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---=[ P e t r o s ]=--- / /
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-\- Introduction -/-

-=< Who would've thought?! SRE7 is here, and I must say that I am
impressed. Not only have I recieved more fan mail and requests than
ever, but the files keep getting downloaded like crazy! I have noone to
thank but my readers, and those who continue to be interested in these
stories. SRE7 is -not- the final chapter to the series, as some have
rumored. But, I'll tell you more at the conclusion. On to the story! >=-

-\- Prologue -/-

The Kazik Regime had been the dominant force in the Multiverse for
millenia. They had watched countless other Universes grow up, and then
had proceeded to squash them. But this Universe was different. The Kazik
had monitored them, as they grew up in their respective Galaxies, not
even knowing that other Galaxies existed. They had always been a warring
species, those aliens. But for some reason, the wars they fought always
brought out the best in them. Good always won out, and found a way
around oppression. Other Universes had become captive to evil forces,
until the Kazik came and overtook them all. But not this Universe. The
Kazik had a feeling that this Universe would be no harder to conquer
than any other, but definately not as boring....

-\- 1 -/-

"Sir; SIR!" yelled Lieutenant Bur. Krael whirled to face his chief
scanner. "What is it, Bur?" he asked. Bur wanted to look up, but what
was on the scanner held his mind captive. "Sir, I think I've found a
habited Universe!" yelled Bur. Krael's breath drew short. He was the
Director of Petros Station, part of the Petros Extrauniversal
Exploration Program, an organization desgined to seek out new Universes.
This might turn out to be the first ever discovered. "You're sure it's a
HABITED new Universe?" asked Krael excitedly. Bur nodded so fast, his
head looked like it might fall off. "I've got very faint pictures of the
new species! We've got to show Amoko!!" exclaimed Bur.

The pictures were sent immediately over the FaxCom. Amoko immediately
switched on his VidTerm to view them. The aliens' appearance were
surprisingly similiar to his own species. One thing stuck out in his
mind, though; they looked to be suffering from starvation. Amoko hailed
Krael over the VidCom. "Amoko? Did you get the pictures?" asked Amoko
over the Com. "Yeah, I did. I's amazing, simply amazing. I want you to
look into something, however. They all seem so famished. Do a little
investigating, will you?" replied Amoko. Krael nodded, and then his
image vanished. Amoko sighed. Hopefully the first extrauniversal contact
would occur soon....
-\- 2 -/-

Hopni was the leader of the Recon fleet. Their mission was simple. Go
in, take some detailed pictures, and come back. He throttled back, and
then hurtled through the subspace jump field. Just as quickly, they were
inside the new Universe. Within minutes they would be approaching a
group of planets. The fleet dispersed and spread out, each to a seperate
planet, to do their jobs.

The results were the same. It appeared that this Universe was on the
verge of collapsing from starvation and poverty. Krael knew something
had to be done. He hailed Amoko over the VidCom. "Amoko, we got the
pictures in. It would seem that the people in the new Universe are in
bad shape. We've got to help them some how," he said. Amoko thought for
a moment. "Get together a goodwill fleet, consisting of about 2,000
heavy cruisers. Get a Command Ship ready with ambassadors and
xenoscientists. Let the scientists decide what's best and let them carry
out what it takes," order Amoko. Krael nodded, and shut off the VidCom.

-\- 3 -/-

The fleet from the outsiders had entered Kazik space. The Kazik Regime
decided that their ploy had worked. In order to give the enemy a taste
of what they were up against, they decided to activate the plazfield.
Soon the ships would be gone.

Admiral Petyr was stationed inside the Command Ship. "Nothing sir. No
satellites, no ships, no NOTHING. It would seem they haven't even
developed space travel yet," said the voice of the science officer,
Jolma. Petyr knew what must be done; he had to consult the scientists.
He was just about to do it, when Jolma's voice interrupted him. "Sir!
I'm reading an incredible plasma wave on the scanner!" he yelled. The
VidScreen lit up to reveal a wave consisting of a myriad of colors
hurtling toward them. "Activate deflector grids, NOW!!" he screamed.
"Advise the other cruisers! Send a fleet-wide alert!" he ordered. The
grids went up, but were no match for the plazfield. It slammed into the
fleet of ships, and began dissolving them. Petyr could feel his very
cells screaming as they became ionized and assimiliated into the wave.
He was about to scream himself, when he vanished completely. The fleet
of ships were completely destroyed, except for one small fighter, which,
after seeing a whole fleet destroyed, immediately turned heel and fled
through a subspace jump field.

