Chapter 262 200,000,000 Lightyears away!
"Daniel!" Calishora called into my mind, waking me from the bed with Melody.
"What is it?!" I asked as I pulled Melody's arm off me to sit up.
"It's my sister! They are close! We need you up here!" Calishora said, and I sunk into the bed and grew up from the floor of Octavia's tree.
"Wow! That was much faster than I got here, Papi! When are you going to teach me that little trick?" Sofia asked as she came over to give me a kiss. Gaia, Dawn, Omega, Octavia, and Calishora were all standing around the now digital and holographic table.
"You know now," I said, as I gave all of my wives the ability without even touching any of them but Sofia. My connection to the world was so strong now that ask long as I was connected, I could reach anything, anywhere, that was also connected to something in this world. "What do we know so far?"
"They are way bigger than we thought," Omega said, "They have over a thousand ships with them!"
"Ships? I thought that they would be coming alone? What else do we know? How far away are they? How long till they are here?" I asked as I looked at the table, but the targets were not on the map of the solar system.
"They just jumped in around the 200,000,000 lightyear mark, but we only found it because Calishora was here to help us narrow down the direction. I was able to place a pointer on her finger to mark on the map the exact direction of them. Olivia sent a hard beam of compressed light to that area, and we started marking them. They know were know that they are coming and are close, but until they jump again, we won't know how long it will take them. For now, the ships seem to be dormant, but they are sitting close to the sun. I think this is because they need to recharge each time," Sofia explained, and I nodded, but Omega spoke up.
"What do you plan on doing? We had still seen no signs of the Gideons, so what do the rest of us do?" Omega asked as he looked around the room. "May we could whip something up, but we have planned to meet our foe on the ground while you take on the sisters, right?"
"Things stay the same. I will still be dealing with all the Drakar and you all with the Gideons. From what we have learned, each force should stay in its own zone and fight somewhat honorably. This will be the only advantage we have besides Mox's Andariel. It is the lowest rank and a scouting unit, but it helped Sofia and Aiko get a better idea of their weapons and armor systems," I explained, and then looked down at Sofia, who was leaning into me. "Gobbles has also helped you both with modification, right?"
"That raccoon is adorable, but I have never seen a more crazy critter when it comes to repairs and upgrading. Aiko pulled a gun on him when he started to dissemble one of her mechs, but Gobbles pulled it apart before she could raise it up! I just stood there and laughed at them, but now they get along, and the white raccoon just runs around tearing things apart and putting them back together to make them better," Sofia explained, and I grinned, imagining Aiko and Gobbles fighting like with Mox.
"I have seen him in action. He will be an asset to you all if you let him. Just because Gobbles likes to tear things apart does not mean that he can't put them BACK together again," I explained with a grin before gesturing towards the table, "Can a projection of the enemy fleets be brought up in front of here to better explain our plan?"
"One second, Papi," Sofia said with a grin as she put her hand on the table and then brought up what looked like a 3D animation of the enemy fleet. "This is from Augusta, our top strategist. Her projection shows that you should hit them here," she said as she pointed to just in front of our sun.
"Good. Calishora, What do you know about the ships that each of the girls is bringing?" I asked, turning to my Dragonic wife, and briefly thought of Lilith, who was now human or slowly reverting back to one.
"Korrenka has heavy ships that are known for their shields. Each of her ships is more durable than the first ring of our sun, but they are slow-moving due to the weight and propulsion issues," Calishora said, making me nod as I reminded myself that we were dealing with tech that is millions of years ahead of us in some ways. "Lindemia brings middle-sized ships known for their speed. They have tested various types out by having races within large areas like mountains and show deep trenches in order to battle each other across a distance."
"How do they attack?" I asked, and she answered as fast as she could. "Galliadra ships are small but have powerful engines allowing them to be really quick. They are also known for their maneuverability which makes them tough to hit."
