(Moons of Jupiter, September 1099 AD.)

After the Persians surrendered, the Klarons went to work on the Persian fleet, trying to find ways to enhance their wooden sailing ships. They would need every advantage they could get in order to conquer the Romans and take over Mars.

The skypaths, which the ancient humans traveled, had been built by some unknown species at least thousands of years ago. These intricate slipstreams through the heavens not only supported life, but they resisted technology. They had an outershell that protected wooden ships in the slipstream from attack by rayguns from the outside, or even high-velocity projectiles. Such projectiles could only exit the slipstream, but not enter them.

In addition, the slipstream had magnetic properties that destroyed any technology inside it that emitted an electrical field. The Klarons discovered this when they tried to put radios on the Persian space ships. The radios immediately blew up and electrocuted whomever was closest to them.

The Klarons then tried a more primitive approach, and outfitted the Persian ships with metallic armor and cannons. But the armor contained too much metal, and it too was zapped inside the skypaths. Of course some metal was allowed inside the slipstream (i.e. soldier’s armor, weapons) but not enough to make a thick enough skin over the side of the ships to make a different.

Finally, the Klaron attempts to bring gunpowder aboard failed also. This was the worst attempt yet. The gunpowder exploded immediately and blew up the entire ship.

So the Klarons decided to let their Persian minions battle the Romans in the old fashioned way: with swords, spears, and catapults. But the Klarons would place an alien commander aboard to give them their orders.

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This account is based on the SkyPath Crusade Epic Poem