The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire Raymond Weil (the reading list TXT) 📖

new Destiny. They need to get familiar with the ship and the new systems on board. With a little luck we’ll soon be ready to conduct the first tests and can see just how well this new weapon works.”

“If it works as the military scientists believe it will, we’ll be putting particle beam cannons on all our dreadnoughts,” added Admiral Marloo.

“What about the battlecruisers?” asked Governor Alex Therron of Bratol Three.

“They’re not big enough to handle the power requirements,” replied Marloo. “We will emplace two bow particle beam cannons on each battleship. They use a series of magnetic accelerators to project subatomic particles at extremely high speeds. It functions as both an energy weapon and a kinetic weapon.”

“Due to the size of the new Destiny, we have four of the cannons on the bow,” explained Derrick. “They are paired into two batteries, and two of the cannons will fire each time they are activated.”

“Let’s hope the tests go well,” commented General Gantts. “We need a superior weapon we can use against the Confederation.”

“Now what’s this other matter we’re here to discuss?” asked Governor Julian Bemire of Ambary Two.

High Princess Layla stood, a solemn look on her face. “When the Confederation attacked Earth, they left many destroyed ships behind. The Earth’s military removed a number of the bodies of the seven Confederation races from the wreckage, as well as downloaded a tremendous amount of data from any working computers on the destroyed warships. We have two of Earth’s best medical research scientists with us today, Dr. Warren and Dr. Glancy. I’ll let them explain to you what they found.” Layla retook her seat.

Dr. Warren stood. “We did autopsies on the dead of every Confederation race to better understand their strengths and weaknesses. When we began examining the Morag, we found something unexpected. A portion of the Morag brain is greatly expanded. Upon doing more research, we believe the Morag are capable of telepathy.”

“What!” exclaimed Governor Dru Clarro of Vidon Seven. “Impossible. No records of any telepathic race anywhere in the known galaxy have ever been found.”

“The Morag have kept their ability a secret,” explained Dr. Warren. “I have a video presentation that will show the autopsies of several Morag brains, and you will see what we’re talking about.”

The presentation was loaded and played on the main viewscreen. Derrick noticed that Krista turned very pale but had watched the entire presentation.

“It also explains how the Morag fleet formations are far superior to everyone else’s,” added Derrick. “They are in constant telepathic communication, and orders can be sent instantaneously.”

Everyone went silent for several long moments.

Finally Fleet Admiral Marloo addressed the group. “Both Dr. Warren and Dr. Glancy have additional evidence and will be available to answer more of your questions after this meeting. One thing I should add. We don’t believe the other races of the Confederation are aware of the Morag’s ability. There is a good chance the Morag have been controlling the other Confederation races, perhaps since the very beginning of the Confederation.”

“So we have the Morag to blame for all this death and destruction?” asked Governor Littrel, a hint of anger in her voice.

“Most likely,” replied Fleet Admiral Marloo. “We don’t know how much they have influenced the Great Council of the Confederation, though some of the tacticians on Earth believe it has been considerable. Look at the attack on Earth, at the number of suicide ships. I’ll ask Dr. Glancy to explain what they believed happened.”

Dr. Glancy stood, his expression somber. “We are nearly certain that the Morag used their telepathy to take control of the commanders of any damaged ships to force them to suicide their vessels. This is something we have never seen in any other attack, and this only occurred with the presence of Morag warships. You can also study the videos of the battle and see how the Morag fleet moved almost as one. It’s obvious they were using some way to coordinate their fleet movements that we have never seen before. Telepathy explains everything.”

“I have a question,” said Governor Staley of Aquilla Three. “Why did they not take over the minds of Earth’s ship commanders and order them not to resist?”

Dr. Glancy looked to Dr. Warren, who nodded. “We believe the reason they are so afraid of Humans is because we are immune to their telepathic influence. It may well be the reason why they attacked the Human Empire to begin with.”

This caused an uproar, as most of the councilors began talking at once.

High Princess Layla stood again, which caused everyone to quiet down. “We must decide how to use this information. Right now everything in the Empire is relatively quiet, with only a few minor attacks over the last few weeks. We are fortifying as many of our worlds as possible and adding new fleet units every day. How much discord would the information about Morag telepathic influence cause if we revealed this information to the other member races of the Great Council?”

“It could cause the Confederation to delay any future attacks on the Empire, while they settle this internal problem,” commented Prince Andrew. “It could possibly buy us weeks before they could launch a major attack. Weeks in which we could build more warships and could add more worlds to the Empire.”

“The other Confederation races could even go to war against the Morag,” suggested Governor Able Marsk of Lamora Seven.

Fleet Admiral Marloo shook his head. “I doubt it would come to that, as the Morag would just use their telepathy to ensure the council stays loyal. However, it might take the Morag time to ensure they have control of the entire Confederation. Time we could definitely use to prepare for our future conflict with them.”

Layla looked around the group. “I would like to see us continue to expand the Empire, particularly to all the worlds close to