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Meeting the Menace
A The Chrysanthemum Chronicles Series Story
Somewhere In The Negaverse
Negaverse Dimension, The Universe
September 17, 986 - September 18, 986
When Beryl eventually woke up from her days-long sleep, Jeddite and several other Negaversers told her that they were all about to gain access into the Cassini Galaxy. And gain it in the area of the Ozotovian solar system there. Most specifically near the planet in that solar system called "Ozotov IV." Which, of course, was also the same planet that Serenity's group was on with her. And the same planet that both of Darien's current companions were on with him, at the same time. Beryl was quite pleased to hear that. For she'd been waiting quite a while to hear that was the case now for them. She then told them to prepare for possible battle action. Though she didn't yet know if they'd have to fight on it at all against anyone or not. So they did. And less than thirty minutes later, they were all ready for possible battle on Ozotov IV anytime in the next few hours or days. It didn't take long for the Negaverse's landing and striking forces to assemble just inside the projection that they'd use to gain access into the Ozotovian solar system in the area of Ozotov IV there. They just waited for the last obstacles to their invasion crumble in front of them enough to let them barge quite fiercely into the Cassini Galaxy there. When those obstacles did so to a sufficient enough degree, Queen Beryl gave the necessary order. And several hundred thousand Negaversers, at least, began invading the Cassini Galaxy. With many, if not all, of them, then hoping to wreak quite a lot of havoc in it, if they possibly could do so in it. But Beryl stayed behind, at least at first, so that she'd not have to take the chance that she might get hurt in any way for at least a little while longer. Yet she watched her hordes speed as quickly as they could in their various spaceships of some sort, if they required them to invade the Cassini Galaxy. At least at first, anyway. Most of them, though, were able to travel to Ozotov IV without having to travel in spaceships. That was for reasons most likely too numerous to mention, at least at the current time, as they lived their respective lives in the known Universe. If not all the time, by the way. At least eighty percent of the above hordes were made up of beings that could normally travel between worlds without having to use spaceships. If not more than that.
It took about two hours after they were able to break into the Cassini Galaxy for all of the beings in the invasion force to make planetfall on Ozotov IV. And they made it just north of the part of the Murakuza Corridor that ran between the Muramiskayon cities of Mackeledo and Amazuru. But they didn't actually see any other people anywhere nearby. So they soon went hunting for someone or something that they could wreak great havoc on, if possible. They soon found a nearby road. Which, of course, was the Murakuza Corridor. And they also found at least several hundred wild horses just south of another river basin's nearest edge. Of course, they appropriated those horses. They then hid all their ships, as best as they possibly could do that. Or they then activated their ships' automatic-return programs. Then, once all the wild horses they could find soon enough after their arrival on Ozotov IV were appropriated as needed or desired, many of them began using them to travel down the Murakuza Corridor in Muramiskayo. They all moved as quickly as they could down it. They encountered nobody, as they eventually passed through Amazuru. They did that for at least a while without any incidents happening to them that they'd not like happening to them.
Through Amazuru, they all soon went. Jeddite and others who were with him now on Ozotov soon said, not long after they'd passed through Amazuru at least a little bit, "Nobody appears to be here."
Nephlyte said, "There are people here, but we just haven't found them yet. It's not often that you see horses on a planet that doesn't have sentient enough life on it, Jeddite and company."
"Well, if that's so, Nephlyte, where are they all now?"
"I'm not sure yet. But I do know that we detected signs of potential trouble for us in the future for us here in this solar system, Jeddite. For many of our scouts and spies found those signs. It appears there are many potential enemies for us here in the Cassini Galaxy. Though we've not yet pinpointed their exact locations here on this planet, if we ever will. We do have at least one crystal detector with us that we can possibly use to find them, though, don't we, Jeddite?"
"Yes, we should have at least a hundred or so of those in our horde here on this mission. That's if I'm not too mistaken here, of course. But I have a feeling that certain elements of our current forces will still want to see some major action in the very near future, or they might rebel."
"Rebel against rebels like us?" asked Malachite.
Jeddite said, then, "Quite possibly. I suggest that we let Tornite, Avalite, Jezite, and Athite start trying to find them, and hopefully cause them to show themselves. Whoever those people might be."
