightly so they could lay waste to the entire battle field before them and destroy any small to medium mechs and all their support people and supplys that came within range. It had its own rebirth, as a new weapon, and the new Captain, the man called Shawn, was surprised and happy to see it when she was done, and he thanked her seriously for her hard work and she just smiled and said not to mention it. It was her job, and they took a little extra time to talk about the new improvements and slowly, he turned the conversation to other things as Shawn made it clear that he'd like very much to have her on board with him and she looked embarrassed and said it was her place to be with the Inquisitor, and on board his ship, and Shawn smiled and looked a little sad to hear it, and Flo went back smiling wide herself. It had been the first romantic gesture anyone had made towards her, and it kind of felt good, knowing that people saw her, and not just her mind and abilities, and she was in a good mood the rest of the day, and everyone could clearly see it.

But not everyone was having such a good day, as the Queen of Florentine kept checking and rechecking her messages waiting on information back from a letter she sent to King John some days ago.

“With the war going on, my messengers are getting slower and slower.” she declared as Maria and Uki walked in all smiles.

“You know there is a way around this,” Maria said as her mother looked up and saw her smiling and she started to grin herself. “If we had a ship added to the Franklin's escorts, then we'd have instant communication with the front lines and, most times, with King John.”

“But... all my Commanders are busy here, getting ready for the attack from Garish we know is coming, who would Command such a ship?” she asked, full well knowing the answer. Maria had no military training but Uki was a Captain, like Cybil on their side and they had both been moping around for a few days now, especially when they heard that Prince Phillip had gotten hurt. Maria held her emotions back easily, as a member of Royalty should but Uki was clearly distraught, and the Queen saw that they were more than just worried for him.

“With your permission...” Uki said stepping in, “ I have had command of escort type ships before and I'm trained in their use and maintenance, if I can ever be of service to you or the Inquisitor, then please make use of me.”

“But....” the Queen started with a huge grin,” your Maria’s Knight, her bodyguard, so who would fill that role while your gone?”

“I feel this is such an important thing that I'd gladly join her and act as a Royal liaison, to other countries while the war is going on.” Maria said stepping forward quickly and trying to look very,very serious as Queen Flora burst into laughter and the two young women looked embarrassed they were busted so quickly.

“I heard he'll be fine soon,” she mentioned softly as they both looked away sadly,” you miss him that much?”

“It's Uki...”Maria started “ she's been really out of sorts since they left and when she heard that he was injured...” Maria went on as Uki's eyes popped out and her mouth fell open,as Queen Flora could tell that she was shocked that Maria would go so far to cover her own worry.

“Well, a small escort vessel isn’t much good in a battle, and I'd be too worried about Maria in something so small,” she teased as they both waited, “ there is a light cruiser sitting here for repairs, it's ready to go but the Captain has been moved to a bigger, more powerful ship. It has good speed and more firepower, if you think you can handle that...” The Queen went on as Uki declared she could, and they all smiled.

“Don’t you let Maria get hurt, you hear me?” She said softly as Uki bowed and said she wouldn’t and even before the 'official' ceremony and Command was given to Uki, Maria was back in her room packing and Queen Flora took Uki to the side and told her that as a woman of Florentine, she expected her to make a good showing of herself, even if it meant being 'chosen' before Maria, and Uki nearly fainted from shock and Flora laughed all the way back to her office while Uki got the necessary uniforms for command, and they left later that evening for Glade, and just about that time an older man with a military uniform on, stepped into the Queens office and asked if she knew what had happened to his ship, and she smiled and said that he had been 'reassigned' and they sat down to discuss it further.

I got the demo just to give it a quick look. There doesn't seem to be a tutorial for it, I managed to fly around a bit, ground away at a rock or two, but have no idea if I gathered anything or not, fuel was low, and the ship wouldn't let me return..all part of the demo I guess...so its not bad as far as graphics goes, it might be fun if I knew everything and how it worked, the demo had very few options and only a handful of maneuvering and work buttons,no inventory or landing options, but I may check it out later when it gets organized.

Chapter 31: The Next new Friend

Garish managed to finally get a report that he liked, the small spartan country of Entropia had fallen overnight. They had given him a real battle, with their good military and citizens that were willing to fight for their country no matter what. He respected them more than he could say, they had fought right down to the street to street battle in the capitol and he did lose machines and pilots, but that was over now. They had good supplies there, and all their remaining mechs joined the fight on his side. The King and Queen were under arrest and being held as war criminals, and the man he sent to watch over the country would decide their fate, when he took over as the countries new 'Governor' in a few days. This gave them more land, better supply lines and manufacturing second to none, and he actually smiled for the first time in weeks, and he sat back and made the official announcement that Entropia had fallen and they were victorious and his military cheered his brilliance as new machines and people rushed in to fill the voids where they were needed.

