Star Force: 89-92
Author: Aer-Ki Jyr
Date: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science Fiction; Science Fiction & Fantasy; Colonization; Dystopian; Galactic Empire; High Tech; Military; Space Fleet; 90 Minutes (44-64 Pages); Literature & Fiction; Hard Science Fiction; Adventure; Two Hours or More (65-100 Pages); Action & Adventure; Space Opera; Genre Fiction; War; Health; Fitness & Dieting; Exercise & Fitness; Yoga; War & Military; Space Marine; Teen & Young Adult; Star Force
Description: Anthology containing: Star Force: 89-92
Rights: Copyrights as per source stories

1

June 30, 3272

Adriart System (Uriti Preserve)

Stellar Orbit

Nefron stood at a workstation inside the Zeus, which had become his mobile home ever since the Uriti Preserve had been established. Right now it was in system number 7 of an 11 point circuit that they were slowly parading their two Uriti around in. This system, like the others, had an established navigational course that they would run both the Uriti through in turn, as well as several construction sites on the major planet to facilitate mining operations across the Preserve.

In addition to that, there were three mobile observation stations here. None had interstellar jump capability like the sedas did, but these were fast enough to move around the system and keep out of the way of the Uriti while they housed the workers, researchers, and every other person assigned to this system to keep them out of danger should either Uriti take unpredictable action.

But to date that had never occurred. Both of them went where they were told and were getting along with each other like siblings. The command language that Nefron was using was also getting more advanced as he pressed and instructed them to do more and more delicate tasks. He wasn’t teaching them anything new, rather utilizing greater depth that the Chixzon had never bothered with in the field but had been meticulous to construct while growing the Uriti in order to obtain maximum control.

They’d never needed it when all they did was point the Uriti at a system and say ‘destroy,’ so what Nefron was doing now was really a continuation of their research rather than something new of his own. That said, this wasn’t the only project he was working on, and while direct communication between him, the Archons, or anyone else and the Uriti was still hitting a stone wall, he was getting much closer on yet another project.

The reason he could control the Uriti was because he was Chixzon and he had the specially built transmitter. The transmitter had been duplicated many times over and existed in 14 different starships within the Preserve that functioned as backups should the Zeus ever see a catastrophic malfunction, but as talks with the Knights of Quenar and The Nexus continued to bear fruit it was obvious that they were going to need to be able to control the Uriti in more than one system at the same time. Even if he wanted to keep all of them in one system, going out on retrieval missions would mean that Nefron wouldn’t be here to oversee these two, hence he needed a way to give the Archons the ability to issue orders as if they were coming from him.

Doing that meant making the transmitter and the Uriti think they were Chixzon as far as telepathy went, and it wasn’t about power or skill, for the Archons had far more of that than him. What was needed was a telepathic fingerprint that matched his own, or at least the narrow band that identified him as Chixzon, and right now he was troubleshooting the final problems in his design on a simulation program while the ship’s crew left him alone.

That was typical, for aside from Riley and a handful of others nobody ever saw him in person. His quarters and work facilities on the ship were located in a very specific region, meaning the only time he got out from there was to do workouts or eat. He didn’t avoid the crew then, but they didn’t stop him to ask questions or force interaction. A few nods of respect and they’d pass him by, leaving him to his work that never seemed to end.

He’d had a long talk with Davis before the Director had left to go back to Earth and both of them knew how important, and potentially disastrous, this Preserve project could become. Already there were more races in the Alamo System from unaligned and otherwise unknown civilizations than there were in Star Force, and more were coming in by the year. All had various agendas to push or play, but between the Star Force fleet, the Voku, and the enigmatic power of the KoQ, order had been kept and progress was being made on many fronts, but Nefron knew how fragile everything was even if it didn’t appear that way to outsiders.

Something Riley had told him long ago had stuck in his head. It was a quote from Star Wars, a little obsolete reference that the Archon had thought pertinent.

Fear attracts the fearful.

That was illogical, but over time as Nefron observed the races and representatives coming into the Preserve from his fortress of solitude onboard the Zeus he began to see the nugget of truth in that stupid statement. Fear is something that drove one off, but here these races were, coming up to look at the very beasts they dreaded. It was as if the fear was attracting them here like a narcotic. They wanted to be close to the danger without getting bit by it, which was reckless on its face, but the fact was races from across the local quarter of the galaxy’s outer rim were showing up for little more than to see the Uriti and the empire that had them under its control.

Others wanted more than that, but some appeared just to want to feel the fear and bask in it, almost daring fate to smite them down the closer they got.

And the fleet was having its hands full keeping ships to honor the perimeter range. There was always someone wanting to go closer, but at least in this system they didn’t have to worry about that very much. Almost everyone was back in Alamo while a handful of Star Force jumpships were here carrying spectators, and he knew those ships wouldn’t be violating the boundary lines. There was, however, an occasional ship that pressed further into the Preserve than Alamo, but the KoQ usually got to them before Star Force did, and they’d intercepted one Cabrari ship just a week ago.

Right now it was sitting in a higher orbit around the star with a contingent of Star Force troops onboard it as an assessment was being made of what to do with the crew. If there had been some misunderstanding they might be allowed to keep their ship. If not it would be added to the collection of trophies from various races stupid enough to violate the Preserve boundaries that were floating in a very public display orbit in Alamo to remind everyone that Star Force was taking the security of the Preserve seriously.

A lot of races had begun to respect that, as well as the fact that this place was becoming a great deal more important than they’d thought. It wasn’t just about the Uriti anymore, though that aspect was never going to diminish. There was constant wrangling and complaints about control and potential abuse of power by Star Force, but some of the other races were requesting permission to set up colonies nearby to take advantage of the crossroads that the Preserve had become. Previously it had been an undeveloped region, even when the lizards controlled it, but now there were several black hole ‘highways’ that were developing traffic spurs to this location and creating a slow link between several regions that had not seen connectivity before.

But beyond that, the location was making the connections important, and as a few savvy empires began to ingratiate themselves with Star Force and secure planets around the perimeter of the Preserve the rest of them took notice and a rush of interest and negotiations was forming that attracted even more races from afar…and all of whom were very interested to meet him.

But Star Force wasn’t allowing that, thankfully keeping Nefron out of the whole diplomatic mess while allowing him to observe it from afar. No one could get close to the command ship aside from other Star Force vessels. Even the KoQ and the Voku kept a respectful distance, but so long as he was the only one that was able to control the Uriti this ship was going to be the weak link in the entire operation, meaning that he had to find a way to give the Archons the redundant ability to issue the Uriti orders.

And he was close to it now, so close that he’d called Riley in to help him test the equipment that he hadn’t yet told him he’d been developing. When the Archon arrived, the Chixzon waved him over to an auxiliary control station with a flick of his armored hand.

“Did we get a message back?” Riley asked, referring to their endless attempts to communicate with the Uriti outside the defined channels.

“No. I just need a mind other than my own right now. Link to the console please.”

Riley did as asked, making telepathic connection with the machine via his bare hand on the panel before him and waited for whatever Nefron was going to do.

“This is the Chixzon navigational program used to direct the Uriti. Nose around it a bit and tell me what you think. It’s hooked into a simulator so you’ve got a fake Uriti to experiment with.”

“Recreated or copied?” Riley said as he mentally started to fiddle around with the alien interface.

“Mostly copied, but I reworked some of the commands into English so you’d be able to adapt to them quicker. I can rework the whole thing later, but right now I just need to know if you’re compatible. I’m scanning you as you work, so just keep busy for a while.”

“Fiddling as ordered,” Riley said as he began utilizing the simulator for some basic obstacle course runs that had a fake Nami pulling loops around a planet and its four moons.

As he worked Nefron made adjustments, fine tuning what he thought was needed to sync up the Archon’s brain to the Chixzon designs, but Riley grew bored before he had finished.

“What’s going on, buddy?”

“I’m close. Give me another 20 minutes.”

“Why the secrecy?”

“I don’t want to tell you about it unless it works.”

“Prefer to fail in private?”

“You could say that,” Nefron half agreed. “I don’t have to explain the why and how, I can just keep working the problem in silence.”

“I’ll humor you then, but this thing is pretty primitive.”

“The Uriti can’t be remote controlled, only ordered.”

“Yeah, but I’ve seen you tell them to do stuff that’s more complicated than the options I have here.”

“Sorry about that. I didn’t copy everything. I just needed a basic control package to work with. If this works, I’ll give you the…”

“What?” Riley asked, sensing his friend’s mind freeze in surprise.

“I just shunted your mental moniker over to the Uriti so I could get a calibration reading. I expected it to fail, but they both just accepted it.”

“Meaning what exactly?”

“Statistics,” Nefron said, shutting down the simulator and bringing other programming online at Riley’s station. “Try and draw status feeds from them.”

“How?”

Nefron’s mind suddenly entered the Archon’s in the form of the computer linkage that allowed him to bypass the Ikrid blocks. With his help Riley was able to navigate mental program controls he had never seen before, catching on quickly as the Chixzon guided but did not do any of the tasks himself. Within a few minutes Riley felt the raw feeds coming in from the Uriti as they were shunted to the display on his control panel.

“Hello, fellas,” the trailblazer said, recognizing their massive yet obtuse intellects emanating out from the star they were currently bathing in. A prompt from Nefron and Riley tried to connect to them directly with a simple order.

Suddenly their minds opened to him for brief moment, both of them acknowledging the order and beginning to climb out of the star to a point in low orbit. Both Riley and Nefron watched as they came out, neither asking questions, then when both Uriti stopped exactly where Riley had told them to Nefron let out a long sigh as he sank back onto a nearby stool.

“Finally.”

“What the hell did you just do? Find a way for me to piggyback onto your signal?”

“No. I found a way to give you your own. I didn’t think it would work yet, I just wanted the data from the attempt. It seems I was closer to the solution than I thought.”

“Enlighten me,” Riley said, eager to hear what he’d come up with.

“I was going to try and create a bit of Chixzon brain tissue for you guys to give to whomever you trusted enough to give orders to the Uriti, but I eventually nixed that when I realized you wouldn’t want any more tissue crammed into your already thick heads. Especially some that wasn’t your own.”

“Good call there. Would that have worked?”

“If I could engineer it to be a modifier for the rest of your brain activity, yes, I think so. What I’ve done here is to create a mechanical version of the same thing. This machine is calibrated to you and you alone. It’s crude, but apparently functional. Right now it’s the size of a dropship underneath the floor, but over time I think I can reduce that greatly by further tightening the requirements down to a single individual. Basically, I’m hoping that I can create a palm-sized control device that will make the transmitter and the Uriti think that your telepathy is coming from a Chixzon, and one who has all the proper identification codes.”

“Wait. Not all Chixzon can order the Uriti?”

“All the new ones can, but the originals couldn’t. There was a very selective group given that power.”

“Secret passwords?”

“Metaphorically speaking, yes. And I’ve created this adaptor to include them.”

“And it’s tuned for me?”

“You’re the only person I’ve spent enough time with to have an idea of how your mind works. I was making a lot of educated guesses based on our prior contact. I didn’t expect to get the balance right so soon, otherwise I would have let you know what was going on. I expected this to take months, if not years from this point. I may have just gotten lucky, in which case I’ll have to analyze what I’ve done and figure out what works and why, but for the moment you have at least a limited ability to control the Uriti through the current equipment and settings.”

“Meaning you can transfer to another ship with a transmitter and we can go two places at the same time.”

“Exactly.”

“How long before we can test that?”

“Not long, assuming this wasn’t a fluke. It’s the refining that’s going to take time.”

“Down to something handheld?” Riley reiterated.

“Or a forearm gauntlet, if you’d prefer. It’s going to be a bit heavy at best, but you should be able to wear it.”

“Archons only?”

“Strong telepathy is required.”

“Protovic?”

Nefron considered. “I don’t want to start there, but that’s a possibility.”

“Ok, so let me get this straight, just for the record,” Riley said with a blossoming smile. “You just figured out how to create a remote control for the Uriti?”

“As I said before, you cannot remote control it, you can only give it orders.”

“Semantics. This device allows me to order it the same way you do?”

“In theory, yes. All we have is a single test for confirmation.”

Riley jumped into the air doing a twirl with a triumphant fist raised. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

“It should end Star Force’s reliance on this ship…and me.”

“Tired of being stuck here?”

“Tired of not being able to leave. A lot of my work is going to be here regardless.”

“I hear that. We both need to be here right now, but once this place develops I really don’t want to have to be stuck here endlessly. Got asses to kick elsewhere.”

“I actually prefer that sentiment to others I was considering.”

“So right now it’s you and me in the controller club?”

“You’re barely in it, but yes. It will take me a long time to refine this for you and even longer to do it for another person. I suggest we keep this quiet for now, else someone might realize they’re on the clock to eliminate this ship and me before we create the redundancy.”

Riley cringed. “Good point. Guess we better hold off on that split test then.”

“No, we can still accommodate it with some guile. I’ll have to be transferred to another control ship while you take this one out of the system with one of the Uriti. They will think the other is staying here under orders, but I’ll be here to monitor it as a backup.”

“After you teach me how to drive with you looking over my shoulder first?”

Nefron’s eyes flashed green ever so briefly. “Orders. Not control.”

“It’s more than point and click,” the Archon argued. “I felt that moment of synergy.”

“It’s simply another means of communication. They choose to follow the orders. You do not actively control them.”

“Noted. Will you help me run Bahamut through the course?”

“Let’s start with something more simple while I analyze the interface. Link back in and I’ll set you up.”

“Simple how?” Riley asked, touching the panel again and getting the equipment added to his mind like another room suddenly popping into existence within a house.

“Star to planet and back again.”

“Alright, we’ll keep it simple,” he moaned sarcastically. “Is this set up to make me look Chixzon or look like you?”

“I used my profile to speed up the process, but it may be more advantageous to rework the interface from various personas tailored to be compatible with the person in question.”

“Meaning my mind is more similar to some Chixzon than others?”

“Of course.”

“Do you have others on file or would you have to synthesize them.”

“Synthesis,” Nefron said regretfully, knowing how much additional time that would take.

“Long project ahead?”

“Very, but a lot shorter now than I expected. I don’t know if what I did was smart or just accidentally lucky, but it worked the first time. Let’s see if our luck holds and it works again.”

“Teach me, Master Nefron. I is ready.”

“I do all the hard work and you get to have the fun?”

“Ha. Don’t even get me started on that. I know I’m going to be bored out of my skull letting you calibrate this thing to me.”

Nefron smiled, a slight cracking of his rock-like lips. “True enough,” he said, linking into his console and finding Riley’s mental signature inside the programming link. “Let’s begin with the basics, my young apprentice.”

2

May 2, 3285

Alamo System

Warden Station

Oro-2573 walked off the Star Force personnel ship along with hundreds of other people as it sat docked to the Warden station along with some four other ships. There were no tourists here, nor ambassadors from other empires. All of them were located in other facilities in the system, leaving the titan with high level traveling partners in the form of Archons, Commandos, and a lot of techs that were being added to the station’s complement of secretive staff.

Beside him were eleven other members of his graduating class, all 2500s, which was very odd. There’d been a recruitment call put out and he’d volunteered, but he didn’t expect to be paired up with so many familiar faces again, let alone three other 7s. Jeen-2572, Hera-2574, and Peter-2576 were only a few meters behind him as they walked across a line on the floor and into zero g, then were grabbed by an IDF field and flown across the stubby umbilical connecting ship to station and landed them gently on the other side. They easily fell back into stride with one another almost as if the millennia they’d spent apart had never happened.

The sight of 12 titans together drew a lot of curious attention, but most people were polite enough not to inquire and the few that did got the same answer from all of them…they didn’t know why they’d been brought here.

All of them were wearing their casual Archon uniforms, bone white with a single colored stripe running down either side. Their stripe was gold, but an equally white uniform was waiting for them just inside the station with a pink stripe, and standing next to it was the red/gold/white of a Duke.

“Welcome,” Pryon said graciously to the arriving titans.

“Duke,” Oro greeted evenly, then he glanced at the ViLord. “Riley.”

“Follow me,” the Duke said as he turned and began walking. The Archons fell into line behind him and the fourteen of them made their way through what was obviously a very empty station despite the number of people coming and going. Eventually they came to an armed checkpoint with a ranger and a squad of Commandos visible. They let the group through, then the Duke took them into a dead end hallway where he input a code into a locked door. It opened by sliding into the wall and allowed them all inside through the small opening.

“A lot of security,” Eaton-2503 commented as mist dropped over them in the long, narrow corridor they were forced to pass through.

“When several of the civilizations represented in this system have adequate or better stealth technology we have to be careful. Two years ago we stopped a tiny probe from infiltrating this facility because a passing Archon happened to have their Pefbar deployed. Since then we’ve created safe zones where we tightly screen everything passing.”

“Who’s was it?”

“The Fajanni. Duke Yetti made them pay for that, but there had been earlier attempts at security breaches and apparently they hadn’t been deterred, so we have to make sure this area remains locked down no matter what.”

None of the Archons said anything more until they all passed through the misty hallway and got the last of the little robots flushed off them on the far side with a wall of wind that would have made Yasuo proud. When a door slid over the scanning hallway Duke Pryon let out a slow breath.

“Safe to talk now,” he announced, checking with a nearby tech that gave him a thumbs up indicating that the scan was clear.

“What’s all the secrecy for?” Oro asked.

“Up until recently only Nefron was able to give orders to the Uriti. He was our weak link and knowing it the other empires have wanted to get access to him…either to recruit or kill. While this system appears to be tranquil, I can assure you it’s not. Tensions are running high underneath it all and only our leverage is keeping things in order. The Uriti are powerful weapons that we’re not using, but a lot of people don’t like us having that ability and would deny us our controller if they could get access to Nefron, even if it would mean the Uriti would roam free and destroy what they like.”

“Was?” Hera asked.

Pryon glanced at Riley.

“There are now two of us that can control the Uriti. I’m the second, but no one knows that yet. As far as the intergalactic community out there is concerned, Nefron is still our weak link. We’re going to make him redundant, and if they know of our plans they might act to try and stop them, for once many people can control the Uriti they will no longer have the option of mounting a swift strike to take out Nefron if needed. So our work here has to remain secret until we have all of you up and running.”

“How can you control the Uriti?” Logan-2522 asked with a curious expression on his face.

Riley looked to his left and a device floated through the air over to him and landed in his hand. He slipped it on over his wrist and snugged up the forearm gauntlet that looked decidedly V’kit’no’sat in its chrome surface and jeweled accessories, one of which glowed yellow as it touched Riley’s skin.

“With this. You can thank Nefron for the brainstorm. Only Chixzon can control the Uriti, and this makes me look telepathically like a Chixzon as far as the Uriti and the transmitter are concerned. Note the yellow light,” he said, pulling the gauntlet off and tossing it to Oro. “Put it on.”

The Archon caught and slid it onto his own left arm, seeing the light go red.

“Red means you’re not compatible. Yellow means you’re close. And green means you’re good to go. I have to modify my own telepathy into a certain range to turn it green thanks to the fact that we’re more developed than the Chixzon in that department. I have let go of a lot and think simply, but in a very specific way that took me a long time to learn to do. Bigger ones can accommodate the alterations necessary, but we didn’t want people having to wear a backpack so we skimmed it down to the point where we do part of the adjusting ourselves and the gauntlet does the rest,” he said, signaling for it back.

When he got it he slipped it on again and closed his eyes. The yellow light, coming from a small jewel on the surface, eventually turned green. He opened his eyes and looked at the others again. “I have to focus to keep in alignment, meaning that if you’re going to talk to a Uriti you need to be in a safe place. I can’t use Pefbar or any other psionics or it’ll knock me off the mark. Remember this, because you have to basically blind yourself in order to make it work. I can’t do much more than talk to you right now, and even that is a bit of an effort,” he said, letting the light go back to yellow.

“When you’re green you can connect to the Chixzon transmitter remotely and it will work anywhere on the command ship. This station also has a transmitter, which is one reason why people want to sneak in here. While Nefron highly doubts any of them could rig up their own order-giver,” he said, preemptively throwing the Chixzon a look, “considering the lengths it’s taken us to develop these, we’re not going to take the chance. Transmitters and especially these gauntlets don’t go to anyone else, ever. The transmitters are big and stationary, but these are not. Don’t misplace them. Don’t leave them in an unsecured site. Don’t let them out of your sight, even if you’re in the shower. Wear them in with you and just hold them telekinetically in the air while you wash your arm.”

A few eyebrows raised, but Riley shook his head in the negative. “I’m not overreacting. Give those guys a shot at one and they may take it. We’ve kept this system from seeing any real fighting by keeping security tight and not giving them an opportunity to strike. Show weakness, even one lapse, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone does. And as we noted, they are trying more subtle methods of learning how we control the Uriti.”

“So we’re all going to learn to give orders to the Uriti?” Matti-2548 asked.

“Yes you are,” Pryon continued. “Nefron and Riley aren’t going to stay here forever, and keeping Nefron in an anonymous place is preferable to having him on a known ship. If someone could capture him they could conceivably build all of this again on their own. He wouldn’t help them, but they don’t know that and we can’t completely rule out someone’s ability to extract information from him. The V’kit’no’sat, for example, could simply rip the memories out of him. We can’t be sure that others don’t have the same or similar ability, so we need Nefron’s location kept a secret, perhaps not even in this Preserve.”

“And we all know how second gen,” Riley added, “like to think they can do whatever the trailblazers can do.”

“Damn straight,” Oro agreed.

“So you’re going to be my relief,” the ViLord said with a smirk. “The twelve of you are going to get a unique gauntlet that Nefron will tailor to make your telepathic fingerprint look like a Chixzon with all the right access codes. Unless you’re nearly identical you won’t be able to share them no matter how much internal focus you have. This is another reason not to lose them. They’re going to be custom made with no blueprints stored in any database for someone to hack and copy. If you need a replacement, Nefron is going to have to make you another one.”

“But remember,” Pryon insisted, “without a transmitter these gauntlets will do no good. It’s a two part system. Think of these as the access keys. And once you’re into the system, giving orders to the Uriti is far more complicated than it sounds,” he said, letting Riley explain what only he and Nefron had experienced.

“It works like a telepathic handshake, not a text message. There’s a bouncing back and forth that is required, so even if you’re on the other side of the star system you’re going to have some lag before an order can be given. The handshake is an extra security precaution the Chixzon made so that if someone monitored the signals and was able to reproduce them they still wouldn’t be able to have a password conversation that the Uriti would accept. There are a lot of layers of security involved so this isn’t something you can learn to do in a day, and fashioning the gauntlet to your personal telepathic signature takes weeks.”

“What will we be ordering them to do?” Ryan-2547 asked.

“The twelve of you are going to hold the power to control the Uriti, first and foremost,” the Duke explained. “Who you are will not be advertised, but within Star Force word will get around. You can hide the gauntlets under your sleeves to some extent, but don’t be bashful about them. We assume that eventually your identities might be discovered, but we’re going to make the competition earn that knowledge rather than by trotting you out and introducing you…though Duke Yetti has suggested we do exactly that.”

Riley shook his head. “We have to let them know there are multiple controllers, but we’ll do it through demonstrations rather than introductions. Two of you will be getting command ships of your own while one of you will be doubling up with me on the Zeus. Eventually, when we have the available resources, there will be twelve command ships with transmitters. We’re going to let them think that only the command ships can send the control signals, but we already have several warships that have been outfitted with a redundant transmitter. Four of you will be going to those and laying low as backups while the rest of you will bounce around from place to place in the Preserve. As we build more facilities there will be more opportunities to hide out and do your thing…which is something else we need to go over,” he said, deferring back to the Duke.

“There won’t be a lot of work as far as giving actual orders to the Uriti, even when we get the Sety one next year, so what I need from all of you is to assist me and the other two Dukes with running the Preserve. I need you to be ghosts roaming about looking for trouble, designing improvements, and doing your usual Archon thing. You all know each other given that you went through basic training in the same class, so cooperation should come naturally. Right now there are 37 locations within the Preserve that have a public presence, spread over 3 systems. That will eventually rise up to more than 1000 and cover all the Preserve systems aside from the neutral zone.”

Kacie-2512 whistled. “What exactly are you driving at? Tourism?”

“That’s a minor benefit, but from what we’ve learned thus far the Uriti minions have a great deal of potential. We’re going to be exploring that in depth on a pair of planets. Weapons demonstrations and other Uriti activities give the observing civilizations something to analyze and study. Embassy facilities allow the various and widely spread races to interact on matters that are not restricted to the Uriti. It may not look like it at first glance but this Preserve is a magnet for attention, and with that attention comes all kinds of leverage and power…power that others want, or want to deny to us. We are doing this for the sake of the Uriti and to protect them as much as to protect people from them, but with their presence comes those who are attracted to the power and danger they represent, so we’re going to channel as much of that into constructive means as we can. And to maintain it all I need your quiet assistance.”

“What are we planning to use the Uriti for?” Hera asked, suspecting there was more to it than that.

“Defensive leverage. If we’re the ones keeping them contained to the Preserve, people will think twice before trying to strike against us.”

“That all?”

Riley cringed. “We have been discussing other options.”

“Like blowing stuff up?”

“Both Nami and Bahamut are too crude to be used in our style of warfare, but it is somewhat possible that we could train them to the point where we could retreat a fleet back to them and dare the enemy to follow. Right now we kind of expect that the Uriti would kill both fleets if we told them to attack, but if we could arrange to have a fallback position of that magnitude it would be worthwhile.”

“Against the V’kit’no’sat?” Oro wondered.

“And others, but yeah, that was our thought. We’re not going to put the Uriti into harm’s way in an offensive, but we suspect that if the V’kit’no’sat ever find the Uriti they’re going to mark them for destruction anyway, and if we could fight together it would be a huge advantage.”

Hera smiled coyly. “Damn you. Always thinking of the good ideas before us.”

“We need more good ideas,” Pryon added. “Brainstorming improvements is going to be one of your primary tasks. The Uriti control is something you’re primarily going to sit on until a situation calls for action. When we get the Sety Uriti we will have to split up, and Riley is going to stay here while Nefron is going to help insure that it stays sedate during transport. One or more of you will go with him to observe and help if needed while the others stay and, quite frankly, just start learning. We’re all building this Preserve from scratch and having to adapt as challenges present themselves.”

“Who’s all we?” Eaton asked.

“Myself, Dukes Yetti and Ander, who handle the diplomatic and tourism side of the Preserve, Riley, and Nefron. Davis chimes in from afar as do some other trailblazers, but this is primarily our show and I’d really appreciate your guys’ help.”

“I’m in,” Oro said, with the others nodding or offering pithy agreements.

“Good,” a voice from behind a wall said that was lacking a mental position. A moment later Nefron walked into view, chilling the 12 titans for a moment on reflex. The Chixzon were intimidating to behold, even for those who knew his true origins. “Am I really that ugly?”

Riley pointed to the halo on his head and Nefron reflexively pulled it off. “Oh…guess there’s no better way to freak out an Archon than to block your mind from view,” he commented. “It’s a mobile relay that allows me to stay in contact with the transmitter on this station or onboard a ship much like your gauntlets will do, except there is no mimicry needed. It also doubles as a telepathic shield in case an infiltrator with powers like our own makes it to me.”

“How many of those are there here?” Matti asked.

“We don’t know for sure,” Pryon answered. “At least 17 are telepathic, based on our guestimates, and we truly don’t know what the Knights of Quenar are capable of.”

“Those we have to be extra careful with,” Riley warned. “Right now they’re working with us as limited allies, but their minds don’t register to our telepathy, so don’t ever trust them and always watch your back.”

3

December 1, 3286

Prenthor System (Sety Capitol)

Qitor

Nefron stood inside the Uriti chamber looking up at Nedrasil’s mass of red lobes. This one was older than the rest, having been 19th in the production line, and thus was going to probably be harder to control than the others…though to date they hadn’t had any trouble with the pair in the preserve. Right now it was doing good, slumbering while a mass of robotic workers from The Nexus literally tore apart the shell surrounding it and rebuilt it into a mobile pod without ever touching the Uriti.

The sedative feeds had to be rerouted, but so far the trickle going to it had been enough to sustain its sleep and the work hadn’t aroused it. Right now they were a few days away from completion, so technically Nefron was standing inside the pod as he watched the little machines crawling all over the inside of it to deliver the last parts needed to create a shell within a shell. They were built by The Nexus but operating under his orders, for the last thing the Sety wanted was this Uriti to wake up and threaten the impressively dense infrastructure covering the planet.

It had been evacuated just in case. A major expense on their part but Star Force was glad for their caution even though Nefron assumed it would be unnecessary. So long as the Uriti wasn’t provoked in some way it shouldn’t wake up, and thus far the machines’ activity hadn’t been sufficient to even elicit a peep in the monitoring statistics that Nefron was getting through his ‘crown’ that also doubled as protection against the telepathic aura that otherwise would have been overwhelming him.

Due to its age, Nedrasil was also larger than the other two Uriti. It measured only 32 miles in width, but unlike the others it had no legs, wings, or other body parts. It was more or less a roundish mass with dot-like lobes sprouting from it. The Archons had already named it ‘Toad,’ citing it looked like an ugly mushroom, but Nefron wasn’t going to indulge in their names. These Uriti had been around for so long with the same names there was no point in changing them, as well as the fact that it was somewhat disrespectful. He didn’t fault the Archons for it, for they didn’t have the memories he had and could never understand the full significance of what the Uriti were…and had been to the galaxy.

Nefron stayed in the Ancient shell until construction was completed, then he headed back up to orbit and boarded the Zeus where the ship’s crew would be taking control of The Nexus’s creation. They were gladly turning over all responsibility for the Uriti to Star Force, saving themselves the cost of maintaining such a large fleet in this system that could be redeployed elsewhere, so they hadn’t balked about taking on the construction costs for the custom made carrier despite the enormity of the project.

But then again, The Nexus was much larger than Star Force and had ample resources to draw on if it so wanted. This obviously was taking priority for them, and while they might be shortchanging other systems Nefron knew that the removal of this Uriti from their care would probably bring a touch of stability to the teetering civilization. A long term, unsolvable problem was getting resolved and despite the expense in the short term they knew that cost cutting going forward would be significant.

Right now there were over 8000 Nexus ships in the system not counting the civilian traffic. A little less than half of that had been here on permanent guard while the others had come from various Nexus members to assist with the security regarding the removal, for it was quite the spectacle and races from all over The Nexus were coming to see the now publically acknowledged beast taken out of their territory.

But more than that were the outsiders arriving to witness it. Some had come specifically for this so there had to be an insane amount of security. One ship on a kamikaze run that got through could crash the transport pod and wake the Uriti, which was another reason why Nefron was here. If that occurred he could order it away from the empty city and other resources that The Nexus didn’t want smashed, but he’d also have to begin the very slow journey back to Star Force territory under its own power that would take decades of travel to accomplish.

The Nexus didn’t want Nedrasil in their territory any longer than necessary and neither Star Force nor the Knights of Quenar wanted someone going after Nefron, so all three parties had a large fleet present, though the KoQ had most of their ships invisible and prowling where no one knew, save for a few sitting close, but not too close, to the Zeus to remind everyone that they were in fact here and ready to throw down if provoked.

That threat, Nefron had learned recently, had been forestalling a lot of problems back in the Preserve, and that wasn’t speculation. He’d heard it was being discussed by various outsiders amongst themselves and had the telepathic assurance from the Preema representative standing next to him onboard the Zeus that the discussions were accurate, numerous, and often quite agitated.

If this operation went smoothly the Preema were going to transfer their Uriti to the preserve as well, which was why the trailblazers had allowed them one representative here onboard the ship rather than having them send a fleet. Their involvement with Star Force was known, as was the fact that they had a Uriti, but when the time came to move theirs they didn’t want anyone else knowing about it, so an arrangement was made for one of them to tag along and have access to Nefron…though in truth it was the other way around.

Nefron was able to use his limited telepathy to get inside the Preema’s head, which it voluntarily lowered its mental defenses to allow. It was an expert on the Uriti they had and between the two of them they were finalizing the arrangement and details necessary for building a similar pod that could be flow from star to star to avoid the immense distance lag of having the Uriti fly itself to the Preserve.

