Chapter 38

Year 4, Day 173, Endeavour, Terra Prime

Alexander and his ministers and advisors were gathered in the large conference where they often met. He'd just finished explaining what he'd seen on the Kromagg world and they'd spent time talking about the probable impact on their plans and the multiverse in general.

"The way I see it, we have four options. Let me run down them before you say anything" Alexander said after everyone had settled down.

"Option one, we pull back, leave the people of Earth 29 to their own devices, let the Kromaggs take them and expand their empire using the multiverse equivalent of a deepwater port" Alexander paused, "I don't like that option, and I doubt any of you like it either, but it's something to consider. The main advantage is we buy time, maybe only a decade or two until they learn to exploit the conflux, time we dearly need."

Alexander stopped and watched his people, they cleared didn't like the idea of leaving seven billion humans to fend for themselves. But for all that he and they hated it, it was a valid course of action. Given twenty years Terra Prime could ready a force that would grind the Kromaggs into dust. But how many other worlds would the Kromaggs capture in that time, how many humans would they kill?

"Option two, we stick to our plan, and likely lose. Earth 29 simply doesn't have the ability to fight both a land and space based invasion force, not even with our help" Alexander took a sip of his tea. "This is perhaps the worst option, at least in my opinion, not only would it cost us resources we can ill afford to expend, but it would allow the Kromaggs to get access to some of our more powerful technology."

Again Alexander watched their reactions, it was as he thought, they didn't like that option either. Mark Clayworth had a thunderous expression on his face.

"Option three, we go on the offensive, or rather, I go on the offensive" Alexander shuddered, his gaze troubled as he looked around the table, "If I take the gloves off, I could reduce the Kromagg empire to dust, all hundred plus planets, all the tens of billions of people, both Kromagg and Human, I could do it. I don't want to, but I could. Between dropping nukes from orbit, all the universes out there with planet crackers, or hell, I could just drop huge ass rocks from the asteroid belt on their heads." Alexander paused, "Or the moon. That's another option I've considered, it would take a hell of a bomb, and be really fucking hard, but it is possible to drop it from orbit onto an Earth, the psychological warfare implications alone are obscene"

His ministers and advisors were exchanging worried looks, they hadn't considered the possibilities, but now that they had, it was a disturbing image. As was the fact their leader spent time thinking about such things.

After a few minutes of silence, Viriathus cleared his throat, "M'lord, you said there four options?"

Alexander shook himself, "Yes, option four, possibility the most dangerous, both in the short and long term"

More worried looks were exchanged, Alexander had just spoke about destroying planets, and there was something he considered more dangerous.

"Here's what I'm thinking..."

***

In the end they'd gone with option four, with sections of option three held in reserve. Alexander didn't like it, his advisors didn't like it, but no-one had come up with a better idea. They'd tried, they had spent most of the day debating and arguing, brainstorming ideas ranging from asking other universes for help to finding a way to lock the Kromaggs on their own worlds.

The problem was time; they didn't have any. Option four was their best bet for victory in the short amount of time they did have.

Sitting alone in his office Alexander started drawing up plans, resources he'd need, how he'd go about using them, and most importantly the long term consequences of his actions.

Year 4, Day 178, Redoubt, Earth 29 Universe

Alexander breathed deeply through his nose as he looked around the rocky landscape. He was thirty light years from Earth, on the planet scientists called HD 85512 b, which he'd christened Redoubt. It was the closest habitable planet to Earth he'd found in universe he was forced to operate in, but that wasn't to say it was a nice planet.

In fact it made the Outback of his native Australia look like a pleasant picnic spot. The most hospitable part of the planet was a continent about the size of North America sitting near the equator. And even that was rocky and desolate. The local plant life was toxic to humans, and the local animal life was barely more than tiny creatures, more suited to the early Paleozoic era on Earth than anything Alexander had ever encountered before.

But the young king wasn't planning on setting up a vacation spot, this was a military industrial complex in it's purest form. He dreaded to think what the Greenpeace types on Earth 29 would say when they found out about it.

Already dozens of droids were digging into the ground, mining the needed resources at astonishing speeds. In the five days since his staff had debated their options Alexander had slept maybe ten hours total. He was running off a combination of caffeine, SWU stimulants, and pure stubbornness. The first day he'd transited to the Star Wars universe and dropped almost all of his cash reserves to purchase a swathe of droids and equipment.

Almost a billion credits. Enough to buy a Star Destroyer, with a full loadout, including crew. It was a good thing money was easy to acquire for a man with access to teleportation, invisibility, and dimensional travel technology.

Most of the resources he'd purchased were still sitting in warehouses on different worlds waiting for him to move them.

The first thing he'd done was transit several dozen droids, a special model that had been almost obscenely expensive. Designated CF17s, or Colony Foundation droids, they were the dogs bollocks in rapidly setting up living space. Looking like a cross between a water buffalo and R2D2 they moved in a slow but steady manner building living space for the human members of the operation.

Not that there were going to be many humans involved, Alexander wouldn't wish Redoubt on his worst enemy, it was a thoroughly unpleasant place to live. But he wanted people to oversee the project.

After transiting the CF17s and the resources they needed, something that had taken the better part of two days, he'd started moving the RED12s, or as he'd taken to calling them, the diggers. Each looked like a mechanical wombat, capable of burrowing into the ground and crapping out processed ore once their tanks were full. It was a repugnant sight. Already the landscape around the base looked like a horde of giant rabbits had been making themselves at home.

They were the key to his entire plan. Thirty light years was a massive distance, but to Star Wars universe hyperdrives it was nothing, less than an hours travel. Once his mechanical army get going in ernst they'd be churning out all the needed resources for the second phase of his plan.

"Let's see how the Kromagg's little toy spaceship handles a fully operational battleship" Alexander said under his breath, a feral smile on his face.

A/N: Okay everyone said I was crazy not to use droids, and you were right, but it's something I would do, I wouldn't want droids around if I could help it. But pushed into a corner, let's just say Von Neumann has his place... right next to the sunshine in a can.

And no it wont be a Star Wars battleship, it would be at most a frigate, but even a Star Wars frigate would smash the hell out of anything the Kromaggs could put into orbit.