Bad Seed Ch. 24

"Good, I need a scan of the planet," Wren said, then blinked at the total number that she saw there. "Am I reading this number correctly?" Wren asked.

"Now reassessing," Trigon said, as it was quiet a moment. "I have reassessed, scan, it is correct. There are ten thousand earth people on the planet. It will take two hours to evacuate all of them, even with the updated system."

"Alright as soon as you can, start getting them out of there," Wren said as she looked over all the readings she was getting from the planet.

Wren continued to scan the area to not have any unexpected guests. Her damn brother-in-law had been enough for two lifetimes.

She noticed that another group of ships were trying to slip away. With an almost sadistic smile, she had Trigon target all of them, then eradicate them.

"Open a channel, Trigon," Wren said. "To the murdering Meltry. Enjoy your last moments. I am delivering the same justice that your race did to the earth. It is fitting that your own weapons are what will destroy you, good-by. Drop all four shatter bombs," Wren said.

Even as they were moving away, the com started to go off with signals from the planet. Then she watched as the planet turned molten then cracked open.

Wren nodded as she opened a portal as they slipped away. Almost ten minutes later it opened not far from Decacon-one. Wren was about to call them when there were six squadrons around her of the earth ships.

"Hello Princess Wren, please follow the guide in," a pilot's voice said.

"I am on the glide path now. Please advise the council I have ten thousand people," Wren said, seeing the pilot's face in shock that cleared quickly.

"The council has been advised and shall be awaiting your arrival," the pilot said.

Wren sighed as she started to unload the confused people. She sighed, as they now had twenty thousand, eight hundred and fifty people. Still, a lot were missing though full families were back.

Three hours later Wren found that the tenth councilor was there. Perhaps the government might return after all. She helped with another twenty-five buildings in the third city.

She saw that the first was growing far faster than the rest. A sigh escaped her, she needed to get the rest, at least there was an earth again.

She actually had a chance to rest a bit as she looked over her engines to make sure the ship was safe. She felt she could take another exposure to the energy, though she didn't want to chance it.

"Alright Trigon," she said, a portal opening as soon as they left orbit. "Same as before, observe, I should hopefully be back soon.

"Compliance," Trigon said as the ship exited millions of miles from the eighth colony world.

Wren nodded as a portal opened before her. She stepped through not expecting who was there.

"Mother? What are you doing here?" Wren asked, a little confused.

"Well," she started, then Helene stepped into the room. "We are here to make sure that you don't kill yourself. You've been doing too much, that needs to stop."

Wren smiled as she nodded, "I know this mother, I do. I didn't do that before it just happened. Though truth be told, I am glad it did. One hundred and twenty-one? That's well over a fourth, we are so close," Wren said.

"Yes, you are close, though if you are dead, then what good will your efforts have been?" Rena's voice said behind her.

"Look," Wren started, "I did not activate what I did last time."

Rena could only smirk at Wren a moment, not sure if she believed her. "This time I will be there monitoring you. I know that the Chrysalis is weaker, though haste can kill us."

Wren was staring at Rena in shock. Here she didn't think that the female really cared about her. Wren shrugged; guess she was wrong.

They made their way to the Chrysalis room, Wren's mother and sister standing nearby. Rena had brought several pieces of scan equipment.

Wren looked at the three females as she waited, then when Rena nodded she placed a hand on the Chrysalis. At first there was an almost sigh from the Chrysalis, then two large balls of light broke off.

Wren smiled as she saw this, then they split into four, eight, sixteen, then twenty-two. Wren nodded as the lights all started to solidify into eleven males and eleven females.

Wren dropped her arm feeling a little tired, at least this time it hadn't been as bad.

"I have to go; the techs have increased our capacity. Three more colonies and the home planet, then I can rest," Wren said as she stepped through the portal.

Ophelia had been tested again though; she hadn't told Wren. She touched the Chrysalis, a smile on her face as six lights broke free. They all solidified there. Ophelia thought they were at one hundred forty-three, now nine.

Almost half, she hoped that this helped Wren, as the less she had, the better for her. At least I hope it does Ophelia thought as the weariness hit her.