But even in a pod it was going to take a lot of time to get it there, meaning they had to be escorted by a fleet and the longer it took the more time that fleet would be tied up babysitting. Their Uriti, named Barratim, was considerably smaller and therefore could be transported more easily and faster than Nedrasil, but for some reason it had a tendency to wake occasionally for reasons their Oracle couldn’t identify. Additional sedative was always applied before it could gain full consciousness, but compared to the other Uriti that Nefron had studied thus far in their imprisonments, Barratim was unique in its level of resistance to the sedative’s effects.

That was a potential disaster in the making for the Preema, and so long as they could effectively transfer it to the Preserve…and the Preserve would actually work to neutralize the threat…they were willing to commit the resources to building their own transport pod and entrusting Star Force with the living weapon, but they needed more than just promises. They’d been observing the two Uriti in the Preserve for some time now and were sufficiently convinced in Star Force’s ability to corral them there, but the part involving moving an Uriti without waking it was another matter entirely.

So they needed proof and Nefron needed information, which was why the Preema was here now with plenty of nearby Archons should he feel like getting out of line, though that wasn’t really necessary. A Chixzon could take a Preema 1v1 fairly easily.

“Are we ready?” Oro asked from Nefron’s right.

“I am. I’m leaving the disposition of the fleet to you.”

“The fleet is ready and the observers are…observing. The Sety say they’re good to go and have relinquished control of all systems to us.”

“Adequate,” Nefron said as he connected to the transmitter in the ship via his crown just in case it would be needed. “Bring it up.”

On the planet’s surface there was a deep tunnel dug into both the dirt and the rock below that led straight to the Ancients’ prison, and up through that passage a bluish/green cube arose. It passed above surface level and slowly began to ascend into orbit so not to mess with the very unaerodynamic silhouette in the thick atmosphere. As it thinned, its speed increased all the way up into a holding orbit without any reaction from the Uriti within.

“No response from Nedrasil. It’s still fully sedate,” Nefron said with a glance to the Preema. “So long as the sedative levels remain steady I don’t think there’s going to be a problem.”

The Griffin-like alien nodded its head as it watched the wall-mounted displays intently. “Good. Very good,” it said via a small headset that acted as a translator, for the Preema had no armor on given its position as guest onboard the Star Force ship.

“Looks like that observers are keeping their distance,” Oro noted dryly. “The Nexus fleet is falling into alignment and reiterates that they’ll stay with us to the edge of their territory…after which they’ll say goodbye and good riddance.”

“I assume you’re paraphrasing?”

“Reading between the lines on the second part.”

“I don’t doubt your deduction.”

“Did you expect them to travel the full distance to your Preserve?” the Preema asked.

“That would be prudent,” Nefron agreed, “but their willingness of only escorting us through their territory says that they’re eager to be done with this matter and return their fleet to other uses. Even though it’s their capitol, I don’t think they’ll keep it so well guarded without the Uriti present.”

“We will not conduct ourselves in a similar manner,” the quadruped promised. “We will see it through the entire journey assuming this one goes well.”

“It will on the Uriti’s part. I can’t guarantee anything regarding outside interference.”

“It is the Hamoriti’s part that concerns me. We will have enough ships to guarantee security.”

“Jumpline,” Oro insisted, with Nefron nodding his agreement. While the ship’s crew had remote control of the transport pod they weren’t going to do anything with it without the Chixzon’s approval for fear of disrupting their extremely dangerous cargo.

With the order given, the crew began moving the transport out to the jumppoint and orchestrating the escort fleets to match with about half the Star Force ships preceding it along with what were assumed to be KoQ ships while the rest of them and the masses of observers were to follow behind. The Zeus took up position just in front of the transport and had it following in its wake as they made the jump out to the star and repositioned around to the interstellar jumpline.

From there they exited without incident, traveling the first of 4 legs until they came to a grid point where an even larger ship cradled the transport in its grasp while the host of Star Force ships and observers were loaded up into other mag drive jumpships that had been assembled for just this task. One by one they shot off the gigantic dish like a slingshot and headed across Nexus territory far faster than grav drives could take them, let alone the slow crawl of a Uriti’s natural speed.

“You have done well,” the Preema told Nefron as they both watched the new Uriti fly across the Alamo System and rendezvous with its two kin. They grouped together and began exchanging a lot of telepathic communication, once again reinforcing the fact that they weren’t going to start fighting each other, making it clear that the Preserve was a viable option for dealing with the threat they posed.

“We’ve done what was necessary.”

“At great cost for little visible reimbursement should you never utilize their combat capability.”

“It is necessary.”

“Agreed, but we will not be as ungrateful as The Nexus. You will be compensated for taking this burden off us.”

“You are granting your approval then?”

“I am. Construction will begin as soon as I return. What is the best means for us to deliver suitable compensation?”

“I have a few suggestions, but those matters will be handled by one of the Dukes or trailblazers.”

“Of course. Is there anything you personally require?”

“Knowledge of where the other Uriti are.”

“We have already told you what we know, but we will search for leads. Star Force has a reputation for trustworthiness. It would be best if all the Hamoriti were deposited here. Others would not hold to such scruples given the ability that you possess. Is there anything else?”

“I have everything that I require.”

“Is there anything that you desire?”

“Are you trying to bribe me?”

The Preema laughed. “I would not even know how to begin to go about doing that. Your allegiance to Star Force is solid. I am simply offering our gratitude but do not know what form in which to package it.”

“We haven’t removed your Uriti yet.”

“No, but you have given us a viable solution. That in itself is worthy of some reward?”

“I am doing this because of a responsibility, not for reward.”

“Still, is there nothing?”

“No, there is not.”

The Preema nodded. “Very well. If something comes to mind later please inform us. I will stay here a few more days then depart to begin making preparations for our Hamoriti’s relocation.”

Nefron bid his farewell as the Preema left with his Star Force escort for either his quarters or the hangar bay, though the Chixzon didn’t care which. He was an associate that he needed to work with, but the Preema were a bit too arrogant for his liking.

He stayed in the room for another few minutes then left to head for the restricted section where the Preema was never allowed. There he got back to his work and began studying the telepathic communication between the three Uriti as well as their current states. Nedrasil was in bad shape, far more so than Cardosan had been, and he wondered if that was due to more time spent under sedation or some other factor.

Within the day ‘indoctrination’ would begin and basic orders would be given to the new arrival as well as having the other two move through their ‘workouts’ so Nedrasil could see and hopefully learn from that. If there was resistance to be elicited it would happen now, but assuming there was none with these simple tasks and Nedrasil’s different design wasn’t an issue, they’d begin a regimen that would prompt and accelerate the healing process.

While a lot of people assumed Uriti could not die, they did not understand how much damage one could take and still keep living. They could suffer horribly and persist far longer than others which was both a blessing and could be a curse. While sedating them to save the galaxy from the Chixzon had been necessary, it was still doing the Uriti a disservice and he hated seeing them in this condition. While he wished they had had enough willpower to disobey the Chixzon back in the day, he was adamantly hoping now that Nedrasil didn’t, else it’d slow his work here.

And work he still had to do. They’d speculated that adding a third Uriti to the group would alter their interactions considerably and right now he was getting a host of new readings from the trio, telepathic and otherwise. These creatures truly had a pack mentality, and keeping them isolated from one another since their spawning was an obvious oversight the Chixzon had made. They were more powerful together, but that was an aspect of their functionality that was never explored. They were simply used as gigantic wrecking balls and now, in light of this new perspective, Nefron felt anger at his race’s stupidity. While they didn’t tolerate such things, it was now becoming clear just how shortsighted they had been in addition to being in the wrong.

Being a bad guy was bad enough, but to be a stupid bad guy was both insulting and infuriating.

The Chixzon had a reputation for being smart and savvy, so why hadn’t they explored this avenue? Even as he pondered the question he knew the answer, something his Star Force training had instilled in him from the get-go.

The Uriti were people, not machines, and the Chixzon had been treating them as such and using their base abilities to do all the damage while not accounting for improvement or skill. They wanted a weapon to do their bidding, but had completely missed the opportunities that were right in front of them.

Then again, utilizing those opportunities required one to be of a mindset that wouldn’t allow you to wipe out all life on a given planet, so maybe it wasn’t so odd that the Chixzon had missed out on this angle, but missed it they did and that gave Nefron pause to consider how much else he might be missing. He had the benefit of his Star Force memories to put into contrast with his Chixzon ones, but were there angles to the Uriti or other matters that he was still blind to?

It was worth thinking on, and over the coming years he’d do just that as he probed the Uriti’s abilities and temperaments far deeper than the Chixzon had ever cared to, exceeding them and gaining a greater understanding of just how impressive and alien these beasts truly were.

4

June 3, 3288

Paquat System

Vikod (Trinx homeworld)

The escorts for the Trinx representative walked through the membrane wall onboard the Yisv cruiser just prior to it splitting apart to allow the visitor into the small reception chamber. Pattrel floated down from the ceiling displays like a ghost then touched solid feet to the ground as his body changed its molecular alignment and his wispy aura coalesced into a mass more like the Trinx.

“Thank you for coming aboard.”

“I presume you were sent by the others?”

“We were,” Pattrel acknowledged. “Given that you killed a great number of them, it was decided that the Yisv should handle this meeting to reduce the possibility of conflict breaking out. They are still quite enraged.”

“As are we,” the Trinx said with muffled anger. “You have betrayed your oaths.”

“On the contrary, we are in the process of fulfilling them. Regardless, I have not come here to debate the past with you. The Trinx made their choice and suffered greatly for it, but the matter is not concluded. Given time the others will come here to exact a reckoning. I have been sent to entertain the possibility of a peaceful settlement.”

“And I have been sent to hear your words, though it is unlikely that we will agree to any demands.”

“You have destroyed a great many of The Nine’s ships, killed our people while we were defending the very solution that we have all long sought. Had you succeeded, the Hamoriti would be on the rampage again with us unable to do anything but delay its minions from spreading. You were wrong in your judgement of Star Force. The Hamoriti has been contained and two more have been acquired. The one we discovered in Li’vorkrachnika territory first, then the Sety’s was successfully extracted while sedate and moved to the containment Preserve. Once awoken it joined the group and is remaining within the boundaries. Our worlds and the galaxy are now safe from them so long as Star Force does not lose control…control which you tried and nearly succeeded in destroying. I will also note that they now have the ability to control the Hamoriti via different ships, so even if the Chixzon is killed they will be able to maintain control.”

“Something that they had promised was impossible.”

“They did not lie. I am told that the Chixzon found a way to do what was never meant to be done. They did not give details, but it is a recent development. We are fairly sure they did not have this capability when you attacked them, meaning that if you had succeeded you would have destroyed our only chance at restraining the Hamoriti. For that the others will not forgive you, and they will seek a measure of vengeance unless contritions are made.”

“For the sake of discussion only, what contritions do they seek?”

“Payment to replace the warships you destroyed, in appropriate material then multiplied by a factor of 8. Severing of all ties and agreements with the other members of The Nine. Banishment from ever entering our combined territories. And the forfeiture and removal of the Hamoriti you guard to the Star Force Preserve. That will satisfy us, but you will have to come to terms with Star Force independently.”

“If you think we will give up Rigall to Star Force or anyone else you have truly gone insane.”

“If they wish it, they can awaken it from orbit. You do not have the ability to keep it here.”

“They will not do so while there are people on the planet that would die in the removal. It is not their way.”

“It is their way to conquer races that attack them. The Nine are content to make a deal, otherwise they will be helping in the assault whenever Star Force is ready to mount it.”

“And the Yisv?”

“We have not made a decision yet.”

“Why forfeit possession of the Hamoriti if it is safely sedate?”

“You have been deemed unfit to protect it.”

“We have never wavered in our duty.”

“There are many aspects to that duty, some of which you have not only failed but betrayed. The Nine are wrapping up our long held duty by moving all Hamoriti to the Preserve. Once that is complete we will assist Star Force as necessary in maintaining their containment, but the problem will no longer be our responsibility. They have the power to control them, and so long as we deliver those we hold to them we will have acquitted our duty. So long as yours remains unaccounted for and not under Star Force control it remains a potential threat. Therefore it will be removed from your custody. We would prefer a peaceful transition.”

“No,” the Trinx said simply.

“Do your people feel no shame for what you have done?”

“I could ask you the same. You are giving the most powerful weapons in the galaxy to strangers that you hope will honor their word. If you are waking up the Hamoriti then the matter is even worse, for if their control of them disappears they will all be free. As of now they are sedate and how you could see the reverse as preferable is beyond us.”

“There is partial logic in your words, but I fear it is more arrogance than anything else. With this Hamoriti removed your race loses its stated purpose for existing. If you are not a Hamoriti protector then who are you? You will have to revert to past objectives or chart a new path forward, and I sense you do not want to do that.”

“Do you? Are you reading that from my mind or making assumptions?”

“I am reading that in your mind, but I do not need to. It is obvious by your race’s actions.”

“For the sake of this meeting only, assume we agreed to your terms. You admit that Star Force may not honor them. What point is there in making a deal with The Nine when they are the closer and larger threat? They have the ability to destroy us with a single Hamoriti and we know we cannot stop them. Neither can you.”

“You just stated that they wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“Expecting them to is a vast difference from them having the ability to do something. Yes, they can come and take Rigall whenever they wish. Their reluctance to kill us to accomplish it is the only leverage we possess and we intend to make use of it. We will not relinquish our Hamoriti and we will not evacuate the planet. If you want it, you’re going to have to take it from us by force, and we are well defended here despite our recent fleet losses.”

“There is no need for any more of The Nine to die, on either side. I am here to find a way to resolve the matter without further bloodshed.”

“It sounded to me like you were sent here to make demands, not negotiate.”

“If you have a counter proposal please make it.”

“We go our separate ways. We will not leave this system and you will not enter it. The Hamoriti will remain sedate and therefore not threaten anyone else. If we release it to Star Force and they lose control we cannot resedate it, therefore it is advantageous to keep it in its present state.”

“That will not satisfy The Nine, and based off my judgement of them, I do not believe it will satisfy Star Force either.”

“Their solution endangers us all,” the Trinx said conciliatorily. “While their involvement may have been necessary to reign in the rogue, waking up others is a folly that we cannot be part of.”

“If you are so certain that they will not awaken this Hamoriti if it means killing you in the process, you who attacked and destroyed many of their ships, who are in a de facto state of war with them, what is it that you fear them doing with the Hamoriti? If they will not use them against you, then who?”

The Trinx was hesitant to answer, suddenly caught by the logic thread. “They have the ability to destroy us. We do not think they will, but it is a gamble we are willing to take with our own lives. Are you willing to risk the galaxy on that same assumption?”

“Yes.”

“For what possible logic?”

“The simple fact that since they have gotten involved the situation has improved.”

“The rogue is temporarily contained, that is true, but the potential disaster is far higher now.”

“All it will take to destroy the galaxy is one unchecked Hamoriti. One was woken before Star Force intervened. If they are not lying, and we do not assume they are, they cannot sedate the Hamoriti by any means different than what the Ancients used. If the Hamoriti comes under attack it will defend itself, meaning that a battle will have to be fought to sedate them. Even the original Chixzon did not have full control over them. Orders can be given, but an order to surrender itself will not take. The rogue cannot be captured again through lesser means, and if all it takes is one to doom us all, better to have them all in a single, defensible location than scattered across the galaxy.”

“One is enough to doom us, but more than one will expedite the destruction. Given time we will be able to attain the technology level of the Ancients, then we will be able to contain waking Hamoriti.”

Pattrel was silent for a long moment, then looked at the Trinx skeptically. “What progress have you made?”

“We continue to study the Ancient shell and learn from the Oracle. The depths of its programming are massive, and when we prove to it that we have attained certain technology it releases more information.”

“I was told that the Oracles did not know how the Ancients achieved delivery of the sedative to the waking Hamoriti.”

“Whether or not that information is contained within the databanks is uncertain. Perhaps it simply requires unlocking because the task is too great for a lesser race to attempt. Even if it is not, when we attain a similar tech level to the Ancients we will be able to divine a method, whether it be the original or a new one of our own making. We will gain the ability to capture Hamoriti.”

“Then do so as a backup to Star Force’s Preserve.”

“We require this one to study in its slumber.”

“Better yet to study one when it is awake. We have gained far more data from the Preserve observatories than we have gotten from the Shells. The Hamoriti, when active, are quite different.”

“You are only allowed the data Star Force gives you. Once again you are entrusting everything to them. Rigall will remain here and we will continue to learn and advance.”

“That will not happen given the current temperaments of those you betrayed.”

“We are building additional defenses. The longer they delay to strike us the stronger we get. And as I’ve said, our prior defenses here were considerable to begin with.”

2 months later…

Pattrel walked into the grand council chamber on the Sety capitol, then switched back into its wispy form to float down a series of stairs before coalescing itself again in front of the representatives of what had been come to be known as The Seven, though none of them would claim that title in the Yisv’s presence, disrespectful as it was, though it was now true that Pattrel’s race was incapable of assisting with the protection of the Preserve where the Hamoriti were present. Their participation in this alliance was coming to a beneficial end, but until all of The Nine’s Hamoriti were relocated they were still viable to a number of missions, though the recent one had ended in utter failure.

“They are intractable,” the Yisv reported. “Their defeat has not opened their minds, rather I fear it has committed them to a futile course. They will not admit error, nor culpability, and they will not surrender the Hamoriti.”

“Fools,” the Sety said with disgust. “Don’t they realize that even if we all decided to forgive them their betrayal that they will still have to deal with Star Force? Even without using the Hamoriti, as they’ve promised not to, they have an empire containing thousands of star systems. The Trinx have but one. They cannot hold out against an invasion for long.”

“They intend to and are building additional deterrents. As you probably know, their previous defenses were the strongest of us all, but I agree that they will not be victorious if Star Force, or we, decide to strike at them.”

“Were no possible avenues of compromise discussed?” the Dati asked.

“I spent many days in discussion. They will listen but nothing beyond that. Their minds are fixed on their course.”

“And what is their course, as they see it?” the cyborg asked.

“They believe that if they retain possession of the Hamoriti and continue to study it and the technology that contains it, they will eventually attain peerdom with the Ancients.”

The Jonstar shook its hairy head. “They actually think they’ll be able to capture and reclaim the awoken Hamoriti, don’t they?”

“They do,” Pattrel confirmed. “They will become, in their delusions, the counter to Star Force. Their control over the Hamoriti will be no different than the Chixzon, and the Ancients defeated the Chixzon and took their weapons from them. The Trinx aspire to this, and I believe they have for a very long time now.”

“That’s why they relocated,” the Sety said with awe at the revelation.

“To put everything they had into the endeavor,” the cyborg echoed with a nod. “They saw themselves rising to take an insanely high position within the galaxy, to become one of the Ancients, and Star Force’s ability to control the Hamoriti usurps even that.”

“They have a Chixzon,” the Dati pointed out. “And they can control them as the Chixzon did.”

“Why have we been so blind?” the Breti asked.

“Because we have been protecting the Hamoriti to safeguard the galaxy,” the cyborg stated with considerable frustration. “They have been doing so to aggrandize themselves.”

“We have gained much from studying the Ancient technology,” the Sety pointed out.

“But none of us attacked the Star Force control ship.”

“Did they not accept any of our stipulations?” the Sety asked.

“They have announced that they’re willing to remain within their own star system. Everything they need for their ascension is there, so they’re willing to cut all ties with us and the outside.”

“Repayment for losses?” the Dati asked.

“Refused.”

“They kill our people and expect us to just let it go?” the Jonstar asked.

“They have already dismissed us. They did so when they chose to attack.”

“Yet they accepted you without incident,” the Sety pointed out.

“To talk. There is no reason to attack our ships, and they did not bar us from returning.”

“What of the rest of us?” the cyborg asked.

“No warfleets, but emissaries are permitted.”

“How gracious,” the Bpret muttered.

“You are certain there is no recourse?” the Dati asked.

“I had thought there would be some traction possible, but I was wrong,” Pattrel admitted helplessly. “Unless their representative was not speaking truthfully, there is no hope of resolution. We either leave them be or face war.”

“We don’t have the resources for that,” the Sety said honestly. “We cannot and will not absolve the Trinx without contrition, but we are not in a position to do more than offer token assistance to any invasion…the end of which I do not see clearly. Is their destruction sought, or merely subjugation? We have not discussed this before.”

“I think,” the cyborg said before anyone else could answer, “that we will have to consult Star Force as to their plans for the Trinx. I have studied their short history, and while they are exceedingly tolerant of others there are some lines that cannot be crossed. If they are, the freedom they allow is quickly rescinded. They will deal with the Trinx harshly, and I think it would be foolish of us to act prior to their response.”

“Are they waiting until their invasion front reaches Trinx territory?” the Bpret asked.

“They suffered considerable ship losses in that treacherous attack,” the Dati reminded them. “They do not strike me as ones that would confront the Trinx until they had a significant advantage. They do not accept personnel losses. It may be that the expenditure of the war against the Li’vorkrachnika, the losses they suffered, and the expense of Preserve construction is causing them to delay.”

“If we do not encounter the Trinx outside their system, are we content with leaving Star Force to decide their fate?” the Domu asked.

The representatives exchanged glances with one another, coming to a quick consensus.

“The Chamra will assist Star Force if battle is required,” the cyborg said, “but I do not wish to press an invasion if they do not and the Trinx do not leave their system.”

“So the Trinx proposal has some merit?” the Yisv inquired.

“It would seem so, but some reckoning must be had,” the Breti insisted.

“Do we have the strength to defeat them without Star Force?” the Dati asked Pattrel.

“They are stockpiling the vassals that had been going to the Hamoriti. We have the collective strength to defeat them, but are we willing to gather sufficient strength in light of,” he looked at the Sety, “other needs?”

“I think our path is clear,” the cyborg decided. “If Star Force is to seek a reckoning we will assist, but doing so without their presence will cost us too much. The Trinx are not worth that sacrifice if their only concern is to hide out in their single system.”

“And you are content with leaving them in possession of a Hamoriti?” the Sety asked.

“I am not, but I do not wish to lose a significant portion of our fleet trying to reclaim it. Star Force should not have to bear this burden alone, but their military is far better configured to do this. They have not attempted to take more territory than they can hold and have a surplus of ships that they are using to conquer the Li’vorkrachnika. None of us has that kind of surplus, despite our larger power bases.”

“You are saying they have been more prudent in their choices?” the Domu asked.

“Yes,” the Yisv said, answering for the cyborg. “And such wisdom bodes well for their ability and willingness to honor their word and contain the Hamoriti.”

“Agreed,” the Dati said. “Whatever reckoning is to come, we must coordinate with Star Force to achieve it else we will lose far too much in what could be a futile effort.”

5

October 30, 3288

Epsilon Eridani System

Yisv Embassy Station

Pattrel was awoken at the prompt of an incoming message, his body a mere ovoid shape liquid in composition until his mind grasped hold and the material vaporized into a dense cloud that flowed out of the chamber previously holding him. He rematerialized into his standing bipedal shape, taking solid form as he tapped the control crystals to play the message from Star Force. The long discussions he and other members of the The Seven were having had finally bore fruit as an Archon had been assigned to lead the agreed upon invasion.

That Archon was summoning the various representatives to the main embassy station shared by many races, though the more formidable races had arranged to construct their own independent ones in various orbits. The Yisv embassy drifted lazily around the system separate from any planet, requiring Pattrel to board a ship to travel to Babylon 19 that rode high in Corneria’s orbit.

He was eager to go and was onboard an in-system transport within minutes, arriving to find the Chamra already present in a small section of the station reserved for The Seven. The Yisv also had a small set of chambers here where they kept a single representative on occasion, but in truth they had little interest in dealing with the other races present as others did. Their concern lie primarily with their relationship to Star Force. Beyond that there wasn’t much to concern themselves with on the busy facility, though they did like to keep aware of current events.

Pattrel floated into the chamber and hovered behind the ring-like table at the center of the room while the Chamra sat alone.

“The others have been delayed?” the Yisv asked.

“Rather we are early,” the cyborg said. “I am interested in hearing this Archon’s plan. If it is sound we will support them and deal with the traitors promptly. If not I cannot justify the lives spent to deal with a now minor thorn in our side.”

“Archons don’t have a reputation for wasting troops.”

“Have they ever faced an opponent as advanced as the Trinx?”

“They have already faced the Trinx once,” the Yisv pointed out, “but I do not know of any more formidable than the Li’vorkrachnika that they have faced previously.”

“Therein lies my concern. They are used to fighting a weak enemy that masses numbers to achieve victory. The Trinx will be much harder to combat and we may see considerable losses.”

“The Archons also have a reputation for adaption and cleverness.”

“So I hope,” the cyborg said as the far doors slid open again and allowed the Dati representative to enter. The little triped bounced along with an energetic stride standing only 14 inches tall, then it jumped up to its platform/chair that rose higher on command to put it at eye level with the Chamra.

Over the following hour the others arrived, leaving all eight of the races with a single representative at the table containing nine seats. Soon after the Jonstar entered the door opened again and a female Archon walked in wearing their telltale white uniforms with an identifying stripe down the side that Pattrel recognized as their highest rank of ViLord.

“Hello. My name is Oni-081,” she said, taking her stool-like seat, “and I’ve been assigned command of the Trinx invasion.”

“Has a plan of action been developed yet?” the cyborg asked.

“More or less. I know how I want to approach the challenge, but I’ve only been planning using Star Force technology. What you can provide will allow for beneficial alterations once you make me aware of what your contributions will be.”

“That depends on the battle plan.”

“I can promise you that I do not intend to lose troops in this assault,” she said, picking up on his thoughts, partial as they were, split between readable biological brain sections and the blank mechanical counterparts as far as her telepathy was concerned.

“But you cannot guarantee it,” the Jonstar said evenly.

“There are never any guarantees in life, let alone battle, but I never attack a world in a way that expects losses. If this were a defensive engagement we might not have that luxury, but since we’re going to be going in when and where we choose, there will be no such sloppiness.”

“What is your general plan of attack?” the tanky Breti asked.

“Our objective is not to kill the Trinx, but to capture them.”

“Capture?” Pattrel asked, somewhat shocked. “That may work against less advanced civilizations, but it will not work against the Trinx’s level of technology.”

“Not without us taking serious losses in the effort,” the cyborg added.

The Human shook her head. “They have only one system, and fortified as it may be, we can take it intact if we’re patient and persistent. The objective is to claim the system, not to do so quickly. If they engage us heavily we pull back, try to isolate individual ships or units and neutralize them. Once neutralized we collect and transport them out of the system entirely to a pre-readied facility where they will accept and begin to process the prisoners.”

“To what end?” the quadruped Domu asked.

“If the Trinx cannot be negotiated with, then they are too dangerous a foe to leave independent. Star Force will soon take the surrounding territory, and not knowing if or when they might strike us creates a problem, especially with their stealth technology. We have to remove the threat, and aside from killing them all, the only way to do that is to capture them.”

“And what becomes of them after capture?”

“We could exile them, denying them their system and forcing them outside our territory and yours, but I do not like that option for a number of reasons. Tactically, we couldn’t be sure that once they left they wouldn’t be back. And if they already have a grudge against us they’d have even more of one if we took their homeworld from them. The only way to neutralize the threat is to destroy their civilization. Star Force doesn’t do that by killing unless forced to, and there are so few Trinx that no matter how hard they fight we will still be able to neutralize and take them prisoner. Call it an added insult to their upcoming defeat. They won’t be allowed to die defending their arrogant pride.”

“You refer to your extermination of the Li’vorkrachnika,” Pattrel noted. “You would really capture them if you could?”

“Yes. But they kill themselves if captured anyway. We don’t think the Trinx will. Do you concur?”

The 8 other races exchanged glances and some muffled conversation, then the Jonstar looked at the Archon. “We have never observed suicidal tendencies in them. They will die for a purpose, but they do not take their own lives. I would not hold that to be absolutely true, but we have seen nothing in our history with them to suggest otherwise.”

“If we do manage to capture them and relocate them to a prison planet, what happens to them?” the Bpret asked.

“The same thing we have done before. We separate the younglings and train them in the Star Force ways. They form a new civilization while we hold, evaluate, and train the current Trinx. If some of them change their ways they will earn a place in the new civilization. If not, they will remain comfortably confined until such time as they do or until they unfortunately expire. We cannot kill stubbornness, so we will keep trying to bring them around as long as necessary.”

“You seek to annex them then,” the Sety said.

“I believe it is the best option. Mad as we are with them, we don’t want to slaughter them.”

“And you are going to take it upon yourself to decide their fate?”

“I’m open to good suggestions if you have any.”

“My concern is with members of their society that had no hand in the attack.”

“They will be inconvenienced, no more. If they prove themselves they will be free to remain in the new Trinx civilization or leave, but to do so as individuals. The current group must be disbanded and this is a proven method to accomplish that.”

“This civilization would be part of Star Force or independent?” Pattrel asked.

“We’re not in the habit of building civilizations from scratch then saying ‘hey, you’re on your own now.’ If we do this we take responsibility for them. They will become a part of Star Force.”

“Then I am content,” the cyborg said with finality. “They will meet a far more beneficial fate than some of them deserve.”

“We like to err on the side of caution,” Oni quipped. “Punishing the innocent is unacceptable.”

“Yet you are doing that by inconveniencing them,” the Sety pointed out.

“It’s a transition, not a punishment. They have to unlearn what they have learned. Think of it as contamination that has to be scrubbed away. They might not see it that way, but if we just take them in then we run the risk of harboring an enemy in our midst. We will not risk that.”

“Nor should you,” the Jonstar agreed. “I too am content with their fate and thank you for shouldering this burden. My questions now lie with our strategy for capturing them.”

“We will have a control ship just in case the Uriti is released, accidentally or otherwise. We will not call it forth, but if they try to set it loose to kill us along with them we will shut down that attempt before it can manifest. We won’t be able to sedate it again, but we will be able to draw it off the planet and to a holding orbit while we fight.”

“How do you plan on dealing with their conventional defenses?”

Oni put a slew of holograms up in the air above the open center of the ring that they all sat around. “From what we know, and please speak up if I’m wrong, the Trinx have five primary weapon systems. Two beam systems with good range, one of which delivers engine inhibiting residue. Missile systems that can self-navigate to avoid targets while tracking others, an area of effect damage field, and a short range orb launcher.”

“That matches our known inventory,” the cyborg said. “Though they also have cloaking systems and a variety of countermeasures.”

“Yes, we noted that our drone control systems were being challenged. Fortunately our comm systems are redundant enough to not have gone down.”

“They have a solid military structure,” the Sety offered. “I see no weaknesses to exploit.”

“If there are no existing weaknesses, then you have to create some,” Oni explained. “The biggest challenge is going to be their planetary defense guns. We have some weaponry that can reach them beyond their effective range, but with their shield strength and redundancies it will take a very long time to take even one down and I fear that unless we put more firepower into a specific location than I’m expecting to bring with us they might have a chance to weather the storm.”

“What weapon do you refer to?” the cyborg asked curious.

“A siege weapon. Power, long range, and very hard to build. We have one that is available. If we need a second this invasion will have to be delayed. Do any of you have something to counter those big guns with?”

The Domu looked around. “I do not think any of us possesses a weapon that can outrange their Yamshu.”

“Our colosat can take them down,” the Jonstar offered, “but we will pay a heavy price getting in close enough to use them.”

“If their shields are fully deployed, they will destroy many of our ships before we breach them,” Pattrel said regretfully. “We must infiltrate the surface before we attack.”

“How?” the Sety asked.

“We must open up a hole to land troops through, even if it means braving their defense fire while we run them down to the surface. In order to do that we must sabotage several overlapping shield generators.”

“But how do we get down to the surface?”

“We must sneak in.”

“You?” the cyborg asked.

Pattrel nodded. “It will be risky, but I can see no other viable alternative.”

“Fortunately that’s why I’m here,” the Archon said quietly, drawing the attention of all 8 representatives. “As I said, we have a siege weapon that may or may not be sufficient to slowly breach a point in their shield grid. If we do need a boost and none of your weapons have the necessary range, we can achieve it through other means, costly as they will be.”