The Alliance also got the news and a 'special envoy' from Entropia arrived late in the morning of the second day. Princess Cassiopeia walked in , head held high and demanded to speak to the King and with her bodyguard in tow, stomped in wearing shiny chrome colored body armor,long flowing black hair, a side arm, and little else. She seemed well protected, if not very pleasing to the eye at the moment, but she was undoubtedly a woman every bit as tall and well built as Cara.

King John welcomed her and ask if her family had escaped with her, and she looked like she would attack him just for saying that.

“I did not ESCAPE....” she demanded as the King cleared his throat and apologized for the comment.”I was sent here, by my father to meet and marry my future husband and have children to carry on the family's heritage of strong men and women willing to fight until they take my country back. Be it a year or a hundred years!” she demanded as she dropped into a seat and King John tried his best not to laugh at her obviously 'superior' attitude about her people.

“And that person would be here?” he asked as she nodded very militarily, very strongly and very,very seriously.

“Prince Phillip of the Church of the Goddess, he will be my husband, only he was chosen as being strong enough to be worthy of me.” she said looking a bit embarrassed but holding up her very serious attitude while King John now went into a shocked stupor.

“You do realize that he's also now Prince of Glade since he just married my daughter Cara,” he mentioned and watched for a response as she waved it away like it didn’t matter.

“One wife, two wives, whats the difference, I assume hes capable of taking care of us both, as a man, since being Prince of two kingdoms he gets more than enough money to subsist on.” She said, as King John was wondering if she really meant for him to answer that but she didn’t let his silence bother her.

“Where is he? I demand a meeting at once.” She went on as King John told her he was at the front this morning, helping to resupply them and that they had just forced the enemy back 5 miles and needed to set up a new camp.

“With his personal battleship, the...the....” she started and snapped her fingers as her bodyguard leaned in and whispered for her, “ Franklin is it?”

“Yes, the robot carrier Franklin,” John said as she smiled, not only on the front lines but forcing back the enemy and commanding a carrier task force, he definitely was the man she had heard about. “They'll be back later today, please get settled in and get yourself a good meal and some clean cloths. I'll send a message that your here and waiting.”

“Very well then, but if he's not here by nightfall, I'll go to him, a wife needs to support her husband during these times.” she said as she stood and started out,”by the way, where is your daughter Cara right now?” she asked as John puffed out his chest and announced that she too was on board the Franklin and on the front lines. At this Cassiopeia smiled, obviously Cara was a worthy woman as well and she gave the King a short bow and walked out as he fell into his chair and got a long and silent laugh. The Entropians were a war-like people always arguing and fighting not just others but amongst themselves, they obviously thought power and strength were everything, and he couldn’t wait to see her meet Phillip for the first time, she was taller than him by half a head and while her body was in fine shape, her attitude was going to chafe...well...everyone, and Cara needed to be warned about this, and the call was made.

Chapter 29: Answers

They walked back leisurely to the castle and King John had a message waiting for Phil when he got there and Cara excused herself to go change. Phil was led to the King and they sat and talked about what happened.

“To have an abduction taking place right here, almost within sight of the castle,” John said looking sad but then he perked up as he turned back towards Phillip. “I thank you for saving my daughter from these men, the Goddess knows what they might have done.”

“Not just your daughter any longer,” Phil reminded him,” she's my wife now and they all have to get through me.”

“Then, I'll say she's in good hands, thank you.” John said sincerely as Phil just nodded. “I have the report here what happened out there, you really weren't serious were you? I mean that would be a gruesome way to die even for a spy.”

“I would never do such a thing in plain sight of Cara or any woman,” Phil said as the King agreed. “I hope I never have to do something like that at all, but without a weapon and with enough numbers to worry about...a man might be forced to do terrible things.” At that even King John looked a little scared to consider it, and Phil smiled, to fool an enemy first fool your friends, and he was sure that the story of this was well on it's way around the castle and even out into the countryside before they even knew it.

“But I'll be discreet, if I have a choice.” He added as King John nodded agreement. They talked about what they learned so far and John was very impressed, the team leader was going on and on, and Phil smiled a crooked little smile. The man said that Garish had special teams sent to every kingdom to do assassinations, and abductions everywhere. If they couldn’t control the people ruling the country, they'd remove them and have someone they liked put in their place. It was a second wave of attacks, this one more subtle and well planned and Phillip saw that Garish wasn’t as dumb as he first thought, and they'd all have to be careful.