"A fighter was all that survived. The pilot, Guke, says that a massive
wave of plasma completely dissolved the entire fleet," said Krael. Damn.
Damn! "Was it natural?" asked Amoko. Krael shook his head. "He doesn't
know. There wasn't much time to analyze it, and Guke's fighter didn't
have detailed scanners, like those of an HC." he said. "Put the Armada
on battle alert. Notify every empire of the situation and advise them to
put their own militaries on a battle alert. It may have been a natural
storm, but if it wasn't... well, I won't let us get caught with our
pants down," said Amoko.

-\- 4 -/-

The small, light Kazik fighter screamed though space at 700 times the
speed of light. The pilot stopped the craft and exited subspace. He had
reached his destination, inside the 'Tau Galaxy,' as it was called. He
allowed his craft to become visible, permitting enemy scanners to detect
him. Within minutes, several defensive heavy cruisers were heading
towards him. He waited longer still, ignoring their repeated attempts to
communicate with him. More and more enemy patrols came towards him. Soon
enough there were approximately five thousand heavy cruisers, all trying
to figure out what to make of this unusual alien vessel. The time was
now, he decided. He depressed the appropriate control, and his
invisibility screen went back up.

"Sir, we've lost track of him! He simply vanished!" reported the young
woman stationed at the scanner. "Let's give it a little more time,"
ordered Admiral Naras, "Maybe they're still trying to understand our
messages." Nothing could just disapear. There must have been a scanner
malfunction of some kind...

Fools. The Kazik pilot activated the plazsphere. The brilliant

violet-colored sphere resonated from his ship, expanding. By the time
the enemy patrols figured out the sphere was hurtling at them, they were
ashes. The Kazik pilot chuckled, his mission accomplished, and left the
enemy Universe.

-\- 5 -/-

Amoko couldn't believe it. Someone had eliminated 5,000 HCs. The attack
had been carried out with stealth, and cunning. This was deliberate;
planned. Somebody was just toying with them, and Amoko knew it. "It was
deliberate. Put the Armada in a full defensive posture. Prepare for
possible invasion," he ordered, "What can we do to stop something like
this from happening again? Get a science team to work on it..."

Vedet was in charge of finding a way to disable the plasma fields that
had been used against his people. The field's operation was simple. A
wave of ionized particles would sweep through space, ionizing any type
of matter that would come in it's path, and thus converting it into
plasma. He could think of nothing that could stop such a field. Every
particle field, every substance in their science was susceptible to
ionization. He could only think of one possibility: Finding a way to get
a weapon to penetrate -through- the field. A beam of pure energy
couldn't be ionized, since it was not matter. The only problem is that
energy was hardle to properly channel. It had to be transferred,
controlled, and special carrier waves had to be used to concentrate the
beam. Only one pure-energy weapon existed, and it was mounted on Amoko's
Cyberian Platform as a defensive weapon. The money needed to build other
emitters didn't exist. Energy weapons were simply too expensive. He
would have to look into other possibilites...

-\- 6 -/-

Tecouk reviewed the AudLog for the eighth time. The only thing Admiral
Naras reported was a small ship, not responding to their hails, and then
he requested massive assistance from the Armada. After that, no other
contacts. Naras gave no clues as to the spacecraft's origin, it's
mission, or even it's appearance. Was it alien? Or was it the vessel of
an Underground dissident? Tecouk couldn't be sure on such sketchy
evidence. He had a team of workers sweeping the area of the attack for
any type of clues, but it was unlikely they'd find anything...