“What do you refer to?” the Dati asked.

“Kinetic bombardment.”

“Clarify please,” the cyborg said.

“We can construct heavy masses, perhaps explosives if needed, and run them down to the surface to stress their shields. It’s simply a matter of figuring out how many are needed and constructing them.”

“Won’t the Trinx orbital defenses and fleet intercept them?” the Sety asked. “They have auxiliary defense shielding to protect against a suicidal ship jump onto the surface.”

“Those shields are extremely specific as to how they repel the matter. We can create a customized weapon to partially defeat them and get some mass to their primary shields. It will add stress if delivered, but we will have to remove the Trinx fleet and conventional defenses because a high speed ram is out of the question. That’s what their shields are probably set up to defend against, therefore we can’t hit them in that manner.”

“Why can’t we send unarmed ships or masses into them repeatedly until their energy is depleted?” the Dati asked.

Oni shook her head. “Do any of you know the full strength of their power systems? We can’t try that unless we have a target number to hit.”

“Unfortunately the Archon is correct,” the cyborg said. “We will not know the full depth of their power reserves. If they are expecting bombardment they will have ample redundancies.”

“Which is why we have to defeat their kinetic shielding rather than facing it head on.”

“Defeat how?” the Bpret asked.

“Strike to weaken and bypass it, not deplenish its energy.”

“And you have the technology to do this?”

“We have some, but no way to bypass their shields entirely.”

“We can get to the surface,” Pattrel reiterated. “We can make this problem irrelevant.”

“If it’s going to get your people killed, I won’t allow it,” Oni said.

“We are willing to assist, but that doesn’t mean we take orders from you. No disrespect intended.”

The Archon stared him down. “Unless we work as one, this invasion will not happen. I will not have you or anyone else doing your own thing and potentially upsetting the plans I have in place. Such confusion often gets people killed.”

“How can you get your people in?” the Sety asked, deflecting that point of contention for the moment.

“We take our time and infiltrate the planet using their own ships. We can hide within them without the Trinx knowing.”

“How do you get to their ships in the first place?” the cyborg asked.

“That is what we must determine, and it will probably come down to exploiting a moment of opportunity once in the system. We will have to arrive under guise or stealth to get into position to make use of an opportunity.”

“And what will you use to destroy the shield generators?” the Dati asked.

“We have our ways,” Pattrel said vaguely.

“And what happens to you,” Oni asked, “after your presence on the planet has been revealed?”

“The infiltrators take their chances. Our ability to move through walls that the Trinx can’t will give them a possibility of survival until our main ground forces arrive. They will simply have to run and hide once the deed is done.”

“I could go down myself and take out a shield generator,” she said with a hint of anger. “But I won’t try because even if I succeed it would most likely be a one way trip. I will not allow troops to be sacrificed to attain an objective. This invasion must be an honorable one. Getting through the shields from orbit will be difficult, but with proper planning and construction it can be done. I am confident of that.”

“And if you are wrong?” the Yisv asked.

“Then no one dies and we blockade their planets while we look for another way.”

“I am fairly confident the Yisv could succeed,” the Domu said. “But I do not think they could do so without losses.”

“More to the point,” the Dati interrupted before Pattrel could respond. “The Trinx know we’re coming and they’d be stupid if they didn’t develop some warning system or countermeasure to your abilities. You could be walking into a trap.”

“We will do our part in this invasion,” the Yisv said firmly. “We have not been able to do much in the past, but so long as this Uriti is sedate we will risk planetfall to achieve this objective.”

“So all the Trinx have to do is wake it up and you’re all neutralized,” the Sety pointed out.

“If they do so the shield generators will be compromised and we will have our entry corridor.”

“Not worth it,” Oni said, holding up a hand to forestall further comments, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t want your skills. I just want to save them for situations where you can dominate the enemy.”

6

May 19, 3290

Paquat System

Vikod (Trinx homeworld)

Oni brought her fleet into upper orbit of the planet after having received no challenge at the star. The warships came out of their microjump high and began spurting drones as a handful of Trinx ships raced to engage them, hoping to use the moment of opportunity to take down a few of them before the Star Force fleet could get itself organized, but with Oni’s command ship leading the way and actually initiating the combat, she was able to draw fire to her and give the leading warships the time they needed.

Soon a swarm of the little boxy rectangles moved forward and intercepted the Trinx vessels before the command ship’s shields fell. Battle continued briefly then the Trinx retreated back down to a lower orbit leaving a handful of partially intact ships behind. Oni tagged them for retrieval and rescue operations after some precision weaponsfire plucked their remaining weapon systems from use even before the allied ships of the Chamra began to arrive.

There were a fair number of them, but when combined with the ships of the other seven races, including only the three warships the Sety had managed to provide, they massed nearly half again the strength Star Force had brought with them and when all were visible in orbit they made for an impressive display.

But just as impressive were the orbital defenses. The Trinx had a small fleet here, either held back from the previous assault they had launched or created since then. Immediately Oni saw a weakness and turned her ships towards a position in mid orbit, highlighting several defense platforms to neutralize without totally destroying as she sent surrender offers that were promptly ignored. Her drones went in while the allies stayed behind, on her order, so no living crews were lost. By massing drones Oni was able to keep her equipment losses to a minimum but oddly the Trinx fleet did not redeploy to intercept them.

Not that it would have mattered, but they were sitting lower in orbit near to other facilities while Oni was successfully surrounding their primary shipyard. As soon as she had the fixed defensive emplacements knocked down she called in their allies and they began boarding operations as she moved on to pluck a few more defensive installations from the Trinx arsenal here and there on the fringes of their primary cluster. She wasn’t going to make the mistake of diving in and slugging it out, but was content to take on a handful while the boarding parties began capturing the surviving Trinx crews.

Taking out the weapons shooting at them was one thing, but simply blowing away the defense stations was quite another and had been strictly banned on Oni’s orders prior to arriving in this system. So far the other races were sticking to plan and following her lead, but there were so many defense stations in orbit of their capitol planet that it was going to be like chopping wood to get through them all…not to mention the lesser defenses around the other inhabited planets in the system.

But the Trinx fleet, aside from that initial attack, did not move to engage. They could not win, and it was obvious, but they didn’t come to the aid of their defense stations and the crews on them. Rather they simply held position and Oni was beginning to wonder what their angle was.

Right now the planet was covered in layered energy shields, sealed up nice and tight against whatever the attacking fleet could throw at it and ready to punish them if they got too close with a host of ground-based batteries. Oni had her Bra’hem-equipped Devastator still parked back at the star with an escort fleet to keep it out of the fighting until called for, which wouldn’t be for weeks, if not months, as they slowly picked away the orbital defenses. Then they’d get their chance to start pounding on the planetary shields, but right now the Trinx fleet, consisting of some 228 visible vessels, was a wild card.

What were they going to do and why hadn’t they done it yet?

With the shipyard boarding parties reporting back that they were successfully incapacitating the crew with a mix of Star Force units and Yisv skirmishers, only to be collected and imprisoned by the other races, a prompt in her command nexus brought her attention to activity on the planet’s surface. Barely a minute after that warning the Trinx fleet suddenly moved…down towards the planetary shields.

They parted and let them through, then the ships began firing on surface targets in what looked to be some type of ground fight that had broken out a moment ago.

Oni got links to the fleet commanders with a thought and had holos for them ringing her as she looked at them grimly, her eyes finally landing on the Yisv.

“Do any of you have troops on the ground?”

“We do not,” the Yisv said, then the others chimed in with similar negatives, “but we are seeing the activity there. We have no explanation.”

“I don’t need excuses, I need the truth,” she pressed, wishing they were here instead of in holo and she could just read their minds. “If you are running a simultaneous operation you will tell me now or I’ll make you regret it, I promise you.”

“We did not infiltrate the planet,” the Yisv said firmly.

“They are firing on their own buildings,” the Sety pointed out.

“And the only reason I can see for that,” the cyborg offered, “is that those buildings have been compromised by an infiltrating army. It is not ours, I promise you that. Whoever made it down there has considerable skill that I admit to being envious of.”

“I repeat,” the Yisv said firmly. “We do not have troops or anyone else down there, nor do we know what is happening.”

“Whatever it is,” Oni said, trying to read them by their visual cues…which was hard when she wasn’t all that familiar with their races, “they felt the need to bring down their fleet to assist. My limited data suggest these facilities that they’re targeting are not strategic?”

“No,” the Jonstar said, puzzled. “They’re nothing of merit unless they contain systems that we are not aware of. They are not even near the planetary defenses.”

“Does anyone know what these structures are?”

“No,” the cyborg said regretfully. “The Trinx have never been forthcoming with data concerning their planets. Their isolationist tendency has kept many aspects of their society in the dark.”

“The fighting is not near the Hamoriti site,” the Dati pointed out.

“Be thankful for that. Could this be one of the races present in the Preserve?”

“Possible,” Oni admitted. “But unless they lied to me, the Knights of Quenar were sitting this one out until we’re ready to move the Uriti.”

“They have extensive cloaking technology,” the Sety pointed out. “They could have infiltrated the planet prior to our arrival.”

“That they could,” Oni said, clenching her fist. “But if they, or whoever this is, is trying to aid our assault, what are they going for in those buildings?”

“Perhaps the Trinx set up some ambushes for our ground troops in innocuous places.”

“Hold on a moment,” Oni said, putting all the holograms on pause while she keyed another comm channel. “This is Archon Oni-081 to any Knights of Quenar vessel or unit in the system. Please respond.”

She wasn’t sure she’d get a response, but after a short delay a single ship appeared on sensors far up in planetary orbit away from all the fighting.

“What is it that you require, Archon?”

“Do you have troops on the surface?”

“You requested that we not take part in the invasion, and we have honored that request. We are only here to observe, and had you not contacted us directly we would not have revealed ourselves.”

“We’re picking up surface fighting but no one is claiming responsibility for it.”

“Do you require our assistance?”

“Not militarily. Do you have any knowledge of who is down there?”

“No outsiders have been detected.”

Oni raised an eyebrow. “How close have you gotten?”

“Close enough,” he said, suggesting to Oni that they had more than one ship hidden in the system, for at this one’s current position they couldn’t get very good readings of surface activity save for the large explosions resulting from the Trinx warfleet.

“Thank you,” she said, ending that communication and putting the fleet commanders back on. “There appears to be no visible sign of an invading army.”

“Based on what surveillance?” the Domu asked.

“The Knights of Quenar are here, as you probably saw,” she added as their ship disappeared again. “But they claim to be observing only and they haven’t spotted anyone else involved.”

“There are other races with considerable stealth technology that have shown up in the Preserve,” the cyborg pointed out. “And from orbit it is almost impossible to pick out such things on surface streets, let alone in buildings.”

“Granted. What are the odds that this is Trinx fighting Trinx?”

That possibility left all the fleet commanders stunned, with no one offering a response.

“A possibility that we have to consider,” Oni finally added, “but not one that I’m convinced of. Recommendations as to how we proceed?”

“This is surface activity and therefore doesn’t affect our immediate goals,” the cyborg deduced. “We do not deviate from plan until we are in a position to assault the planetary shield generators.”

“Agreed,” the Bpret echoed.

“Are any of your boarding parties having trouble?”

“Given that your troops are doing most of the fighting,” the Jonstar said with mild objection, “we have taken nothing more than light casualties, and I am speaking for the whole of us on retrieval duty.”

“Define ‘light?’”

“A few minor injuries resulting from facility damage. Your ability to incapacitate their troops so easily is to be commended.”

“We’ve had a lot of practice,” Oni stated. “We continue with operations here and monitor the planet. If any of you spot the other faction in this ground battle I want to know immediately. Patience is key here, let’s exercise it and keep picking off their defenses slowly as we see what develops below.”

“Shall we deploy scouts to the other planets?” the Dati asked.

Oni nodded. “Good idea. Snoop around but don’t engage.”

“We will handle it,” he said before others could volunteer.

“Alright then, let’s get back to work.”

3 weeks later…

Oni was in her command ship’s sanctum when word came through, delivered via another Archon that interrupted her automated sparring session. She shut down the robotic opponents and headed straight to the bridge not caring that she was dripping with sweat. When she into linked into the nexus she found a Trinx hologram waiting for her and she regarded the red-skinned alien quizzically.

“I’m listening,” she said stiffly.

“Will you allow negotiation?”

Oni raised an eyebrow. “The Yisv already tried to negotiate and were rebuffed. What has changed?”

“Our leadership,” the Trinx said darkly. “I do not speak for those that you’ve previously had contact with.”

“By contact you mean those that attacked us?”

The Trinx nodded. “And those that were contacted through diplomatic means. I represent a faction of loyalists who are currently attempting to depose our insane leaders. Will you negotiate a separate settlement with us?”

“The fighting on the surface is internal then?”

“It is.”

“Who controls your warships?”

“The opposition.”

“Who’s winning?”

“We outnumber them and are galvanizing support from the general population. We have no wish to see our world destroyed and are trying to save our people before this invasion lays waste to the planet. While we do not have control yet, I am asking if we can come to terms to avoid conflict.”

“What sort of terms?”

“That is what I am asking you. What options will you allow us?”

“What is your name and position?”

“I am Chosan, former commander of the Hamoriti containment forces.”

“Former?”

“When I refused to assault your control vessel and endanger the Chixzon I was removed from command. While we have no formal structure, I am the unofficial leader of the rebellion.”

“So you were responsible for sending wave after wave of Li’vorkrachnika to their deaths?”

“I was.”

“I do not find that fact reassuring.”

The Trinx frowned. “I do not mean to bicker with those that I am pleading with for our lives, but are you not killing them in far greater numbers?”

“We are, but we are doing so honorably. They always have the option to surrender, but they choose not to take it.”

“Those that I sent to die chose that end.”

“They use many dishonorable tactics, which is one reason we are fighting them. A race as advanced as yours I would hope to know better.”

“We had no other choice,” Chosan said simply, “but if there is blame to be had I accept it.”

Oni looked at his hologram for a silent moment, trying to size him up. “We did not come here to kill you, we came here to conquer you and end the threat you pose. Our boarding parties are equipped with stun weapons and the captives will be taken out of the system to a holding facility.”

The Trinx looked stunned. “I do not mean offense, but what cause do you have for such mercy?”

“It’s the way we fight. We would do the same with the Li’vorkrachnika if they didn’t kill themselves once captured.”

“What end did you intend for us?”

“Your sovereignty will be revoked. Our invasion line into Li’vorkrachnika territory will be entering this region soon and we cannot risk having your ships striking us where we are weak. You must therefore be neutralized, but that doesn’t mean murdered. We are taking possession of this system, and while some of you may die, and already have, it was through combat of your choosing. Every defense station we have assaulted was ordered to stand down and surrender, to which they refused.”

“I expect no less from those scoundrels, but not all of our military will follow them if allowed another path. I have no contacts of merit in orbit, but on the surface we are organizing and growing quickly.”

“Enough to lower a section of your planetary shield?”

“We have not attempted to do so yet, for such an assault will be very costly. They are bringing the fight to us for the moment and killing their brothers and sisters out of a sanity that I cannot fully comprehend. If we surrender to you, what becomes of us after this holding facility?”

“Annexation.”

“Into your empire?”

“Yes.”

“What of this star system?”

“It was to be completely evacuated, assuming your people would resist us with every effort. If that is not the case then the dynamic is changed.”

“What does annexation mean to you?”

“You will surrender your younglings to our training facilities as well as all future births. They will know only Star Force, thus severing the connection to your current society and allowing it to die. The Trinx will be reborn anew as we have done with many other races.”

“And what happens to those of us that are already here?”

“You will be confined until such a time you can prove your worth. During that time you will train and we will teach you what you need to know.”

“You have facilities to house all of our population?”

“Yes.”

“And if we prove our worth, we will return here under your banner?”

“Possibly. If you can surrender this world to us we can facilitate a less abrupt transition that keeps many of you here.”

“What function would we serve in your empire?”

“That would also depend on your merit, but make note that we do not hold future generations responsible for the actions of the current ones.”

“There would be a penalty exacted upon us then?”

“Other than the revocation of your sovereignty, no.”

“No?”

“We are here to neutralize a threat. If you choose to neutralize yourself then we have no need to penalize you. This system will be ours, the Trinx will be annexed, and no part of you will be allowed to escape to exist independently and threaten us again. Those are the terms I’m offering.”

“What of the Hamoriti?”

“It will be removed. Preferably still sedated, but I have a controller here that can order it away from the planet if it wakes.”

“Your invasion takes more care to safeguard our lives than our own leaders.”

“That’s because we’re the good guys.”

“I do not understand the depth of most of which you speak, but we have very few options and you are offering us an alternative other than death. Given the betrayal our leaders exercised upon you, I can understand if there are more lethal feelings on your part, and I thank you for staying your hand. Will the other members of The Nine abide by your terms?”

“They have agreed to follow my lead. They are here to assist, then they wish to wash their hands of the matter.”

“And rightly so. Our entire race has been shamed. You brought salvation and we sought to destroy you for it. I hereby offer the surrender of all forces aligned with me, though given current circumstances we cannot get to you at the moment. I will make what contacts I can in orbit and try to secure the surrender of some of the facilities there while we gather our strength for an assault on one of the shield generators. I do not know how long it will take. Things are very much in flux down here, and your intent to annex us will alter them much more so.”

“We’re not in a hurry,” Oni offered. “Take your time and keep as many people alive as you can.”

The Trinx bowed. “You do us an honor we do not deserve.”

The Archon summoned up a holo conference with the fleet commanders, knowing that it was going to take some minutes for all of them to assemble. “Now that we have come to an understanding, let’s get everyone on the same page so there are no miscommunications. Then we will find a way to deal with your insane former leaders.”

7

August 1, 3290

Paquat System

Vikod (Trinx homeworld)

Onnet ran through the Trinx streets as explosions blasted apart the building to his right above the centerline. Large chunks of it flew out laterally, then the whole top crumbled and fell towards him. The Yisv knew he couldn’t get out of the way in time so he ran towards the underside of the falling building and tucked up against the wall as the rubble came down, blurring his body out of physical mode and into the ethereal wisp that splashed apart with the first piece of building to hit.

His mind disintegrated with each hit, leaving him unable to move or think other than through base instincts. He couldn’t see much at all, merely a numb awareness of the material his body was contacting. He wouldn’t move through the solid building rubble like he could the thin membranes in a Yisv city, but he survived in the cracks and random shafts created in the pile that continued to build up as the Trinx structure came down. He wasn’t aware of that or anything else, but slowly he felt out the cracks and pulled the scattered pieces of his body back together, and with each reunion his mind began to reform.

He was stretched out across several dozen meters by the time he finally regained adequate consciousness, which he used to snake his way into a larger cave underneath an angled slab. Once he pulled himself in there he was back to normal, shaken but fully functional, though he couldn’t retake his physical form due to lack of space.

The sounds coming through the rubble were lessened, but the battle outside continued to rage on. The Trinx zealots were punishing their population as much as they could for rebelling against them and were at present bombarding this section of city with aircraft that both Star Force and the Chamra were busy trying to contain. Onnet was one of many Yisv scouts searching for enemy infantry, for they’d been sending in random living teams to slaughter both rebel troops and any civilians they could get their hands on away from the main vassal deployments. He’d found one such group just before the aerial bombardment began, but they were probably long gone by now.

Chasing them wasn’t an option anyway until he could get out of this mess. Abandoning his little cave he let his mind diminish as his cloud-like body turned into a stream that flowed out through various cracks searching for fresh air. He couldn’t keep track of time like this, only follow a single impulse that he’d made himself remember prior to dispersion.

Keep moving until you find your way out.

When he did, the Yisv manifested his full height on top of a rock with his soon to be solid feet standing at an angle. As soon as he put pressure there he slipped, his hand falling to brace on a jagged edge and cutting himself. It hurt but it wasn’t real damage. He got his footing then looked at his hand and blurred it, reforming his unblemished form. There was a little bit of material lost, but he doubted that even with the falling rumble that he had lost more than an inch of his height, and it would be replaced within a few days with the proper supplements.

But that didn’t matter. He was alive and had he been anything other than a Yisv he’d have been crushed to death instantaneously…or left to linger in agony as he slowly died.

There were some side benefits to not being able to carry a weapon into combat, and this was one of them.

Onnet took a few steps up a larger piece of rubble and jumped, transitioning into his ‘ghost’ mode and floating/coasting across about 40 meters of distance before he reformed and got his footing. He repeated the process multiple times until he got out of the rubble field, staying low to avoid attention, only to see that there were more buildings coming down nearby as the Trinx fighters targeted them. He saw a pair of Star Force skeets flash past overhead, indicating that the aerial battle was still underway, but there was nothing he could do about that now. He had a job to do, and that meant getting back into motion.

Finding a bit of clear street Onnet took off running, using his telepathy to find nearby Trinx minds and assess if they were friend or foe. The foes stood out with a blood thirst as they were sent here to kill, kill, kill while the rebels were more focused on protecting and killing in order to meet that end. It was easy to misread, but Onnet wasn’t having any difficulty when he came across a group of five on the other side of the building to his left.

The Yisv turned at the next available corner, launching himself into a coast/jump over a small pile of rubble from a crater about 120 meters up on the building that had been blown out, then he reformed and kept running until he got near the targets, hearing the sound of their infantry weapons shooting inside the building.

Onnet didn’t hesitate, running into the nearest door and heading straight for the attackers and the panicked, desperate minds inside that were being gunned down. A few were intent to fight back, but they were disappearing from his mental view as they were among the first to die.

When he came into sight of them the solid mass of his body blurred and shot straight for them, wrapping around one soldier’s arm and shifting into a liquid/gel state where he could take about any form he wanted. He yanked the weapon free as he rotated around the Trinx, spinning him like a tornado and throwing him into the nearest soldier, knocking them both down as his wispy cloud remained behind, taking two shots from the others that were now focusing on the Yisv.

Staying in cloud form he drifted over to them, then snapped back into physical mode when he was only inches away, punching both apart for a moment as he extended his arms back out as gel and latched onto their weapons, turning them away from his solid body before he got one wrenched free. He tossed it to one of the nearby rebel Trinx who was laying wounded on the ground, then spun one of the soldiers around and threw him closer…where he was gunned down from two meters away.

Flashing back into a cloud he avoided massive damage from another pair of shots, but with each that passed through he lost body mass, though it wasn’t going to matter for this small engagement. Continuing to use his agility and evasiveness to his advantage, he worked the remaining 4 Trinx soldiers over and eventually killed them all with their own weapons.

Onnet reached down and picked up two of the rifles with gel-like limbs and gave them to the nearest rebels/civilians.

“Stay here and stay alive. Give us time and we will free the planet,” he promised before heading back out on the streets to hunt down more extermination squads.

4 months later…

Prefect Nesfa stood behind a wall of guards, the last left as he, and a few Regents as they held within the Ancient shell. They’d retreated here as the rebels and the invaders took section after section of the planet away from them. It seemed right that if they were going to make their last stand that it should be here, in the presence of the Hamoriti they were sworn to protect and in the presence of the Ancients’ legacy.

He stood with the others ready to fight, knowing that fleeing further into the shell was pointless. This was where he would meet his end, and do so with his loyal kin.

When he heard the defensive emplacements outside open fire again he knew the invaders were here, meaning it was time to move forward. He wasn’t going to give any orders from this point on, there were infantry commanders better suited to that. Now he was just one Trinx out of many, and that both humbled and freed him to the purpose of doing as much damage to the enemy as possible before he died.

When the wall of bodies before him moved forward he went with them as the noise of weaponsfire intensified. The defensive batteries that the Trinx had installed just outside the aperture were adding to the shell’s own defenses as the infantry were firing from just inside the Ancient facility so not to get caught in the crossfire. When one of the Trinx in front of him fell, the Prefect could see what was occurring ahead and he stepped forward shoulder to shoulder with the others behind a low barrier as Star Force troops were falling back, several of which appeared to be injured.

Two physical shields of their larger soldiers blocked for them, then there was a pause as the batteries fell silent and both sides were out of vision of the other. He knew there were more enemy soldiers just beyond the entrance, but how long they’d wait before making another assault was the question. He was sorry to see that, once again, the only bodies on the floor were his own people, and he adamantly committed himself to killing at least one of them before this facility was taken.

In the silence a soft set of footfalls was heard, echoing into prominence before the source came into view. Nesfa wondered what it was coming their way, for it didn’t sound like the grouping they’d need to get through the defenses. Then, in casual disrespect, a single Archon walked out at the end of the hallway and stood there looking at them. The Trinx didn’t fire yet, wondering what was happening, and the Archon stood just outside the range of the shell’s weaponry, creating an awkward silence until the set of pink armor began to lightly walk forward.

Nesfa and the others opened fire with their infantry weapons a split second before the larger cannons let loose, but the Archon just kept walking as the energy was stopped by a translucent wall before it. A few more steps up and the shell defenses kicked in, adding to the torrent that the individual was weathering. As it continued to walk forward it reached behind its back and pulled out two narrow cylinders, one in each hand. When the shield wall fell a lot of the energy strikes missed the Archon’s narrow frame with the others hitting a different shield covering the pink armored plates.

Both cylinders suddenly extended into poles, and after another casual step the Archon bolted forward, dodging some of the larger energy blasts as it closed ranks. Nesfa didn’t think it’d stand up to much more damage, but it was the only enemy soldier coming. He kept firing as fast as he could, only managing a few hits before he lost control of his body and dropped his weapon as he fell twitching to the ground.

A moment later he stood up grasping for his rifle. When he got it he saw the pink armor flashing around in front of him, slashing at the troops with some kind of swords and taking them down with single hits. It was within the doorway now, somehow having gotten past the barricades outside. Knowing this was the end he fired another shot, cursing the single Archon that simply…would…not…die.

He got two more shots into its armor, gratifyingly seeing one hit and blast a puff of material away instead of hitting shields before the Archon dashed forward and whipped one of the swords into the side of his head.

Then all was blackness.

When the Prefect woke it was to his great surprise that he was still alive. Despite the numbness pervading his body, he was thoroughly confused as to his whereabouts. He wasn’t in the Ancient facility or the corridors outside. He was inside a small room of alien manufacture and laying on a cushioned platform.

He sat up, suddenly finding himself in different clothes, also of alien design. His head was tingling and it didn’t occur to him that they were of Star Force make until a screen on the wall suddenly activated and an image of a Human appeared.

“Hello. This is an automated message triggered by your waking,” an image of an Archon appearing outside its armor said. Nesfa could tell by the uniform it wore, and it had the same disgusting pink identification stripe as the one that he’d thought had killed him. “You Trinx scum are now prisoners of the exalted ass kickers known as Star Force. We didn’t feel like killing you, so we took your planet from you while preserving your lives. You’re welcome, but don’t mistake the fact that we know this is also an added insult. You wanted to die, so we denied you that, thus preserving your life and spiting you at the same time. That’s how Star Force rolls,” the Human said with a disgusting smile.

“Now, so you’ll be aware of what’s happening, we’re giving you a chance to earn your freedom. Not easily, but it’s there if you want to pursue it. We didn’t spare you just to stick you in a cage and see you rot to death, so you’re going to be given access to training facilities and challenges, as well as instructional material, once you arrive at your final destination. At the moment you are on a transport ship heading there and will remain in this small room for the duration. Using this panel you can view a variety of information to pass the time, but physical training will have to wait until you arrive due to space restrictions on the ship.”

“The purpose of this training is for you to prove yourselves worthy to be released. If you wish to just sit there and slowly wither away that is your prerogative, but we are not going to kill you. Right now you may be defiant. If not that’s good, and you can get on a fast track to eventual release, but if you’re someone who needs some convincing then the isolation you are going to endure may act as motivation.”

“Your journey onboard this ship will be a solitary one, but so too will be your prison. From this point on you have no civilization. You are an individual, and your training will require only yourself. Others would be a distraction and a hindrance. You have to stop being Trinx and aspire to something more. If you don’t care for this that won’t change your situation. You will die here, alone, unless you train to attain self-sufficiency. In that way you will eventually kill yourself or you’ll learn and change so that you’re no longer our enemy. Either way, the Trinx civilization that we came here to destroy will die.”

Nesfa stood up on wobbly legs and punched the screen, but his fist only bounced off the thick, transparent material.

“So get used to your current situation…or not. From this point on I don’t care. I’ve provided you with a path to freedom while sparing your lives. That is the extent of my mercy. What becomes of you from this point forward is up to you. You’ll be kept safely away from anyone you could possible hurt, so you’re no longer a threat. Your planet is now mine and also not your concern. Unless you earn your freedom you won’t be seeing it or anything else again aside from the prison you’re heading to.”

“Fortunately a lot of your former people saw reason and surrendered. We’ll deal with them in varying ways. We’re not giving up on anyone, but we can’t make anyone change. Only nudge you along a bit. The boredom you’re about to endure if you refuse to cooperate will be that nudge, but ultimately if you don’t choose to try then this is where we part ways, never to see one another again, and I say a very heartfelt ‘fuck you’ and end this message.”

The Archon winked and the screen switched over to an options menu.

Rage boiled over inside Nesfa but he didn’t strike the screen or anything else again. It would do no good. He was so angry it literally seeped through his body without an outlet, for he knew he’d already lost everything. His people had rebelled, his planet was lost, the Hamoriti which had been the sole focus and purpose of his civilization was now in the hands of the enemy, and he was a prisoner helpless to do anything about it. Even if he could somehow escape and summon an army it would do no good. Once they awoke it there was no way the Trinx could reclaim it. Their only hope of that lay in advancement that was now out of reach with the loss of the Ancient shell and its captive.

Now he was the captive, not even having been allowed to die in defense of his people and holy cause. He was…spurned, and every second that passed he found his anger was all he had left to cling to.

8

February 26, 3292

Paquat System (Star Force territory)

Vikod (Trinx homeworld)

Oni strode down one of the Trinx streets, the invasion of Vikod long over and the mop up operations on the other planets nearing their end. There was no weaponsfire incoming, just odd looks from the red-skinned, twin headtailed people rallied in protest. They were not going to mess with her, knowing her abilities, but they and the rebel leaders were why she had come down to the planet and they all knew it.

Her brilliant pink armor clashed with their deeper red as the wall of Trinx parted to allow her access to the building they were protesting around. The armed guards there had not been firing back, merely keeping their kin out, but they too did not try and hinder her passage.

Once inside she proceeded to a familiar location, the headquarters for the interim government that was holding Trinx society together while Star Force began to rework it, though she’d only been here in person on two previous occasions. Most ‘visits’ were holographic in nature and the occupants of the chamber she entered were going to wish that had been the means she used to communicate to them regarding their refusal to comply with one of her orders.

A pair of partially repaired vassal guards parted for her at the entrance, with her quietly walking inside rather than making a storm of flying bodies and broken walls. Rather, she simply walked up to the three Trinx seated at a far too large table and stared at them through her helmet, saying nothing. She kept that pose until it began to unnerve them, with Chosan finally standing and facing her, not knowing what she was going to do.

“How do you wish to proceed?” he asked tenderly, knowing she could snap him in half if she so wished.

“The order will be followed, one way or another. The question is how you wish to proceed,” she said through the opaque faceplate with her armor translating.

“We cannot give up our newborns.”

“Can and will,” Oni said defiantly.

“Not willingly,” he said, matching her tone.

“I accepted your surrender on the agreement that you would follow orders. You are not following them now, so where does that leave you?”

“Why must you take them from us?”

“So they will start out fresh in Star Force. You know the reasoning.”

“It does not justify this kidnapping.”

“Rescuing,” she clarified. “They’re better off in the maturias.”

“Taking them away from their parents is not better off.”

“Your civilization failed, and is now being destroyed. Indoctrinating these younglings into your ways then forcing them to change rapidly thereafter is both inefficient and cruel. Better that they learn from the beginning rather than put them behind schedule.”

“I thought that you were going to allow us to keep this planet?”

“The Trinx will keep it, yes, but they will be my Trinx. And my Trinx do not ignore my orders. The infants will join the younglings in the maturia as planned.”

