_____________ _____________ _____________ / / / / / / / / /____________ /____________/ /____________ / / \ / / / \ / __________/ / \ /____________ ______________________________ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / ______________\_/____________ ÄÂÚ³Ú¿ ³Ã´³Ù ³³ ³ ÁÀÀÀ´ ³ ³³Â¿Ú³Ú¿Â¿Ú¿Â¿Ú¿¿¿Â¿Ú³ ³³³³³³³Ù³ ³³³ ³³³³³³³³ ³³³³À´À´³ À³³ ÀÙÀÙ³³À´ ÀÙ ³ À ÀÙ /\/\/\/\/ S R E V : T h e U n d e r g r o u n d --=== SRE V: The Underground. Yes, SRE: IV my first original SRE story made a BIG splash. So- At the request of over forty users, SRE: V has come about. In the last story, our 'hero' died. To destroy the ultimate evil, MaceMan, Ultra gave his life. And the only remaining members of the Geneva Alliance have died or are missing. With the Dark Alliance seemingly destroyed, the Galactic Coordinator has reinforced the new Justice system. But a new danger lurks: The Underground, never destroyed, had gained three new members. Two were thirsty for power, one was thirsty for vengeance. This is their story.... ===/ Chapter 1 / The Galaxy was quiet. That was the way the Galactic Coordinator liked it. Ever since Ultra died, noone seemed to do much in the Galaxy. There were many fewer new empires. Perhaps word of the Coordinator's return had leaked Universally. Steel Talon was dead, and it seemed his once-powerful Dark Alliancefriends were gone too. Elite and Noren were dead, giving their lives and their empires to save the Universe. It seemed everyone the Galactic Coordinator had once held dear was dead. HitMan, head of Underground Weapon Centers had been arrested. He would be killed soon. FOrtuantely BioWeapons, the weapons that killed over 30 billion people in the Battle, were finally no longer made. No one had taken the chances involved in infiltrating the Underground after Ultra did. The Galactic Coordinator had no idea what was brewing down there. The Coordinator was still sad that Ultra, the only one who could have taken his place, was dead.Elite would have done the job too, but he was gone. Dune Realms was overthrown by his own 'loyal' empires. The Coordinator needed to find emperors willing to come to his once-war-ridden Galaxy. ===/ Chapter 2 / The Galaxy. He'd learned to loath that word. He had been the one. The Third In Command, under the mighty Steel Talon. Until the fool Ultra came along. He hated Ultra now, much as Mace must have once hated him. But Mace had avenged himself, even if he died. Mace's rise to empirial rulership had cost over 100 billion lives. A total that staggered even the most hardened person's heart. ButValiance was not willing to let the figure stay. Ultra was finally dead. Elite, the only other 'good guy' left after the fall of Dune and his Dune Realms empirewas gone. And Noren, the man who'd shown promise as ruler of NorLand. He'd died before he had a chance to prove how good a ruler he was. Valiance wanted war. He wanted revenge. He wanted to tear apart the Galaxy that had rejected him. TheGalaxy that denied him a share of a mighty Galaxial Empire. He would destroy theGalaxy, if it meant losing his own life. ===/ Chapter 3 / No leaders. Only the Galactic Coordinator was around. Amoko also knew that there was no evil. It had all been purged once and for all. His empire, Amoko Sky, was growing at a nice pace. More importantly, he was having tremendous populatrion growth. That was a goal the Galactic Coordiantor had set. To replacethe people who died. Well, not replace. But to grow again. And grow back peacfully. Amoko knew he could do it. Cyber was content. Everyone was weak. That meant prosperous empires could establish themseves. Cyber knew the Coordinator would be watching like a hawk, so the new 'leaders' had to be friendly. He was allying with a few more empires, to create a stronghold for himself. He would not fall. He would not let war get in the way of his ambition. Finances were pouring in. What many were calling the Repercussion Era was turning into gigantic oppurtunities to make money. That's what WildCat discoverdHe himself was using the matter at hand to make a little cash on the side. He wasn't -that- stupid. His empire, Feline Realm, was also picking up alot of new citizens. The League of Famished Empires made a formal plea. Formed shortly after the Final War Era, the LoFE was an organization made up of struggling empires. Afterthe Geneva Alliance claimed victory over the Dark Alliance, the LoFE disbanded thinking proseperity was not too far away. They were right. But fools that they were, they helped Steel Talon overthrow the substitute Galactic Coordiantor, SandMan. And Steel Talon stole their money, and severely destroyed their empiresSo the LoFE was back in business, taking no chances even though Mace was finallydestroyed. They hoped the Galactic Coordinator could lend them a sum of 100mil credits. Then they could rebuild. ---/ Chapter 4 / The Underground was abuzz. The 'Evil Three' were making plans for the takeover of