Super Nano-naught Limitless / Planet Kholbach

Reeve

Reeve was not impressed. He observed the enemy fleet on the table in front of him, and what he found was utterly lacking. The Vizerians stood in between him and his goal. They held world of Kholbach, near the center of their small kingdom. On that world was a monastery which held secrets to where his son Jax may be.

He would have that information at any cost.

“Open a channel, Admiral,” he ordered.

Evron nodded. “As you wish. Your Grace,” he responded. “Channel is now open.”

“Get the fuck out of my way, or I will obliterate your fleet and burn your worlds. This is your one and only warning,” Reeve demanded. “Comply with my demands, and I will get only what I need and leave you to your own affairs in peace.”

He nodded once and Evron signaled the communications channel closed. Looking back at his friend and Emperor he asked, “Was that really necessary? The threat. We both know that you follow through on those.”

Reeve chuckled. “Yeah, it was. But let’s be honest, I wouldn’t indiscriminately kill innocents on that scale. I would burn a one-meter square patch in the ground on every world and call it good. Never specified how much of their world I would burn.” He turned his bemused look back to the holo-table. “Besides, they are already scattering. See?”

True to his observation, the Vizerian fleet had broken up into several small flotillas. Each had taken up position well outside of weapons’ range. It wasn’t like the three-hundred-odd ships could do anything to his nearly four-thousand strong armada, but it was avoiding necessary casualties that mattered.

Reeve didn’t like waste.

“Proceed to the planet at full speed, Navigator. Security, notify the marine brigade. I am sure His Grace will be going down with you,” Evron said, issuing orders.

“Yes, Admiral. Orders have been issued,” his second, a brightly colored Alurai reported.

Since the conquest and subsequent entry of the Collective into the Imperium, the Alurai were fanatical followers of Reeve. Their populace had been enamored with him ever since the reports that their pirate Prince had been killed by him in combat… along with dozens of other warriors. The fact he spared, then empowered the survivors made him a god in their eyes. And his legend only grew from there.

Now he was, within the very definition, worshipped as their primary deity. The Alurai had several gods prior to him; however, none had taken the time to tour, meet, and ensure the growth and success of the populace as Reeve had. This only made the masses further enamored with him.

Reeve stood up and popped his back. Nodding to Evron, he vanished from the bridge only to reappear in the hangar bay. He no longer needed to do something as mundane as walking, unless it served a purpose such as meeting his subjects, taking a tour, or enjoying the scenery. Business movements, however, were done by teleportation. Much quicker and far more efficient.

The Praetors bowed to him as he walked onto the combat dropship and took his customary seat at the front next to the cockpit doors. Sitting down, he secured himself into the seat using the harness. Jericho sat across from him, beaming. She would occasionally fidget with the ring on her left hand. It was a simple, clear gem set in a white gold band. It wasn’t the most exquisite thing ever, but Reeve had made it for her himself.

Smiling at him, she closed her helmet and attached her BFP to her belt. Then she too secured herself into the seat using the harness.

The dropship filled up with Praetors, Quadrians, and Alurai mercenaries. Every person here was the best of the best, and Reeve recognized many faces from his frequent planetary drops with them.

“Kazon, Miggi, Vaughn, good to see you,” he said as the trio of Alurai triplets returned his greeting. “Gorzak, they regrew your leg already?” he asked, turning his head toward a Quadrian.

“Not yet, Your Grace. Quick as could be, though, I told them I had to escort you to the planet so they stuffed one of those pros-etics on me. Good as new. I may like it better than my first one,” he said with a chuckle.

Reeve nodded. “Good on you. Well, let’s get going, then,” he said as the ramp slid closed. He could feel the ship take off and speed up right out of the hangar and into the void.

He loved the void. Most other beings got nervous, flying through an area with a lack of atmosphere where even a small mistake could end them. With Reeve, however, they knew they were more than safe. In fact, they were so safe that no one in the known galaxy could harm a ship that Reeve was on.