“Will you not even allow them a single year with their parents?”

“No. They will begin in the maturia immediately.”

Chosan bit his lip, obviously containing his anger but knowing that there was no way to force her hand. “So we are just supposed to help you slowly deconstruct our society piece by piece?”

“Yes.”

“How can you be so cold?”

“Cold?” Oni said, anger beginning to seep into her voice. “We are helping you ungrateful bastards that murdered my brothers and sisters and killed far more of our allies over some stupid ego trip. We also removed your corrupt government for you, not to mention are giving you the very big honor of joining Star Force. We are doing you a huge favor, but we are going to do it our way, in every single circumstance. There is no compromise, no negotiation, and your present freedom is dependent on you willfully complying, otherwise you will go to the prison facility and handle your conversion training there rather than here. What part of that is not easily understandable?”

“You spared us, and for that we are in your debt, but you are also destroying us in another form, and that we cannot tolerate.”

“You will tolerate it.”

“No,” another of the Trinx leaders said, also standing, “we will not.”

“Fine,” Oni said, falling silent for a moment as she accessed both of their minds and rendered them unconscious. As they fell she telekinetically grabbed them and pulled their bodies across the table, dumping them next to her feet as she looked at the third leader. “How about you? Prison or work with me?”

“Even if I agree to do so, the crowds outside will not permit the infants to be taken. Handing over the younglings was tenuous enough, but that was in the aftermath of the fighting and everyone was reeling from wounds, emotional or physical, and didn’t have time to fully think things through. They were just happy to still be alive and not in a prison. Now that some normalcy has returned they are thinking, and they’re thinking that they cannot give up the responsibility of their children to Star Force. To do so would be dishonorable, and after all the dishonor we have suffered to add to it would be an even greater tragedy.”

“At least you can talk,” she offered. “All of Star Force raises its younglings in maturia. They are not the responsibility of the parents after birth. The annexation of the Trinx means you will also operate under these protocols. I made that clear over a year ago.”

“Yes you did. People are rethinking the wisdom in complying.”

“Fortunately for those infants I’m not giving their parents any say.”

“If you force this, the planet may well revolt.”

“If it comes to that, so be it. At least then I’ll know who are really serious about working towards a new future and those who are just paying lip service to it. I originally planned to ship every one of you off to the prisons and let you work your way out of them gradually, and I still have that option. The transition will go more smoothly if you comply, but it will go more rapidly if you don’t.”

“You still require our assistance if you want the secrets to our technology.”

“And you want to use that as leverage to force a measure of compromise?”

“If necessary. I do not want to end up fighting my own people again.”

“The answer is still no.”

The Trinx raised his hands helplessly. “Then we are at an impasse.”

“Wrong again,” Oni said, blacking him out and pulling his body through the air until it landed on her left shoulder. She telekinetically picked up the other two and placed Chosan on her right shoulder before stacking the other guy on top of them across both her shoulders. Using her arms and Lachka to hold them in place she began walking back the way she’d come and passed by the vassals who took immediate objection to what she was doing and attempted to help the Trinx as per their programming.

A few telekinetic pushes and pulls resulted in scrambled internal circuitry and two recently formed statues that she left in her wake carrying her sleeping cargo out to the main doors. When she got there the guards parted again, this time not knowing what to make of the situation but fearing what would happen if they dared to strike her.

“Listen up,” she said, not bothering to stand still and give a speech, so she just talked with vocal amplification on her helmet as she walked out into the crowd and away from the building. “These interim leaders are no longer in command. They refused to follow my order and are now being taken to the prison planet. If you don’t want to end up doing your conversion training there then stop defying me. I’m looking out for the wellbeing of the younglings, not your egos, and I don’t care if I have to go around and stun every single one of you on this planet and the others personally, you will not be calling any of the shots from here on out. I give orders, you follow them. Anything else results in you becoming baggage like these three and a ticket to isolation to rethink the wisdom of your actions.”

Oni didn’t say anything else, just continued to walk towards the landing zone she’d signaled the dropship to come get her at, but the crowd didn’t stay silent. They were hesitant to verbally poke at the Archon, but once a few started the others followed and soon there was a deafening roar of protest.

She just ignored it and kept her focus on the area immediately around her, ready to knock down anyone that tried to interfere with her taking the three prisoners but ironically the crowd didn’t want to help them, for they were also on their black list for having been carrying out her other orders.

Oni could tell that from their minds, which she sampled here and there as she walked. A bunch of ungrateful, egotistical bastards…rebels or not. These Trinx were Trinx no matter what their position concerning the ambush was, and it was probably better if she just called down the stun teams and started…

The Archon stopped walking and looked into the crowd, which visibly jerked back when they thought she might be taking too much notice of them. Inside it was a single mind, wildly different from the others. It was angry, not at her, but at the crowd.

“Come here,” she said out loud and telepathically as she used a bit more of her Lachka to make a pathway through the crowd up to the single Trinx that she’d taken notice of. When he froze in place she simply accessed his mind and forced him to walk out to her, then she released his body back to his own control.

“Deervan, come with me please,” Oni said as she turned and started walking again, leaving the Trinx with a moment to make a choice.

Fortunately he made the right one and after a twitch of hesitancy began walking behind her as she parted the crowds ahead as needed with her psionics. None of them were too eager to get close to her, but when they were massed together they got more reckless, thinking the numbers would insulate them from her wrath. One actually threw a rock at her, but it stopped in front of her helmet. She nearly walked into it, but a split second before her armor made contact it was shot back the way it’d come, curving through the air to hit the individual who’d throw it and put a good knot in his forehead.

A few hundred meters later she saw the dropship coming down but didn’t revise her coordinates to bring it directly to her. She left another half mile of brisk walking and visible defiance of the crowds as Deervan quietly trailed behind her. Oni made sure he didn’t get hit by anything either, then when they got to the dropship she dumped the three sleeping Trinx into the air and held them aloft before shooting them like slow moving missiles into the cargo hold under the care of a Knight.

“Do you see that?” Oni asked, standing beside Deervan a few meters away from the boarding ramp as she pointed back at the crowd that was still complaining loudly and in so many words that her armor couldn’t translate it all. “That is why I have to take the infants. So they don’t end up like them. If they raise them, they’re going to try and teach them to be like them, whether on purpose or just through association. The infants have to be separated at birth so they never know this stupidity.”

“I do not disagree.”

“I know you don’t. I know you dislike them as much as they dislike me. Take this moment to soak it in and remember their stupidity and ingratitude. From here on out you’re my liaison to this planet, and we’re going to figure out how many people down here need to be removed and how many can learn the easy way.”

“Me?”

“I’m inside your head,” she said, pointing an armored finger and gently touching his temple as she deactivated her helmet and locked eyes with him. “You have the best interest of your people in mind, therefore I can trust you. Come with me to orbit and we’ll get you situated somewhere that we can control before we send the collection teams in.”

“For them or the infants?”

“Both,” Oni said, placing a hand on his shoulder and directing him up the ramp. “If we stall, the infants lose precious days and they don’t deserve that.”

4 weeks later…

Deervan sat in a nearly empty building in a small sector of the largest city on Vikod as he read through another information packet from Star Force. It was for his personal instruction, and knowing that he’d have to pass various tests later on in order to remain here without having to go through indoctrination in isolation, he dedicated a significant portion of each day to study after attending to his newly minted duties as coordinator of the loyalist faction.

At least that’s what he and some of the others were labeling his position, for there was no official title. Archon Oni had simply put him in charge and he’d been helping her to recruit likeminded, sane Trinx to bring into this sector in order that they could be put to work. Star Force apparently didn’t intend to permanently use the Trinx infrastructure, planning to replace it with their own sometime in the distant future, but they were not wasteful and wanted to salvage as much as they could during the transition process.

They needed all kinds of civilization support going, but most important of all was assistance with understanding and assimilating Trinx science and technology. They were on a similar technological level but much was different between the tools the two empires used, hence Star Force wanted help in learning that they otherwise would have just done on their own from all the captured equipment and databases.

But it was more than that. Foodstuffs had to be produced or shipped into the system, and right now the Trinx production facilities were being maintained to supply the planet’s needs as its population slowly dwindled as more and more ungrateful citizens were taken off the planet. Sadly there were many more left here that had yet to be sorted out from the rest, but within this isolated and protected sector there were only the faithful, and it was his job to pass orders from Oni to them and information back to her while keeping everyone accounted for and organized…most of whom far outranked him in Trinx society. He was but a simple factory worker before the invasion, though now he was liaison to the warlord that had mercifully conquered them.

But he knew that his position would not last. It would disappear when no longer needed and the new generations of Trinx being raised in Star Force maturia would lead the way. He and the others could find a place with them if they proved themselves worthy and learned the Star Force ways, abandoning the past and embracing the future, which was why he was committed to his studies and training, the latter of which he did in the mornings before setting himself to the day’s tasks. He never knew for sure when a new order would come down from Oni, but the following morning was one such occasion.

It didn’t come in the form of a hologram, but rather a text message still written in Trinx for it would take him and the others a long time to learn the Star Force language. In the brief message that followed she instructed him to ready more of the residential buildings to accept another 382 loyal individuals that had been rounded up and to incorporate them into the operational structure according to their skillsets…which he would have to determine and then appoint their various appropriate positions.

Attached were their identities and no more. The Trinx filing system was what his people were maintaining, and if Star Force needed something they’d come to him, not the other way around, so he took the list of names and began looking up their personal histories while seeing what available slots he needed filled and which ones he could expand upon. Priorities went first, but there was no structure in place to tell him where to appoint whom. It was all based on his judgement and he often wondered what about him had made the Archon give him this gigantic responsibility.

He was curious but had never asked the question, gladly accepting it and paying as much attention to his duties as he could to prove Oni correct.

“Coordinator,” an aide said, jolting him from his trance staring into the holographic panel before him.

“What is it?” he asked, blinking his eyes twice.

“I’ve just received word from the Hamoriti site. They report the construction will be complete within the week. They recommend we begin evacuating the area.”

Deervan nodded solemnly, for there was no greater matter of importance within Trinx society than the Hamoriti, though it was soon to be taken from them to be put in the care of better hands.

“I’ll inform Star Force,” he acknowledged, with the aide quietly returning to his duties and Deervan to his while getting a weird trepidation regarding that transfer…as if it was a monumental turning point in history that he was having the fortune to be present at.

9

April 3, 3297

Nearkod System (Occupation Zone)

Inner Zone

The Excalibur came out of its jump into the former lizard core system at the head of a convoy…which wasn’t all that peculiar, given that many Star Force convoys passed through this system to get to the front, using it as a traffic nexus and supply depot. There were sixteen habitable planets that were still producing recycled materials from the lizard infrastructure that were feeding Star Force factories on the ground and in the captured ring shipyards, of which this system had the most known to exist.

There were 9 here spread across seven planets, two of which had doubles, which was rare. The reason this system had them was due to the unbelievably high deposits of natural resources. In addition to the sixteen habitable planets, there were more than a hundred others that were barren lumps of rock full of precious ores. The lizards hadn’t been mining those worlds so much as consuming them, with three having visible chunks already taken out of them and a fourth that was barely a wedge and looked more like an ugly asteroid, for that was all that was left of it.

Processing all that material locally was more viable than shipping it off to other core systems to handle the load so even while this system wasn’t the tops within the former lizard hierarchy it did have the most raw production value. That was all in the past now, and those shipyards were just ghosts of their former selves save for a few spots within them that had been converted to Star Force’s use.

There were a few defensive forces in the system, which was usual to protect the recycling facilities and other sparse inhabitants. No full colonies had been built here as of yet. It was simply a work zone that sported several million people.

A command ship arriving was a common enough sight for the warships meant to monitor and defend the system, but seeing that it was Paul’s command ship caught their eye as a message from him flashed across the comm systems telling them to stand down and allow him to assume command of system defense.

That wasn’t necessary, but still his prerogative. The ship captains acknowledged the order just as their laggy sensors began registering the lizard ships jumping into the system behind the Excalibur…and the fact that Paul was tagging them as friendlies.

The mastermind known as Thrawn entered the system in one of the many lizard jumpships, his identity not known to any outside observer nor logged within fleet systems. That was standard practice to keep him from being targeted and even now under the protection of Star Force he didn’t feel like breaking the habit. He received his orders from Paul via relays and did not even think the Archon knew which ship he was on, for he’d tried to hide that fact from him as well during the uploading in Krachnika.

His fleet followed Paul’s command ship out to Miit orbit, which was one of the two planets with twin rings, one situated above the other with an interval of some 580 miles between them and connected via support struts just like the inner ring was connected to the surface. Paul signaled for him to meet him in person onboard the outer ring, providing the coordinates and no other explanation.

Thrawn did as instructed and took a small transport over to the massive space station, finding no one present. He walked, alone, out of the hangar bay for a few minutes before he came to the compartment he was told to go to and waited there, finding it to be little more than an empty storage chamber several hundred meters long and high.

A few minutes later a group of Humans entered, with Paul being the last in line. He walked quicker than them and got to Thrawn first with the others visibly questioning his presence here. The Archon gave him a translation piece of Human design and the mastermind slid it on over his head like a headband before they began talking, for to this day he still hadn’t bothered to learn the Star Force language.

“This is Administrator Keery,” Paul began, gesturing to the Human nearest him, “Administrator Keller, Administrator Harvey, Baron Trew, and Tech Gregory Kotch. They run all operations in this system, and I felt it was best they met with you face to face as I explain the situation so there is no miscommunication.”

“Wise,” Thrawn said, measuring up the shorter Humans.

Paul turned to the Humans. “This is Thrawn, the only mastermind amongst the surrendered lizards and the reason any of them bothered to surrender in the first place. I can vouch for him, that he will not attempt any subterfuge, and that his ships will follow his orders. I know mine will, so there shouldn’t be a conflict here so long as we all know what’s going on.”

“What is going on?” the Baron asked.

“This outer ring is being returned to them so they can process the materials they will be mining from planets 43, 56, 58, and 62,” Paul said, indicating the ones that had been so heavily harvested they were no longer spheres. “That means their mining ships are going to be traveling across the system on a regular basis and they’ve already been rebuilt to register on our battlemap and vice versa without them having full access to it. If by some chance an enemy lizard ship showed up here you’ll be able to see which ones are ours and so will they,” he said, gesturing to the mastermind.

“Will they be shipping material out of the system as well?”

“No. Everything is staying local and a percentage of what they harvest will be turned over to you through the connecting columns. The rest they’re going to use to start building ships for me.”

“Star Force or lizard tech?” Keery asked.

“Lizard. New designs we’ve been working on.”

“To what end?” he asked, looking at their former enemy questioningly.

“A project of mine. I need you to leave them to work on their own. They’ve brought enough supplies to sustain themselves and I’ll bring in more as needed, but they’re going to be reworking this ring to provide a lot of stuff so don’t concern yourself with any odd construction activities. So long as they stay here and don’t cross over, just ignore them.”

“And if they do?”

“Take notice and inform me,” Thrawn said evenly. “I will be personally overseeing this operation until I am satisfied that it is stable enough for me to leave in other hands.”

“What kind of resources will I be getting?” the Baron asked, but not to Paul.

“A comprehensive load,” Thrawn answered. “We are not searching for individual materials, but will be collecting and harvesting bulk material and utilizing every part of it possible. Final manifests will be decided by what raw materials are recovered on a day to day basis.”

“Are we open to trades?” Trew asked, this time looking at Paul.

The Archon raised an eyebrow. “I had intended for you to each keep to your corners, but if you can find arrangements that are mutually advantageous I see no reason not to.”

“Is there a security concern with contact?”

“Possibly,” he admitted, “but usually they do as he instructs. Press them into an uncomfortable situation and they might revert to past habits. I assume you can avoid creating such a situation?”

“If you trust him, then I think we can work something out.”

“I’ll leave it to you two then. How soon can you evacuate this ring?”

“Give me twelve hours,” Administrator Keery said. “I don’t have much here, which is why I assume you chose this ring. Do I need to post guards on the columns?”

“Surveillance, but no guards. Aside from handing over materials there should be no travel up or down.”

“My people will not explore on their own volition,” Thrawn promised. “And I will instruct them where the boundaries lie.”

“Then I see no reason why we shouldn’t be able to make this work. Are you going to keep bringing in more people periodically?”

“We will grow what we need here.”

All sets of Human eyes turned to Paul and he gave them a confirming nod.

“Space traffic?” the Baron inquired.

“We have access to your systems and will avoid your ships whenever prudent. Our patterns will become evident and not alter, making our movements predictable for your ships to also avoid.”

“Are they armed?” Koch asked.

“Their current ships aren’t, but the ones they’re going to build for me will be. Though it’s in its infancy, you can consider this operation to be under the Clan Saber mantle and these lizards to be contractors that I’ve hired, if that helps you mentally settle.”

“Ah…that it does,” Trew said with a touch of gratitude. “Will you be returning to collect the produce or funneling it through me?”

“It’ll stock pile here until I pick it up. Don’t concern yourself with it…this is just an independent operation that just happens to be camping out in your backyard. Your duties here have not altered save for the bonus material you’ll be getting and any side deals the two of you set up. Their oversight is Clan Saber responsibility.”

“Very well, then. I won’t pry and we’ll stay out of each other’s way. Will they be reclaiming any other orbitals?”

“No. Just this one ring.”

“Just,” Keery repeated, citing the irony in that given how massive a construction it was, and drawing a glance from Paul. “I don’t have a problem with it. We’ve got too many of them to use anyway. It’s basically just sitting here collecting dust.”

“Good,” Paul said, clapping his hands once in finality. “Introductions made, now let’s all get busy. We’ll be converting this chamber and everything in a 1.5 mile radius around the closest hangar into a transitional area. I assume you have no assets to remove anywhere near that?”

“No. Nothing within a thousand miles, actually.”

“Then there’s no reason to delay, unless there are other questions. Koch, I do need you for something else though, so stick around.”

The Baron looked at his Administrators. “You heard the man. Back to work,” he said with a sarcastic drone.

“Welcome to the neighborhood, Thrawn,” Keery said, offering him a nod that wasn’t returned as the four men walked back towards the door they’d entered through.

“You don’t like us, do you?” the tech asked the mastermind.

“Like is irrelevant. I am here with a mission.”

“Do we annoy you?”

“You’re starting to annoy me,” Paul interrupted. “I need your appraisal of something.”

“Sure,” Koch said, a spark of interest at suggested work.

“Follow us,” Paul said as he and Thrawn headed for the same door the others had just left through.

The tech frowned, then did as told and followed the pair, noting the tail swag of the lizard that dwarfed Paul’s small body. If he hadn’t been an Archon Koch would have been a little worried about his safety. It looked like this Thrawn could kill him within a few seconds through brute strength alone if he wanted, not to mention the claws he was carrying on both hands and feet, which were bare despite the ornate robe he was wearing.

Eventually they worked their way to the hangar that had the lizard Kirby sitting in it along with several other lizards that put Koch even more on edge. They were standard variants, and to his surprise they did have weapons. Handheld ones anyway, but Paul walked towards them as if they were no different than Star Force Commandos.

Then as they approached another lizard came out, this one a scientist variety that he’d only seen pictures of, though most of the lizards he’d personally encountered were dead ones pulled out of rubble, but he was fairly sure this type wasn’t one of them.

But what was even more odd was the fact that it wasn’t green, it was dark shade of blue.

It carried a large case that it set on the ground in front of them and opened up, out of which came the familiar sight of Star Force tech. The trailblazer pointed down at it.

“Inspect these.”

“What am I looking for?” he asked, keeping a wary eye on the lizards as he knelt down and pulled one of some 28 components out and held it in his hand, twisting it around and easily identifying its purpose. It was a power transfer conduit that was used in just about every building and ship Star Force manufactured. There were several varieties that he had come into contact with over the years as improvements were made, but this looked to be one of the most recent model.

Spinning it about and hefting it in his hand he tried to spot any irregularities and found none, so he put it down and picked up another item that he saw to be a micro structural brace used in walls to support add-ons to the primary frame. It and several of the other varied parts all checked out until he came to a flat structural panel sample that looked to be about 9 inches square. He tapped on it twice, then tried to bend it. That felt about right, but his gut said something was off so he pulled a multi-tool out of his pocket and touched a resonator to it as he altered the frequency of the vibrations that he was sending into the material.

12 seconds later it shattered in his hand, falling into more than a dozen pieces as Koch looked up at the lizards, then back at Paul. “They built these, didn’t they?”

“Yes, but apparently not well enough. What did you just do?”

“Exploited a little known weakness that we had to compensate for. The crystalline structure that gives the rigidity is linked to a bendable polymer in a lattice that is very resistant to vibration. This gives the paneling extended life because it reduces the range of impacts that will fracture it on both a macroscopic and microscopic level. But…we discovered there was one particular frequency that the crystal segments practically melted under and we had to make a slight alteration in their alignment within the polymer. Solved the problem, but we didn’t actually change the material any. Just reconfigured it. I’m guessing you gave them the theoretical blueprints to work off of and not the factory notes?”

“Guilty as charged,” Paul said, though not showing any shame. He was actually a bit impressed, Koch thought. “I didn’t want them copying our manufacturing facilities, only the final products, so I had them figure out how to do it on their own.”

“Are they going to be making more of these here too?” he asked as he picked up another component and began an equally thorough inspection.

“Yes, but for our use. The ships they’re building will be lizard tech.”

“Reparations?”

“Assistance,” Paul corrected, “to Clan Saber.”

“Another contract?”

“Something along those lines. We’re going to expand the production list beyond these items in this facility and I need you to do quality checks on the new models as they come out. If their manufacturing origin can be determined to be anything other than a standard factory they fail.”

“Well, these other items are good as far as I can visually tell. Need to put them through some more rigorous tests to be sure though.”

“Do so to your satisfaction. When one meets your approval log it with a message tag for me as well as telling him, then he’ll begin mass production.”

“Can never have too many spare parts,” Koch said approvingly as he put the last item back in and stood up. “Can I have these?”

Paul nodded. “If you find any other flaws, let him know that too.”

“Standard comm grid ID?”

“Yes. He’s the only lizard contact in there.”

“Should make him easy enough to find. Do you want me to help them with the paneling problem?”

“Just give them the frequency to adjust for.”

“12,883.6 hertz. Do their translators have an equivalent measurement?”

“Yes,” Thrawn answered, having heard it in his native language.

“Alright then,” Koch said, grabbing the case. “Send any more prototypes down the columns with Star Force’s cut of resources and I’ll inspect them and get a report back to both of you. Anything else, Archon?”

“Not today. And thanks.”

“Always a pleasure to work with prototypes,” he said, cracking a smile as he left and glad to get some distance from the lizards.

Thrawn waited until he was gone from the hangar before speaking. “My apologies for the flaw.”

“It’s my fault. I didn’t know there was one that had to be compensated for.”

“Never the less, it slipped by us. That should not happen,” he said, glaring at the blue scientist.

“We replicated and tested within the parameters given,” it said without defiance. “We should begin extraneous testing to search for defaults on our own.”

“Do so from now on,” Thrawn said, miffed at the stench of incompetence on the threshold of a grand new opportunity.

“Well,” Paul said, throwing his arms wide and gesturing to the shipyard in which they stood. “All yours now. Feel free to redecorate as you like.”

10

February 2, 3301

Alamo System

Stellar Orbit

There were no Uriti in the system when the Preema fleet arrived by the thousands escorting one very large cargo ship that contained their sleeping passenger. Waiting for them instead was a small Star Force fleet and a scattering of KoQ ships, with the remainder keeping all other traffic within the system far away from the convoy as it redirected further out into the high zone to an isolated area where they began unpacking the Uriti.

The transport ship started peeling off in segments, not per some grandiose design, but being the result of explosive releases built into the single-use transport. Inside through the gaps the new Uriti owners got their first glimpse of the green, snake-like Barratim where it was coiled up in a ball of flesh less than 2 miles wide that was crisscrossing itself in a multitude of what looked like uncomfortable bends.

As the transport continued to peel away the sedative feeds were cut off, but no signal came to wake the beast up prematurely. Rather, the artificial gravity was cut out and the Uriti was allowed to float in place as the ship segments were removed from around it, eventually allowing it back into the freedom it once knew while still asleep, though a few visible twitches were beginning to occur.

The salvageable part of the transport flew away to safety as the nearby control ship sent its first communication, prompting a violent lurch as the uncomfortable bends tried to right themselves and the Uriti got caught up on its own body. It took several minutes until it regained enough consciousness to smoothly pull itself apart and stretch out to its full 39 mile length. It was only 700 meters wide, but contained within that apparently narrow body was enough kinetic weapons emitters to physically propel anything around it back at an incredible rate, sending attacking ships outside their targeting range if they managed to survive at all.

A small burst of such energy manifested from the ‘front’ end of the simple shape that had a slightly narrower tip than the ‘tail.’ That energy appeared as an emerald translucent wall that expanded out like a nuclear blast and sent fragments of the disassembled transport ship careening away at high speed and in small chunks, for it hit them as if the field was itself solid, but no further outbursts came as the Uriti got itself oriented to space again while the command ship made contact and gave it its first orders.

It complied with the redirect, twisting around and stretching out its length onto the new course given to it as it headed in towards the star. With that first simple exchanging being a success, it was immediately entered into the indoctrination program that the Sety and Trinx Uriti had gone through upon arriving, though by now the process was somewhat more streamlined.

Several weeks later, still without negative incident, the Zeus and the escort convoy for the Uriti came into the system along with their charges. The four Uriti immediately took notice of the newcomer and vice versa, with the order for them all to meet in a specific location being sent before they could try and move out on their own. Nami moved the fastest, getting there ahead of its three familiar siblings and considerably ahead of the newcomer, then she waited patiently for the others to arrive.

That was a good sign, for unexpected stimuli like this were a longtime worry of Nefron’s. The more he studied the Uriti the more he began to realize just how little control over them the Chixzon had had. Their notes and knowledge bequeathed to him through his genetic legacy had not told the full truth…that the Uriti could easily disobey their commands if a higher priority arose. He’d known about issues regarding feeding and damage, but apparently boredom and joy could also supply the basis for an override.

The fact that Nami and the others had not gone straight for the new Uriti indicated that as long as they thought they were going to get what they needed they would still comply, even if it was inefficient. But what would happen if they ordered them to go different ways without meeting up? Based off neural readings it’d be a coin flip as to whether or not they’d side with orders or giving in to the moment, so it was absolutely necessary to construct orders as compatible with their desires as possible to insure they remained in control.

And with the newcomer heeding the order as well, that meant it wasn’t just a learned obedience. Nefron was fairly sure the others were, in fact, learning new tricks and techniques, and it was easy to lose perspective when you had them here and were working alongside them. Some things they simply did because they were routine, or so the theory went, and he was glad that this one wasn’t going to be a problem and had accepted the conflictory order without hesitation.

When the five of them met up the ships stayed well back, and almost immediately there was a cascade of lightning between them traveling from the four originals to the newcomer that the Archons officially labeled ‘Zolom.’ From the readings it wasn’t in pain, and in fact its status as viewed by Nefron, troubled as it was after so long under sedation, was improving greatly. The lightning was actually washing out the remaining sedative from Zolon and sharing data at the same time. It was more than just telepathy, but more like a direct download, and of what no one knew for sure, but when it happened the situation always seemed to improve.

Riley had referred to it as ‘scratching the dog’ and whatever purpose it served was a binary one, for Nefron was fairly sure they couldn’t summon the affect alone. As he monitored the interactions he began to catalog the wide array of damage done to Barratim and plan out an individualized training program to start it on the path to recovery, including a ‘supplement’ of various rare materials that Star Force would occasionally feed them. They could get most of the same stuff from the stars and planets in the Preserve, but the ingots that Nefron had dispatched to another location in the system were much more concentrated despite the fact they were only 2-meter wide cubes of various alloys.

When two such cubes were placed he ordered Barratim to travel to the location and consume them, again proud that the other Uriti didn’t chase after it or go after the materials themselves. Whether it be training or nature they were behaving themselves, and despite the inability of Star Force to find a way to directly communication with them, Nefron was establishing secondary and often crude means of collaboration that at least allowed them to be able to predict one another.

Even before the order was given, two of the Uriti had drifted out of position as far as their orders would allow closest to the beginning of the obstacle course that he was just about to tell them to move to. When he did finally let them go they rushed to the starting point, almost as if they wished to show off…or perhaps show the newcomer what it was supposed to do?

That was another interesting possibility, and while Nefron had very few concrete answers he had a lot of research capability to avail himself of with these five and several others planning to be moved here as well. All of The Nine’s Uriti would be coming, plus one more from far across the galaxy that the KoQ would be escorting along with a small Star Force contingent that contained a control ship just in case the transport that was being built failed and the Uriti was released prematurely.

Fortunately that hadn’t happened with this one, but given the power these beasts possessed you couldn’t afford to take chances.

Getting the Uriti here wasn’t his problem. Learning about them and their interactions was, with the goal of true communication not having been abandoned. It was simply going to take longer than anyone expected, and there was no way to guess how long it would take before they discovered or stumbled on the means by which to get the Uriti’s attention without using the inbred control methods.

For right now though, he had his own herd of Uriti to study their interactions with each other, for he was certain if he could figure out how they achieved even minimal exchanges from the others he would stand a chance of finding a way to imitate it, so the more Uriti they could get here chatting with each other the better.

That, and it was best to keep them out of the reach of others’ hands, whether they be responsible ones or not.

Tennisonne watched the reaction levels closely, making sure the 16 injector ports were functioning in a stable manner before creeping the rates up. What he had brewing inside the kilometer-wide test facility in Venus orbit was a dangerous beast of a machine that he’d been chasing for centuries, but right now it seemed to be holding steady. The trickle of power coming from it was considerable, but nowhere near even low levels of designed output. That in itself was an achievement but not a satisfactory test. He had to reach at least 15 terawatts and achieve a stable reaction to be able to proceed to phase two of this project, and whenever he amped up the reaction rate is when he’d lost it in recent decades.

But with each failure came knowledge, or at least speculation, and he and his advanced team were at it once again with another set of calibrations. The reason they weren’t on Earth wasn’t due to the fact that they didn’t have room…for there was still plenty of ocean floor left to colonize if need be…but rather the fact that if Tennisonne really screwed up, he and this facility would go boom and take anything nearby with them. V’kit’no’sat power generators such as this were small, some the size of half a Sparrow-class dropship, and they had safety mechanisms within them that would collapse the reaction if a failure occurred.

Tennisonne couldn’t even get a proper reaction to sustained, let alone had the ability to control an errant one, thus this station had been built to insure that if he spectacularly failed no one other than his research team would die.

But there was no risk of that now, for when they planned a test such as this the facility was evacuated and they were handling it remotely. It was when they were in actual hardware mode and building and tweaking the equipment that there was danger. Right now the only thing in jeopardy of dying was the reactor itself, and if this test run got away from him in a bad way they’d lose it and have to start all over again.

Working off of past mistakes and charting what part of the reactions were predictable, Tennisonne tried yet another approach in order to isolate what would and wouldn’t work, but this time the collisions of 13 solari and three other exotic particles were holding together. In the past when the bombardment saturation escalated beyond short chain reactions there was randomized bleed over that interfered rather than enabled the full process to take shape and really amp up the power generation. The weaker reactions were capable of producing power beyond what Star Force was currently capable of yielding, but they were just tantalizing distractions while the real prize lay so close before them.

Tennisonne hadn’t taken the bait and kept his research on track for the big toys as far as power generation was concerned. The V’kit’no’sat had many methods, and collection and storage was not what he was going for here. He needed a reactor to provide continuous power that could then be stored for release later, much like the jumpships did to charge their drives to get enough push off of stars to attain the speeds necessary for decent interstellar travel. If one went off of reactor power alone they’d be limping along because reactors just couldn’t put out the juice necessary to achieve a standard jump in the short timespan they had before diminishing gravity made the endeavor useless.

