Galaxy Pirates

Chapter 50: Reclaiming the Earth

The Galaxy Navy underwent major changes within its administrative offices: since the Hugwert Clan had been annihilated by the pirates, while Zenon wan Buetter had helped preserve lives of many soldiers due to his brilliant strategies during the retreat, this latter was chosen as a new marshal.

Due to many losses, the Galaxy Navy temporarily withdrew from the intergalactic battlefield. The pirates decided to use this circumstance to their advantage. The Shark Tooth fleet returned to Planet Cyberia in order to devise new strategies for Planet Earth's assault.

Richder spent a lot of time with Yukiji on his ship and soon the two grew quite close. Once they arrived on Cyberia and Arubah was about to summon the Council of the Captain Lords, Richder disclosed his secret to him – that he and Yukiji had made a vow of love. Baxus, Dohta, and Zehu, who were present in the room as Arubah's mates, widened eyes in great astonishment, for Richder's falling in love was even a stranger fact than that of Zehu's – it was well-known that Richder couldn't stand women of any sorts and had a hard time communicating with them, due to his painful past experiences. Even to Arubah, this news was quite a surprise:

"Our good old Nobuhiro's very granddaughter? That's quite something! Ah, Richder, I would never imagine you to fall for a human, but now that you say it's his granddaughter, it makes more sense".

"Yeah, but, how come? You and women?" Dohta raised an eyebrow, "I find it hard to believe even if I hear it directly from you, Richder".

"As I've always told you, I enjoy trying out new perspectives," Richder put a cigar in his mouth rather coldly, "She is something... new to me, and yet nostalgic, regarding her descendance. We've had a lot of conversations, got to know each other quite well, and I realised we've got a lot in common, no matter how it surprises me. She is not like any other woman I've seen. She's much softer, much more fragile, so innocent and defenceless... like I once was. It makes me adore her all the more".

"That is so cute, almost makes me melt!" Arubah let out a laugh which greatly contradicted the meaning of his words. "A woman from the Eastern Coalition? Hmm, that simplifies things a lot," he touched the figure of the Earth in his mini-world and expanded the map of the planet, carefully observing it with his black eyes scintillating like those of an eagle once it has detected its prey and calculates the strategy of its capture, "Three great empires of the Earth, and now, all three have finally tied with my_" he paused and eyed the presenting mates with flushed-up cheeks as if caught upon personal affairs, "Gentlemen, I kindly ask you to leave me now. I'll see you at the council".

Baxus, Dohta, Richder, and Zehu, realising that, although said with a honey voice, it was a strict order, left the chamber without a second word. Arubah, satisfied with the solitude, got back to the map and calculations, a triumphant grin forming onto his countenance.

***

Dark clouds had covered the Earthly sky, completely obscuring the sun and overshadowing the arid fields covered in concrete buildings and smokes – the artificial habitats the Reptiloids would build everwhere they settled. The streets in these metal cities were now empty – the Reptiloids had restricted the movements since the Radenese spaceships might attack from anywhere in the air. The similar situation had unfolded in the Eastern Coalition – the only human empire to have allied with the Radenoids. Every human knew by now, that neither of these two species meant them any good, but as they had no other choice, they had long coped with the situation or tried to cope with it.

Since both the Reptiloids and the Radenoids had suffered major losses on the intergalactic battlefield, they had fortified their defences on Earth and had urged every capable human soldier (which meant men starting from 13 years and women from 18 if still unmarried) to defend the main territories and act as decoys or even sacrifices. They didn't really care about the human race but rather their own strategical position on the planet. The humans of Aenglia weren't even protected by their own governor Richard Celebretea, who had long become a vassal of the current Reptiloid king, Sanek. This latter, after the Divine Emperor died, had regained all the authority over his people, so now he had decided to go all out on the enemy Radenoids and the enslaved humans in terms of cruelty and bloodshed. Divine Emperor Koriel, even though cold and pitiless by nature, was not keen on spilling too much blood, at least in apparent ways, while to the Reptiloids, torturing their prey was essential to prove their strength on a territory. They were not just heartless – their brain capacity was limited in terms of empathy and understanding but far progressive regarding technical inventions, including weaponry. Hence, they were the worst possible adversary to any developed species.