Chapter 1: Not a Hoax

An ordinary early dawn at Titans Tower was interrupted by an incoming video transmission. It was 5:01 in the morning and only Raven was up; she was on the roof, as she was often found. Her communicator (along with all the others) beeped to alert the Titans of the coming call.

Cyborg woke at the sound of the beeping and hurriedly unplugged from his battery recharger, even though he was still at 93 power, and ran from his room to answer the call. Shortly afterwards a face materialized on the screen. Raven and the other Titans arrived in the living room.

Cyborg thought he recognized the face.

"Emperor Galifore?"

"Yes, it is I, Galifore," said the Emperor. "I apologize for disturbing you so early in your morning. But events have transpired on Tamaran and we require your assistance."

"What happened?" asked Robin.

"Approximately 2 Earth hours ago, our embassy on Dreknath IV received an ultimatum from the King of Dreknath. He has threatened to invade Tamaran within six days unless Princess Starfire will marry him…"

"We've been through this before!" interrupted Robin angrily, "The whole army was a fake!"

"Yes, I know," Galifore said, "I myself am not sure what to make of this. I certainly do not wish to inconvenience you unless it is absolutely necessary."

The Titans looked at each other. Robin, the leader, made the decision.

"If you don't mind, I think we should wait a bit and see if this turns out to be a false alarm," Robin said. "If anything changes over there, let us know."

"Thank you very much."

The transmission faded out.

"So are we just going to act as if that conversation never took place?" asked Raven.

"Until he calls us again, yes," Robin answered.

The phone rang again—Cyborg typed at the computer and pulled up the image again—

The familiar visage of a black-haired, purple eyed Tamaranian girl flashed on the screen.

"What do you want Blackfire?" demanded Robin.

"I'm giving you this message on behalf of the Swamp Moons of Dreknath. We were intercepting that call Galifore gave you just now. The threat he speaks of is absolutely true."

"Why should we trust you?" Robin retorted.

"As the Chief Ambassador of Dreknath, I can assure you that we are planning an invasion. Our fleet is on its way to Tamaran as we speak. Perhaps you will believe me after you get another call from Galifore in…" she looked over at what seemed to be a clock, "oh, about two more hours. If I were you, I'd start packing!"

"Chief Ambassador?" wondered all the Titans, but this transmission faded out as well.

Exactly two hours later, Galifore called again, just as Blackfire had predicted.

"Teen Titans, please come quickly!" Galifore pleaded frantically, "Our radar systems are picking up an enormous Dreknathian fleet at the edge of our star system!"

Still suspicious of a hoax—perhaps the ships were empty?—Robin ordered the Titans into the T-ship, taking only a few belongings with them.

Several hours later, the T-ship was nearing the outer edge of the Tamaran system…

"I'm picking up something on the radar!" shouted Cyborg. "It looks like a bunch of other spaceships!"

"I don't think we should go near them…" Beast Boy said nervously.

"Beast Boy's right!" Robin said, "Cyborg, can you find a way around them?"

"It'll take a bit longer, but we can go around them," replied Cyborg.

The T-ship evaded the Dreknathians and touched down on the Tamaranian Palace helipad. Galifore was already standing outside.

"Titans, come in," Galifore motioned for them to follow, "There is much we have to discuss."

Galifore led the Titans into the castle, down several identical corridors, to a large conference room. The two guards waited patiently outside, one standing on each side of the door, while the Titans were seated inside.

"Alright, what's the situation?" asked Cyborg.

Galifore said, "Well you already know that we've detected a Dreknathian fleet. Based on this, we are led to believe that the threat is genuine this time."

"Are you sure the ships aren't fake, or empty, or something?" Robin asked.

"No, we aren't sure at all," Galifore admitted. "At the moment we can only rely on the threats delivered to us by the Dreknathians. We all hope fervently that the ships are as fake as they were last time. If they are not, and we do not accede to their demands, we will pay a very heavy price. I will allow Princess Starfire to make this decision. Should we comply with the Dreknathian demands, or should we take the risk and refuse them?"

"I…" Starfire hesitated. She knew that her decision would be crucial to the fate of the Teen Titans and the Tamaranian Empire. She felt at once grateful that she had been allowed the freedom to choose and burdened by the responsibility for the fates of over seven billion Tamaranians. In history, the Grand Ruler had traditionally made the choice, and it was not usually in the favor of the princess in question.

"What happens if we refuse, and the Dreknathians mean business this time?" Beast Boy asked.

"The Dreknathians would invade…" Galifore replied.

"…I would be required to lead our troops in battle," Starfire completed his sentence.

"Please, do not feel pressured. You have five days to consider," Galifore reminded her, which only succeeded in making everyone more nervous and pressured.

The next morning, Tamaranian crews aboard the radar stations were calling home in panic. The Dreknathian ships were sailing in towards Tamaran! Galifore picked up a communication device that looked nothing like a phone, but functioned nearly the same.

After a few hurried words in Tamaranian, Galifore slammed down the phone-like object. "The Dreknathians are beginning the attack ahead of time," Galifore announced. "Titans, follow me to the shelter!"

The shelter turned out to be a large cellar several flights of stairs below the surface. At the end of a long, dark tunnel Galifore placed his hand on a specific patch on the wall and a door slipped open. Galifore walked into the cellar and switched on the lights. Beds, all kinds of nasty (from the other Titans' perspective, anyway) Tamaranian foods, and several computer panels adorned the walls of the cellar.

Galifore touched one of the panels and the screens of all the panels lit up.

"This one," he pointed to the one he had touched, "is the palace security center, and the others are videocamera feeds."

The Titans looked at the various screens. Insects looking just like the fake ones they had seen on their last trip here could be seen marching (crawling?) on their six legs, in long lines, through the gates and corridors of the palace. Here and there the palace guards in their white armor fought the insects with their axes. Each time a guard got his axe into an insect, green blood spurted out of the wound. Although several insects died for every palace guard, the sharp claws, teeth, and/or stingers of the Dreknathian insects eventually sliced through the guards' armor.

About ten minutes later, Blackfire's voice was heard on the palace loudspeaker system:

"The Dreknathian troops will withdraw when our King receives his prize!"

All over Tamaran, Dreknathian ships landed in fields and forests. Unending swarms of Dreknathians came forth from the dark interiors of these ships. In and around every city, anywhere there might be Tamaranian residences, these insects stood guard. In the face of this overwhelming assault, the Tamaranian army that would supposedly follow Princess Starfire's lead in battle was nowhere to be seen.

"What can I do?" Starfire asked no one in particular, "I cannot stand that disgusting creature, but I must save my people!"