"Ok. This is good to know. For now, I need everyone prepping the mechs and getting everyone to safety. Octavia, you and Omega can monitor them and let me know as soon as they make that next jump. That will start the clock on how long we have before Tiamat's daughters arrive at what I had to assume to be the sun," I said, and I looked around the table. "This is it, but we are ready. Everyone has been working hard, so I want to make sure that we all make it out of this alive. No one takes chances, and everyone works as a team. Gaia, I would like you to stay with Sofia and Dawn, you will stay with me, and Omega, you are with Octavia at all times, and you leave to the underground immediately if the Crystal domes Diamos is creating around Central and South forests is penetrated. There is also a massive halfpipe corridor between them."
I looked around at everyone, and there were a lot more worried faces than hopeful smiles, but nothing about this was going to be easy. It was better for everyone to have a bit of doubt right now, but not all was bad. Thanks to the Gideons looking like they would come second, I had a chance to take on at least the first sister before they got here. And while I didn't think that it would be easy, the control I had now was much greater than ever. If there was anything I could do to tip the fight, it would come from me.
"Everyone, this is our chance to leave an impression on them. You all have done so much for humans, and now it's time that I return the favor," I said as I looked around at the serious faces again. "When this is all over, we are going to need to sit down and figure out how we can work together better in order to protect what is ours."
"Daniel?" Sofia said as she tugged on my arm lightly, "Come with me? We can talk more about this later."
I nodded before kissing her forehead gently and getting up from the table. Dawn grabbed my hand before quickly kissing me as well. She wanted to say something but just couldn't find the words, so she just hugged me tightly instead while everyone watched us silently until Gaia finally broke it by hugging both of us at once with a whisper of 'I love you.'
"We should get going," I said softly before looking towards Omega, who just nodded. He understood that things were about to get very dangerous, and we all had our own roles to play in this. There was no time for goodbyes, but everyone gave me a hug as I made my way out of the tree.
I stopped at the Guardian base first, where Gobbles was now busy tinkering with some more machines while Mox and Aiko watched him work with wide eyes from across the room. I chuckled softly before making my way over and ruffling his fur lightly with a grin. The raccoon looked up at me for a moment before going back to work without even missing a beat in what he was doing.
"What is he doing?" I asked as I looked between Mox and Aiko, who just shrugged in response. "He is upgrading our weapons systems by adding energy weapons to them." Mox finally answered after a long moment of silence, "Gobbles here has been working non-stop since we got here on making sure that we are prepared for what is to come."
I nodded before patting Gobbles on the head lightly one more time before moving away and towards where Eddie stood, glaring up at this menacing mech. I had to admit that it was rather intimidating, but I knew that it would be worth the wait.
"Eddie, you ready for this?" I asked as I came to a stop in front of him with my arms crossed over my chest. My arrogant and bad-mouthed clone just nodded before walking over and hopping into the cockpit with a smile on his face. I chuckled softly before slapping the side of the machine lightly and watched as it came to life effortlessly.
"The new work the Space Raccoon did really gives me more on-ground movement and flexibility like I never thought possible! I am just scowling at the fucking thing because It is hard to believe that it can work so good. I would show you, but you don't have time for that bullshit !" Eddie said with a smirk as the machine shifted and moved around slightly as if it was getting adjusted to its new pilot.
"I'll take your word for it. Just make sure to stay close to me and out of trouble," I said with a smirk of my own before making my way back towards where the rest of the Guardians were waiting outside with mechs ready to go. Gobbles had truly outdone himself this time, not only in repairing their damaged machines but also in making them better than they were before. He added energy weapons that didn't need ammunition but recharged using light from the sun or any other star in space which meant that they would never run out of power so long as there was a star nearby. It was an impressive feat, but we would see how well it worked once we were in the thick of things.
The Guardians all nodded at me as I approached, with Eddie following close behind me. I could feel his excitement emanating from him even through our link, but I pushed it down for now and focused on what needed to be done. We had a long day ahead of us, and I wanted to be prepared for whatever came our way.
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