“You took out the team in Florentine when they attempted top kidnap Maria, so they have already been warned,” John said as Phil agreed,” so I've sent messages to all the other kingdoms saying that they need to take extra care, and make sure they're successors are in a safe place until the war ends. A lot of young people will be disappearing until they feel its safe to return, making it harder for Garish and his men to find them.”

“Just so long as they have a safe place to hide a guess that wouldn’t hurt.” Phil said as John agreed and he excused himself to go change before dinner and King john sat there smiling. Finding a place where people could be safe in these times was hard. The Princes were all involved in the war, along with many of the Princesses that were Geminists and helping to defend their countries, but if it got bad enough, their parents wouldn’t let them be in the line of fire, and there were very few places and very few people that were capable of protecting them, and he just couldn’t wait to see how many arrived on board the Franklin before the war was over.

It was happening faster than he thought, Phillip's Kingdom was taking shape and it would be something amazing to see, and he sat back smiling that Cara had better enjoy these few days alone because they weren't going to last.

They all sat down for the evening meal and King John looked very preoccupied as everyone could see, finally Cara asked if he was alright, and he just smiled and said that the war was getting worse, and they were having a hard time holding the line until reinforcements showed up.

“You should have said something earlier,” Phil said as the King just smiled and said nothing, it was Cara's honeymoon and he was trying hard not to spoil it.”I'll go tomorrow morning at see if there’s anything that I can do.”

“Not without me...” Cara said seriously and Phillip nodded agreement. King John refused but was overruled by the stubborn pair and finally he agreed to let them do reconnaissance for him and he had machines set up over night for them to use, since their personal machines were on the Franklin, and in Florentine by now.

They finished their meal in silence and then got to bed early, and Phil had to guarantee that he wouldn’t do anything rash while they were there and he did, and Cara finally fell asleep with him on her mind and worry on her face.

They were away early the next day and flew right to the main lines. The enemy had withdrawn for a little while and the friendly forces were busy working on damaged machines and hurt soldiers, when they arrived. The unit Commander looked up to see two new machines coming in and was thrilled to death for the reinforcements until he saw who they were and his face lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Princess Cara and the Inquisitor, thank the Goddess , the King must be really getting serious for you to come here.” He said as Cara tried to tell him they weren't there to fight, but he was so happy he was yelling to the medics and wounded soldiers that they had some serious help now and she finally stopped trying and just smiled and waved as the wounded men and women cheered for their arrival.

“What been happening?” Phil asked as the Commander waved him to the table where he had the plans for the battle all laid out.

“They have at least a dozen machines, all heavy mechs, and good supplys and support,” The Commander said as Phil nodded very seriously, “ they have a carrier ship with at least three escorts just around the bend in the valley, so that they get resupplied and rearmed as fast as we do, if not faster. They made the mistake of having one escort ship move in to help bombard our forces, but we managed to destroy that, its down in the valley now on fire, so even we didn’t get any more supplies from that.”

“So, a dozen mechs and three ships are the big problem right now?” Phillip asked as the Commander nodded sadly.

“We lost three heavies so far and they sent me two medium assaults for replacements, that’s a big step DOWN, and we are supposed to hold them back with that? Pardon my insubordination here, sir, but we're losing badly and we've been told to hold this line or die, and frankly, we're dieing.” He said and Phil looked angry, he talked to King John every day and he knew this wasn't the plan. Someone was messing with them, some middle management officer was changing the orders halfway, and they needed to find out who.

Phillip took Cara to the side as she looked shocked to hear what was going on.

“Say nothing here,” He whispered and she agreed ,”there’s someone between here and your father changing orders, they were supposed to get 6 new machines from the church, remember?” With that she nodded silently. “In stead they got three medium mechs, that’s definably not what was ordered.”

“We need to report this at once, the King must be warned that he has traitors in his midst.” Phil said seriously and Cara agreed,but just then shots were fired and the Commander called all ships forward, and the remaining mechs joined the fight just a mile from where they were standing.

“I'm going to help here for a little while, get this information back to your father, and be careful they may be watching us right now.” Phillip said as Cara nodded and climbed back into her machine and started back at full speed.

Phillip got into his heavy mech too, but he jumped right into the battle. His skills and speed even in the huge suit amazed everyone and cost the enemy two mechs before they knew it, and they withdrew almost at once as the troops on the front lines cheered their first real victory.

“I have to go now, but more supplys and mechs are on the way, you have my word.” Phillip said over his coms link and the Commander thanked him profusely. Phil was worried, the enemy was working too well behind their lines and he remembered sending Cara back alone, and he swore and his machine sped up, pushing the already high end that he forced it to do, as the trees below him turned into a green blur and he started scanning ahead for Cara's machine and hoped he found her first.

I'm just an old fart who loves to write, so many of your little abbreviations are lost on me..hehe