"And so you mean the only solution is the heat-soliton emitter mounted
on the Platform?" asked Amoko. Vedet nodded. "Nothing consisting of
oridinary matter can hope to pass through the field. Only energy could
even have a chance to go through. Unfortunately the heat-soliton beam is
the only energy beam that is capable of passing through the field AND
acting as a weapon," Vedet explained. "Have their been any explanations
at all? Any clue as to where the ship came from?" Amoko inquired. Vedet
shook his head. "The only connection we can find is the plasma wave
encountered in the new Universe. Our theorists believe that it's
possible someone used the events of that encounter as a basis for such a
weapon, but noone is sure at this point," reported Vedet. Amoko looked
dissappointed. "Keep up the work. Let me know immediately when you find
something," Amoko said. He reached over and shut off the VidCom. This
was getting more and more frustrating...

-\- 7 -/-

"Inspector Tecouk, we've got something," stated T'hoj. Tecouk

immediately looked up. "Really? What've you found?" he replied. T'hoj
tilted her head. "We found residual ions, left from the enemy weapon,"
she began. Tecouk interrupted. "That's nothing new, T'hoj," he said. "If
you'll let me finish, Inspector," she replied. Tecouk nodded. "The ions
are not actually normal ions. They appear as ions on a scanner, but
under examination, one discovers that they are really matter in a
depolarized crystalline form," she said. "It is possible to convert the
particles back into normal matter. We've done it. The 'ions' we had
found turned out to be pergium-steel molecules. We've come to the
conclusion that fighters built from pergium-steel with specially
designed decrystallizing/repolarizing fields could pass through the
plasma fields," she concluded. Tecouk paused. It was all overwhelming.
"Let me guess; you've already taken the liberty of constructing such a
fighter, haven't you?" he asked. T'hoj smiled. "You know me too well,
Inspector," she replied.

-\- 8 -/-

Tecouk had taken his findings to Amoko, inside the Platform. "We
discovered that certain substances, like pergium-steel, are not ionized
by the field, but depolarized and crystallized. We've added the
equipment needed to make a fighter out of pergium-steel, and make it
impervious to the plasma weapons," he reported. Amoko was stunned. "You
told me the plasma field ionized anything and everything!" he said.
"We've never actually encountered the field long enough to scan and
analyze it. All we've had are the residual traces left by the fields,
which were all ionized. The pergium-steel molecules appeared to be
ionized, but on closer examintion we discovered what they really were,"
Tecouk explained. Amoko nodded. "Good work. Any luck finding anything to
tie together the recent events?" he asked. "Unfortunately, no. We've
found one reference in past history that resembles the plasma wave
encountered in the new Universe. It was recorded at Sei Galaxy, during
Ultra's attempts to overthrow Vafan Puttana. Other than that, we have
nothing that we can correlate either the plasma wave, or the alien
fighter's plasma weapons with. We are working under the assumption the
spacecraft is that of an Underground faction we overlooked somehow,"
replied Tecouk. Amoko turned in his chair. He was desperate for answers,
but there were none. "Very good work so far. Just make sure we're ready
if this type of thing happens again," he ordered.

Nota, the premier Kazik pilot, was in charge of the invasion fleet.
Eight hexagonal Kazik fighting spacecraft, Blakta-class fighters, were
headed to the Universe's only equivalent to a capitol. Amoko's base,
Cyberian Platform, was the target. Amoko supposedly was in charge of the
50-year old Cyberian Group, that made sure it kept dissidents under
wraps. Destruction of this base would tkae the who Universe by surprise
and make it easy for the Kazik to overcome them. Nota told his fellow
pilots thatthey were going to take a subspace thrustjump. He pulled back
the throttle and opened up his craft's subspace doorway. The graviton
engines kicked in, and his ship screamed through subspace...

"Amoko, Admiral Rytek is on the VidCom; Alert status," reported Grosene,

communications chief. Amoko activated his VidCom. Rytek's disheveled
face filled the screen. "Amoko, we've got eight enemy fighters headed
your way. Unless I miss my guess they are the same thing that attacked
Naras' fleet," he said. Amoko stared. "Headed at the Platform? Divert
the Armada back home, immediately. We'll prepare our defenses," he said.
Rytek nodded, and the vidscreen sent blank. "Grosene! Get me Vedet on
the Com, and do it fast!"