"Agreed. Do it, then, if you so desire, Jeddite," said Malachite, who was almost immediately agreed with by Zoisite and Nephlyte.
So Jeddite notified Tornite, Avalite, Jezite, and Athite that they should start trying to locate people or things that their forces could start wreaking havoc on in the next few hours or days. Of course, all four of those beings soon did as Jeddite had suggested to them. Before they did so, they each powered themselves into another power phase that each of them had. Jezite and Athite powered themselves up into a more humanoid form, if not an entirely humanoid form, for all the obvious reasons. They began looking for things or people that their fellow Negaversers could soon wreak great havoc on, if possible.
Just then, the ground around everyone started shaking quite violently. And the nearby Amazuru River began overflowing its banks just west of Amazuru. It soon sent at least 250 million pounds of water toward much, if not all, of the Negaversers currently in the area of Amazuru, Muramiskayo. Many of the Negaversers, of course, were eventually drowned by those very waters. Also, the ground near a large portion of those Negaversers opened up in several places. And several huge gaps appeared around many of them, often isolating many of them from each other in several different groups. The ground that did so, often opened right under the feet of those Negaversers, quite unexpectedly. And it caused many of them to fall into the gaps that'd appeared when the ground opened up under them. At least 50,000, if not at least 100,000, Negaversers fell into those gaps. Which were, in fact, often at least 1,000 feet deep. If not even deeper than that. And, quite obviously enough, they soon met their unfortunate ends in them. However, not among those Negaversers who'd been either drowned or swallowed up by the ground were Jeddite, Nephlyte, Zoisite, Malachite, Tornite, Avalite, Jezite, and Athite. For they all were somehow able to keep themselves from being drowned here by a whole lot of water. Or from being swallowed up here by the surrounding ground, for that matter. It wasn't easy for any of them to avoid either of those circumstances. But somehow, they each managed to do so easily enough.
After the Amazuru River returned to its usual size, and the ground closed up again, Jeddite and company soon began taking stock of their remaining forces near them in the Amazuru local area. They soon learned that they now had only about 75,000 or so Negaversers left of their original force that they'd just brought to Ozotov IV. That was what was left of at least 400,000 or so Negaversers. If not more than that. But they realized that Beryl wouldn't likely release any more forces to their control for at least the time being. For she didn't like risking any more of her hordes of Negaverse military personnel than she absolutely had to at a particular time, if she could possibly avoid it. That was mainly because she wanted to have at least enough people still under her control when she and her people finally invaded the Moon Kingdom someday yet in the future, if at all possible.
So they resolved to do the best that they possibly could against anyone else they might meet in the near future, with whatever people and resources they still had at their disposal. Even though they all wished that they'd not lost so much of their invasion force so soon after landing it in Ozotov IV's Amazuru area. They all eventually decided to head off in four different directions. They all really hoped that they'd be able to meet each other back at their original landing area within the next two weeks, at the very latest. Of course, they wished each other well while they were apart from each other here. Jeddite soon took 10,000 of the remaining forces at their common disposal with him to scout out the area south and east of the Amazuru River. Then Zoisite took another 10,000 or so of their remaining forces basically to the northeast. She did that here so that she and them could then do the same in that general direction. Malachite took another 10,000 or so of them along with him as he'd scout out the area to the north. Which might eventually bring him and his part of their forces quite close to Mount Orisinia, by the way. If not directly to it instead. That left the remaining forces under Nephlyte's control, obviously enough. For Tornite, Avalite, Jezite, and Athite normally didn't yet have enough rank in the Negaverse to control more than about 2,000 other Negaversers in a potential combat situation. Of course, that meant, then, that they were at least temporarily under Nephlyte's control. He and those forces all soon headed across the river mainly in a northerly direction, but not exactly due north, for that matter. Mainly in a direction that might take them eventually somewhere in the area of Stramesville. f not directly to Stramesville itself.
Nephlyte and his group did this at least until local dusk, if not at least until local nightfall instead. After which, they all soon made camp for the rest of the night in a large clearing. For they all couldn't currently find any better ground to camp on. At least in a defensive sense, anyway. So they all did the best that they possibly could do now, in order to hopefully be able to set up a suitable enough camping location for themselves there. Especially for defensive purposes. This large clearing, in fact, was at least one square mile in size. If not even larger than that.
