The Alienbutt Saga, Book 1. War of the Coffee Bean. Part 20.

The enemy ships became harder to find for the hunting Ick forces amongst the hundreds of burning wrecks, and the battle fizzled out to just occasional explosions as the last few enemy ships were hunted down. Escape pods launched from the abandoned ships were rounded up. Armed guards on the Ick dreadnoughts escorted prisoners down to cargo bays that were being used temporarily as holding areas. The commanders of the Ick fleet gathered on Admiral Frederick’s ship. Piestoff was in the last group to arrive. Flanked by Killashandra, Snoodgrass and Captain Noble, he entered the Admiral’s office. Nifty, her eyes blazing, walked over to him and slapped his face. “You scared the crap out of us, Piestoff.”
Then she grinned and hugged him. Rubbing his cheek, he looked embarrassed as Blackarachnia and Wickede walked over and greeted him.
Wickede then turned to Killashandra and smiled. “It seems I am in your debt, lady, for the timely return of my ship. May we discuss a suitable reward for you, over dinner maybe?”
Commander Kali who was sitting at the desk shook her head in disbelief. “Down Wickede, leave the lady alone, at least until the smoke clears on the battlefield.”
Wickede had the grace to look reprimanded as he picked up a bottle of whiskey which he threw to Alienbutt, then, his grin returning, he spoke to Killashandra again. “May I get you a drink then my lady? No harm in that, is there, Kali?”

CHAPTER 8
Plots in the dark.

INTERSTELLAR NEWS CHANNEL 9 NEWS FLASH

News is starting to come in of a massive space battle in the Outer Systems between Ick forces working for the Federation and an unknown force believed to be planning to raid the coffee supply chain. The Ick ambassador to the Federation reported that the enemy fleet, numbering over a thousand ships, had been totally destroyed and a number of prisoners taken. The Ick and their allies had suffered sizeable losses of ships but most of their personnel had escaped, using life pods, and would be reassigned to new ships upon their return to the Ick Empire. News of the battle has caused further unrest within the Senate with Senators wanting to know how such a large force could be assembled and what the security forces would be doing to prevent a repeat of this event.

Far across the universe, a group of very serious men gathered in a darkened room. The room was large, and priceless works of art from many worlds adorned the walls. The vaulted ceiling lost in shadow was not covered in whitewash, but had been hand painted by a famous artist hundreds of years before. It was one of those rooms which was always favoured by men such as these, who were having a secret meeting to bring about their own diabolical plans.
“The Troll fleets have been totally destroyed by the Ick and their supporters,” announced one of those seated, in a dull, bored sounding voice. The statement received very little in the way of reaction from the others sitting at the table.
The figure at the head of the table finally replied. “We knew they would fail. Their purpose was to flush out those who will stand with the Ick leader. We now know the last of the Alienbutts has teamed up with the Ick. He must be charmed by fate to have survived; he is the one who is outside the prophecy.”
“The destruction of his home world was no loss to the universe; they were not our customers,” replied the first one to speak.
The one at the head of the table nodded in agreement. “The Alienbutt is dangerous because his destiny is not set in the prophecy. He is a loose cannon that can change everything. We must now press ahead and kill Wickede, and then we can bring our war into the open. If Wickede was to find a cure for the coffee addiction as foretold then we could lose everything. We kill their leader and then eradicate the Ick, only then can we build an empire that will last to the end of time. Once we destroy the Ick, the Alienbutt will be alone and of no further threat.”
The figures around the table nodded their agreement as a servant brought around cups of hot pure coffee. The one at the head of the table sipped the hot brew then looked at a purple-skinned, hairless creature who sat to his left. He was Senator Gralswige, one of the most powerful voices in the Federation Senate and a member of the secret group for over fifteen years.
“How goes the building of our armies?” asked the one seated at the head of the table.
“All runs to schedule. We have half a million robot troopers and our Ick spy has supplied us with blueprints of the mark two dreadnoughts, which are now in production. All Ick involved in its development have been killed and the plans wiped from all Ick computers. This battle gave us the opportunity to steal the march, and their new ship. Their best development team is now dead. We will have the edge when the battles begin.”
The one at the head of the table leaned back in his chair. “It is time to start the debate in the Federation Senate for a formation of a galactic army, Gralswige. We can let that debate run until the news of Wickede’s death is announced and then we push it through, placing our personnel in all key locations.”

To be continued.
Thanks for reading, all images are mine.