"I can have the emitter ready soon. Inspector Tecouk is also sending the
only four fighters equipped with technology he believes can counter the
plasma fields. Right now every possible defense we have is experimental.
We weren't expecting an invasion this soon," said Vedet. Amoko nodded.
"I understand. But what's important is that they're coming, ready or
not. We have to be prepared. Do whatever you think will work, and do it
quickly," he ordered.

-\- 9 -/-

Nota's fighters exited subspace as quickly as they could. There was no

need to use the invisibility screens. Undoubtedly, their enemy had
already detected their entry and their heading. They had to expect a
fierce battle. Unfortunately for their enemy, Nota had the plazsphere
weapons.

"Admiral, the enemies have arrived. No evidence of any energy fields,

shielding, or deflector grids. What are your orders?" asked Krael,
taking over the scanners. Rytek turned to Holog. "Hail them," he said
simply.

The puny aliens were requesting communications. Nota decided it would be

good to talk to his enemy before he killed them. He activated his
communications console, and attempted to match his enemy's comm
protocol.

"I am Nota, lead pilot of Blakta Force Three. What do you wish to say?"
spoke the face of the enemy. Rytek looked him over. This Nota was
similiar to his own appearance, but their were differences. Nota didn't
have two arms. He had only one (Was Nota a he or a she?). "Greetings,
lead pilot Nota. I am Admiral Rytek of the Cyberian Armada. What
dissident group are you affiliated with?" replied Rytek. Nota looked
confused. "You do not know who we are? We are not dissidents. We are
outsiders," he replied. Rytek glanced at Holog. "Are you recording
this?" he asked. Holog nodded. "Nota, I'm afraid I must ask you to
withdraw from this space. You are intruding upon space owned and
protected by the Cyberian Armada," Rytek said. Nota made a gesture with
his single hand. "I do not care," said Nota. The vidscreen went dark.

-\- 10 -/-

Tecouk signaled Rytek. "The cavalry's here. We should be able to handle

the enemy plasma fields, but we don't know what other weapons they
have," he said. Without warning the enemy fighters ignited their
plazspheres. "Fighters two, three, and four, activate polarcrystal
grids," he ordered. The grids erected themselves around each of the
fighters, and took on a red hue. Tecouk waited and waited. Finally the
moment of truth came. The plazsphere hit all three grids.

The scene taking place on the vidscreen was frightening. The plazsphere
and the polarcrystal grids were ovbiously a match for each other.
Finally every fighter lost some power. Under other circumstances, this
would be failure. But the grids had held their own, and warded off the
plazspheres. "Open fire with everything we've got," ordered Rytek.
"Notify the Platform they can use the heat-soliton emitter at their own
discretion," he said.

Nota was taken completely by surprise. The enemy had found a way to
counter the plazsphere. Impossible! He signaled his fellow fighters and
they activated their shielding.

The heat-solition emitter warmed up. It's turbines churned as many

solition particles as it could, while the tip of the emitter created
it's superheated temperatures. The beam finally sprang into being and
connected with one of the eight enemy fighters. It immediately exploded.

Nota was now scared. Never in the history of the Kazik Regime had there
been a culture able to destroy their plazsphere or penetrate it. He
signaled the other six remaining pilots and had each one activate their
plazsphere.

The violet spheres careened into the grids surrounding the fighters.
Tecouk's instruments went up in smoke. He activated the AudCom and told
his other three pilots and let them know he was out of commission. One
more hit from a plazsphere and he would be destroyed.

-\- 11 -/-

Nota's fellow pilots were almost out of power. Nota gave the order. They
were to expend all power they could to destroy the enemy forces. Nota
would return to Kazik space and notify the Regime of the mission's
failure. Something would have to be done about this. He activated his
invisiblity screen and initiated a subspace thrustjump.

By the time the battle was over, the Kazik had lost seven fighters and
the Cyberian Armada had lost two HCs. The worst casualities were the
four prototype fighters. Each was lost, but fortunately Vedet still knew
the technology.

