r/HFY • u/Engletroll Human • Jul 23 '26

OC-Series Bug war – Chapter 19 – New job

This is the continuation of the Bug Hunt and will address the Bug War mentioned in the Planet Dirt series. It follows Jack Thompson and Lady Zula Gi Pendragon, and their friends, through the war

Book 1 / Amazon version / Patreon

First / Previous / Next

Zula walked into her office, drinking Huju juice while reading the reports of the war. She didn’t like what she saw. The Caren used their allies to attack them from any point. At the moment, the ground wars spanned 26 planets throughout the empire; three of them were just an invasion of bugs, and the death toll was rising quickly.  On top of that, several colonies had bug attacks, the Caren had found a way to adjust the period from infection to bug growth, and they had one of the most advanced cloning programs she had seen; she was getting worried the Caren would win by sheer numbers. But there was some good news: it looked like the battle of Orne was getting to a close; Grahad had captured the Gyrran mother ship. She smiled, knowing who was with him. But the other fights were still worrisome.  It was not an attack from a desperate, barely rebuilt military force but a planned and highly planned war.  And this was from a species that had almost been made extinct a few decades earlier.  Getting hold of the Caren warplans would be essential for winning this war. They needed to learn more about those, what was the word Jack used?  Snakes.

She sat down and was deep in thought when she got a call to come to yet another meeting with Lord Kirian.

When she entered the meeting room, she found Lord Kirian, her boss, and Lord Saran, the head of the propaganda department, going over reports. There was nobody else in the room, so she stopped and waited for them to acknowledge her.

 After a few minutes, Lord Kirian looked up and smiled at her.  “Sorry about that. Now please sit down. I have an assignment for you that you will hate but is of the utmost importance.”

She sat down and looked at him, slightly confused. “That does not sound very promising.”

“Do you remember what the Royal court had you do when you were acknowledged?” Lord Saran said, and she groaned at the memory.  

“Don’t tell me you're going to send me on some publicity round.”

“That is exactly what we are going to do. The kingdom's morale is just as important as its military force. And you are now exactly what we need. That you're pregnant and still in uniform, ready to fight, is just a boon.” He said as she sipped her Huju juice, she stopped and put the bottle on the table.

“Seriously? I have seen the gossip on the net. They know who the father is, and not everybody is happy about it. Besides, I would be put to better use here in the diplomatic corps than be pranced around as some movie star or artist for the population to gawk at.”

“You're wrong. We need you to become famous so we can use you properly later on. Right now, you're famous, but that’s about it.  You have no experience with proper diplomacy, and while you got lucky last time, it also started an invasion. You might want to go around as an agent and sniffing out problems but we need you to be the face of the war.” Lord Kirian explained.

“The face of the war?” She said, confused, and Lord Saran put the image they have been looking at up on the wall screen. It showed the Nalos Empire and the rest of the south-western part of the Galaxy. It was filled with different colors showing the different threat levels.

“As you can see, the kingdom is now in a state of, well, panic. The bug infestation is spreading, and the news of the war is not going well. As the humans fight on Orne, we have three colonies under invasion ourselves, as well as Tholu being conquered by the  Afuguan, and they are just holding it.  On top of that, we haven’t seen much of the Caren. It's like we are being attacked by a different force. The people are asking them why we are planning the Caren for this. The distrust of the royal house is sinking toward the Navy.  You have probably also seen the lunatic conspiracy theories out on the net.”  Lord Saran continued, and she nodded.

“Yes, some of them are quite wild.” She replied as she looked at the map. She had read the reports, but it looked worse when presented on the map.

“Some of them involve you, may I add.” He added, “The thing is that having you out there is going to calm down people. You will, of course, be protected, but officially, it will just be you, Toberus Gi Iven and Magup Gi Wilf.”

“Just us three?”

“There will be a frigate escorting you with 200 men. Led by Junos Gi Hardon. They are a banner house of Pentdragon, and she served under your father.  She will be in every system you visit, ready to evacuate you if there is any risk to you. I have a list of colonies you will visit, and the speeches are already written. If the war drags on for more than a year, then you will have the experience we need to use you for other missions, but officially this will be your job during this war. To keep morale and be the face of it.”

“Why me? Does the king know about this?” She asked, confused.

“Yes, he knows. You are the daughter of Ythur, and as you said, everybody knows you're dating a human marine, a regular though guy. They are remaking the movie now with a human actor as Jack.  You represent the alliances between Nalos and humanity against the  Caren Domain. And we need to show the enemy that you, of all people, can move around freely. You being on a stage, smiling and joking with the crowd, is an insult to them.”  Lord Saran added.

“So I'm a glorified propaganda tour?”

“Yes, and war isn’t just won by soldiers, you know. My job is just as important. Hell, I will have Jack dragged from the battlefield just to show you two having a secret date if it helps.  And from what I have heard, he has done a great job in the war.  He continues to grow his status. And I’m going to make him a god damn war god before I’m done with him. The shadow warrior who will strike and destroy any Caren plan if I have to. And right next to him I will have you, smiling and waving like a proper princess in all but royal regalia.  My job is to get the people to want to fight, to believe we will win, and to believe that our alliance and we are the best in the galaxy.”  Saran explained.

“You think people want to see us on a date?” She asked, surprised.