Wren was hitting the eighth colony planet as fast as she could. The Meltry must have thought that they would stop her at the last planet. Though Wren was surprised when there were twenty-five thousand people there.

"Have they upgraded the system enough for faster extraction?" Wren asked, a little worried.

"The techs did, though it will still take two hours. Extraction has already started, I have several ships attempting to escape with stealth," Trigon said.

"Take all but the lead ship, let them escape. I think that a bit of false information should go far for us," Wren said.

"Compliance," Trigon said, as there were almost a hundred explosions leading away from the planet.

Wren smiled as she watched the last ship go to warp. They should arrive not long after she did, after they delivered those that, they had saved.

It was almost two hours later that a ringing tone let Wren know the transfer was complete. Looking over the reading she said, "open a channel."

"Channel open Master Wren," Trigon said.

"To the murdering Meltry I hope that you enjoy the same justice and mercy that you showed the earth. Drop all four of the shatter bombs," Wren said as she watched the planet shatter then explode.

A moment later a portal opened, after they entered, it took almost eight minutes to reach Delcon-one.

Wren was proud when she again saw that four squads of earth-force fighters were with her in moments.

"Welcome back Princess, the council has been notified. Please follow the glide in, we are here if you need another guide." Wren confirmed, then landed not far from the largest city.

Trigon then started the long process of bringing out the human. Wren sighed they would have forty-five thousand, eight hundred, fifty. Enough to actually start again.

Wren made another fifty buildings, feeling that it might help more. She had the star force at two hundred and sixty ships, a good thirteen squads. Not a lot, though protection, nonetheless.

She also saw that they had managed to make forty themselves, bringing it up to fifteen squads. Again, the techs managed to increase her digital capacity to sixty thousand though they warned her that she had near capacity. They were working on it though they didn't think she'd get beyond a hundred thousand.

Wren thought she should grow more ship, though, as she had found it made that part easier to destroy.

"Trigon grew another fifty feet of ship, try to increase shields in that part," Wren said, then had them leaving the planet. A portal opened as they headed to the ninth colony.

This time they were almost completely unguarded as Wren made short work of them. She wasn't that shocked when there were fifty-five thousand on the planet. This time it took almost three hours. Wren smiled when she saw that the ship she had let escape was already leaving.

"Let only that ship go, the rest destroy. I want them with a false sense of hope," Wren said as she watched it escape again.

"All humans aboard Master Wren," Trigon reported.

"Drop all four shatter bombs, are we going to have to wait?" Wren asked.

"Affirmative, I am only just starting on the next two shatter bombs. It will take at least two days to make enough for the rest of the mission," Trigon reported. "Now executing bomb drop," Trigon reported, as four massive explosions came from the planet. "No warning, Master Wren?"

"No, I think they knew that they were dead, especially with no protection," Wren said.

A moment later a portal in front of the ship. This time they were in it for almost ten minutes before they came out near Delcon-one.

Wren smiled when she saw ten squads appear almost immediately. "Welcome back Princess Wren," the lead pilot said. "We are contacting the council now."

Wren noticed that there now appeared to be five and not four cities and towns. Upon landing, Wren was contacted by the techs about the latest upgrade.

Wren was shocked when she saw that it was indeed a thousand capacity. This had her a bit worried, as she was sure that the home planet and the last colony would be waiting for her.

She was glad to see that the last two councilors were in this batch. It took quite a while to unload all the people, though they now had over a hundred thousand. She had barely enough energy to make another hundred buildings.

This time, she had Trigon open a portal near Esmerelda's ship. Time to plague the bitch again.

A quick fly-by blowing a few holes in her ship had the false Empress screaming at her. Then Wren smiled as she was about to really miss her off.

"Hey fake, hope you're not hoping for help from Thomas. I have him and am not about to let him go, go figure by!" Wren said with a laugh as she cut contact.

A moment later she was landing on Ceti-5, god she thought I am so tired as she stumbled out of the ship. Master Flugret caught her as she fell into his arms.

A soft sigh came from Wren as she let the darkness take her. "Ah, little Wren," Flugret said. "Again, you try to do it all, all at once."