And, of course, they posted guards all around their camping location to stand guard while everyone else slept for a while. They'd periodically change the guards during what was left of the night. Each guard would normally stand watch for roughly four hours, at most, but at least two hours apiece, before they'd themselves be relieved by other members of Nephlyte's group. That was so that they too could sleep, if they so chose to do that. At least whenever they weren't currently on guard duty anywhere in their current camping location.
At the same time, about fifty miles or so away, and somewhere south of Amazuru, Jeddite's group did basically the same things. As they did so, though, they soon wished that they'd seen anything or anyone that they could have wreaked havoc on while they followed the river south. But they'd not seen anything or anyone yet that they could wreak havoc on. Which, of course, upset many, if not all, of them. Eventually, though, if they continued to follow the river south, they might find themselves in the Murzanicu Bay area. And maybe even find people or things to wreak havoc on to the best of their respective abilities. Just not yet, if they ever would, while they were doing that.
For as they'd followed the river south, they'd seen the rubble of at least three cities, if not more, that'd been destroyed in the last war between the Kuzarunons and the Muramiskayons quite some time before. Many years ago, there'd been at least three cities in the area of the river that were no longer there, as they followed the river south as quickly as they could. And they'd all been between Murzanicu Bay and Amazuru. They'd been both starved out, and reduced to rubble, during that war, by elements of both nations' military forces. The three cities that'd been on the eastern side of that part of the river had been the Muramiskayon cities of Pulitska, Jetozi, and Paronalo. And each had been somewhat larger than most of the cities near them, if not all of them. Each of those three cities had, before the war had begun, populations of at least 50,000, if not at least 100,000. But, due to the fierceness of the war currently in question, their populations had eventually died off. And they'd died off by starvation, battle-deaths, even among any number of civilians, or by at least partial abandonment of them during that very war. Most, if not all, of the still-surviving people from the area of Muramiskayo now in question had moved to other Muramiskayon towns and cities. Or they'd somehow been able to make it off Ozotov IV's Marzotekan landmass, and sailed to other landmasses on it that they thought they'd be safer on than they were on Ozotov IV's Marzotekan landmass.
Eventually, Jeddite's group decided to stop moving for the rest of the night, at the very least. After doing so, they all soon made camp still quite some distance away from either Murzanicu Bay or Amazuru. There they all stayed for at least the rest of the night, then. If not longer than that.
They didn't have anything major happen to them while they were there. And because of that, they weren't very happy. That was simply because they were hoping that they'd be able to wreak havoc as much as they could while they were scouting out the area south of Amazuru, for all the obvious reasons. While they essentially waited in vain for an opportunity to wreak some havoc, they basically tried to bide their time for at least the time being. This remained the case at least for the rest of the night, then, if not also past dawn of the following day, of course.
Meanwhile, as Jeddite went south, and Nephlyte mainly to the north, but not directly to the north, of course, Zoisite soon went roughly to the northeast. For she was also planning to do the same thing with her group that all the people leading their other groups were planning to do in the very near future. But as she headed in that general direction, she and her group found almost complete emptiness or desolation from long before, if not both. Emptiness in the sense of there being no places for her and the rest of her group to be able to wreak enough havoc on while she and them did so. Nor enough people in those places for her and her group's other members to wreak enough havoc on, as they made their way in a roughly northeasterly direction from Amazuru, at least. If not emptiness in any other sense as well, at the same time.
And, of course, they all eventually had to stop for the rest of the night. They all eventually made camp at least a few miles roughly to the west of Tumakusku. But not more than about thirty to fifty miles from that place, most likely. And they'd naturally have to stay there at least until local dawn of the following morning in that area of Muramiskayo. As Jeddite and Nephlyte's groups had also done, then, she and her group soon made camp. All while also having everyone periodically stand guard over all the other members of their group, during that night, whenever possible, of course. And they all did so, at least until local dawn the following morning in the area of Muramiskayo that they were all now in.
As three other groups of Negaversers were scouting out other areas of Muramiskayo, Malachite soon did the same with his group. He did that now as he took them more to the north than either Zoisite or Nephlyte were heading with their own groups. His group of Negaversers was soon enough at least twenty miles away from Amazuru, but no more than about fifty miles away from it. That was the case even as its members then searched for people or places that they could all wreak sufficient havoc on for at least a little while, by the way.