They descended through the atmosphere quickly, encountering no resistance. The assault dropship flew down, coasting over mountains, a massive lake, and verdant green jungle. After roughly thirty minutes of flight, they slowed to a near stop in mid-air. The craft descended vertically; the pilot landed them on a large open square made of paving stone, something Reeve hadn’t seen since he had been on his own world of origin.

Stepping down the ramp, the squad fanned out before they allowed him off. While not strictly necessary, there was protocol to follow.

Walking down the ramp with his hands folded behind him and Jericho at his side, Reeve took stock of the area. Outside of the thick jungle, a well-made road leading into the brick square, and the large stone monastery behind them, the place was deserted. What an amazing find.

Rolling his eyes, Jericho gave sharp commands to the squad as he walked over to the monastery’s main doors… and knocked.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Three deep, loud knocks echoed through the clearing. The animals and birds fell silent at the out-of-place noise.

“That doesn’t bode well,” one of the mercenaries mumbled. “It’s always quietest before the storm.”

Another fighter elbowed him, but it was too late. The damage was done.

A huge, long, rolling roar echoed through the forest. Trees and bushes parted for a massive fifteen-meter creature that stepped out into the opening. All the warriors present raised their weapons, but Reeve waved them down.

“Don’t bother. She won’t bug us,” he said, completely ignoring the massive beast who was very perplexed by how the small creature before her could ignore her. He walked over to the doors, tore them off their hinges, and flung them across the clearing, narrowly missing the beast on the edge of it. “I will not be denied,” he said simply.

The beast slowly backed away from Reeve and re-entered the jungle. She was not the smartest monster in the jungle, but she knew when and when not to fuck with something. The little person in front of her definitely fell into the latter category.

Reeve strolled in like he owned the place. Startled monks with leathery brown skin and faded smocks stared openly at him.

“Where is your Abbot?” Reeve asked, keeping his request simple.

All of the monks took a fighting stance.

Reeve rolled his eyes. This was getting him exactly nowhere. And he was irritated. “If even one of you takes a step forward, I…” He paused. He felt something from these monks, now that he bothered to look. It was… familiar. A whisper of a ghost of energy, floating in between them all. Not of the triad of energies he had, Mana, Aether, or Miasma. No.

This was something else. Something… different, but familiar.

The first monk launched itself at him, a massive chitinous fist shooting out from under its robes. It bounced of Reeve’s Mana shield. He took the opportunity to examine the creature, observing its large, clawed hand in particular. It wasn’t just meat, blood, and bone. No. There was more.

Reeve casually caught the claw and tore it off and the being chittered in pain. Or maybe horror. Possibly both.

A small, powerful wave of Aether sent the rest of them flying backward and onto the ground. While they recovered, Reeve examined the arm he had taken. There was definitely technology woven into it. How deeply, he didn’t know... but it only served to add to the mystery. More questions, and no answers.

He handed it off to a mercenary near him. “Take this back to the Shuttle. Store it in a secure, sealed container,” he ordered.

The Quadrian nodded and took off at a jog to fulfill the orders as Reeve turned back to the monks. “Now, either you can answer me… or you can’t. If it’s that second one, we can play one of my favorite games. How many monks do I have to kill to get to the center of my answers?” he asked.

The question made them pause. Looking at one another for a moment, they took a collective step back. A much smaller hooded figure stepped forward. “What answers do you seek, Destroyer?” it asked in quiet, almost whisper of a voice.

“Where is my son? Who took him? And what are you?” Reeve asked.

The small figured gasped out a wheezing chuckle. “Destroyer, you have so many questions for one who only brings death. Your son is not here. Boredom has taken him beyond even our abilities to see. We are who we are. Just another group trying to survive,” it chuckled.

“Right, sure you are. And I’m the Emperor,” Reeve said sarcastically. Then he paused. “Wait, no, I actually am. Never mind. Whatever. Do you know where Boredom is? Gonna find her and tear out her lungs.”