The reaction before him was extremely complicated, but to sum it up it was a ‘Mouse Trap’ series of very small interactions between subatomic particles whose end result basically bled them of all potential energy like a person taking a wet sponge and squeezing hard, then taking that sponge and throwing it into a compactor to get every last drop out. The resultant waste material was useless, power wise, and so inert that it bonded easily to other particles rather than fighting with them for dominance in the invisible subatomic realm.

That waste material was corovon, which was a very valuable substance that Star Force mined with an aggressive appetite, but for this reactor that was just the icing on the cake. It was the sheer power production potential that was key here, and in order to attain a full reaction and start having the reactor puffing out corovon dust, Tennisonne had to get his tiny bouncing particles choreographed just right.

Today was the day he accidentally stumbled onto the solution…or rather a solution. It was crude but functional, and that was all he was going for in this prototype. The reactor surged up to 21 terawatts for a brief .372 seconds then fell off again, with Tennisonne immediately reviewing what alterations he’d made to trigger it and trying to guess as to how all the subatomic particles were bouncing around, for with such things they were too small to fully track. A lot of imagination and guess work were needed in experimentation like this, equivalent to someone on the other side of a wall with vision of the subject matter answering his questions with only a ‘yes’ or a ‘no.’

Even when he succeeded Tennisonne could only guess as to why, but so long as the machine worked he had something. In the past, sometimes his successes weren’t for the reasons he thought and that stalled further progress, forcing him to go back and try to find a way around his theoretical dead end, but for today he had a solution that gave him a hugely oversized Nash’ti reactor that was producing power at rate far superior to anything Star Force had in production at present.

The next step was to repeat his good fortune, and within a few hours he had a good grip on the basics of a new idea as to what was happening and got the machine into alignment again and held it for six hours straight before manually shutting it down.

This was working, meaning they’d finally done it. Now was time to kick back, turn this over to the lesser techs for analysis, and take a few days off to clear his head and get back into theoretical mode. As reports would flow into him he’d digest the little bits of data they provided, hopefully gaining a few more insights as he sought a way to build the same reactor in a smaller form…then a smaller one, and smaller and smaller until it was actually useable.

And to do that he was going to have to truly master this complex reaction. Right now he was just beginning to learn, and there was no one else to turn this over to. He was the trailblazer amongst the experimental physics teams, and while he could let the others do a lot of the analysis work that now had to be done, no one else had the knowledge and experience to be able to brainstorm into the unknown…at least not as fast as he did. And even though they had V’kit’no’sat blueprints for everything, they were constructed in a way that assumed prior knowledge and Tennisonne had learned that he had to ignore them a lot of the time and build his equipment his way.

And that’s what this monstrosity was. It didn’t even look like a V’kit’no’sat design, for it wasn’t, but that wasn’t to say their blueprints hadn’t been crucial in teaching him what he needed to know, even if they were extremely and frustratingly vague in some respects.

As he logged today’s results he sent a message off to Davis concerning the breakthrough then checked himself out of techland to give his head a chance to recover from the semi-brain fried state he usually operated in. They’d made the next step, a big one, but to continue on he was going to need all the inspiration and ingenuity he had…and that meant getting some rest and resetting.

Davis was in his office when Tennisonne’s message came in. He had a priority router on everything that came from the Master Tech and read it immediately, understanding the gravity in the very prim and succinct message.

Star Force now had a Nash’ti reactor.

He stood up from his desk and began to pace the perimeter of his office as the evening light was just beginning to dim in the west. This breakthrough wasn’t useable yet other than in large constructs or on the surface, but he knew that Tennisonne would be able to refine and miniaturize it given time, as he always did. That didn’t concern him, though he knew he couldn’t expect any timetable in such work.

But Star Force now had the capability, even in prototype stage, and that was monumental. A few weapon systems, the comm equipment, and some lesser techs Star Force had already caught up to the V’kit’no’sat on. It wasn’t their top model stuff, but it was all currently used by them as of the fall of Earth. While they could have surpassed it since then, it was functional and useable tech at the time rather than mothballed or recorded designs relegated to history files within the pyramid databanks.

Davis knew from an industrial and military perspective how valuable this was as the ramifications ran through his head as he began redesigning all the infrastructure on Earth and the Solar System in a flash. Everything would have to be reworked, ships would have to be brought into dock for overhauls, city infrastructure would have to be tore out and replaced…and that would not be a cheap or fast process. He couldn’t rely simply on new designs, Star Force tech lasted so long that there wasn’t much turnover and the bulk of his empire rested on ‘old’ models. For a power upgrade such as this he’d have to rework existing equipment while fielding a trickle of new production models.

Eventually he stopped and rested an elbow against the clear floor to ceiling window as he looked out across Atlantis, but with his mind being in a thousand other places. All this time they’d been so far behind the V’kit’no’sat it would have been like going up against tanks with two sticks and a rock, but now…

“Now we have a fighting chance,” he whispered to himself and the galaxy.

www.aerkijyr.com

STAR FORCE Wiki

1

August 18, 3327

Teelmot System (lizard territory)

Bargon

Sander-33091 jumped across a narrow ravine, clawing with his armored legs on the far embankment as he came up a bit short. The mage scrambled up the side and stayed low to the ground, taking a knee and telekinetically helping two others jump across. Their leaps were almost as good as his, but with the psionic help both of them landed beside him on the sandy hunk of rock and continued on running without delay.

Sander got to his feet and chased after them, eventually passing the pair of Protovic Mavericks and retaking the lead on the trail as he scanned the skies for more lizard wisps. They’d already taken down 14 of them using their psionics, but both Sander and Jarron had melted spots in their armor where their shields hadn’t fully held up against the phaser strikes.

The trio was making good speed over ground, far faster than the lizard infantry that had tried to pursue them, but the problem inherent at this moment was the lack of air cover, for there were very few Star Force troops on this planet. Rather than coming in with overwhelming force, Star Force was deploying more and more low key invasions that required more skill than firepower to successfully take a world and this one was no exception.

With only a handful of lizard colonies here, a single warship had been dispatched along with three troop ships, the mechs from which were busy hammering one colony’s defenses while Sander and his two sidekicks had come out of a subterranean facility that they’d just finished scouting…except they’d come out in a location they hadn’t planned, for there had been far more lizards underground than above, and he was counting the entire planet.

It was supposed to be a three man cleanout crew instead of using thousands of Scionate troops that didn’t fight so well in tight confines underground. They also had an Axius unit with them that was better suited to the task, but Sander had expected to take on the biggest challenges for himself and had gotten in over his head on this one. With so many det packs going off in close quarters, the trio had to get out of that underground facility by the quickest route possible and by the time they did their dropship pickup couldn’t get to them, for a swarm of wisps had come up out of hidden bunkers and laid claim to the area.

Sander couldn’t call off fighters from the current engagements to cover them, so with very few reserves to work with the trio was moving overland and as far away from the base as they could while the few pilots they had available were trying to work out a retrieval plan. The faster and farther the Archon and Mavericks ran the better off they’d be, so they were covering ground as quickly as possible though the rough desert/scrub terrain was making it difficult in spots.

The two Protovic wore armor identical to the Archon version he had, save for theirs was multicolored red/black that clashed with his monotone dark blue. That was so people would recognize the Mavericks for who and what they were more than for function’s sake. All Star Force armor was built around an agile frame, just with slight modifications per the mission profile. Given that Mavericks had the same mission profile as Archons it had seemed appropriate to give them the same style of armor, albeit with a different color scheme.

And these two had had to earn it time and again following Sander around on missions. They were here to help him out and learn in the process, acting as the JV version of Archons and having one new psionic given to them. Both were yellows, the first tier of the Protovic ranking system past ‘final form,’ and while that didn’t incur any special powers it did note an incredible amount of skill and experience. Tiers 2 and 3 hadn’t yet been reached by any Protovic due to their difficulty level, and it wasn’t because they weren’t trying. The Trailblazers had simply made them stupidly hard to achieve.

The Maverick program selected special individuals that had already achieved final form, drawing out of the pink Blues those who demonstrated Archon-like tendencies, most notably the ability to think outside the box. Those that qualified were sent to a separate training program that Wilson had designed along with Brad, crafting the new ‘Mavericks’ that functioned as Archon sidekicks with their own smaller batch of psionics to give them an advantage over most other races.

The only addition to the standard skillset was the addition of a Protovic version of Rensiek, the heating ability that kept the Protovic from freezing in cold climates as well as having the ability to light things on fire with the touch of a very hot hand. It was speculated that over time a few more abilities would be given to the Mavericks, though giving them any V’kit’no’sat psionics had been a long standing point of contention. Thus far though, Sander thought it had been a good idea…and both of his sidekicks had proven their merit on multiple occasions.

As they were now, keeping up with him over the rough terrain as another stupid wisp came at them alone. He telepathically told the two Mavericks to take it on their own, saving his own skills as backup as they continued to run hard to put more distance between themselves and the lizard base.

A line of phaser blasts stitched by them as the wisp spun up with its nose going into the sky then rotating on around to point straight down as the lizard pilot flew into the ground with a loud screeching crunch…thanks to a telepathic haze covering its thoughts as if it were blind, into which a sensation was adding directing the pilot to head for the ground. It didn’t know where it was going, but the prompts the two Mavericks were working together to achieve directed the pilot through trickery, baiting him into killing himself.

The Protovic telepathy wasn’t that good, so they’d been developing lots of cheats to copy what the Archons did. In this case it was tricking the lizard pilot to fly where they wanted him to rather than by taking control of its mind, which they couldn’t even do alone at this range. One of them had to blanket him with mental static while the other offered a way out of the mess that led to the fighter’s crash when the pilot took the only available route to him…from his point of view.

It wasn’t a nice thing to do, but when someone was trying to kill you that wasn’t a big concern.

Well done, Sander said telepathically. Hopefully they keep throwing them at us in singles.

Why are they still doing it? Linnar asked as he vaulted over a boulder rather than run around it a few steps. That leap got him ahead of the Archon but he slowed a touch and fell back in line shoulder to shoulder with him.

Not sure. Think we’re far enough away?

Do it, Jarron said as all three of them kept running.

Sander opened up his comm system, sending a powerful and very obvious signal up to orbit. Stealth wasn’t useful now, for the wisps could see them skittering across the surface easy enough. Why they didn’t send larger groups after them he wasn’t sure, though after the first bunch they’d brought down it would make sense for them not to waste anymore…yet they had just sent this one to its easy death.

He’d probably never know the reason, so he tucked the small question away in his memory as a blob of energy fell from the sky behind them and mushroomed on top of the base, the sight of which got to them before the shockwave did. Sander gave them a heads up and all three skidded to a sliding halt as they hit the ground, face planting as the concussion ripple ripped through the atmosphere from the bloon strike.

In the past such a tactic hadn’t been an option, but given that Star Force had stuck with the tech like a mynock on a power cable over the centuries they’d been able to upgrade the bloon launchers considerably…including the ability to send some varieties down into atmosphere without them falling apart from the friction. This one had been specifically designed for orbital bombardment and Sander had commed the ship earlier to get into position as they were running away from the facility. It had to be situated just outside the atmosphere, and as the Archon looked up above the mushroom cloud he could see the small Warship-class jumpship in holding orbit overhead…which meant it was riding its gravity drives to stay in position with no lateral movement that a powerless orbit would entail.

A few seconds later the ripple hit them and all three suits of armor were tossed across the ground with them digging their armored fingers in and scratching huge lines across the dry dirt until they settled again. Wind whipped around chaotically as the atmosphere began to compensate, but Sander was able to stand up again shortly and survey the damage from afar. He couldn’t see the crater that had been blasted into the ground and hopefully opening up the top of the base, but he could see the wisps that were still in the sky…and far too many of them.

“Looks like we’re not going back in on foot,” he commented as the two Mavericks stood up and dusted their armor off with a few thigh and chest hits. Neither had had their shields up so they could get as close to the ground as possible. They’d needed the traction, whereas the shield would have been a slippery buffer and they didn’t have the mental skillset yet to raise and lower specific portions telepathically. “Too many fighters left.”

“That had to take some of them down,” Jarron said earnestly.

“Orbital count says 17. No, we’re going to have to go back in once we clear that cover. It’ll be a few days at least.”

“Think they’ll seal over that hole?” Linnar asked.

“Probably. But we can punch through their patches or dig some more tunnels of our own. There’s a lot less dirt covering it than before,” he said as he got a waypoint some 6 more miles out that a dropship pilot thought he could pluck them out from. Sander acknowledged the signal and highlighted the location on his HUD. “Pickup is 6 miles out. Let’s get going.”

“How’s it look?” Jarron’s glowing blue/yellow face said as he walked into the small planning room onboard the Archer that Sander liked to use rather than the bridge to oversee planetary operations. It was quieter, not to mention not having to deal with ship’s duties. He could trust the Captain to oversee those while he focused on the larger picture…which was decidedly small compared to the past operations he’d been on against the lizards, but this was only the third solo mission for him.

“The mechs are cleaning up perimeter opposition at city 3 and sweeper teams say city 2 is now clear above ground. I’m going to need you to go down and look for subsurface activity.”

“My telepathy doesn’t have enough range for that.”

“I don’t need you to scout, just help confirm the sweeps and guide them underground.”

“With the Scionate?”

“Mostly. I can send a pair of Protovic to help, but I’ll need the rest of the Axius unit when we hit 3.”

“Alright. Is Linnar coming with me?”

“No, he’s taking a Scionate squad out to some possible auxiliaries. Left about 20 minutes ago. You shower slow.”

“Did you even shower?”

“Not yet. I wanted to analyze that crater we made. It punched through some of their stealth coating and combined with our battlemap mapping we’ve got a decent floor plan for I’d guess half the facility. When we tackle it I want the Scionate as backup. It’s going to get tight down there with the rubble and all those bodies. If we had trouble, they’re going to have more.”

“So Axius then.”

“The three of us are going to take lead, Axius follows up and the Scionate sweep and hold. We’re not going to get to it for a few weeks, minimum.”

“Still think it’s their primary base?”

“Sure of it.”

“So why not hit it first?”

“It’s not going anywhere, and the more visible units we can delete the less they’ll have to flank us with later.”

“Did they build it knowing we were coming?”

“Looks like.”

“Why waste the resources? Why are they even bothering to keep building when they know we’re on the way to annihilate them?”

“They don’t quit,” Sander lectured, knowing how junior his two Mavericks were despite their age. “If they don’t have anything else to work towards wouldn’t you want to fortify as much as you could to make it as hard as possible for us to kill them?”

“Then why build surface cities at all?”

“Why don’t we build everything underground?”

Jarron considered that. “I honestly don’t know.”

“We build shield generators instead.”

“So do the lizards.”

“Not here.”

“Maximizing resources then?”

“That’d be my guess. Before we leave we’re going to have to do a very thorough planetary survey to make sure they don’t have any sleeper bases out there. It could be this is just a diversion and they’re hoping we pass them by.”

“To what end? They don’t care about survival.”

“We’ve seen it happen a few times. Hoping to ambush us, I’d guess. They work all kinds of angles.”

“Alright then. Off to 2,” the Protovic said, wearing the simple black with red stripe uniform that mimicked the Archons’ as well. “Are we going to get a training block in sometime soon?”

“Doesn’t look like it. Just have to squeeze in bits and pieces when we can.”

“Plenty of time when the fighting is over,” he agreed, heading back out with the door swishing shut behind him.

Sander turned his attention back to the holo table that showed all the activity on the planet in realtime as well as having links to filed recordings and reports. He was the only Archon in the system, but he had several veteran commanders in both his mech and commando units that he knew he could rely on. Sending the Mavericks with them only enhanced their combat potential, and the Protovic had learned a while back that they weren’t here to lead so much as to offer their assistance.

It was a key distinction that some of them had to be schooled on, given all the Archon copying motifs with their program. They were trained to fill the void, leadership wise, if an Archon wasn’t there, but so many of Star Force’s personnel were experts at what they did that they didn’t need babysitting. Archons knew better than to give orders just for the sake of it, but it was an acquired skill for the Mavericks and the more little missions like this he sent them on without his presence the more comfortable they became with their roles.

By now, after 12 years working together, they were both solid and reliable. They still had a lot to learn, but they were an asset rather than a hindrance, and when Archons were scarce, spread out across hundreds of different simultaneous assaults into lizard territory, having that pair along with him was a luxury that he did not want to give up. He’d canceled orders to reassign them twice now, wanting to keep them with him in order to maximize efficiency. Sander had vouched for his team’s skills enough to get this low key assignment with very little investment of troops and some people thought he was making it harder on himself than he should, but had he not offered such a low ‘bid’ he’d probably be backing up someone else’s assault right now.

Which was fine, but the faster Star Force gobbled up lizard holdings the better and they were really pushing for bulk victories nowadays. The tech advantage, experience advantage, ship count…in just about every category Star Force stomped on the lizards and the most heavily defended and populated worlds were already bagged, leaving a large amount of medium to mediocre systems left to pick up, but those systems were still spreading into others and new worlds were falling to the lizards where Star Force just couldn’t get to them in time to help out. Hence the need for this push.

Sander was making this mission work and hadn’t lost a man yet, and if he did he’d personally count it as a failure. The assault on the underground base was going to be the toughest, but if he led the way and was patient he knew they could clean out the lizards there and lay claim to the planet, after which they’d pack up and tag the world for a recycling team, then get assigned to another invasion.

He’d worked with so many units over the past 50 years the only consistency he was getting was with his Mavericks. He hadn’t had them that long, but now that he’d ‘broken them in’ he really didn’t want to lose them. They weren’t as capable as a padawan apprentice, but having two of them made up for that in some ways.

When this invasion was over he was going to keep them with him through at least a few more. After that who knew. Their mission was to assist Archons and give them the additional psionic support when Archons themselves were limited in number. These two weren’t ready to lead invasions of their own yet, but give them time and they might get there. But until then there was a lot of ground to cover and a lot of lizards to kill, for no matter how desperate and hopeless their situation was they still would not surrender or relent one iota.

That made them dangerous, even in these small numbers, and if Sander wasn’t careful he could lose people. The Mavericks weren’t good enough to avoid that, but they were doing well in their limited roles across Star Force territory based on the reports. Building experience took time, and for their sake there were still plenty of lizard worlds to invade to gain experience from. Sander wondered what was going to happen when they ran out of them someday, but he didn’t spend too much time thinking about that. There was so much to do and so much still at stake that such things were best left up to the trailblazers.

They had to think ahead, centuries ahead even, but for a mage like himself he had the luxury of focusing on the mission and everything it entailed. That was enough of a challenge for Sander. Troubleshooting other things could wait until he got some free time on his hands.

2

March 7, 3329

Terson System (Occupation Zone)

Meer (Sety world)

Eileen Donovan followed the navigational beacons as she entered planetary orbit with her small jumpship. Purchased only four decades ago, it was an independent model of Star Force manufacture that had cost her family half its savings and was nearly a mile long. That made it small for most jumpships, but it had the speed needed to travel between stars and any independent business had to have that flexibility. Utilizing the Star Force transportation network was costly, but doable. However, she greatly preferred carrying her own ships from star to star as her family continued to extend its business interests.

That business was ad hock, everything from shipping to manufacturing to mercenary work. She was one of the rare few Humans that hadn’t grown up in Star Force, rather she’d been born in space onboard a freighter and had spent her childhood working along with her parents in the family business that stretched over 19 ships and 174 members. No one outside the family was trusted, and the more new blood they could get in the larger they could grow…hence getting the women pregnant was a major priority.

It was one that she didn’t share, which had drawn her some ire, but her skills had proven good enough that she was pretty much left alone to attend to business. Eileen had learned everything on the job, picking up naturally what older family members had learned from their parents all the way back to their originators. Hank Donovan and Lena Burgan had both been in the same maturia class on a Star Force world called Neytosan, then worked in the huge megacorporation/empire for several decades while developing and maintaining their self-sufficiency before eventually acquiring enough credits to go it on their own.

When they chose to have children they kept their existence a secret from Star Force, living on ships and moving from place to place without any real home. Those children had then had children of their own and the family business had grown out to 6 generations now, of which she was the oldest in the newer generation, soon to be surpassed by the start of the 7th as her brother’s mate was about to give birth in a few months.

If absolutely necessary Eileen could do so as well, finding some guy to hook up with and adding a member to the Donovan ranks, but she was more interested in finding new trade deals and establishing relations with the powerful new races that had begun to enter Star Force territory and set up shop on empty worlds reclaimed from the lizards. The one before her now was a possession of the Sety, rulers of a distant empire that for some reason felt they wanted a foothold in the Star Force realm. They’d been sending out feelers through the community that they were open for business and Eileen wasn’t one to sit and let others take advantage of opportunities, prompting her to divert a shipping run to come out here and chase down some leads.

Technically this was still a Star Force system, but despite the single seda in high planetary orbit everything else being built here was independent. The Sety were busy developing numerous contracts and one of those was the establishment of a facility on the surface that was operated by outsiders. Not Star Force, but by the merchant community to which the Donovans belonged. Deals were to be made, or so the rumors went, and Eileen intended to find out what there was here that they could get involved with and hopefully make a tidy profit…for fuel didn’t generate itself, and despite the efficiency of the Star Force gravity drives this jumpship still ate up a lot of the stuff.

Following the tracking grid as directed, Eileen parked the jumpship in a prescribed orbital slot then took one of 12 smaller ships attached to it in surface nooks that the shields would cover during transport and headed down to the surface of Meer, a world covered in a mix of grasslands and forest. Her destination was in one of the largest grasslands, with the makeshift city visible from orbit as she descended into the thick atmosphere heading to the marked spaceport.

Her craft was half dropship and half aerial fighter, equipped with weapons and most definitely not a Star Force design. The craftsmanship suffered a bit because of that, but they didn’t have any choice. Star Force didn’t sell weapons, and if the Donovans wanted to operate outside of Star Force territory from time to time they had to protect themselves. Even here there were Star Force drones in orbit sitting silent and intimidating everyone that even thought about misbehaving and disrupting the lax flow of traffic, but Eileen knew that the only way to be sure about your security was to have the ability to blow away anyone who tried to come after you, whether or not Star Force would intervene on your behalf.

And her ship certainly could do that. It was a Reen interceptor, build for speed, modest cargo capacity, and carried enough armor and plasma weaponry to discourage anyone from thinking the ship was a mark. The engines were underpowered for straight line travel but its agility more than made up for that, giving her the ability to fly loops around most of the competition, blow them away, then continue on at whatever pace she liked.

That had only happened once to her, out beyond Star Force territory in Epsilon Region, and she’d been very glad for her family’s prudence. Now she took the light gunship everywhere with her, even when one of the shuttles would have been more appropriate given their larger cargo holds.

Querying the spaceport she got a berth assigned to her, which she then paid for on landing. It was a small fee, but necessary to keep the port in operation. Star Force didn’t charge for such things, but independent operators had to keep the credits flowing else they’d shut down and it seemed this city was indeed operating off of those protocols despite their very powerful and rich benefactors that were busy building in other regions of the planet.

Eileen took two cousins with her, both of which were armed with hip lachar holsters while she carried a larger plasma rifle slung across her back in a light harness that she could reach into rather easily. It was an overpowered weapon that gave her a lot of credibility on sight, but her cousins were much better marksman with their weapons. If a door needed to go down though, she’d be the one to do it.

The first order of business on a world like this was to be seen and mingle, to which end they found a rare bar and claimed a booth, ordering drinks that they couldn’t get in Star Force. Alcohol was labeled as contraband for them, though drinking it wasn’t penalized. If you were caught with it they’d take it and any production equipment that people had the ingenuity to cook up out of spare parts, making it sort of game that some people played with security. They could drink it themselves and give it out to others so long as they didn’t get caught, and when they often did they’d have to start over again. The only penalties that would incur were if you tried to sell it…then that was a business violation, which Star Force cracked down hard on.

But this wasn’t a Star Force world, despite the system being under their protection. If the Sety wanted to allow alcohol then it was their problem, and Eileen put an order in for several cases after tasting the local brew, to be delivered to her ship the next day. The Donovans weren’t heavy drinkers, but onboard their ships Star Force had no say in the matter. They were independent and liked to do things their own way…though there were some things even they didn’t dare do, and looking at the food menu it seemed the Sety weren’t going to cross them on meat restrictions. Star Force was notorious for going after anyone who served, let alone produced meat, whether they were in their territory or not, and it seemed the Sety weren’t immune to that stipulation either.

Eileen admitted there was some sense to that. Drinking alcohol didn’t harm anyone except yourself…unless you did something stupid while buzzed…but to eat meat someone had to die. She didn’t really care about the vermin that some backwater worlds they’d visited served up. They tasted good enough, though it was said that her great, great, great grandparents could never touch the stuff. An aftereffect of their maturia training, it was thought, but when outside Star Force territory the rest of the Donovans sampled some local meats, if only to hammer in their independence from the massive empire that supported freedom in many respects, but had so many restrictions in others it almost seemed to be an oxymoron.

After about half an hour of mingling and sipping their drinks so not to get too tipsy, the trio was approached by an individual of a race she didn’t recognize, though it wasn’t a Sety. She knew what their tree-like profiles looked like, but this was something else entirely. At least it still spoke English though, which was the Star Force trade language that the Sety had apparently embraced here.

“Am I right in assuming you are yet more entrepreneurs visiting Meer?” the high-necked biped asked.

“You are,” Eileen said evenly.

The alien bowed. “Then allow me to introduce myself. I am Keeshab, a local merchant interested in establishing a variety of trade contacts throughout the local region and Star Force territory in general.”

“What race are you?” Harry asked, sitting across from Eileen while Mitt was on her right.

“I am a Shaff. We are a mid-level race within The Nexus, but I am here operating independently of any official contracts.”

“We like independents,” Eileen said with a touch of a smile. “What do you trade in?”

“Rare goods. Properties that may be common here can be valued higher in The Nexus and vice versa.”

“Are you a supplier or a buyer?”

“Both.”

“Contact info?”

The Shaff slid two of its long fingers into a hip pocket and drew out a small bit of plastic and handed it to her. Eileen flipped it over, seeing that there were markings on both sides, but none of it was familiar to her.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the access log to the commerce system used here. I’m told it is a bit different from what Star Force uses, but inset that chip and it’ll direct you to my operations from any terminal on the planet.”

“Even in the Sety cities?”

“I’m afraid I’m not permitted there, nor are you, I presume?”

“Haven’t asked.”

“They’re keeping their construction under tight security, and if they operate similarly to what they’ve done in The Nexus they will keep a corner of this world to themselves while turning the rest of it into an economic center. I got here ahead of much of the competition and invested heavily to stake my claim. My instincts say this is going to become a hot spot. If not I’ll be the fool, but so far I haven’t seen anything to dissuade my prediction.”

“Word is getting out,” Eileen confirmed, “and as to your item list, we…” she cut off as multiple heads in the bar were suddenly redirected to the main vid screen covering the wall opposite her booth.

Keeshab turned as well, cursing in a language she couldn’t understand as the news vid was covering a breaking story from the Hamoriti Preserve. Vids were being shown of an attack by a large fleet against several Star Force ships and stations as a voice in English was narrating.

“…damage was incurred but the assaults were quickly repulsed by both Star Force and a conglomeration of allied vessels. However no major combat broke out between the system defenders and the Revcor fleet. What you see here was a diversionary attack while the main body pushed past perimeter defenses and headed straight towards the Hamoriti herd where it was resting in stellar orbit…”

Eileen watched with disbelief as the hundreds of ships actually attacked one of the Uriti, the smallest of the 7 present, with such a savage ferocity she was sure it was going to be destroyed despite the common knowledge that the giant space beasts simply couldn’t die. Small divots in its skin were vaporized, forming a debris cloud that mushroomed out from the continuous attacks, then suddenly the snake-like one burst through the cloud and the Revcor ships started exploding.

She and the others watched entranced with horror as the massive energy discharges began firing off from multiple Uriti against the suicidal ships. Within 40 seconds every last one of them were annihilated…not just destroyed, but pulverized beyond any recognition down into rubble the size of gravel at best, leaving behind an expanding nebula to mark the battle site.

“What were they thinking?” Mitt asked, breaking the silence.

“We’ll never know now,” the Shaff said as a replay began to cycle with additional commentary being added. “There’s no one left to ask. I hope that doesn’t cause them to go on a rampage. We’re only 113 lightyears from the border.”

As if in response to his statement the news announcer addressed that very matter.

“…all reports indicate that after the attack the Hamoriti remained on station. They are not, repeat, not taking any action that would suggest they are now hostile. Namishta, the one that suffered the brunt of the attack, is showing slight surface damage. It too is remaining on station and is not appearing hostile. There are no reports yet if it or the others are responding to Star Force orders, but as of now no other ship or facility within the system has come to harm. Survivors from the handful of ships that engaged the system guardians are being recovered, so hopefully some answers as to this tragic attack will be revealed…”

“Those things are far too dangerous to keep around,” Eileen commented, with her words obviously directed at Star Force in the negative.

“The one that was attacked,” Keeshab said, pointing at the screen to the little blue one, “was loose and on the rampage in Li’vorkrachnika territory for hundreds of years without The Nexus ever being told about it until after the fact. If it had wandered into our territory untold numbers of people would have been killed. Who knows how many Li’vorkrachnika died. Those numbers were never made public, if anyone knows, but we were given some images from those days when the decision to remove the Hamoriti from the Sety homeworld was announced. We didn’t even know there was the beast buried beneath the surface, potentially endangering so many people. Having them in the Preserve, dangerous as it may be, is far more preferable to any other known alternative.”

“So they say,” Eileen commented neutrally. “That may change if Namishta takes offense at getting shot up.”

“If it does rampage again nothing has been lost, only with a respite between damage gained.”

“I don’t think anyone around here would agree if it starts smashing up nearby systems.”

“Perhaps not, but when viewing the greater perspective much has been gained by that Preserve, dangerous as it may be. And as far as the Sety go, they are no fools. If they have invested resources in this planet knowing how close they are to the Hamoriti, then they are confident that Star Force can contain them there.”

“Wisdom or hope?” Eileen asked.

“I think this should prove a decent test.”

“I still don’t get why those people just committed suicide,” Mitt insisted. “Not to mention wasting all those ships.”

“It makes me sick to watch,” Harry said gravely.

“I’m afraid such news will be repeated endlessly,” the Shaff almost apologized. “Our contact is made. If you would like to inquire as to any business arrangements, I am at your convenience, but for now I will leave you to your current business.”

Eileen waved casually as he departed for the far corner of the bar where he joined, or rejoined, a table of other varied races as another individual was looking like it was about to approach them given the recent departure.

“Looks like I was right.”

“About?”

“This being a hot spot.”

“If one of those things gets here it’ll get really hot,” Mitt warned.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep clear of those beasts easy enough. It’s the people that live on planets that have to worry.”

“Promise me we’re never going into that Preserve,” Harry almost pleaded.

“I promise,” Eileen said as the short alien had finally given up his ploy of ordering another drink and was walking directly towards them. “We’re keeping clear of it no matter what opportunities we might be passing up. I prefer lucrative and safe to lucrative and dead any day of the week.”

3

March 21, 3329

Solar System

Earth

Riley braced himself behind a bioshield as Rio unleashed a torrent of plasma from his palm, sending it into the fellow trailblazer like a burning firehose that quickly ate through Riley’s defenses. The rest of the white-hot plasma passed through, impacting the technological shield that was covering his chest just before the attack stopped. With a wince Riley stood up, shaking off the fried feeling he got from the feedback every time his bioshields were breached and shook his head.

“What the hell did you do?”

“Tuned it,” Rio said, holding his place inside the training chamber build specifically for him, given that he was the only Archon that had achieved Choratrik, or any of the elusive tier 4s, for which he was still searching his dreams for with no luck. “The more I use it the better my sense of the controls. There are ways to adjust the stream besides intensity. I was able to tweak it to get through bioshields better.”

“I assume there’s a way to tweak the bioshields to stop your tweak?”

“That’s the theory, but I’m not all that good with the Nakane…aside from throwing up the barriers. Riona has been doing some work on it though.”

“That’s far more potent than our rifles.”

“I know,” Rio said, grinning. “And I’m getting more powerful. Tissue analysis says my organs are adapting to the training. They’re not just a one size fits all psionic after all.”