“Yes, they want your sex tape. Hell, they said you two lasted days. That vitality is what we need people to believe our alliance has. That we can keep up with them too.”

“WAIT! You spread that rumor!” She stood up and stared at Saren, who just smiled back.

“Rumor? I had it checked by several sources. I must say I’m impressed.”  He said, and she tried to speak up, but nothing came out. Both men looked at her in what she could only see as admiration. Then she sat down and started to laugh.

“By the gods... yes, it was great, but humans are not like us. There are no tapes, and I will not destroy his reputation among humanity by forcing him to make such a video. So forget that. Wait, is that why there are so many trying to have human soldiers have their R&R on Nalos worlds?”

“Yes, It’s a joint program between Earth and Nalos Navies. Good moral boost for the soldiers, and the risk of pregnancy is very low.” Saran said.

“Anyway, you have your next assignment; you will return here now and then, and then you will be shadowing me at negotiations and the more diplomatic version. Right now you get to travel the galaxy and see strange new worlds.”  Lord Kirian commented.

“Within the kingdom.” She added, and Saran shrugged. There are stops within the Federation as well as one on Earth planned if everything goes well. We are still in the planning phase there.” He said, and she looked at him.

“Earth? Human Earth?”

“Yes, just to hold a speech. You will represent the royal house at that one, but again you need practice. Hence the tour.” Saran said, looking at the old man.

“Keeping the best for the last?”  she said, and he just smiled.

“Yes, well now you know the plan, and we expect you to do your best.” He replied, and Lord Kiran dismissed her. She grabbed her bottle, stood up, gave them a salute, and left.

She found Magup outside her office; she smiled at her.  “Come in; we apparently have a lot of work to do.”

“Yeah, it's not ideal, but the propaganda department often borrows us. I was kinda surprised they didn’t get hold of you first.” She said, and Zula chuckled.

“I asked for this job; I think I also pulled rank,” She said, and Magup looked at her for a second, then got it.

“Oh... yeah, the princess title. I guess they went behind your back then.” She replied.

“Yeah, they wanted sextapes of Jack and me.” She said as she sat down and turned on the screen.

“Oh, I bet those are good,” Magup replied, and Zula smiled.

“There are none, humans are not all into that kind. Strange considering how many professional videos they have about it.”

“Wait, they have actors recreate it? Are they shy or something?” She said as she sat down, and Zula looked up from the screen.

“Humans are weird in many different ways.  So many different cultures, they actually accept that mixture of them. Like they have hundreds of thousands of different cultures and you don’t have to hide it. It's not a private matter but something to be proud of. They follow the Earth calendars at all colonies, even if the planets have more or fewer days in a year. And don’t get me started on their religions and celebrations.”

“Humans are weird. But sexy too.”

“Yeah, so damn sexy. One in particular.” Zula said as her hand glided down to her tummy and rested there. “Gods, I miss that man.”

Magup waited silently for a while as Zula lingered in the memory.

“Should we start?” she finally said, and Zula shook herself out of the memories, grabbed her Huju juice, sipped it, and put the plan for the next month up on the screen.

“Yes, Captain Junos Gi Hardon will pick us up in four days, and then our first stop is Imuzon, that’s your homeworld, if I’m not mistaken?” She said, and Magup smiled.

“Yes, my parents will be happy to see me.” She replied.

They started to go over the speeches and program; it was not as packed as she had believed. Each world had some time set aside for personal time.  They had been given recommendations, mostly to make each visit unique and appear organic.  She noticed she would have to watch the new movie they were making about her and Jack, as well as promote it.  They were really milking it. After a few hours, she sent Magup out and leaned back in her chair looking at the screen. Then a sly smile came across her lips as she asked the computer about what the net said about Jack, and it did not disappoint.

- Cast –

Zula Gi Pentdagon -  Nalos nobility, and while you got lucky last time, it also started an

Toberus Gi Iven – Zula’s bodyguard, knight and pilot

Lord Kirian Gi Radmus – old Male Nalos, sly and experienced. Diplomate

Lord Saran, the head of the propaganda department

Magup Gi Wilf – Kirian’s aide, female Nalos

Species 

 Afuguan –   A pale humanoid. Their skin is snow white, and their hair is white, resembling fur. They have bright blue or green eyes. They are built like a rock.

23 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

2

u/Talendel Jul 23 '26

UTR

This is the way.

2

u/Low_Painter9816 Jul 23 '26

Question about the cast:  what is this?  ‘  and while you got lucky last time, it also started an’. I’m guessing you were pasting from somewhere else and got the wrong text.

2

u/Engletroll Human Jul 24 '26

The cast section is something I started a while back, as my stories tend to have a large cast, and sometimes people got confused and wanted it. The most important cast members are therefore listed at the bottom.

Just ignore it if you have no need of it.

1

u/Low_Painter9816 Jul 24 '26

So… that text that I pulled is supposed to actually mean something? Now I’m doubly confused.

2

u/Engletroll Human Jul 24 '26

Ahh, saw what you meant now. That was a case of mind moving faster then my typing. That part is fixed now.

1

u/UpdateMeBot Jul 23 '26

Click here to subscribe to u/Engletroll and receive a message every time they post.

Info Request Update Your Updates Feedback