The small being took a small step back even as it replied, “No. Our dealings with the… prior administration were small. Inconsequential. We have no interest in wider galactic affairs yet.”

“Yet?” Reeve asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Yet,” confirmed the small being. “Just like yourself, and many other organizations, we have goals. Nothing that should impact you or yours. Just matters of vengeance.”

Reeve nodded. He could understand that. Vengeance was a driving force for many of the groups and individuals that had been wronged in Origin. What better way than to right those wrongs than by getting ahold of the offending party and doing hideous, nasty things to them? There wasn’t.

“Right, okay then. Guess we’re done here. Thanks for not making me kill everyone. It’s been a pleasure. Bye, now,” Reeve grunted as he turned to leave. Then he froze.

Next to the main doorway that he had ripped the doors off of was a small garden. In that small garden were several things. Small green shoots were just beginning to grow from the mottled, well-tended earth. There was a watering can. A small spade. A garden hoe sticking straight up with its handle in the air. But that wasn’t what had his attention.

No. It was the sunhat perched on top of the garden hoe.

The exact same sunhat burned into his memory. The sunhat that was being worn by the woman called Boredom who took his son.

He slowly turned back to the small being. There was no way these hooded monks could be in possession of such an exact replica of clothing. None of them wore hats. None of them had hats.

“What is that doing here?” Reeve asked, casually pointing to the garden.

The small representative cocked its head to one side questioningly, the folds of its hood continuing to obscure its face. “Destroyer, that is a garden. We use it to grow food,” it responded.

Reeve almost blew him up.

Instead, he took a deep breath and let it out in a long, slow sigh. “No,” he elaborated. “The hat. What is that hat doing there?”

The small being looked back and forth between Reeve and the hat. Eventually he sighed and, completely changing his tone, said, “Well, fuck. I told her to take her hat. Dumb bitch.”

Then they attacked.

Reeve waved his hand to the side, erasing them and a good portion of their stone monastery behind them from existence. Only the diminutive representative, who he had knocked flat with his attack, and the one-armed being remained. Everything else was dead.

Walking slowly over to the small garden, which remained undisturbed, he picked up the hat. He put it up to his nose and inhaled deeply. He caught scents of fresh earth, flowers, and the salty tang of ether ocean or sweat. Dropping his hand with the hat to his side, he raised his face skyward, eyes closed.

Standing there, he began to search. He spread his awareness out and reached into the fabric of the universe… but couldn’t find this wayward god.

It was infuriating.

Reeve opened his eyes and looked at the fallen and trembling duo on the ground before him. He squatted down until he was eye level with the smaller of the remaining beings. Reaching forward, he pushed the hood off its head and revealed an emaciated skull with skin stretched tightly over it. Pale, sickly yellow eyes stared at him before the being looked quickly away. The machinery embedded in its body continued to operate, humming away as it performed whatever task it was designed to do.

The short pale man glared hard at the ground and Reeve felt a sneaking suspicion that he had seen the being somewhere before. Reaching forward, he grabbed its chin and tilted its face upward so he could get a better look.

Thinking back over his experiences, he knew he had met this being before. He just couldn’t remember where. Then their eyes locked. The smoldering hatred, the rage, the arrogance. Reeve could feel the waves of emotion coming off of this Gnome in spades.

He grinned evilly as the small being trembled with suppressed fury.

“It must be upsetting, knowing that you were a goat led to slaughter,” Reeve taunted. “Tell me where she is, where my son is, and I will let you live.”

The Gnome spit in his face.

Reeve wiped the phlegm mixed with blood from his face. “The hard way it is, then,” he said with a small, dangerous smile. “Try not to bite off your tongue, Rimple. I would hate if I didn’t have a body to bring to your father this time.”

Reaching forward, he closed his fist around the Gnome Prince’s throat and stared into his eyes… then ripped his soul out.

Reeve would have his answers.