“How low on juice are you?”

“That took a lot. I’d guess about a fifth of my reserves,” he said, taking the moment to pull a small vial out of a box that sat beyond the line marking the perimeter of the shield walls that would protect the chamber from any errant plasma blasts. Rio undid the lid and gulped down the contents, cringing at the cherry taste.

“Gotta get a different flavor,” he said, wiping a drop off his mouth and tossing the vial back outside the line where it neatly slid into his pack with a telekinetic assist.

“Not ambrosia?”

Rio shook his head. “No, but it does draw on some of it too. Most of this is the physical component of the plasma plus some power crystals that allow for the rapid heating. My body forms them naturally over time, but with the supplements I have about a 10 minute turnaround. Not very useful in a quick fight, but it gives me some longevity in the field,” he said, waving Riley forward.

The other trailblazer took off his shield vest and tossed it outside the boundary as well, then walked toward his peer cautiously, hands set in front of him and ready to repulse an attack.

“Any useful applications?”

“Not really. It’s sort of my backup,” Rio said before stepping forward and throwing a punch that began a series of blows and counter blows as the two Archons sparred for a few minutes until Riley got a handhold on Rio and flipped him out of the small ring, but still well inside the shield boundaries. They were dormant at the moment anyway, activating only if needed, but Rio wasn’t going to use his bioplasma again without giving Riley a heads up…and right now they both needed a good workout to loosen up, for Rio had just gotten back from a field assignment below Gamma Region hunting down some clever pirates that had been poaching non-Star Force shipping traffic moving to and from Voku territory.

The trailblazer got to his feet and gave his friend a silent nod as he walked back towards him.

“Burn yourself yet?” Riley asked as he backstepped a bit, drifting to his left.

“No, but I’ve had to make myself stop worrying about it.”

“Come close?”

“Woke up once to a smoking bed. That transition from dream state restrictions to waking impulses can get a bit blurry.”

“Good for toasting marshmallows?”

“I hate burnt marshmallows. What a waste,” he said, diving back at Riley and opening up another exchange of blows. Neither Archon was swinging hard enough to do damage, making it more of a fast-paced chess game where one was trying to get leverage or an opportunity to disrupt their other. This time Rio won out, managing to knock Riley’s arms a bit wider than he’d hoped to swing them and ramming his shoulder into the man’s chest, knocking him back a few steps as Rio held his ground.

“That’s better,” Riley scoffed. “Thought you’d gotten a little weak with all the field work and plasma tuning.”

“Not all of us can camp out here and train nonstop,” Rio said as he took a step back and began to circle around where Riley stood. “Some of us have to do what the second gen can’t.”

Riley smiled. “True dat.”

“You sound like Paul.”

“Hey now,” Riley objected with a frown. “No low blows.”

“You’re practically turning Saber blue,” Rio pressed, knowing that was a sore spot with him. Clan Olympus was an impressive Clan in its own right, but when compared against the equally impressive other 99 Clans they didn’t fare so well, having taken a rounded approach to their various disciplines that left them bottom of the barrel more often than not. Riley had tried to counter that by boosting his mech division above the rest of his little empire, but even though it was the second weakest division in Paul’s arsenal Clan Olympus couldn’t best them in a single challenge.

Not even one.

And it had begun to be something of a legend amongst the trailblazers, noting the statistical improbability of such a thing when the highest ranking members of both Clans were off fighting the lizards and leaving the challenges to the junior members. To make it worse, Riley had poured even more resources and effort into breaking the Saber streak over them with no luck whatsoever. Every time Saber went up against Olympus in a mech challenge somehow Saber would always beat them, even when it looked to be Olympus’s day.

“Now you’re going to get it, buddy,” Riley said, pointing a warning finger at him just as the door to the sealed chamber opened and both Archons put a pause on the beatdown about to come as Aaron walked in.

“What’s up?” Rio asked, knowing that while second gen might interrupt the trailblazers for not so good reasons Aaron never would, meaning this was either something bad or really good.

The newly arrived ViLord looked at Riley. “We just got word from the Preserve. There was an attack against the Uriti by the Revcor.”

Riley frowned heavily. “What?”

“They attacked the Uriti,” Aaron clarified, knowing how stupid that sounded. “They attacked some of our ships that tried to enforce the perimeter and sent the rest of their fleet straight into the herd…and were subsequently wiped out. They focused on Nami and she took some light damage.”

“What the hell?” Rio said, exchanging glances with Riley. “Who are the Revcor?”

“They have an empire out beyond the Preema,” Riley said as he thought hard. “They’re amongst the very large group of people who don’t like us controlling the Uriti, but why attack them and not us? There’s no reason to attack the Uriti unless you’re trying to commit suicide.”

“Davis wants to talk to you as soon as possible,” Aaron added warily.

“If there’s blowback from this it might already have went down,” Riley said with a snarl. “I knew I shouldn’t have left.”

“What are you worried about?” Rio asked, shrugging. “The Uriti didn’t die, obviously, and everyone just got an idea of how powerful they really are. I’m assuming they didn’t go rogue?” he asked, looking at Aaron. “Please tell me they didn’t go rogue.”

“The Uriti haven’t left and are still responding to orders.”

Rio blew out a relieved breath. “See, nothing to worry about.”

“There’s plenty to worry about,” Riley said, walking past Aaron towards the door.

“Such as?”

“With people that stupid you never know what they’ll do next,” he said with disgust as he left.

“Did we lose anyone?” Rio asked Aaron.

“No, just some drones and a chunk out of a warship.”

“Do you really think someone was just being stupid and miscalculated the danger?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been keeping tabs on the Preserve but I don’t fully understand the dynamics of the politics going on there.”

“Same here.”

“But if Davis is worried, then so am I.”

“Worried or in a hurry?”

“Probably both. The signal lag for something like this has to be driving him crazy. He needs to be in both places at once.”

“Aren’t there still Dukes there?”

“Out of their league by the looks of it.”

“Did they attack a control ship?”

“No,” Aaron said, his voice grim. “And that’s what worries me the most.”

Riley stood in Davis’s office, having gone straight there from the advanced training group’s exclusive wing of Atlantis, and watched the holographic replay of events in the Preserve with an eye on the simultaneous data notations that had been added by analysts after the fact and scrolling down the side of the virtual display.

“Son of a bitch,” he said, pointing a finger at the damage statistics for Nami. “This was no kamikaze run. It was a weapons test.”

“Meaning?” Davis asked with an even sterner look on his face.

“Nami barely got scratched, but it should have been a bigger scratch. I’ve run through the Chixzon data on the two dead Uriti enough times to be able to guess at damage statistics and these are off. We never got a standardized weapon profile on the Revcor, but I know this energy signature. Mixed in with the rest of their weaponsfire is a neulon beam, and it did almost no damage at all.”

“An ineffective weapons test?”

Riley nodded. “The Ancients tried the same thing a long time ago, which is why I remember it. I’m surprised Nefron didn’t spot it yet. Why are there no notes from him?”

“He wasn’t in the system at the time. He’s doing his work wandering around to stay out of sight and told me to route all immediate inquiries to the wranglers because he might be out of regular communications reception.”

“What is he up to?”

“I don’t know for certain. He’s got several projects he’s working on and he’s keeping them close to the vest until he has results, which he forwards on to me. Regardless, he’s probably found out about this by now and his analysis will be forthcoming. But since I’ve got you here, start speculating further.”

“Someone is worried about us using the Uriti and is trying to design a weapon capable of destroying them,” Riley said, stating the obvious. “And they didn’t mind getting a lot of people killed in the process.”

“A small sacrifice,” Davis noted, bringing up the files he had on the Revcor, limited as they were and mostly obtained from the Preema, “for a civilization of their size. One that could be repeated multiple times.”

“We’re not going to allow them back into our territory again, so it’ll be harder for them to make another run. Do you want us to hit them back?”

Davis shook his head. “Not worth the effort right now. If we have any future relations with them I’ll make sure they pay for this, but as it is they’re too far away to devote resources to. See to it that they get what’s coming to them if they poke their nose back around here.”

“Consider that done.”

“Odd…” Davis said, trailing off.

“Which part?”

“The part about a weapons test needing to be observed. All the ships were destroyed in the attack, and I’m betting that wasn’t an accident.”

“Meaning they had other ships nearby watching? We haven’t attributed any stealth tech to them yet.”

“Why bother when you have others who can watch and report for you?” Davis said, his voice growing cold. “And why worry about reprisals if you can get a distant empire to attack for you.”

Riley raised an eyebrow. “A hired hit?”

“Possibly…and with a side benefit if they irked the Uriti enough to stop obeying us.”

“And let them smash us up?”

“They are the biggest weapons around, and they have no knowledge of our depths of control over them aside from what we tell them. And from the Uriti’s point of view, don’t all our ships look the same?”

“No, they don’t. Not the control ships anyway.”

“But do the observers know that?”

“If they can’t possess the Uriti then no one will?”

“This neulon beam. How was it supposed to do damage?”

“The Chixzon notes didn’t specify other than the fact that it didn’t work. What the Ancients were thinking they didn’t know or didn’t feel it was important enough to include in Nefron’s memories.”

“What if it’s not a damaging weapon?”

Riley considered that. “Something that affects them mentally?”

“Like a stun. The Ancients eventually won the war by neutralizing rather than killing the Uriti, and if someone is following in their footsteps…”

Riley shook his head. “Not their footsteps, otherwise they’d know this didn’t work, but they might be traveling parallel paths. If it was an attempt at a neutralizer it completely failed. Nami’s vitals didn’t alter in any visible way, and Kacie was linked in with them the entire time pulling and recording data.”

“Whatever they were trying, they were trying something,” Davis insisted. “And they might try again.”

“Unless they come up with something that’s actually effective we might as well let them.”

“I think we’re being encouraged to believe this was a heroic and foolhardy attempt to kill a Uriti that went unbelievably wrong…all of which is meant to cover for the real reason they attacked. If it is meant for data collection, I don’t think they’ll use the same tactic a second time.”

“They’ll try to get close to the Uriti another way,” Riley said, biting his lip. “Stealth tech, maybe a fast single ship running the blockade. An ambush set up on the circuit ahead of their arriving. Hell, maybe even an intercept in interstellar space. If you’re bold enough there are lots of things to try. I just don’t see an end game here.”

“Because you’re got Chixzon knowledge they don’t. If they’re not taking us at our word…”

“…they’re experimenting, which means they’ll deduce everything off of confirmed data. That’s a hell of a high price to pay, not to mention ticking us off in the process.”

“Which is why it’s even more possible that the Revcor were hired out by someone else.”

“Or they might think they’re too far away from us to worry about a reprisal, but I think your theory is more likely. How do you think the others are going to react to this?”

“Subdued. They’ve been able to witness a far more convincing weapons test than we ever provided them and our control over the Uriti has been confirmed to the point where they’re not going to go on a rampage if someone pokes them. With that in mind I think they’re going to be more wary of us.”

“So no need for me to go back with nothing to do?”

Davis shook his head. “Waiting for another attack that may not come is pointless. Our fleet couldn’t stop this one from getting through, and even if you were there I doubt that would have changed. Even with forewarning, could you have blockaded all those ships?”

“Best I could do is try to intercept them before they got within range. It’d be tricky, but possible.”

“And without knowing they were coming?”

“Unless they got sloppy or I got lucky, the answer is no.”

“Then we proceed as usual with the exception that the Revcor are banned from Star Force territory.”

“I don’t like sitting and waiting, but I agree. There are no other leads to follow yet.”

“I’ll inform the Preserve to treat this as inconsequential. That’ll send a message to the observers that…” Davis said as a ping stopped him midsentence. Another priority message had come in from the same source, prompting a look of worry on both men as Davis opened it. A second message so soon could only mean trouble.

A hologram of Kacie-2512 appeared from the waist up with her arms crossed over her chest in an annoyed look with the special gauntlet that she wore just visible sticking out from under the sleeve of her uniform.

“Alright, you’re not going to believe this, but I’m going to have to amend my prior report concerning the Uriti. There has been a deviation in their behavior, specifically in Bahamut. The rest are nominal and Nami’s wounds are already beginning to heal over rapidly using internal reserves. I can see why the Hadarak are so damn hard to kill. The rate of tissue regeneration is insane.”

“Anyway, that’s not the point. I’ve sent a message to Nefron to get his ass over here. He’s out taking samples or something elsewhere in the Preserve. But I know Riley is going to want to come back too, plus I figured you wanted to know as soon as possible.”

“Spit it out already,” Riley grumbled.

“When I was checking the status of Nami again and monitoring her healing rate live I was linked into all of them and got a response from Bahamut. It was telepathic only, but with a clarity that I find quite damn alarming. The thing can practically speak our language without actually using any words.”

“Oh, and that isn’t the most surprising thing,” Kacie continued, laying on a heavy dose of sarcasm. “Bahamut asked about the ships we lost and if there was anything he could do to help…and no, this is not a joke and I am not making this up. Bahamut can talk to us just fine if he damn well pleases, but apparently we haven’t been interesting enough until now. I told him thanks for asking but there wasn’t anything that he could do to help and I don’t know if that pissed him off or just made us uninteresting again, for when I tried to press the conversation further he went back to ignoring me.”

“So will the Uriti experts please get back here pronto. The babysitter is in a little over her head.”

4

April 3, 3329

Krachnika System (occupation zone)

Michra

Thrawn stood by as the growth pod was opened and the new Li’vorkrachnika took its first violent breaths. One of the standard variants attempting to restrain it was knocked two meters back as three more stepped in to provide more muscle, eventually calming the new mastermind until it relaxed enough to realize who and what it was, then it began ordering the underlings off it with a flurry of gestures as it coughed out gel from its airways. They stepped back but stayed close, in obvious defiance of its orders, as Thrawn walked forward asserting his dominance as the minions spread apart for him.

“Welcome brother. Do you know who I am?”

“You are not a templar,” it spoke for the first time in its life, but thanks to the genetic memory and time spent in the growth pod the words flowed well enough.

“No, I am not. There are no templar here.”

“Why are there two of us on the same planet?”

“Things have changed greatly, and I did not want to alter your genetic memory too far. Try to think. Who am I?”

The new mastermind looked at him curiously, then a twitch of recognition occurred as a memory clicked.

“You are the source of my template.”

“Good,” Thrawn mewed. “Very good.”

“Why am I here?” it reiterated.

“Because I require assistance. Our enemy is too great a foe for me to combat alone,” he said, forcing it to remember rather than give a name.

“The templar…no,” it said, pressing a damp hand against its head. “You’re speaking of the empire at the galactic core. But what of the templar? My memories are conflicted.”

“As are mine. You must use your wisdom to discern the truth. He did not want it forced upon you.”

“Who did not want it forced?”

Thrawn half turned as a figured walked out of the shadows behind him. The new mastermind flinched on reflex, then his more recent memories kicked in.

“You are Paul.”

“Yes I am,” the Human said, walking through the standard variants as they too split apart to make way.

“You are enemy…yet master?”

“Former enemy,” Thrawn corrected. “It will take time for you to sort through all of your memories, just as it did me long ago. You are here because it is time for us to grow larger than I can efficiently manage on my own.”

The mastermind looked around, quickly spotting the other growth pods. “How many of us have you created?”

“Six.”

“What is my assignment?”

“Training,” Paul answered. “Your skills must be both tested and further developed before you can be trusted with the necessary tasks.”

“My loyalty is without question.”

“To whom?”

“To the…to our people. The templars have betrayed us?” he asked, looking at Thrawn.

“I believe so. Paul has opened my mind to a great many possibilities, many of which we cannot ascertain in the near future. We have to retool, and your genetic template has been altered minimally. We are making greater changes to the minions but we do not have a course plotted for us. We are experimenting and adapting, but he has forbidden us to use certain techniques.”

“To force us to adapt further,” the new mastermind said, displaying his quick wits. “My body is sound. When shall I begin these tests?”

“Now,” Paul said, spinning around on the heel of his casual shoe, for he wore no armor. “Come with me.”

The new mastermind did as instructed, still trying and quickly succeeding in sorting out his memories…but there was a lot to process and this had been the first birthing of the new template, with Thrawn certain that there would need to be alterations made going forward. To that end a small chip had been implanted in each of the six masterminds that would monitor and transmit their status to the facility computer to give the scientists the data they would need to assess and adapt the coding for any future batches.

They walked a short distance through familiar architecture until they came to a transit tunnel that wasn’t supposed to be in a hatchery. The mastermind looked over the entrance carefully, then turned to look down at Paul. The Human didn’t move, nor did he looked intimidated by the size difference. The mastermind took this as a sign of confidence, as well as a test, for part of his memories told him that the Humans were dangerous enemies that needed to be killed immediately, and that the Archons were so dangerous that there was no sacrifice too great to eliminate one.

A part of him wanted to strike at the armorless Archon now, but beyond his knowledge of their biological abilities he did not want to for on some level he respected, even trusted, this particular Human and identified him with the same deference as the templar…which were now not to be trusted.

“Files have been provided for your study,” Paul said, monitoring the mental ping pong. “Once you step inside this chamber you will be transported to the testing facility. It is all automated, but I will warn you that the challenges are extremely difficult. You will fail. How you fail and how you respond to failure will be analyzed. Beyond that you will receive no more instruction beyond the memories you possess.”

The mastermind didn’t respond, but not out of spite or fear. If he was to be given no more instructions then there was nothing to be discussed further. He sniffed the air to clear a little more fluid out of his airways then stepped inside the chamber with the doors sealing behind him and eclipsing Paul’s view.

The Archon turned around and headed back to the growth pods, nodding to Thrawn who then signaled the minions to open another, with the pair repeating the process for the remaining five and sending them on their way into the testing program. When the last of them was off Thrawn expressed a concern that he figured the Archon was already aware of.

“They were too compliant. Did you sense deception?”

“No. I think the internal conflict was distracting them.”

“I have had a great deal of time to reason matters out. They are being forced to instantaneously. I understand your reasoning as to why this is necessary, but in the future it would be more expedient simply to give them the necessary knowledge.”

“Agreed. But so long as we’re confiscating enemy populations they need the same experience as you…or as close as we can get to it.”

“Transitional?”

“To begin with. I assume they can adapt to other functions over time?”

“I do not know. Ask me about the minions and I can tell you much of them, but I have only had experience with my own kind in the most rudimentary of forms. The adaptational abilities of the minions are channeled. I do not know for certain as to my own status.”

“Your presence here says it is possible,” Paul pointed out the obvious.

“If not for your cunning I would have been dead before I could learn. I hope we do not have to waste these six if they revert to previous instructions regarding imprisonment. We need to strip those out of the coding.”

“A superior intellect will persevere. If they are not superior we need to know.”

“And if they do kill themselves?”

“I have the ability to revive them.”

“Without claws?”

Paul smiled. “As you said, I can be cunning at times.”

“An understatement,” Thrawn said as the two turned to walk away from the doors through which the last of the masterminds had passed.

“I learned through similar methods,” Paul admitted. “Sometimes the way to show someone the truth is to let them discover it for themselves. Putting them in a position to do so is the key.”

“Who taught you?”

“A man by the name of Wilson. He taught all the trailblazers.”

“He is your superior?”

“No. Just cunning enough to point us in the right direction. Once we understood the basic principles we carried on independently for the most part. But those initial lessons have served us well over the centuries.”

“Have you patterned these tests off of the same?”

“I’ve had to condense it down greatly, plus the circumstances are different. The genetic knowledge you possess is a great advantage, and while that helps to accelerate the process this is not a copy of my own training. Just a short test that will simultaneously give them a few lessons that your memories cannot.”

“They only have pieces of my memory. And still, even if they had the full amount one cannot synthesize experience.”

“The templars believed otherwise.”

“I know differently. Minions behave per reality, not expectation. The templars never dealt with them, they always worked through us, as far as I know. I probably know the minions better than any of them do. Genetic coding is the basis for a Li’vorkrachnika, but it does not determine the quality of one. That depends on the individual.”

“You sound like you’re echoing me, but I sense that this is something you concluded long before your surrender.”

“Most tasks do not lend themselves to accumulation of skill when combat is involved, but many of the builders are not the equal of their peers. Neither experience nor longevity can account for this discrepancy, thus I concluded it was an individualistic trait unwritten into our genetic code. Until I came into contact with you I did not guess as to the depths of this anomaly, but now it is becoming clear that the genetic template is nothing more than a structural tool. We cannot create people as we wish. Machines yes, and even biological machines if desired, but a machine cannot think as a person can, and people are always unpredictable.”

“You want to augment the genetics to increase control.”

“I want to take what the templars used to bind us to their will and sculpt it into a weapon, but I do not have the experience required. I am asking for your help.”

“To what end?” Paul asked as they arrived back in the growth pod chamber that was once again empty save for the workers cleaning up and recycling the used pods.

“Default loyalty without enslavement. The choice will be theirs, but if they make none they will follow the genetic pathways where I desire them to go. Those willful enough to chart their own path can also choose the same path if it is warranted. I do not think Star Force methods will work well for us. If we fully convert to your ways it will take away our greatest strength.”

“That’s why I never annexed you in the first place,” Paul admitted.

“You’ve already concluded this?”

“I do have the advantage of searching your mind, as well as theirs,” he said with a gesture at the standard variants.

“What course would you recommend?”

“Create an option for the dissenters, both to be fair to them and to draw them out. Those that are loyal need to be fully loyal and not corrupted with pretenders.”

“A choice is meaningless if you cannot act on it,” he said, understanding the careful balance he had to maintain. “Creating troops in a war zone creates complications.”

“Do you really want to send unexperienced troops into combat?”

“Against lesser foes, yes, to expedite conquest.”

“And against tough opponents?”

“I assume you will say that creating an individual whose only purpose is to die while damaging the enemy is dishonorable…but what if there is no other way? Is it still dishonorable?”

“I’ve had a long time to think on such things, and I’ve determined that it isn’t in the death itself that dishonor lies, but in the betrayal.”

“And if one chooses to sacrifice themself? If you were faced with a hopeless scenario, but you could at least kill one of your enemy before you die, would you not try to do so, even if it meant you dealt the lethal blow to yourself in the process?”

“You fear becoming hesitant,” Paul said, monitoring his thoughts. “You want to use every resource you have at your disposal to fight, holding nothing back.”

“The very fiber of my being cries for this, and I do not believe it is only the genetic predisposition. It is who I am, yet I also fear fighting the wrong fight. I would have killed you long ago if I had the chance, and that would have been a defeat rather than a victory. I do not like being unaware of what my mission is. State it clearly and I will attack it with my full power…except that I cannot any longer. You have opened my eyes to too much.”

“You wish you could go back to the way you were?”

“Only in my certainty of purpose. If this grand enemy of yours is so powerful, how can I even begin to harm them without using dishonorable means? If they are to kill us all, why can I not take as many of them with us as possible?”

“Do not mistake my demeanor as lacking in aggression,” Paul cautioned. “We are aggressive, but one trap that intelligent people have to overcome is in figuring out where and when to apply that aggression. Apply it in the wrong place at the wrong time and you fail missions…or worse yet you become the enemy. The more you learn, the more opportunities you have to be aggressive, and one oddity of combat is that you often can fight more aggressively with less options than with many.”

“I do not understand your last meaning.”

“If you only have three weapons to use instead of ten, and those other seven have questionable uses, you can fight to your maximum with the three while you would have to be hesitant if you had access to all ten.”

An epiphany struck Thrawn. “You craft the battlefield so you only have honorable options.”

“Usually, but there are still some situations that just plain suck that we have to navigate our way through, sometimes clumsily.”

“You have never used a biological weapon against the Li’vorkrachnika for that reason?”

“Yes. It could kill our enemies as well as people that were not. By only wielding weapons where we can see the people we are about to kill we eliminate the possibility of unknowingly killing others.”

“Then it is in the weapons crafting that we must make alterations.”

“You can save yourself a lot of headaches with careful planning and forethought,” Paul agreed. “And one does not want to get in the habit of not attacking the enemy. That too causes problems.”

“By encouraging apathy.”

Paul’s eyebrows came up slightly. “Yes, it does. I didn’t think you were aware of the concept.”

“By analyzing my own loyalty drives in concert with studying your philosophy I have been able to identify common threads that have assisted with undoing the templars’ influence over me. Lack of concern with the misuse of my minions is a form of apathy and a betrayal of my duty to my people. One sacrificing himself to destroy an enemy is far different than one’s life being wasted only because it is easy to replace.”

“How much waste occurred?”

“Too much. As you so accurately said, the type of tools you have creates or eliminates options. A lot of times lives were sacrificed in non-combat situations where a delay or better tool would have accomplished the same ends.”

“If you must be unjust in order to fight injustice, you accomplish nothing.”

“Yet you have not answered my question of sacrifice.”

“Your question is structured wrong, for you can never know for sure if the situation is hopeless. Hypothetically speaking, if you’re going to die and can take down your enemy with you by striking the killing blow on you both, that may or may not be a betrayal. For someone who has lived as long as me, the idea of killing myself is a betrayal, but the idea of letting my killer live when I can take him down with me is also a betrayal of my mission. Neither choice is a good one, so you decide what to do in the moment when it happens.”

“You suggest that by forcing or encouraging you to kill yourself would be a victory for the enemy?”

“It could be,” Paul said hesitantly. “It could also be an act of defiance against your enemy. The bigger problem is the idea of a no-win scenario. I’ve been in many before in training, and some of them I actually won. I didn’t think it was possible at the time, but I can’t see everything from my perspective and sometimes there are factors in play that I am not aware of. What if I was in your proposed situation and a rescue was only a minute away. I don’t know that, but if I stall my enemy that long he will be killed and I will survive. If I kill myself then, I am a fool.”

“So you would risk your enemy surviving when you fell on the chance of a fortuitous escape?”

“Knowing myself, I might. It’s engrained into my being to never give up, and usually the idea of killing yourself is giving up the hope of defeating your enemy and surviving.”

“I see the wisdom in your logic, but what of us? If the true enemy comes we will be so outmatched, what are we to do if not use our guile to strike at the enemy where they do not expect it?”

Paul looked up at Thrawn’s dark eyes in all seriousness. “You take it as a personal insult to your intelligence that you can’t find a way to strike at them with your honor intact. If you truly are that inferior then you don’t deserve to win.”

Thrawn’s nostrils huffed in an unpleasant gesture, but Paul could sense he’d struck the right nerve.

“You are always aggressive, but deceptively so. You turn desperation into spite.”

“A trick I learned a long time ago from the Black Knight,” Paul admitted with a sly smile. “He taught us how to lose, and once we had that lesson bashed into our skulls we hardly ever did again.”

“You taught me that lesson well.”

“And now the new masterminds will learn it…though at an even faster pace.”

5

October 24, 3329

Lethim System (occupation zone)

Harsdre

Mathew-25339 led the Clan Saber fleet from one of four Warship-class jumpships attached to this invasion, but thankfully none of them had been necessary. The mastermind’s marker had successfully been infiltrated onto the planet and now the last of the lizard evacuation ships were leaving, carrying the unwitting prisoners back to the Krachnika System where they’d be integrated into the overall population and learn as much of the truth as was allowed. The Archon didn’t know what that was. A lot of what happened on the friendly lizard world was kept a secret and even Paul hadn’t been telling his own Clan everything, but Mathew knew more than most did.

This system was now under Clan Saber jurisdiction, meaning that it was their responsibility for security and cleanup. There was a full planet and a few partial moons of infrastructure to clear away and only so many Star Force recycling teams to do the job. The Clans were handling many systems on their own to try and get the occupation zone wiped clean of the previous lizard infestation as fast as possible, but the truth was that even after the last battle was fought it would be centuries later before it was all cleaned up.

All of which meant that since Clan Saber had taken it upon itself to conquer, hold, and recycle this system’s infrastructure, it would add it to the occupation zone territory rather than to its own. It was work that needed to be done, hence the Clans were chipping in along with numerous other factions to assist Mainline in the tasks, but it also meant that no one else was going to be coming into the system to help, and given the remoteness of the location no one would be passing through either. It was a quiet little inconsequential piece of lizard territory that Saber had graciously offered to take care of.

In other cases that would have been typical. The Clans did what needed to be done even if they didn’t get something material out of it, but in this case Paul had other plans and he’d entrusted Mathew to keep an eye on them for him, which meant he’d be relocating to the surface base soon. One of the warships would stay in orbit while the others were reassigned to other systems, giving him enough naval firepower to cover most contingencies. If a situation arose where he needed more he could call for reinforcements from a number of nearby systems that the Sabers were likewise responsible for, but this was the only one yet to use an alternative recycling method.

When the ground teams confirmed that the last of the lizards had been removed, Mathew waited for all of their ships to leave before he contacted the junior fleet commander that he would be working with for the duration of this assignment. His crew and ground team already knew the secret that was being kept from the rest of the Clan and Star Force as a whole, so when he contacted the jumpship that served as the temporary flagship of the reclamation fleet he did so without worry about eavesdropping, routing the call through his bridge command chair.

A hologram of a lizard administrator appeared before him, but Mathew knew he wouldn’t have to bother with the translation equipment on this one.

“The system is evacuated. You may begin landing operations. I’ll meet with you personally on the surface once the command center is completed.”

“Specify a landing zone,” the lizard requested in a neutral tone, speaking more than passable English.

“You may choose your own so long as it is within serviceable range of the command center.”

“We will begin landing within 3 hours. Contact me when you wish me to report in person.”

“Carry on,” Mathew said, ending the brief and admittedly weird conversation.

Three days later the Archon took a dropship down to the prefabricated command center that doubled as a small city capable of housing some 2800 individuals, but for his purposes it was only housing 32, all of which were Human save for a pair of Kiritas that were well experienced with recycling missions. All were Clan Saber and would be living within the command center for the foreseeable future, but they wouldn’t be alone.

When Mathew sent the signal a flurry of lizard Kirbies flew over and landed on the paved cargo pad, but no one came out save for one tall administrator that Mathew walked out to meet.

“We are awaiting your orders,” it said amicably, but with a coolness that Mathew sensed was misinterpretation rather than emotion. Lizard speech was a bit odd, as was that of every other race, but this one’s emotions registered as nothing but eagerness and loyalty. He wanted to get to work and didn’t register the Archon or the Star Force personnel as threats.

That’s exactly what Paul had told him should be the norm, but he hadn’t fully believed him given the enormous amount of combat experience he had against the lizards…but then again, this one wasn’t normal, made all the obvious by its blue skin that stood out in stark contrast to the standard green. Looking beyond the administrator, Mathew could see ranks of standard variant lizards waiting in the holds of the Kirbies, all of which were just as blue and hopefully so predisposed.

“I’ll need an interface team along with yourself set up to give me oversite and necessary command and control, though I don’t anticipate much use for the latter if you perform as expected. I’ll need round the clock teams even if I’m not there to utilize them. You are free to roam the facilities and the planet as needed so long as I have someone who can contact you at a moment’s notice. Your people will be given empty quarters to reconfigure as needed while I retain some for our own purposes. Foodstuffs will be separate. I’m told you’ve brought everything you need to sustain yourselves?”

“We have, and we can build any structures needed.”

“I want the hatchery set up here and only here.”

“That won’t be a problem initially, but this facility isn’t large enough to field the numbers that we will require in coming years.”

“We can arrange an annex as needed. I need to be on hand to monitor the new population.”

“You’re here to study us as well?”

“Yes. I’m to oversee this mission as well as collect data on your effectiveness. That is not meant to suggest we think you incapable,” he added, sensing a shift in the lizard’s thoughts, “but your kind are so new we need as much data as we can get.”

“We serve the Clan, and I will assist you in whatever manner is required.”

“You can start with setting up operations here. Leave a quarter of the landing pad open for our uses, but you can pile as many ships and cargo on the rest as you want. Follow me and I’ll show you where to set up shop.”

The administrator turned around and made a hand gesture, after which several dozen blue lizards ran out to catch up to him, forming into three lines that trailed in his wake as the lone Archon led them inside the facility with their blue skin making for a sharp contrast with the predominantly white architecture.