the Ceti Galaxy. Ceti was one of the weakest Galaxies, and the empires in it were not very big either. The ET thought it would be quite simple. There were rumors flying that this was the beginning of a Multi-Galaxial Takeover. Chemical weapon production was up, although not strong. The Galactic Coordinator and Zakal had wiped all the BioWeapon and most of the ChemWeapon plants out. It would be hard to get started again. ---/ Chapter 5 / Sabrek, Head of Tau Galaxy, was trying to help. The Sree Galaxy, the only galaxy which still had a Galactic Coordinator to enfore Justice, was making a desperate plea. The Coordinator needed many new colonists, or the Empirial system would fail. There were no strong empires left in Sree. Over in the Ceti Galaxy, there were more colonists than it could hold. Perhaps Macabre, leader at Ceti, could move some settlers to Sree.... Cyber was losing his steel grip. All the citizens of his empire, Citadel, wererevolting. He would have to sell parts of his army if more cash didn't come in. And if he didn't sell his army, he would collapse completely. His aspirations ofunifying the Galaxy and becoming a dictator were dissolving. He now knew why people were cautious of spending their own hard earned money to start an empire.His was about to fall... Galaxy deCeti was teeming with people. More than 3 billion citizens were without homes, and no empire could take them. All the empires had more people than they could feed. More than 10 had collapsed due to food/money ratio problems already. Macabre couldn't stop it either. The Galactic Coordinator of Sree Galaxy needed colonists badly. None of his empires could make money. But Sree was 3 million light years off. And the recent Battle, and Sree's history of wars, were discouraging people from going. Some way had to be found to ship people over there before both Galaxies caved in. ---/ Chapter 6 / Ahh.. The Galaxy was in turmoil. Not enough citizens to supply the demand. Valiance had a devious, hideous mind. He decided it was time for the Undergroundto strike. Target -- Galaxy deCeti. They'd capture the Galaxy and make deals with the empires in Sree for the colonists. Massive money, and massive power would abound from a plan like this. Macabre would have to go. Guardian surveyed his Forever Empire. The Underground was the -most- powerful force in the Universe. Hydryx and himself were considering an alternate plan to Valiance's. While the plan had merit, the ultimate goal was domination, not revenge. They couldn't let his vengeance get in the way of Universal domination. ---/ Chapter 7 / LoFE coldn't get the money. All the empires in the LoFE were doomed. If the deal with Galaxy deCeti didn't go through, the entire realm of Sree would plungeinto the depths. Billions had been slaughtered in the Battle; the few people whoremained would perish as well from underpopulation. The situation was desperate.WHo could help them?? On the far side of the Universe, there was a ruler. An old ruler. He was once considered to be the wisest leader who ever lived. Platinum was his name. His empire had had it's heyday, and so he passed it on to a new ruler, waiving his rights to re-imbursement for the total value of the kingdom he'd possessed. But it was no bother to him. Life was short, and would soon end for him. Alas things were looking grim across the Universe he lived in. The first multi-Galaxial talk had taken place only months ago. Until then, none of the Galaxies knew other Galaxies like themselves even existed! But there had been one man who'd talked with Platinum before. Ultra of the UltraEmpire had once been a student of Platinum's. And then Ultra moved from this Galaxy called Sei, and started a new empire in the new Galaxy of Sree. People knew Ultra had come from another Galaxy, but never knew that they'd had Empirial systems like it's own. Ultra was a legend, to be sure, and everyone in the Universe knew his name. He'd defeated Evil itself: Mace of MaceLand. ANd he'd gotten all his stuff from Platinum. Made him feel proud, it did. But now his beloved Galaxy was on the verge of collapse. Thevery same reason the Founders had started over again so many years ago was aboutto cause the Universe to die yet again. Only one of the original Founders was still functioning as a Leader. The Galactic Coordinator, considered to be the most upright (In fact the -only- upright) Coordinator alive, so he was chosen to Lead the new Universe. The Coordinator knew one man could not keep an entire Universe Just. So he made sure the Galaxies didn't know that others of their kind existed, and allowed each Galaxy to have it's own ruler. He himself took a Galaxy as well, and named it Sree. But Sree had been racked with War from the start. There was the first War, and then the Peace Era. And then came the 2nd Battle, and it all came to an end. The Coordinator watched as his, -his-, Galaxy fought a battle that seemed as though it would never