-\- 12 -/-

There was one Kazik pilot still alive. He had been captured, and it was
then that Amoko learned everything. The Kazik proceeded to tell him that
only lead pilots or other important people had names. "Why is your
Armada, your base, and your organization called 'Cyberian?' Why isn't it
named after you, Amoko?" inquired the Kazik. Amoko sighed. "Fifty years
ago, during the Underground War, a man named Cyber grew discontent with
my handling of the situation. Unfortunately, he seized power and almost
kept the Universe from being freed. He was overthrown eventually, but he
was killed by a test detonation of the Hydroxyl Missile. I named my
organization after him, because our purposes were the same. He had the
interests of keeping the universe safe, just as I did. He just didn't
agree with my methods of achieving the goal. I've named everything after
him, because he died bravely," he explained. "Tell me about your people.
Why do they insist on takingover other cultures?" asked Amoko. The Kazik
froze. "We do it because we CAN. There is no other race in this
Multiverse that can defeat us. We always wait until a Universe has
developed to a point where they provide us with a challenge in battle.
We then proceed to take them over," he said. Amoko looked at him. "MY
people won't let the Kazik Regime do it. We've developed technology to
counter your plasma weapons. You won't be able to defeat us," he stated.
The Kazik glared. "Yes we will. We have invisibility screens, plus a
plethora of other weapons we could use against you. Your Cyberian Armada
isn't even a fourth as large as the Kazik Fleet. Your people won't
survive," he said coldly.

-\- 13 -/-

Krael had returned to Petros Station after the battle to see how repairs
were coming. To his pleasure, he found them complete, and discovered
they were already preparing to send another aid mission to the new
Universe. Circumstances were making everything a jumble. The Kazik pilot
captured by Rytek had been questioned. Much had been discovered about
the Kazik, but Amoko couldn't find anything to connect the two plasma
encounters. They concluded that the plasma wave in the new Universe
-had- been natural.

Nota had reported everything to the Regime. They proceeded to assemble a

two-hundred fighter fleet under Nota's command. He was to invade the
enemy Universe again and destroy the Cyberian Platform. The new fighters
were equipped with three different beam arrays, modified plasma weapons,
and invisibility screens. No matter how much defense the enemy had, this
time they would be destroyed.

-\- 14 -/-

Amoko was sitting quietly in his living chamber, watching the latest
vidseries, 'Three of Me,' when the alert sounded. Why the heck was there
an alert? As if in answer to Amoko's silent question, a rumble spread
through his chamber. Walls started splitting, and explosions ruptured
the floor. Smoke was billowing from everything, and Amoko was choking.
The Platform must be under attack again. He had to get to the command
center, and he had to get their soon.

"Notify Admiral Rytek that we are under attack. Tell him the enemy is
invisible, but we need assistance, and we need it now," ordered
Commander Jol. Jol was in charge of the Platform's defenses, but Amoko
should be arriving to take over command. "Meanwhile, prepare the
heat-solition emitter, and try to find anything that will detect those
damned enemy ships!" he yelled.

The news spread quickly. Without being able to see their enemy, the
Cyberian Platform had been destroyed. Amoko had died with the Platform,
as well. The entire Cyberian Armada was intact, but there was no base
for it to return to. Krael had quickly taken action and notified every
Admiral in the Armada that they coud transfer their flags to the Petros
Station. It was the only thing that would qualify as a base. Vedet was
working on building a new heat-solition emitter with the limited funds
he had, and also constructing several portable units to be installed on
the three remaining command ships in the Armada. Every empire was
notified that they were on full battle alert, and that Krael needed more
money to construct the emitters and equip every Armada ship with a
polarcrystal grid.

Krael expected battle. He expected it, alright. The Kazik had shown
themselves to be ruthless, and Krael was prepared to fight, even if his
people were going to lose.

=-==-= =-==-= =-==-= =-==-= =-==-= =-==-= =-==-= =-==-= =-==-= =-==-=

Conclusion ><><><><><

-=< The Kazik -are- ruthless. However, the next SRE story won't be SRE8.
SRE: Galaxy Sei premiers in a few months, chronicling Ultra's adventures
in the Sei Galaxy before he moved into Sree. After that, SRE 8 will be
released, however it's plot will not be made known. SRE8 will not be the
last adventure, but it will be the best so far. Thanks for your
continued support. I appreciate it. I also encourage you to check out
Politics Online Magazine, the new publication from GrossWorld Publishing
Company. Again, thanks! It is only because of the readers that these
stories are made! Until next time.... >=-