He led them through the facility on a short tour with the administrator leaving a few lizards behind at various points. When Mathew and him eventually ended up at the command center where several other Humans were they made themselves acquainted, with the administrator being interested in learning each of the Humans’ duties and positions so he could better interface with them. As Mathew’s staff worked over operational details and procedures he noticed on the security monitors within the facility that there were lines of lizards moving to and fro carrying cargo and tools like a string of ants.

Once the initial briefing was over he told the administrator to work uninterrupted and he did as instructed, leaving the Archon to wander around the complex observing the lizards as they were already beginning to construct their own architecture within the Star Force chambers and even their smaller quarters…and unlike their usual yellow/tan color scheme, which their orbital fleet fielded, the equipment and building materials being brought in were displaying a variation of blue that looked almost aquatic in nature. It was so vivid that it almost glowed, with Mathew noting that it gave the lizard tech a bit more elegance than normal while clearly marking it and the lizards as Clan Saber.

Paul had told him new ships would be forthcoming, but apparently the rest of their apparatus had already gone through the necessary conversions, and by the look of it there was were subtle alterations to the standard lizard tech. Mathew hadn’t been told anything about that, but he could spot several differences.

Whatever Paul was playing at here, he hoped he knew what he was doing.

Riley was onboard the Zeus, back in the Preserve again, without him, Nefron, or anyone else getting a peep out of the Uriti. Part of him wanted to think that Kacie had just been punking him, but he knew she wouldn’t have done that…let alone dared to do it. The fact that the Uriti could have been communicating with them all along and had simply been choosing not to was both exciting and unbelievably frustrating. They were simply ignoring him while at the same time following every command given to them.

He assumed it was due to the way in which the two forms of communication were occurring. The orders probably seemed like Uriti business and his other attempts to be nothing more than inconsequential chatter. There was something about that to be admired, but it was making his return here completely useless…without even another attack for him to smash.

So it was completely out of left field when he was woken in the middle of the night as the gauntlet he wore sent a telepathic communication to him from one of the Uriti.

It wasn’t a word, but the meaning was clear.

Why?

Greg was stunned by the intensity of the mind on the other end, not knowing which one it was as he hurriedly tried to ascertain the subject matter. He quickly got out of bed and over to his personal terminal, getting an update of system affairs within a few seconds and seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

Not wanting to lose the opportunity when he had it, he responded with a question of his own asking for context. What was the Uriti referring to?

Images flashed into his mind and he realized they were the vantage point from the Uriti as they ran through the various training exercises. That was something Riley could easily explain.

The not using words part was both a hindrance and helpful, but Riley was able to get the message across that it was to improve and strengthen the Uriti, but the question came back to him again.

Why?

Answering that question could come in many forms…some potentially dangerous if it involved the Chixzon and what had happened to them. Tell the Uriti of their origin from Hadarak and would they try to get back to the core to find them? Better to not give up that fact just yet.

As he tried to mentally construct an answer before transmitting it he was able to figure out who was talking to him. It was Elise, referred to by the Chixzon as Kekran, and the third additional Uriti in The Nine’s set. It had been unknown and unguarded, thus high on the priority list to retrieve. It had been much further away than two found in lizard space, but it had been the 6th to enter the Preserve and was still somewhat a newcomer to the current herd of 7.

Elise had gone through a decent amount of training, but he guessed she was wondering why the others were doing this so fervently. Sometimes for Humans, or other Star Force races, it took a while before the training bug bit you and you really started to feel the fitness and advancements taking shape. If that’s what was going on here he needed to frame his response in a different way.

Without going into specifics, he got the point across that there were enemies that wanted to kill the Uriti and that Star Force wanted to make them as strong as possible so when they came to kill them they would be able to fight back and survive…hoping that was something the Uriti would be able to comprehend.

Suddenly there was a pounding in his head as another Uriti added its telepathic link and demanded an answer.

Who are they? Where can we find and kill them?

“Oh shit,” Riley said, looking at the ceiling of his quarters as he belatedly identified the second Uriti as Bahamut.

He sent a response of ‘many’ along with the idea that the Preserve was a place for the Uriti to train and grow stronger and that going out to the enemy now would be to their advantage. Then he added in the fact that there were other Uriti out there that Star Force was finding and bringing here, going a stretch further to suggest that the more of them there were together the more powerful they would be.

Riley was knocked off his feet and fell into a half standing position with two feet and one hand on the floor as he was bent over with now all seven Uriti in his head wanting to know where the others were. The sense of anger, longing, and loyalty was so powerful Riley found himself shaking as the emotions flowed through him. He wanted to disconnect but told himself to weather the storm for he didn’t know if or when they’d communicate with him again.

He sent back the limited idea of their previous capture and them being hidden across the galaxy, then added Star Force’s search and transportation of them to the Preserve, along with the speed component of how slow the Uriti were compared to their own ships and that they could get the Uriti here far faster than if they traveled on their own, hoping that would help to discourage them from going looking for them on their own.

Again, the question came back to him from two or three of them…there were so many minds talking to him that it was hard to differentiate.

Why?

This time it was directed at Star Force’s search. Why were they collecting the lost and imprisoned Uriti?

The answer to that came so simply that Riley didn’t even think about how to structure it. With what was the telepathic equivalent of a beam of light, everything that defined Star Force flowed from him to them in a spark of confidence and brashness.

Because we’re the good guys.

Following that there was a wave of gratitude coming from all seven, then just as suddenly as they appeared in his mind they were all gone, leaving Riley breathing hard as he stood up and tried to steady his frayed nerves.

On an impulse he took off his gauntlet and tossed it on his bed, taking an extra few steps away from it as if it was poison as he sat down at his terminal and opened a comm. There was no answer for several minutes, with Riley waiting on it as he cradled his head in his hands trying to get himself back under full control.

Eventually a holograph of Nefron appeared, looking down on him from above the terminal.

“What’s wrong?” the Chixzon asked.

“I found a flaw in your gauntlet design,” Riley said, looking up at him with the unsteadiness in his eyes evident.

“You made contact with one of the Uriti…direct contact?”

“No. One of them made contact with me, and the subject matter got the others interested and they all started talking at once.”

Nefron’s eyes narrowed. “Are you damaged?”

“I’m not well, but I’m recovering. If we get more Uriti here…”

“We need limited channels. More than one if tolerable, or maybe a limitation on data transfer. What did they want?”

“They want the other Uriti with them…and they want to fight their enemies.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I left the Chixzon out of it, but they’ve already been attacked once and I suggested that there were others far more powerful that want them dead and they need to stay here and train to get stronger.”

“The empire in the core?”

“Yeah. They’ll kill them if they find them…along with all of us.”

“I can’t help if you don’t tell me who they are.”

“You are helping. We need an outside viewpoint, and if we let you know what they are you’ll lose it.”

“Logical. I’ll suppress my curiosity on the condition that you make use of my skills. I don’t want to be killed by someone I don’t even see coming.”

“You know we’re not wasting you, so just shut up and get that inhibitor working…and warn the others. I’m going to crash for a while.”

“Take your time. I’ll handle it.”

“And remember your telepathy is weaker than ours, so don’t go chatting with them.”

“Noted,” the Chixzon said with a touch of irreverence.

6

June 13, 3337

Lethim System (occupation zone)

Harsdre

After completing his morning workouts Mathew took to his normal rounds, which at this point in the mission was little more than observing the lizards at work. After a quick check in at the command center he headed over to the hatchery and watched another small batch of standard variants draw their first breath. Rather than growing them in huge numbers at periodic times the administrator was having them staggered so new personnel would be added daily. That did help Mathew, in that he could observe all of them for anomalies, but today was just like any other day.

A violent reaction when tasting the air for the first time, the others restraining them until they got their whereabouts, then they would be taken to a quality control facility where they’d undergo a few days of testing. That had been an addition Paul had made, whereas normally lizards could go into the field the same day they were ‘born’ given the genetic memory given to them and the physical maturity achieved while they were in the growth pods.

So far there was a 93% success rate in the first testing, with the remaining 7% all passing through after no more than a week. It seemed some took a little longer to get their bearings, though all of them had exactly the same genetic code. In that way they were all clones, but individual differences were one of the main things Paul wanted to know about and Mathew was always keen to spot anything that differed from standard behaviors.

During the testing phase the lizards were offered a choice as to whether or not they wanted to attend to their duties immediately or go through additional training. So far only 3 lizards out of some 308,000 had chosen training, with those 3 having become very special additions that Paul had sent out of the system to another facility, to do what exactly Mathew didn’t know. His task and knowledge centered around this operation…and while he didn’t have a lot to do he had been thoroughly blown away at the work being done here.

Within Star Force it was commonly known that the Kiritas were the most prolific workers, capable of doing redundant tasks with ease and a speed that made them the fastest builders, miners, and cargo handlers by far. Whereas other races would grow bored with the repetitive tasks they never seemed to. It was like asking a runner if they got tired of taking steps, and that ability to churn out results so readily and reliably was what prompted the creation of the Kiritak…a different division within Star Force from the Kiritas faction that was focused solely on resource production and logistics.

But these lizards were giving them a run for their money, and given the fact that most of the population here had been grown from genetic samples, this operation was far exceeding what the Kiritas could have done with an equal number of initial workers. The egg layers could produce alarmingly fast, but their infants didn’t come ready and able to work. They had to go through the maturia process and that took time. They might be better than the lizards because of that, but the ability for these guys to be put to use almost immediately after leaving their pods was something that continued to impress Mathew.

After his stint at the hatchery the Archon went outside and hopped on a speeder, riding the hovering bike out across the open spaces between facilities so he could view the ongoing work. There were lizard buildings everywhere, but set up in a distinctively Star Force pattern. Mathew rose up and flew over some of them, seeing lines of the blue lizards walking or running to and from the buildings in predictable patterns. They never deviated. Always stayed glued to their tasks. And it wasn’t due to a mindlessness, rather a pure loyalty to the mission.

Mathew had assumed otherwise in the beginning, but after spending several years amongst the lizards he’d learned differently. They operated, thought, and just about breathed as a team. Not a typical Star Force team where the strength of the individual was the basic building blocks of a mutually beneficial alliance, but rather a necessary bond between them that had to be there, otherwise these lizards could not function.

It was a glaring weakness, but so long as they were humming along as a unit it was also a staggering advantage. He hadn’t seen any of these in combat, so he wasn’t sure what alterations had been made in their coding for that, but as far as the recycling and construction work going on here, they all functioned as a cell in a giant organism. These lizards were a unit rather than a collection of individuals, and Mathew had finally grown to understand what Paul had meant by that when he’d first assigned him here.

The Achilles heel of Star Force was the experience factor. It took time to mint an Archon, let alone a ViLord, and while they were wholly superior to just about everyone else, for work like this the lizards could be effective in this unit function while bypassing that experience requirement entirely. They had everything they needed for their assigned tasks in their genetic memory, and while they would grow better at what they did over time, there was no learning curve required.

Which was probably why lizards in the past fought in pack tactics. Losing them was almost meaningless when you could spam produce more of them at will. Mathew knew Paul wasn’t going to go for anything like that, but where construction was concerned he almost wished there was a downloadable memory packet that Humans could use. It would save a lot of time if you could just plug in the knowledge, or perhaps even be born with it. Humans already had some genetic knowledge, such as knowing how to swallow or breath, but the lizards had taken it to a whole other level and given the usefulness of it being displayed here, he didn’t know why such a method wasn’t being used for other applications.

And maybe that’s exactly what Paul was looking into, using these lizards for study in addition to the reclamation of this planet. When they finished here eventually the planet would have no structures on it whatsoever. Those built for the project would be removed and the system would stay empty until otherwise assigned a purpose. Where these lizards would go he didn’t know, and by the time they finished there were going to be millions of them here.

Mathew passed through the residential buildings, flying over the heads of workers changing shifts, then turned to the east, passing over some empty regions that saw nothing but traffic and a few construction sites up to the bioharvest facilities. Unlike the original lizards, there was no meat production here nor were there any traditional lizard foods. Everything here was Star Force designed but produced with lizard tech. The food was edible by Humans and others but tailored specifically to the lizards. There was no ambrosia for them yet, but Mathew had a feeling it would be forthcoming if for no other reason than to see how the lizards’ work rate increased with it.

The Archon landed on top of one of the buildings and found an entry hatch next to the landing pad where a few dropships were sitting while being loaded up with cargo crates. They weren’t Star Force dropships but a new design built by the lizards that was somewhere between a Kirby and a fat rock. They were not aerodynamic, but they did hold a lot of cargo and had decent armor and shields. For now they were being used to take the raw produce and haul it over to foodstuff production factories instead of utilizing a rail line or other permanent construction.

Mathew had inquired about that and the administrators, of which there were several now, told him it was because the ‘droplets’ could be taken out of the system and used for other tasks both there and here, whereas a rail line would have to be destroyed along with the rest of the construction here. The less they had to deconstruct the better, and they’d been instructed to make as much of the infrastructure as they could mobile.

That meant Paul had more plans for these guys than just this project. Maybe they’d be sent to another system to do the exact same thing, but Mathew had a suspicion that Paul was up to something far more ambitious.

When the Archon went down inside the massive building he roamed the levels that had fields of plants growing inside sealed chambers. No one was allowed inside due to the altered atmospheres that prodded the plants to grow faster and larger than normal while also giving greater yields. Most of those in this building were either corn or jupitla, both of which were grain crops. The corn stalks were barely shoulder height on him, but each one had between 3 and 5 ears of corn on it, each of which was thick and long.

Genetic modification of plants was an easy thing, and whereas corn crops used to be getting bigger and bigger before Star Force created the bioharvest facilities, they were now shorter so that they could stack more fields inside the same building, thought the jupitla was a far better fit, barely rising 18 inches in height and producing a series of beans on the ramrod straight stalks. Mathew passed by banks of fields, three of which were pancaked on top of each other and equal to his height.

When he passed into another section of the facility he saw one set of jupitla fields being harvested. It was third down the stack with the upper two already being empty and pushed up near the ceiling on this level, with the ‘open’ one having its atmosphere still self-contained but the height of the clear chamber being increased enough for a harvester machine to move through it. The debris from the stalks was then sent out one tube-like shoot while the beans were sent to another.

Mathew watched as the field was quickly harvested, then the machine was extracted through an airlock and the field height was diminished again. It was then elevated up with the others and the field below it grew its glass-like box in height as the harvester entered and began to repeat the process.

Mathew followed the tubes into an adjacent facility where the grain was filtered to remove excess material and then deposited into the crates that were being shipped up to the rooftop to be loaded onto the droplets, whose name had come from directly from Paul. It fit, so he didn’t mind, but it was also a bit of a joke. The main point was to make the ships their own Saber version rather than using the old style Kirbies, and in that regard they had succeeded along with the rest of the lizard equipment and facilities here. All built by them but styled to fit Paul’s Clan without giving them any advanced tech.

Then again there wasn’t a lot required here. Harvesting of grain plants was pretty basic stuff, and even the recycling process wasn’t overly complicated. Mathew walked through the area where the excess plant material was collected and a portion of it was harvested for additional uses beyond food, then the rest was sent to an incinerator where the resultant ash was sent to the teams prepping new fields. It’d be combined with the thin soil base along with other supplements to replace the material the crops had sucked out of it, then seeds would be added with planting machines and the atmosphere would be jacked up in pressure, CO2, and humidity creating an environment in which the plants thrived, along with as much light as they required, all produced internally so there was no reliance on natural sunlight.

It was all standard tech that Star Force had been using for centuries, now modified to produce what the lizards needed, and as Mathew walked through the facility he got the feeling that it was both lizard and Star Force despite being around nothing but the aqua-colored infrastructure and the blue lizard workers.

On his way back up to the roof he sensed a Human mind approaching, not expecting anyone else to be here. When he focused on it he knew it wasn’t anyone he was familiar with and for a moment thought it was Paul, but it didn’t feel quite like him. The individual made contact and gave him a ‘come to me’ thought, with Mathew redirecting towards the Human.

When the two finally entered the same hallway Mathew was taken aback, seeing not Paul but another trailblazer.

“Mathew,” Jason-025 said as if he’d caught him doing something he shouldn’t be, “what exactly is Paul up to here?”

Paul was back in the Krachnika System by the time Jason’s command ship caught up to his, with his friend simply saying they needed to have a talk face to face. He expected it could be a number of things when he transferred over to the Sanguine Blade and met his best friend/twin in his personal quarters, oddly enough, instead of the hangar bay.

Jason let the door close before he spoke, raising an eyebrow at him. “What the hell are you doing with the lizards?”

Paul sighed. “Busted, huh?”

“Blue Saber lizards working as a recycling team?”

“Oh,” Paul said, cheering up slightly. “You haven’t found any of the good stuff then.”

Jason did a doubletake, then couldn’t help but snicker a bit. “Alright, time to come clean. What are you up to?”

“Working a new angle,” he said, jumping over an armrest and landing in a big comfy chair as Jason sat on the edge of his bed.

“I thought we weren’t going to annex the lizards.”

Paul raised a cautionary finger. “We’re not. Doing that would be a mistake, I think. Have you kept up on the Uriti reports?”

“Yeah.”

“Far more powerful when working together, as well as displaying a herd mentality that the Chixzon never bothered to discover.”

“You think lizard individuality is a bad thing?”

“I think if we go individual first, like we have with every other race we’ve annexed, it’s going to be a detrimental factor.”

“The Lacvamat,” Jason pointed out.

Paul shook his head. “Still individual based in a group setting. What I’m working here is the idea of treating the group as an individual.”

Jason readjusted his butt on the edge of the bed as his mind chewed on that. “Dog pack?”

“That doesn’t even come close. This is something new, I think, and I’ve been working with Thrawn on modifying their genetic structure. The blue lizards you found are the experimental version we’ve developed for Clan Saber. There are others that he is working with.”

“You’re letting them reproduce en mass again?”

“Somewhat, but the focus is still on bringing in existing populations. I don’t want to just keep them as prisoners, and that’s what will happen if we don’t create a future for them. They can’t join Axius. Their temperament resists the individual nature of Star Force. I’m trying to modify the existing lizard civilization into something tolerable.”

“While getting your own batch?”

“They’re being useful.”

“Obviously,” Jason said with a disbelieving smirk. “I saw your production stats. They’re working like Kiritas.”

“Better, actually, when you factor in the reproduction rates. They’re growing the workers locally rather than shipping them in.”

“No maturias?”

“Nope. Skipping that entirely.”

“Just for recycling and construction?”

“We’re not working the combat angle,” Paul said, guessing as to his concern. “I’m not trusting them with our level of tech, just helping them modify what they’ve got now. And there’s no way I’m sending someone into combat underequipped.”

“For a while I thought you were going to show them the ways of the Force, then send them past the border line to fight their kin.”

“Thrawn would have liked that,” Paul admitted, “but he sees the bigger picture now.”

“Meaning what?”

“The V’kit’no’sat…and don’t give me that look. He can be trusted.”

“Not to rat us out to the other lizards?” Jason said with an elevated voice, then he held up a hand in apology. “I know you’re not stupid, I’m just not up to speed. Please explain how this isn’t reckless.”

“Sure…as soon as you let me in on your little project.”

“Which one?” he scoffed.

“The one I can’t seem to get any data on.”

Jason smiled. “Fair enough. I was going to let you know anyway once I got a good prototype. Been using the Uriti files to try and modify the star forge tech for a number of applications. I’m pretty sure they get stronger inside a star and that the V’kit’no’sat chased some Hadarak inside one. The files don’t say that, but I think that’s why they know they can’t go there. I think they got their asses kicked because of a combination of speed limitations and enhanced abilities due to either the energy or the gravity.”

“And you’re using this speculation to do what?”

“For starters, making a very hot Hoth.”

7

Paul’s eyes widened. “And you accused me of being reckless.”

Jason held up a hand. “It’s not as crazy as it sounds.”

“It’s a star. You go in it, it kills you.”

“Not if you’re a Uriti. We just have to figure out how to mimic their biology.”

“Alright,” Paul said, crossing his hands over his chest as he lounged in the big chair. “Impress me.”

“Where better to hide something than a star? Say you have a keepsake, a big bucket of credits, some experimental tech…whatever. Put it in a pod and lower it into a star. You lose most sensor contact with it unless there is a tether link, like the shield columns the star forges use. They maintain communications and what not while whatever you have down there isn’t visible to the outside world. If you want to build a badass warship without anyone seeing it, why not construct it inside a star?”

“You’re bouncing around a bit.”

“You liked that idea though.”

“It’s still crazy.”

“Not if we can get the shielding set up properly. The Uriti both absorb and reflect the radiation, while the pressure and gravity feed them…that’s my theory anyway, and it’s based on a lot of speculation, but for our needs we don’t even need to know for sure. We simply have to build a bottle that can survive inside a star and feed off the energy to sustain itself.”

“The fishing line kind of gives away whatever you’re hiding.”

“Unless you cut the line. Communications go out both ways, no sensors, no nothing. Like an old school submarine only without the sonar. You poke your head out and someone could be waiting to chop it off, but they can’t come in after you.”

“Depth charges?”

“If you’re shallow sure, but that’s easy enough to work around. The trick is using a clock. Tell whoever is down there, or even if it’s purely automation, to rise back to the surface at a specific time and date…”

“…and pick up your bottle of goodies,” Paul finished. “And if we sensor stealth it right, even V’kit’no’sat sensors won’t be able to pick it up in that maelstrom. Dangerous, but potentially useful so long as a glitch doesn’t get you all fried.”

“There’s more. How about using relay buoys to do the matter sorting of a star forge then transmitting the useful stuff via slingshot out to a higher central facility.”

“Thought of that. There’s no point when the star forge can put out multiple tendrils simultaneously.”

“I’m thinking of something a lot lower, something that can essentially hide in the upper levels of a star and peek out into orbit, throwing material to a collection station or…” Jason said, letting that possibility hang in the air.

Paul’s eyebrows raised. “A fire hose.”

“It’d be tough to aim at a target, but I think it might have a chance against a Uriti or any ship dumb enough to stand their ground nearby.”

The Saber leader frowned. “Uriti bathe in stars, how is throwing a little of that water on them going to hurt them?”

“Not from the energy in the matter, but from the matter itself. Like a sandblaster railgun. If we can accelerate it to sufficient levels I think it would damage them. They may have pressure to deal with in a star, but they don’t have collisions with material anywhere near railgun speed.”

“I wouldn’t put any credits on that. Besides, we already know how to kill them if we have to.”

“Won’t work on the Hadarak, but that’s not my main point. Think fire hose again, sitting just inside the star and able to send a solar flare-caliber shot of star stuff out at any target within range. Not very useful to go hunting with, but if you need a strong point to retreat to, the surrounding stellar haze is going to act as very effective shielding.”

“And?”

“And,” Jason continued, “what if the fire hose becomes a squirt gun? A mobile squirt gun.”

“Ouch.”

“Think it through.”

Paul did just that, using his Sav-enhanced mind with all its tactical experience to sort out whether this was a good idea or bad.

“Fireflies,” he finally said, giving it a partial stamp of approval. “Limited use, but very effective in select mission profiles. Not sure about the mining aspects though.”

“Lower altitude allows for deeper penetration.”

Paul looked at him quizzically. “How many have you built?”

“36…with two collection stations.”

“And?”

“The ability to reposition the drone collectors to various locations is allowing for hot spot hunting. Collection numbers are somewhere in the 300% to 1200% range.”

Paul whistled.

“You want one, I know,” Jason said with a smile. “Now, back to your project. Be forthcoming and I’ll share.”

“Ask.”

“What’s your endgame?”

“For the independents…to give them a purpose and a new identity without incorporating them into the empire. For the Saber lizards…to turn their pack mentality away from barbarism and into a useful tool.”

“People aren’t tools.”

“Voluntary tools. With the option to opt out of the unit structure whenever they wish.”

“Ring the bell?”

“Something like that. The ones I’ve got now live to serve the Clan and the dissenters aren’t being overlooked or killed anymore. Those I’m funneling out into other programs, but eventually they’ll have a path to full freedom.”

“Into Star Force?”

“Are we going to turn away one now?”

Jason chewed on his lip as he thought. “It’s never occurred to me that one would come asking for asylum.”

“And for good reason. But are we ever going to turn away someone simply because of their race?”

“If they’re legit, no. These guys can’t reproduce on their own either, so there wouldn’t be a need for lizard maturias in Axius.”

“I plan to keep them in Saber if at all possible, but as you said, they’re people, not tools, but if they feel more comfortable playing the role of a tool where they don’t have to think, only obey, I can use that focus to our advantage.”

“Like how?”

“Non-combat applications for now. Instead of assigning an individual to a mission I can assign a team of lizards, whether it be recycling, construction, mining, fabrication…whatever. The unit is an individual quantity and the people in it are parts, not a whole. With anyone else it would probably be limiting, but the lizards seem to thrive in that kind of environment.”

“And you want your Clan to end up like that?”

“An addition to the rest, but yes.”

“Why? Other than the obvious worker functions.”

“Aren’t those enough?”

“Not for you. What else are you getting at?”

“It’s the growth rate. Specifically the ability to seed planets.”

Jason’s eyes narrowed. “What do you expect is coming?”

“We can’t kill the lizards because they spread too fast to track down. I want that same inability to kill for Clan Saber. While the rest of us do the fighting the lizards can be spreading and building bases for us to retreat into.”

“This is about the V’kit’no’sat.”

“Yes it is. They’re going to get here at some point. I can feel it. And we are still not ready.”

Jason scratched the side of his head as he stared down at the floor. “Combat applications?”

“Scouts.”

“No spamming as a last resort?”

“Thrawn would. But you know as well as I do it won’t work against the V’kit’no’sat.”

“Not unless you gave them better weapons.”

Paul cracked a smile, but Jason just frowned harder. “What?”

“I’m running things by Thrawn and he’s having his lizards try and figure out ways to fight such a superior opponent. I’m nixing the dishonorable methods and forcing him to come up with other forms of deviousness.”

“They are good at that. Are you giving them our tech to play with or just going to steal their ideas?”

“The independents don’t get our tech. The Saber lizards are another matter. In the long run they might get it, but not now.”

“Who do the Sabers take orders from?”

“Me and the other Archons. We’ve taken the place of the templars in their genetic structuring.”

“Your doing?”

“Thrawn’s actually. All the newly grown lizards, independent and Saber, have the same structure.”

“Wait a second, you’re saying all the lizards will obey your orders willingly?”

“The originals won’t be too eager about it, but they’ll follow Thrawn and the other masterminds, and they follow me so…”

“What other masterminds?”

“We grew some.”

Jason’s jaw dropped slightly. “Damn it, Paul. Would it kill you to keep me in the loop?”

“I still don’t know how all of this is going to work out yet, and until I have a firm structure in place I didn’t feel like sharing. And it’s not like you shared your stellar squirt guns before you built and tested them either.”

“I haven’t built any of your ‘fireflies’ yet, that’s just an idea floating around.”

“Still, we all keep secrets…for a while.”

“And you don’t want help with this one?”

“Everyone is pretty set on the lizards not being annexed. After all the fighting we’ve done and are still doing with them that’s understandable, but it’s different with me because I actually got one to surrender and he brought a lot of his buddies over with him, and still is.”

“We’ve noticed,” Jason reminded him. “You’re saving us a lot of time, equipment, and maybe a few lives by getting those systems to voluntarily evacuate. That alone is enough to make us take interest.”

Paul shook his head. “This might still blow up in my face, and if that happens I want the collateral damage to be isolated to Clan Saber.”

“Blow up how? Other than Thrawn running off to tell the V’kit’no’sat where we are.”

“Scruples can’t be codified.”

“You don’t want people following orders just to follow orders?”

“I have to find a balance within their pack mentality. They need to be able to determine right from wrong, but they are so comfortable and efficient with having to not do that. They let administrators and masterminds and templars do their thinking for them and it allows them to focus on their roles.”

“We do the same.”

“Not to this extent, which is why they have an advantage. They can literally go to work or into combat a day after they’re born. How much of right and wrong can they understand from genetic memories and how much do they have to sort out through experience and feel?”

“You’re afraid of the weapon damaging someone by accident, by a situation where you’re not there to give them the right orders.”

“Yeah I am, but I also know that there is no guarantee in the rest of Star Force either. There are bad people out there that occasionally do bad things before we shut them down, but we’ve got the individualized model pretty ironed out. This unit-based thing is brand new for me and the old model Thrawn is used to won’t do. We’re both covering new ground and I want to keep this in my pocket while I figure out whether or not it’ll actually work.”

“And if it doesn’t, what happens to all the new lizards you’re growing?”

“Like you said, they can’t reproduce on their own. Unless they obtain self-sufficiency they’ll die out eventually.”

“How close are they to that?”

“Thrawn’s got them extended well beyond previous lifespans, and not just because he isn’t spending their lives recklessly anymore. They’ll do workouts if ordered, but they don’t understand what they’re doing.”

“That kills efficiency.”

“I know. It’s something else I’ve got to work on.”

“But you’re wanting this to work pretty bad?”

Paul tilted his head to the side sarcastically. “Having more population than Clan Star Fox is worth noting.”

“Oh geez,” Jason said, holding his head in his hands. “Randy is going to hate you.”

“If I can make it work,” Paul added, emphasizing the ‘if’ with a telepathic resonance.

“If you do, are you going to share?”

“You want some lizards too?” Paul asked, not having considered that.

“Not really, but if you turn them all badass that might change.”

“I’m not even sure how that would work. Clan only? Or add them to Mainline?”

“Mainline already has the Kiritak, no reason they couldn’t add a lizard element. I can tell you don’t like that option.”

“No I don’t,” Paul admitted.

“Feeling protective of them?”

“There’s a dangerous line here between teammate and slave that I’m not sure others will be able to distinguish between.”

“Give us some credit, please,” Jason said, but Paul firmly shook his head.

“No. Everything I’m working off of here is an improvement on what the lizards previously had. Even if it sucks they’re better off than before. Implementing a formal program for Star Force means it has to be airtight. Good enough won’t do. I don’t know how to incorporate the lizard unit structure into that, and I don’t want to strip them of their greatest strength to make sure their individual sovereignty isn’t violated. That’s why I have to keep this to Saber for now and the foreseeable future. This is off in left field and the rest of Star Force isn’t…and I can’t bring it in yet because I don’t fully understand it.”

“But do you want some help out in left field, is what I’m asking.”

“I already have help, and it’s Thrawn.”

“You two close enough that I’d be a third wheel?”

“He trusts me, and that trust has been a long time in earning, but I’ve still got a lot to work on with him. No one else can do that.”

“What about these other masterminds you mentioned?”

“They’re partially patterned off of his memories, but they’re different. They didn’t know the templars even though they think they did. Thrawn outranks them, which is new, but they also follow me and the other Archons in Clan Saber. Thrawn is pretty much just following me and I don’t insult him by sending orders for him through anyone else.”

“Ok, you keep Thrawn close, but is there anything else you want or need help with?”

“It is very hard to fight these guys and work with them at the same time. Those elements of Saber involved in the fighting are kept separate from those few working with the friendly lizards. I know not to trust them, but at the same time I’m beginning to trust them. I’d rather those fighting on the front keep their singular perspective.”

“Not all of us are fighting on the front,” Jason pointed out. “Let’s make this simple. Do you need help with any part of this?”

Paul sighed. “Probably. But I can’t tell you exactly what.”

“That’s the biggest sign that you do need help. Let’s work this from another angle. What are you hoping to achieve?”

“Harness their strength and turn it honorable.”

“To what end? They’re ill-suited for fighting the V’kit’no’sat and turning them against other lizards is a blood bath that you don’t want.”

“And yet if I don’t, how many other planets out there are going to get slaughtered because I’m keeping Thrawn in here?”

Jason’s eyes narrowed. “So you are thinking about turning them loose across the border?”

“No…and yes. Logic is in favor of both alternatives and I can’t nail it down to one. I’m working the angles I can because if I don’t they’re just going to sit on their worlds and stagnate to death or get so bored they turn on us because they have nothing else to do. They need a purpose, Jason. More so even than we do. It’s what they live and breathe. It’s like a guy so infatuated with a girl that if he loses her he’s such a wreck he doesn’t even want to eat anymore. He has no hope, no future, even though it’s right in front of his face.”