They mainly followed a tributary of the Amazuru River. After they did so for a long enough time, they then came to their first, if not their only, camping location while they'd still be on Ozotov IV's Marzotekan landmass. As their fellow Negaversers had done, they'd also not had any success in finding anything or anyone that they could all wreak sufficient havoc on, if possible. So they eventually decided to camp at least for the rest of the local night in that area of Muramiskayo. If not even longer than that, in fact. Just as their fellow Negaversers had done, in their other locations, they also posted guards over any members of their groups that'd be camping and sleeping there for a long enough time, obviously enough. That still remained the case for at least as long as they were all still in that particular location, quite naturally enough.
Eventually, Nephlyte's group was on the move again. And they soon came to a place somewhere between Sosatoville and Stramesville, but no closer to Stramesville than at least a few miles away from it. This would quite possibly be the place where any number of Negaversers would first find themselves having to fight any number of people on Ozotov IV. If not the only time that they found themselves having to fight on it. But nobody yet knew that, not even Nephlyte or anyone else from his group.
In this particular place, or very near it, the Negaversers would likely meet up with all the Scouts who were now on Ozotov IV. As well as them all also likely meeting up with at least a few other people who'd likely not be Scouts of any kind, perhaps. Among those people who they'd probably then have to fight in or near that very place, there might be at least ten to fifteen people from anywhere in the Milky Way Galaxy's Sol System. If not even more than that. Maybe not many more than that, if at all. But most likely Serenity and all her Scouts that were with her now, as well as Darien and both of his current companions elsewhere in Muramiskayo, at the very least. If not any other people as well from that very same solar system in the currently-known Universe, for that matter.
Little did they know that before that battle took place somewhere between Sosatoville and Stramesville, they might see their numbers reduced quite a bit by unexpected happenings, or they might not. Only time would tell if they'd see their numbers further reduced prior to that battle, or if they'd not. As evidenced already by the massive reduction in their numbers shortly after they'd made planetfall on Ozotov IV's Marzotekan landmass some length of time before.
When they got to the area of that place, if not all the way to it, they began preparing for the battle that might eventually result somewhere on Marzotek's continental landmass. That landmass was a rather large landmass on Ozotov IV's planetary surface, in fact. Even though they wished that they'd been able to wreak a whole lot of havoc before getting there, that just hadn't yet been possible for them. At least not on their current mission to invade Ozotov IV's various nations, one at a time, anyway. For no opportunities at all had yet presented themselves sufficiently well to any of the Negaversers now invading Ozotov IV's nation of Muramiskayo.
While Nephlyte's group prepared for a possible battle later on, Zoisite, Jeddite, and Malachite's groups all were unable to find anything or anyone else to wreak sufficient havoc on. Som after a while, they all headed back toward where they'd parted from each other some time before. They eventually met each other again just to the west of Amazuru. And then they soon found the trail that Nephlyte's group had taken some time before. They all soon took that path, and soon came to where Nephlyte's group had earlier camped.
Nephlyte had earlier left a long enough message on a scroll for other Negaversers to read in a place in the middle of that location. Zoisite was the first to see it. And she soon handed it to Jeddite, so that he could look it over as much as he wanted to, before she and Malachite did the same. That was because Jeddite currently out-ranked her in the Negaverse armed forces by quite a bit. He read the scroll silently to himself for a few minutes. And then he handed it to Malachite, who did the same thing. After which Malachite did the same thing, when he handed it to Zoisite. After she'd read it sufficiently to her heart's content, she handed it back to Jeddite, who then stored it with his things.
Then, when that was done, Jeddite had everyone join up with each other once again. They all set off toward the location where Jeddite, Malachite, and Zoisite had thought Nephlyte's group would most likely be in the very near future, if they weren't already there.
I suppose that I'd better stop here now. For this will be where the next part of the story will take up from, in fact, readers. I hope that you have so far enjoyed the story, if you've gotten this far, and that you'll continue to read it. I don't know yet just how long it will take me to get each story in this series up fully here. But it might take a while for each story in this series, just the same. Until later, then, this is "The Universal Storyteller" signing off here. Happy reading, and God bless, and all that, of course! Over and out!