end. And when it didthe last thing he had hoped for was a recurring War. But it had been done away with. Or so they thought. Platinum knew evil could never be purged by mere men. Only God could do such fantastic feat. But he -did- know evil could be overcome.However, evil was much stronger than ever, especially in the light of the Universe's problems. ---/ Chapter 8 / Macabre submitted. He knew his Galaxy's problems would keep it from overcomingthe Underground. The people of deCeti would understand. Macabre had done what he thought was wisest. If he had even attempted an overthrow, billions of his overpopulated Galaxy would perish. So he preserved lives, while aiding the Underground. It was ironic how such a thing could occur. If only someone could defeat the Underground! He was strong. In order to overcome his empirial problems, Cyber created a secret alliance with the Underground. He knew they'd try and take him, so he'd have to welch them as quickly as possible. His move was a gamble, and he knew no matter what, he'd probably die. Guardian had been very willing to allow Cyber refuge in his Underground. Guardian had changed alot since Cyber'd last seen him and it was not for the better. Prolonged exposure to the Underground was not something Cyber wanted. Valiance laughed hysterically. Galaxy deCeti had been taken without a fight. Sree should be even easier to take. Macabre was going to be executed, and then noone strong would remain in deCeti. They already had a foothold inside of Sree and that was the Citadel empire. Cyber, it's ruler, was of no use to them, so he would be killed with Macabre. And then Hydryx would assume command of it. Tau Galaxy was still in good shape. Hopefully after the domination of both Galaxies, it wouldn't be able to resist the Underground's power. ---/ Chapter 9 / Damn. Damn. DAMN. DAMN!!! How could Macabre be so stupid? If Galaxy deCeti wasn't so far away, the Coordinator would've personally kicked him. The Underground was still alive and kicking, much to the revelation to the Universe.That wasn't good news. A way had to be found to get rid of the Underground. But how? It was the mightiest force in the Universe, and as the Coordinator saw, it was employing the same tactic MaceMan once used. Join us and we give you power. But it was funny how it never worked out that way. Platinum heard the news. He knew he was days away from death. So he gave decided to give his life's work to the one person he knew he could trust: Amoko. If Amoko could deploy it correctly, the Universe might be saved from the filth involved with the Underground. The Genesis Device, he'd been working on for years. He'd discovered the files pertaining to it when he'd made a trip to another Universe. There wer flukes that'd taken over sixty years to overcome. But now it was working, and it could create planets by the hundreds. If Amoko could use it successfully, the Underground would no longer have the advantage in planets. ---/ Chapter 10 / Amoko recieved the device with great joy. With this mechanism, the Universe had a shot at beating the Underground. He'd tested it, before Platinum died, and it had generated over 1000 planets within a week. He was going to duplicatye the device and ship it to the Sree Galaxy, so they could create tourism planets and other leisure places to attract citizens. Hydryx was among the crowd of Underground leaders attending the testing of the Psionic Bomb, a new invention supposed to do more damage than five hundred BioWeapons used in conjunction. Guardian and Valiance had come up with the idea, and special scientists built it. He huddled around a small screen watching the bomb being deployed from a specially equipped heavy cruiser onto a small planet with 5mil citizens. The screen switched from the bomb hutling through the sky to a view of a metropolitan area. He could hear the impact of the bomb from the screen's speaker. Then he watched as the citizens writhed and clutched their heads. They were all screaming, and mass hysteria and paranoia broke out. They were all beginning to fall down, dead. This was one heck of a weapon, and would put the Universe at the Underground's mercy. The demonstration was over, and Valiance was pleased. He ordered a fleet of 1mil PsiBomb-equipped heavy cruisers to head towards Tau Galaxy. He'd save Sree for last. He'd heard the rumors of a 'Genesis Device,' which could create planets. But Valiance didn't care. His tactical strength was unstoppable, and Amoko could not gain anything to stop the PsiBomb. ---/ Chapter 11 / "Sir, scanners detect incoming heavy cruisers," said a young lieutenant. DeTser looked up. "HCs? Send out anm intercept fleet," he ordred. Then the young boy spoke again. "Sir, this fleet consists of one MILLION HCs!!" DeTser almost fainted. 