He carried her into her room with a worried Ophelia and Helene close behind her. Her mother was worried, as Wren had destroyed all but two of the planets and they were the worst.

The planet of Ceti-5 was almost normal with almost half the people back. They needed the rest, though she couldn't get that many. Helene was almost there. They only needed a few more for Helene to be able to bring some out.

Wren was out for a few hours, her energy building up at an alarming rate. She awoke with a start, looking around her newer room.

"How did I get here?" She asked.

"That was my doing," Master Flugret sat from behind her mother and sister. "You exhausted your energy to the point you passed out into my arms."

Wren could only shake her head, she was still feeling weak, though nothing like before. She then saw the worried looks on her mother and sister's faces.

"Sorry mom, it took more than I thought it would, though I took two of the last colonies," Wren said.

"Yes, I know they reported that there are five towns and cities now, that they have over a hundred thousand people. I am very proud of you as they are, finally, we have a chance to come back," Ophelia said.

"I'm afraid that you need a day at least to rest," the Ceti-5 doctor said behind Master Flugret.

Wren saw that he had just come in with several papers in his hands. "I really don't have time to rest yet," Wren complained as she tried to rise out of bed, then dropped back. With a sigh she said, "OK, I concede." Making the doctor smile.

The next day, Wren actually felt more normal than she had in quite some time. She walked to the Chrysalis room, noticing that the crystalline structure wasn't as bright as before.

Wren shook her head as she laid a hand on it. She then nodded as the structure started to glow brighter, making her nod. A moment later two large spots of light broke off.

Wren watched as they became four, then eight, sixteen, then twenty-two, the last dividing into four more. Wren blinked as she hardly felt any strain or weakness.

A few moments later all solidified into twelve males and twelve females. Rena and the doctor were scanning Wren, shocked at what they saw.

"Can you confirm this?" Rena asked a moment later.

The doctor nodded as he started to compare his readings with hers. "It appears that she has grown another three levels."

"Yes, she is as strong as the seventh Master," a voice said behind them.

"She appears to still be stable, though that is by the equipment only," the doctor said.

The first Master nodded as, a moment later, the other nine strongest Masters entering the room.

They all ringed Wren, she could feel the probing combined scan from all of them. A short time later they all nodded as they left the room.

"Yes, you are as strong as the seventh Master, though not far from the sixth master. You are also stable, as the doctor said, it appears that your growth has slowed, allowing your body to keep up," The first Master said.

"So, there are now a hundred and seventy-three Cetisans back. Has the planet finally shifted back to what it once was?" Wren asked.

"It is very close; we can actually venture onto the surface for an hour before we have to come in. I believe that this also helped, though not as much as all of us," the first Master said.

Wren was nodding with a smile as she tried not to move that much. She was stronger, yes, though no point in using it if she didn't have to. Re-powering the Chrysalis hadn't taken as much as she thought it would.

A few hours later she discussed with her mother about the last two planets. She was worried that they were going to try and ambush her. Her mother nodded as she and Wren went through the ship, finally agreeing she was ready.

"Be careful Wren, if I remember right, the Meltrian emperor is a power-mad, raving lunatic. We can only assume that he has something in store to keep his power," Ophelia said, a worried look on her face.

"We have just got back together, we don't need to be separated again," Helene said.

Wren nodded to them both as she boarded her ship after giving both a kiss and a hug.

As soon as they were in orbit, a portal opened, then they were gone. Ten minutes later they came out trillions of miles from the last colony. A world far larger than any she'd seen so far.

"Status of weapons?" Wren asked.

"At present we have a total of eight shatter bombs, with two more half completed. We have a total of four hundred fifty energy torpedoes and five hundred regular torpedoes. Energy weapons at full, as are shields," Trigon reported.

Twenty minutes later they were within sight of the last colony world. "Are the four shatter bombs going to work with this world?" Wren asked.

"Now examining all parameters and data," Trigon said, then was quiet for a few moments.

"If it isn't, then I need to know how much more we are going to need," Wren said.

Minutes later Trigon said, "analyzing all the data. Four should be sufficient to render the planet lifeless."

A smile came to her lips, "take us in, identify all threats," Wren said.

"Compliance," Trigon said, then was quiet again. "I am reading five light battleships and five light cruisers. They seem to have a significant number of individual fighters. Now arming all weapons, might I suggest the battleships first."

"Target all battleships and cruisers, no less than ten energy torpedoes each," Wren said. She then smiled as they streaked from their ship, wreaking most of those they targeted.

"All but two of the ten ships are now inoperable. The last two are attempting to increase shields and mount an attack, Trigon said. "Detecting launch from the furthest ship, now launching counters.

"I want them both out of the picture," Wren yelled, then the ship vanished. Both battleships exploded as another ten energy torpedoes struck each.

After that, Trigon systematically started to take out the huge fleet that was there. After a few hours, there wasn't much that was left in orbit but debris.

There was almost an immediate response from hundreds on the colony. Most Wren ignored them though, a few got through saying it was the emperor and not them.

She then blinked in disbelief as she saw that there were one hundred thousand on the planet. She made sure confirming with Trigon.

"I have already started evacuating with the new equipment from the techs, it will still be two hours. We can take fifty thousand an hour, quite an improvement," Trigon said.

Wren was nodding her head as she kept watch for any fleeing. She was also thinking that the home planet was going to be the toughest. Two hours later a steady tone let her know that the transfer was finished.

"Alright Trigon, open a channel," Wren said.

"Channel open," Trigon said.

"To the murderous Meltry, today justice comes back to you. I give you the same mercy that your people showed the earth. It is fitting that your weapons are your demise, good-bye," Wren said as Trigon dropped the bombs.

Wren smiled as the colony world shuddered, shook, then exploded into chunks and dust. Trigon turned the ship as a huge portal opened behind them. Wren sat knowing that the trip was beyond the ten-minute limit.

The portal opened well from the Ceti-5 world. It took ann hour to recharge, then they were in orbit of Delcon-one.

It took three hours to finish off loading the hundred thousand. Wren left as soon as she could avoiding the thanks. As soon as she was in orbit, a portal opened and the ship came out ten minutes later.

"Hold here," she told Trigon as a portal opened in front of her. Without speaking, she went to the Chrysalis room, followed by no less than the ten strongest Masters. Rena, Ophelia and Helene were close behind her.

She laid a hand on the Chrysalis, at first putting more energy into it. Then she seemed to have to concentrate hard to get anything to happen. This time, two larger than before balls of light broke from the crystal.

As expected, they broke into four, then eight, sixteen, then twenty. It was at that moment that Wren tried to remove her hand and couldn't. The lights went to twenty-four, then thirty.

Wren's mouth dropped open as her arm dropped. She looked at the others with her mouth still open. Even more astounding was when they all quickly solidified into fifteen males and fifteen females.

"I seem to have lost control over how many I bring out. Here I thought I had total control," Wren said.

"How are you feeling?" Ophelia asked.

"Strange I am hardly tired at all. I need to finish this. I have rescued over two hundred thousand. I am still hoping that father is with the last bunch. The home world is twice as large as the last planet," Wren said.

"Be careful, if you are tired you need to rest, not good to get there and pass out with no energy," Ophelia said.

"I'll remember mother, I love the both of you," here Wren hugged her sister and mother. She waited a few moments, then a portal opened in front of her. She waved to the both of them as she stepped through.

"Alright Trigon, what do they have to meet us with," Wren said.

"Readings indicate at least fifteen heavy battleships, no less than twenty heavy crusiers. Ten of them are of strange configuration. I also count a fleet of over ten thousand single fighter ships," Trigon said.

"All weapons to full let's," Wren started as several alarms went off.

Wren scowled as she opened fire, not even having to aim.

"Warning, warning a ship of unfamiliar configuration has entered the system. It appears to be towing a space fighter that is inoperable," Trigon said.

Then she watched the strange ship release the space fighter, then it appeared that the Meltry noticed it. A few moments later the strange ship fired easily, taking out half of the hundreds heading for it.

Wren just shook her head antoher few hundred headed toward the strange ship. They were obviously worried as five heavy battleships were with them.