1 MILLION?! They'd be slaughtered. "Send out the fighters the HCs, anything. Whatever you can find, send it out," he sauid hurriedly. Then he heard it. The impact of a bomb. Then his brain began to pulsate. He screamed in anguish. The pain inside his head was so overwhelming he wanted to kill himself. His body went into seizures, and then he fell down. The pain overcame him, and he passed away. The Coordinator was up in arms. Every person in the Tau Galaxy was dead. Every single one. Killed by what people called a Psionic Bomb, which attacked the brain. Genesis Device or not, the Underground would undobtedly turn on the Sree Galaxy, and the Coordinator knew he couldn't stop the murder and violence that would follow. ---/ Chapter 12 / Hydryx and Guardian were in a single room togehter, celebrating their success. Only one Galaxy was strong enough to be a bother to the Underground. Sree would be destroyed in a matter of days. Kharq Galaxy and Galaxy Ti were so small even one small empire could take them over. Then the room began to shake. The door burst open, and several suited figures came in. They neutralized Hydryx and Guardian within seconds, and dragged them out. Once outside the room, several shots rang out. Valiance pulled his head back and let out a roar. Hydryx and Guardian were dead, victims of a few covert agents. The Underground was now his to control, and soon the Universe would be at his disposal. He's already ordered his entire armada to meet the Sree Galaxy. He wouldn't PsiBomb them until he'd beaten them manually. Slowly he'd carry out his revenge, and then he would wipe Sree Galaxy out of the Universe. ---/ Chapter 13 / The fleet was prepared. Amoko and the Galactic Coordinator had prepared a fleet of fighters and HCs that could match the Underground's, no doubt. The problem came in taking out the PsiBombs. How could they do it without setting one off? The end was drawing very close, and no smart maneuvers were going to save them. It was huge. Five million HCs, and at least three times as many fighters. Sree only had 500k HCs, and only half the fighters the Underground fleet had. They were going to be slaughtered, and everyone knew it. "Bring me a Genesis Device," said Joski, one of the head designers of the new Genesis Torpedo. "Sir, there is a war. Why do you need one?" replied one of his underlings. "Damn it, get me one! The Battle depends on it," he yelled. The boy ran out, and returned 30 minutes later with a large cart, with the towering Genesis Torpedo on it. "All I have to do is cross-connect the matter converters with the guidance system," babble Joski. His hands swept across the Torpedo with a knowing touch. Once he was finished, he turned to his assitant. "Arm a HC with this, and I will pilot it," he said. Amoko wept. The Sree Armada was almost obliterated. The Coordinator had been killed, and Amoko knew his own death was now inevitable. There were no tricks up his sleeve any longer, and Valiance had won. He'd signal his surrender, even though he knew Valiance longed to destroy them with a PsiBomb, as vengeance. There, up ahead lay the entire Underground fleet dueling it out with Divison 4A of the HC division of the Sree Armada. Joski need only lay in a course, and the new Genesis Torpedo would convert the entire Underground fleet into a singular mass. That would be the ultimate destruction, and the tables would turn. He pressed the launch release, and gazed in wonder as the Torpedo swept through space. The Genesis Wave hurtled towars the Underground fleet, and towards Jsoki. He was consumed by it, but not before seeing his success. The Underground's fleet had been obliterated without firing a single PsiBomb at Sree. ---/ Chapter 14 / Valiance had almost killed four people already. The entire Underground fleet had been destroyed. Not that Sree had anything left to battle back with, but he had been neutralized. He would destroy the fool that allowed this to foul up his revenge. He would kill Sree. He would kill the entire Galaxy. He swore it. Amoko could not express his happiness. Sree and the Underground were at a standstill, but at least a miracle had occurred. He'd never expected to live, but he was still alive. He would have to negotiate peace with the Underground as his Galaxy rebuilt, and geared up for the inevitable final battle between the two mighty giants. His David had hit Goliath with a small enough stone to stun him. Now there was time to find a larger stone, and knock Goliath down. -=<{[ TO BE CONCLUDED ]}>=- SRE: VI- The Alliance Restored is coming soon. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. The SRE saga is powerful, and the conclusion of the trilogy (SRE: IV through SRE: VI) is even more exciting than this one. It features more dialogue and more characterizations. SRE: VI is a tale of human drama, portraying even politics and religion, and dealing with them the way they should be. The SRE series has officially moved into it's next generation. The only remaining character from any original SREs, the Coordinator, is dead. Stay tuned for SRE:VI-- THE ALLIANCE RESTORED!!