“Their loyalty to their purpose is also their strength?”

“Yes,” Paul said, glad he could see the paradox. “How do I mitigate it without mitigating it?”

“By asking for help,” Jason said, standing up. “That decides it. We’re having a brainstorming session.”

“We?” Paul asked skeptically.

“Yeah, we. Arrange for a vacation, kiss Thrawn goodbye, then you’re coming back to the ADZ with me and we’re going to throw some more minds at this.”

“Who exactly?”

“The 2s. Randy especially might have some ideas.”

Paul facepalmed for a moment, closing his eyes and pinching the brim of his nose, but he couldn’t come up with a reason to argue with Jason so he decided to just go with it. “Alright, worth a try.”

“Long overdue try. Go get packing. There’s no need to waste time.”

Paul stood up and spread his arms wide. “Done.”

Jason smiled. “Don’t you need to talk to Thrawn first?”

“He’s on our comm grid, so I’ll just send him a message.”

“He’s on our comm grid?”

“Limited access.”

Jason rolled his eyes, but then had to laugh despite the silliness of that statement. “You’re right. I’m used to thinking of them as enemies so much that that seemed like a tremendously stupid thing to do. I guess we need you to bring us up to speed with these friendly lizards as we help you think a way around your paradox.”

“We can’t let them win,” Paul said in a suddenly serious tone. “We can’t let them dictate how we fight.”

“And this is our chance to prove them wrong?”

Paul nodded. “It’s them again the galaxy, conquer or die. We beat these guys by breaking their mythology as much as their bones.”

Jason smiled. “I think I’m going to quote that sometime in the future.”

“Be my guest.”

“And you’re thinking if you fail to make a place for them in Clan Saber, they’ll win the philosophical battle?”

“We’re supposed to be superior. If the lizards have to sacrifice their strength to join us…well, it’s just another dishonorable sacrifice, isn’t it?”

A grim determination set into Jason as he finally saw the battle Paul had been fighting all this time.

He nodded at his friend. “Challenge accepted.”

8

October 17, 3337

Degar System (Uriti Preserve)

Stellar orbit

The Knights of Quenar came onboard the Zeus with Riley waiting for them in a special cargo bay built for just such a purpose. Now that Nefron wasn’t the only one who could control the Uriti the need for paranoid security around him and this ship had ended, but there was no way any of the KoQ were getting onboard a Star Force ship without going through a mist scan…just in case they wanted to sneak someone or something else onboard at the same time.

However, they were bringing someone else with them, and openly so, with the smaller biped traveling in cuffs between the two upright quadrupeds. They’d told Riley they were bringing a prisoner with them to turn over to him, but hadn’t gone into detail beyond that.

The trio walked up to where he waited and an invisible force shoved the Jartool forward enough that it tripped and landed on a knee, tipping forward until Riley telekinetically caught it and kept it from face planting with his hands bound behind its back.

“This is the one responsible. One of many. But he should have the answers you seek.”

“To what question?” Riley inquired as he looked down on the lumpy silver skin of the Jartool…a race with a presence in the Preserve but not one of the major powers.

“Who wanted to test fire a weapon against the Uriti.”

“Which time? There have been three attempts.”

“All of them,” the KoQ said smugly, then preferring to remain silent.

Riley bypassed the typical conversation and dove into the alien’s mind, navigating around the unfamiliar language and tapping into visuals and themes. He poked around until he stumbled across a thread that he followed to the source…a massive conspiracy against the Preserve project that intended to either procure or destroy the Uriti.

It wasn’t laid out in summary form, so Riley had a lot of digging to do and the KoQ were patient enough to give him time. The Jartool, whose name was Emon, didn’t resist or talk. Curiosity had Riley try and find the reason for that, leading to the treatment he’d received by the KoQ…in addition to the people they’d killed getting to Emon. That alone solidified Riley’s resolve to cut them out of as much of the Preserve operations as he could, for these guys would seemingly do whatever they deemed necessary to accomplish their stated goals.

Riley continued further into the Jartool’s mind, ticking off every faction that was involved in the conspiracy and some of the attempts they’d made to gain leverage here, some which had not been detected by Star Force, though they’d been unsuccessful anyway. The two subsequent attacks on the Uriti after the large fleet initially dove to their deaths had been small ones, accomplished by a single ship, and were testing different weapon systems for effectiveness before they were quickly obliterated. The Jartool had been one of several races recording from a distance and transmitting the data out to…

It seemed the conspiracy also had a base within Star Force territory, in the occupation zone, and right under a surveillance satellite that had been tricked into not registering their presence. How they’d managed to achieve that this Emon didn’t know, but figuring it out was top item on the trailblazer’s to-do list.

“They have a base nearby,” Riley finally said, addressing the KoQ as the Jartool simply stared at the floor knowing there was nothing he could do to resist. He didn’t know the full telepathic power of the Archon, but it was apparently known that they could read memories and this one had no idea how to even resist such a thing. The KoQ’s methods of information retrieval had been…different, but at least they confirmed that they did not possess telepathy. What they did have was basically an information hack that accessed the main through mechanical means, and this one had suffered through it for quite some time before being brought here.

“Shall we eliminate it?”

“No, I’ll handle this personally. I need to do it our way. Your methods are not acceptable to the stability of this region…or otherwise.”

“We did not expect, nor require your approval,” the KoQ reprimanded him slightly. “We will, however, follow your lead in this matter.”

“I’ll be keeping this one,” Riley said, referring to the prisoner.

“You may have him.”

Riley pointed to his cuffs, but before he could telekinetically break them free they disconnected and flew into one of the KoQ’s open hands. The Jartool pulled his thick arms around in front of him and massaged his wrists, as well a spot on his upper right arm that Riley could see with his Pefbar that contained a bruise over a cracked bone.

“We will be available should you require our assistance,” the other KoQ said as the pair turned around and headed back to the airlock, leaving Riley with Emon.

Riley guessed they didn’t know what system the base was in, but it wasn’t going to be hard for them to follow his command ship when he went after them. Their information retrieval methods might be formidable, but there was no way a machine could navigate a mind like he could, and he was fairly sure the KoQ knew that as well, which was why they’d brought this one to him rather than just disposing of him when they were finished like they had with several other Jartool when this one had been captured.

It seemed the Preserve was filled with unscrupulous factions that would be just as eager to help you as stab you in the back depending on the circumstances. At least for the moment the Uriti didn’t seem to be in that group, and Riley was starting to get a feel for how to talk to them, picking up on which subjects would get a response and which wouldn’t. Yet in some ways he still felt he understood them less than the KoQ, whose minds didn’t register to his telepathy at all.

When they were gone he looked at the Jartool, knowing he didn’t speak much English, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t communicate with him.

“Come with me,” he said, sending the appropriate mental impetus to bypass the language barrier along with a wave of his hand. Emon followed him and the trailblazer led him out of the reception area and through the ship. The Jartool looked around oddly, with Riley watching his thoughts and fears continuously as he gave him complete freedom of movement. He could take control of his mind at will, but unless the alien chose to do some harm there was no reason to keep him restrained.

As they walked through the corridors a crewer ran up to Riley and handed him a device he’d telepathically requested. He palmed it and kept walking, eventually coming to a set of quarters. He led Emon inside and closed the door behind them, with the Jartool fearing that another beating was coming his way.

“Translator,” Riley said, holding it up in front of him before carefully attaching it to the side of Emon’s head over the small crater that served as an ear. The headband wrapped around in a tiny ring to keep it on, making it appear a bit ornate, and the gold coloration seemed to fit with his silver skin appropriately enough, though Riley wasn’t concerned about appearance, only function.

“Can you understand me now?” Riley asked, checking to make sure the language download had been the correct one and if their limited files on the Jartool were enough to facilitate communication, for there was more than just simple switching of words involved in accurate translation.

“Yes.”

“I saw into your mind earlier. I know what you are planning, and I saw some of what the Knights of Quenar did to you. You do not have to worry about that kind of treatment here. We do not torture prisoners.”

“What do you want from me?” the device said overtop his own words with a slight delay.

“Not much. You’ll wait here until we arrange transport, then you’re going back to your people.”

“The people on my ship are all dead.”

“We don’t control the Knights of Quenar any more than we control you. Your fight with them is your own. They gave you to me to do with as I please, and I’m letting you go. Whether or not you come to understand it, we’re not the bad guys. We’re not going to use the Uriti as weapons against any of you. We’re going to keep them right here safe and sound, but we can’t do that if you keep attacking them. Sooner or later you might actually hurt one.”

“Yet you maintain the option of changing that position.”

“True enough, but we won’t. You can’t know that, but I do. All we can do to convince you is by building up a record of behavior for you to analyze, and given the length of time the Uriti have been around we’re very short on years to do that. Ultimately though, we don’t take orders from you and we’re going to do what we like. If you interfere with us, expect there to be repercussions. For starters, the Jartool are no longer welcome in this Preserve or Star Force territory. Same goes for the other races working with you. You will leave and stay out…else you’ll be dealt with, either by us or our allies. And as you already know, the Knights of Quenar are not concerned with your wellbeing. Only the security of the Uriti.”

“So you use them to enforce while you remain blameless?”

“They’re not taking orders from us, or vice versa, but they are a threat you have to take into consideration, even if we kicked them out of the Preserve too. With their cloaking technology they can come and go at will with few of us being able to detect them. And then you’ve got us to deal with. While we are honorable, we are not soft. Hopefully that’s not something you have to personally learn the hard way, though those at your base are going to get a lesson in reality. If they refuse to surrender there is going to be a fight, and one that we will win.”

“There are many that oppose you. Do not think it will be that easy. And do not think that having the Knights of Quenar as an ally is that great of an advantage. Their presence here adds fire to many races they have crossed.”

Riley sighed. “I wondered about that.”

“Do not expect people to not try and find a way to protect themselves against the Uriti. Asking them to remain helpless is not a request that will be honored.”

“That I can understand, but I can’t let you keep experimenting by attacking them either. And getting your own people killed in the process is…wrong.”

“They were not my people.”

“We care about all people, including the Uriti.”

The Jartool’s face screwed up in either disgust or disbelief. “They are weapons, not people.”

“They are people, albeit it very strange and powerful, but people who have been altered into weapons by the Chixzon. We are rescuing them from the fate of being living weapons as much as we are doing this to protect the galaxy from them, which is why we will not permit you or anyone else to attack them.”

“You haven’t stopped anyone yet.”

“We’ve stopped a few, and a few got through. Those that get through have repercussions, and a lot of races are getting banned because of this. We’ll deal with the fallout from that as it happens, but we’re not going to keep people around here that are knowingly trying to stab us in the back.”

“Then we are at an impasse, because the races assembled here cannot allow you to continue on your present course.”

“For curiosity’s sake, what would you prefer happened? Shared control? The Uriti released to go on a rampage? You all get a free shot at them and die trying to kill one of them?”

“They have to be killed or rendered inert once again.”

“That’s what you were doing,” he said as another Jartool memory strand clicked in. “Trying to find a way to neutralize them.”

“Dead is preferred, but we must have some way to defend ourselves.”

“The Ancients never found a way to effectively kill them. What makes you think you will?”

“We have to try.”

“No, you don’t. Not until one breaks free of our control and leaves this Preserve. It’ll take a very long time to travel to your worlds. Ours are the ones that are at greatest risk if we lose control.”

“You can carry them elsewhere at far greater speed.”

“We don’t have that much control over them. The sedate ones we brought here were kept sedate for that very reason.”

“A problem that you may overcome with time.”

“You still think they’re too powerful to risk anyone having control over?”

“We do.”

Riley nodded. “If our situations were reversed, we’d be concerned too. But I can guarantee we wouldn’t be running suicide missions to do weapons testing.”

“You would still try to find a counter to them?”

“Yeah, we would.”

“So it is our methods you disagree with?”

“If you ever possess a weapon to kill Uriti, we’re not going to come and take it away from you…unless you come here and use it first. As I said, we’re not going to use them as weapons, so what defenses you have against them aren’t our concern unless you bring them into the Preserve.”

“We cannot develop them if we cannot test them.”

Riley caught a whiff of another thought, and the Jartool reflexively pushed it down as soon as he thought it. The stupidity of that was obvious, but he couldn’t help it, for ostensibly the KoQ or Riley had already plucked out all his secrets, but in truth this was something Riley hadn’t seen before.

The trailblazer chose to visibly ignore it, but inside him was a growing pit of fury.

“None the less, you will not be permitted to. Abide by our restrictions or not. We deal fairly. The Knights of Quenar are another matter. Cross them at your own peril.”

“I already have.”

“And we will not be adding to that. Remain in this room until otherwise instructed. Food and other necessities will be provided until you depart,” Riley said, spinning around and heading for the door.

“Thank you,” Emon said reluctantly.

Riley half turned back. “We don’t torture prisoners. Ever.”

“But you are releasing me?”

“There’s no need to hold you,” he said as he opened the door and walked out, looking at the Knight that had been waiting there per instructions. When the door closed he looked up at him.

“He doesn’t leave, but be nice about it. Our ‘allies’ worked him over pretty good and I don’t want to add to it.”

“The Knights of Quenar?”

“Yeah. On your list of potential good guys, scratch them off.”

“Add to the enemy list?” the Knight asked with a grim resolve.

“Not yet, but they may get there eventually,” he said, tapping the man on his armored shoulder as he walked away.

“We’ve got a problem,” he said when he eventually met up with Nefron in his private work area.

“We’ve got several. Which are you referring to?”

“Well, I’m taking this ship and calling for a fleet to help take out a base the opposition has quietly hidden inside our territory not far from here, but that’s not the real problem. I caught a bit of memory from the prisoner the Knights of Quenar gifted me. They’re intent on finding a way, any way, to stop a Uriti. Including creating their own Chixzon.”

Nefron’s eyes burnt green. “How do they know?”

“My guess would be a leak from one of The Nine, but right now that doesn’t matter. They’re going to go Protovic hunting, and I’m pretty damn sure there are plenty of them out there to find that we and our allies haven’t got to yet. Assuming they can trigger the transformation, how helpful would your twin brother be?”

“You should know the answer to that. The risk is of forced memory retrieval.”

“Will they be able to control a Uriti if he isn’t willing?”

“Unlikely, but as you now know there is a way to do it. If they got hold of one of our gauntlets and reverse engineered it along with captured memories…we have a problem I did not previously anticipate. It is imperative that we don’t lose one.”

“And?” Riley asked, sensing something more in Nefron’s thoughts.

“You could read my mind, thus prevent me from any obvious duplicity. Had that not been the case I could have manipulated you into doing my will. If they create a Chixzon, they could unwittingly unleash them on the galaxy once again. I’ve anticipated that happening eventually, but I need more time.”

“Time for what?”

“To get Star Force to a level where we can beat them.”

Riley frowned. “What exactly are you working on?”

“A lot of things, and I’m a lot less worried about your coreward threat than I am the revival of the Chixzon. For all we know it could have happened already in another part of the galaxy.”

“What exactly are you working on?”

“Immunities…to a lot of their standard tricks. They can’t use the Uriti again, not against us, so their attack will have to come in another way. A subtle way. You’re set up to fight against naval fleets, not biology.”

“We have regenerators.”

Nefron shook his rock-like head. “They work off of your genetic profile, repairing it per instructions that can be altered. Change your genetics to something self-destructive and the regenerators are useless, correct?”

“Yeah,” Riley said reluctantly.

“Which is why you need me to out think them, and I need as much of a head start as I can get.”

9

November 19, 3337

Entor System (ADZ)

Arbiter (Clan Sangheili capitol)

Paul walked with Jason through the main plaza of the capitol city, getting the distinctive feel of Star Force infrastructure but with a telltale Clan slant. The Sangheili color scheme was white/chrome, which wasn’t all that different from Star Force norms, but where it was a base in other facilities spread across the ADZ it was much more flamboyant here. A sterile flamboyance, with everything looking as if dust and grime could not exist, coupled with a lot of light coming from objects within the plaza rather than the walls, ceiling, or floor as most Star Force facilities were.

It was odd, for as much time as Paul and Jason had spent together over the years he’d rarely visited one of his worlds, and vice versa. They usually met up onboard ships in war zones or at Earth. Paul had only been here once before, and that was only in orbit. He was definitely sure he’d never seen the giant statue of the original Arbiter from Halo in the center of the plaza. A lot of the illumination for the mile wide indoor/outdoor chamber was coming from the pair of covenant energy swords that it held in a combat pose that well represented his friend’s Clan.

When they walked near the giant feet Jason motioned for him to get closer, at which time Paul realized there was an internal structure to the statue…as well as the faint traces of familiar minds at the top.

“You didn’t.”

“Of course I did,” Jason scoffed as he and Paul ducked in the secret access door and began to climb a ladder that would take them several stories up to the top where the private den was located. Paul followed him up, making him the last of the ten 2s in the small but cozy retreat.

“About time you two got here,” Megan said from the couch where she was laying with her feet well above her head. “How slow did you walk?”

“Nice view,” Paul commented, seeing that the walls were clear all around them, similar to the way Davis’s office was structured, except that this was one-way material. Nobody could see in from the outside, but they could see everywhere in the plaza all the way up to the dome that covered it in holographic sky. The air outside was barely breathable, hence a true exterior structure just wouldn’t work here. Plus no one wanted rain, acid or otherwise.

“Time to get brainstorming,” Brian said, putting down a datapad he’d been reading.

“Not just yet,” Randy said, throwing Paul an annoyed look that the other trailblazer responded to with a knowing smile. “First we have to get in the proper frame of mind.”

“He’s right,” Emily said, pointing in Megan’s direction. “Everybody get your butt on the couches. We’ve got some Halo to play first.”

Morgan was in her personal sanctum working against robotic opponents the size of mechs when the alert sounded. She ducked out of the way of a massive metal hand and telepathically shut down the challenge, pulling a brief feed through the same mental interlink set into the walls and ceiling. It was a defensive alert, stating that the system was under attack by the lizards. More information than that she couldn’t get without a terminal interface or a physical connection to the planetary computer systems.

The ViLord sprinted across the acres of training area and telekinetically pulled her jacket top to her from the spot on the floor near the door where she’d left it. As she ran out she pulled it on over her sweaty jog bra and zipped it halfway up to her neck, leaving a slit to help her cool down from her workout fury that she developed when probing her limits.

It took several minutes to get out of her sanctum and over to the command center, with her bypassing the Clan Ninja Monkey staff and going straight to her command chair-style nexus set in the middle of the giant room rather than tucked off into a side nook. When she sat down force fields rose around her to quiet but not completely negate surrounding sounds while also dimming the light. Others could see and hear her, but her chair zone was faded out a bit to give her some privacy while in the crowded room. Her staff fed her updates and already compiled reports through the mental interlink, getting her up to speed faster than talking would have ever allowed.

She was on her capitol of Sliced Banana in the DK System, the strongest system she had in her 39 system empire on the border with the coreward lizards. Morgan had been growing her territory steadily, but not aggressively. Taking time to develop her Clan’s population without having to accept slackers. When she decided to take a world the lizards couldn’t hold it against her, but they did try some probing attacks on the periphery of her stretched out knot of systems on occasion. More often than not they were just fortifying the nearest ones because they knew she’d be coming after them.

While she didn’t take systems all that often, Morgan raided them all the time. Knocking down their ship counts and industrial facilities, hampering their ability to grow while giving her people more experience to learn from. Gone were the days where Clan Ninja Monkey and the lizards were going at each other in an even fight. She’d had the advantage for so long now it hadn’t even dawned on her that they’d be stupid enough to mount a straight up attack against any of her systems…let alone her capitol, but here they were, in far greater numbers than could have originated in the surrounding systems.

They’d brought in reinforcements from another region, and while it wasn’t enough to take this system from her, it was still going to be a messy fight.

“About time you guys got off your ass and took us seriously,” she whispered as she mentally linked into the orbit defenses and began rearranging things to her liking based on the enemy fleet disposition. They were being harassed in near the star and she was getting delayed reports, but all of them indicated that they were heading here. The lizards probably expected to lose this fleet to her, but they were going to send it at her strongest defenses and see if they could give her a bloody nose.

With a flurry of orders she got her planet geared up for battle and aware of the lizards’ probable suicidal intentions, then watched as her people harassed and picked off ships from the formation flanks as they moved around the star to the jumpline for her capitol, as expected. When they finally got into planetary orbit Morgan was ready for them, with all hell unleashing when they unceremoniously dove down into the low orbit defenses and attacked them and her primary shipyard for all they were worth.

When Davis got the attack report it set him back, not because of the fact that it had happened, but because of the sheer audacity of it. Here they were, sweeping up lizard systems in the rimward half of lizard territory, and their enemy had the gall to launch a major attack against Star Force territory. It shouldn’t have surprised him, but it finally dawned on him that the lizards had completely abandoned their rimward worlds.

They were just expendable now, and had been expended to keep Star Force busy while the lizards built behind the line where they had to now at least suspect he wouldn’t cross. It was a glaring weakness for anyone who saw it. The mighty empire afraid to go any further towards the core.

And he got the distinct feeling that the lizards were now sufficiently rebuilt enough to call his bluff.

Four days ago he’d received a report from Clan RaSeru that they’d also been attacked, though not in these numbers. It’d been a strong hit against one of their outer colonies, but the lizards had gone straight for Morgan’s capitol and her primary shipyards…which they’d managed to damage considerably. They weren’t out of commission, and the Ninja Monkeys had destroyed the entire invading fleet, but Davis got the feeling that there was going to be a lot more attacks coming their way to probe their lines and see how Star Force would respond.

But what could he do? The further they went toward the core the closer they got to the V’kit’no’sat, and as it was they weren’t exactly hiding. Star Force stood out in the local region and wasn’t silent about most things…then add in the now infamy of housing the Uriti and they were practically waving their arms and shouting at the V’kit’no’sat to come and get them. Their only saving grace was they were so far away they couldn’t hear or see, but the closer Davis reached into the core the greater the chance of that changing.

The galaxy was just too damn big, and he had a hard time as it was trying to control everything that Star Force had more or less exercised domain over. A lot of it was unoccupied or unaligned worlds that he’d chosen to shield from the lizards, and it needed reinforcing…a lot of reinforcing, so it wasn’t like Star Force was just sitting and watching the lizards conquer a piece of the galaxy.

Yet the idea of having a line over which the bad guys could operate with impunity was morally unacceptable, which was why he had allowed Morgan and others to blur that line, but the lizards were now onto his game, at least partially, and he was pretty sure they were now taunting him to come after them.

He had the manpower to do it. Even before the rimward front was wrapped up he could mount a major campaign and drive a knife into the ‘safe’ lizard territory. Part of him wanted to, but he knew it would be fruitless in terms of stopping them permanently. They could just keep spreading further and further coreward, and if Star Force was going to stop heading that direction it might as well be here and now. Davis just hated not being able to go after his enemies when they were at his fingertips.

That was the Archon in him, but the geography of the situation spoke for itself. Star Force was expanding in 5 directions, not 6, and was already tickling the upper and lower edges of the galactic plane. It was obvious to anyone with access to an even remotely accurate map with time scaling to see that Star Force wasn’t moving in towards the core like they once were, and that begged the question of why.

Davis wasn’t going to tell the public the real reason, and while Star Force troops were concentrating their efforts rimward not too many people questioned the coreward border. Fighting a war in multiple directions was difficult, so consolidating one’s strength and hitting a ‘smaller’ area, laughable as that was with the scope involved, made sense. Then add the various entrepreneurs that were fighting on the coreward border making it seem as volatile as anywhere and Star Force didn’t have an internal problem with questions as of yet, but to outsiders it had to scream that there was some reason why they wouldn’t keep pushing further into enemy territory.

What Davis was trying to do by establishing the wall was monumentous…securing so many system in an effective manner and essentially shielding everyone rimward from the lizards’ expansion was not something that anyone could argue was inaction on Star Force’s part, but it still begged the question of why the line instead of going after them wherever they showed their scaly heads.

This was the Achilles heel to Star Force’s strategy, and it was just something that Davis was going to have to live with. Establishing the line and holding it firm would save uncountable numbers of lives, but having the enemy that close and not going after them just felt wrong. He kept constantly rechecking his logic for fear of making a bad choice, but each and every time it always came back to the same thing.

Star Force couldn’t risk revealing themselves to the V’kit’no’sat any further. If they came back then everything they had fought and gained against the lizards would be undone. Hell, they might even reclaim their previous territory if Star Force was wiped out or forced to retreat, because Davis knew the V’kit’no’sat weren’t going to stick around and colonize the ‘frontier’ as they thought of it.

So the only way this would work was if Davis bit his lip and focused on holding the line and eradicating the lizard threat on this side of it. He’d relegated himself to that task previously, but now this obvious taunting by the lizards was making him reconsider yet again.

He’d discussed this with the trailblazers numerous times and they didn’t have any better options. They didn’t like it either, but Star Force had to mark its territory somewhere and pushing the line any further coreward didn’t make any strategic sense. It wouldn’t end the threat, so the only reasonable thing to do if you couldn’t get to all the lizards was to block off a section of territory and keep them out of it…and Davis had chosen the entire outer rim. That should have satisfied him, but it didn’t. He needed to do more, but think through it again as he would, he’d end up with the same inevitable conclusion.

They couldn’t keep pushing coreward.

And if they couldn’t do that, and the lizards suspected it, what were they trying to accomplish with these attacks? It was a goad, obviously, but to what end?

He thought about that for a while as he skimmed through the reports a second time, trying to glean their intent, then a possibility struck him. If they didn’t actually intend to mount a campaign against Star Force that they thought could succeed…and without the Trinx supplying them with tech their long term plans to do so had already bitten the dust…then they were probing for a reaction.

A reaction to see if Star Force really would stay behind the line. These attacks were a test of it.

And they’d keep coming. They had enough troops and ships that they could waste them when they chose to, and he had a feeling they were going to keep throwing more and more troops at Star Force’s defenses, looking for a weakness they didn’t expect to find while trying to provoke him to jump the border and go after them.

And that told Davis one thing. They didn’t want Star Force to.

If you’re afraid of the dog biting you, you don’t stay away from him. You get your hand near then pull back. If he doesn’t bite, you get it nearer and nearer and nearer, testing to see if he really won’t bite. If he never does then you can relax around him, and in the case of the lizards that meant…

“The Skarrons,” he said aloud as he jumped up out of his chair and began pacing the perimeter of his office.

Of course. It was so obvious now. The lizards knew they couldn’t beat Star Force, especially without the Trinx, and ever since they’d evacuated their templars into the coreward half of their empire they’d probably stopped planning to fight. They needed to survive and expand, conquering weaker opponents and growing their strength. They’d done that while fighting the Skarrons, but as Star Force had learned they’d only been focusing on one region within the Skarron empire and exploiting a political rift within them. So long as they didn’t go after any of the other regions the Skarrons seemed fit to let the one under attack fend for itself.

But the lizards were only going to play that game for so long. Davis was almost sure that they were about to take on the whole of the Skarron empire in a very grim and bitter war that they might well lose if Star Force decided to hit them at the same time, hence they needed to know whether or not that would happen.

“So you hit us now to see if we’ll attack. If we don’t come after you you’ll keep it up. Keep probing and taunting and waiting for us to break with protocol. If we don’t you’ll maintain the ruse while you launch your full strength against the Skarrons, leaving your industrial muscle vulnerable to us should we strike. You’re bluffing again, and damn you, it’s a bluff I can’t risk to call,” he said, punching the window with a warbling thud as the safety glass bent ever so slightly.

Star Force couldn’t go after the lizards, but the Preema could and had been doing so effectively until they’d chickened out and decided to mount their own line of defense. The Voku also could but had priorities dictated to them by the Zak’de’ron and had plenty on their plate already. Star Force was the dominate power in the region, and the downside of that was that there wasn’t anyone of equal or greater strength to turn to in order to get the job done…meaning the lizards were going to operate with impunity and could shift most of their assets to the Skarron front without reprisal.

For centuries Star Force had been winning and winning big against the lizards as they took system after system away from them, but in the bigger picture Davis felt like they were actually losing, and all because of a distant threat that may or may not take notice of them staying their hand and forcing Davis to let the lizards go so long as they stayed on the other side of that stupid line.

There was no way around that logic, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t spend hours upon hours in the future thinking about it and trying to find a solution that was currently escaping him and the rest of Star Force’s leaders from trailblazers to monarchs. No one knew a way to go after the lizards without potentially exposing themselves to the V’kit’no’sat, and until they found one their hated enemy was going to be able to play on the other side of the line without interference, waving and taunting back at them as much as they liked.

For Davis and Star Force couldn’t go there, and no one else who was willing was powerful enough, and those powerful enough simply weren’t willing to take the fight to the enemy if they didn’t absolutely have to.

10

December 23, 3337

Entor System (ADZ)

Arbiter (Clan Sangheili capitol)

“Oh my god,” Emily said, bolting out of her chair in their secret den inside the stature. “We are so fucking stupid.”

“Oh?” Jack asked.

“‘Oh shit’ is more like it. We’ve been going at this all wrong.”

“Enlighten us,” Jason prompted as the 9 trailblazers all turned from their individual projects and looked at their standing, and somewhat flustered, peer.

“Canderous. Why the hell didn’t any of us see this before?”

“You want to integrate them into Canderous?” Paul asked as he thought that through.

“No, Silly. Think. What’s notorious about Canderous?”

“The most difficult maturias,” Randy said automatically.

Emily pointed at him. “Exactly. We didn’t think we could push younglings any harder than that, and Canderous has the largest dropout rate of any faction. They lose like, what, 15% of their population to emigration after graduation?”

“Thirteen,” Paul corrected. “What are you getting at?”

“We didn’t think we could press anyone harder than that. That we had to let people develop at a slow rate and while some might be able to go faster we couldn’t sacrifice anyone by pushing the group too hard. Allow individuals a chance to excel beyond their peers, yes, but not as a group. Canderous is the hardest maturia group we’ve been able to successfully create, and I think we’re all in agreement that we can’t push the line any more with them?”

“They’ve pulled back a bit in spots,” Ivan added. “If there’s improvement to be made there it’s in refinements, not a toughening of the program.”

“Bingo,” Emily said as if the word was a weapon. “Right there. That’s what we’ve all been missing. We can’t go past that line without the risk of damaging those we’re trying to train. We’ve maxed out and, frankly, have given up on younglings being much use in anything. We all know that longevity and consistent training is required to gain true strength, so getting the younglings off on the proper path is what matters, not the speed of that path. Canderous pushes the speed to its limit and has it fairly well defined, so we’ve completely ignored trying to surpass it.”

“Genetic memory,” Randy said, catching an inkling of what she was getting at.

“We don’t use it because it’s not the Star Force way…and yet all of us have genetic memory. We just haven’t fiddled with what we started with. Our psionics operate on genetic memory, a little bit anyway, so that we can use them right away, and they’re not natural. So why haven’t we messed with giving people knowledge from birth?”

“Knowledge given and knowledge gained are not the same thing,” Paul said thoughtfully.

“People need to learn some things for themself,” Jason echoed.

“And that’s exactly where we’ve been blind. Yes, people need to learn for themselves, but do they all have to have the same starting point?”

“Emily, you’re a freaking genius,” Dan said, standing up as well as soon as it clicked for him.

“If I was I would have figured this out a month ago.”

“Emily,” Paul said slowly. “I’m still not fully getting you.”

“Probably because you’re too close to the problem.”

“Then lay it out for me.”

Emily raised a hand towards Paul as she suddenly lifted him into the air out of his chair with her Lachka. He didn’t flash his Rentar, not sure what she was doing, but then her hand produced a Jumat blast that knocked him over the back of the chair as she let go of her hold, dumping him onto the floor.

When he caught himself and started to get up she came flying into view and punched him to the ground, then the two wrestled around a bit until Paul as able to throw her off him. She skidded to a halt on the carpet a meter away but didn’t reengage, merely raising an eyebrow at him.

“I’m assuming that wasn’t a love tap?” Paul scoffed as he locked eyes with her, ready to defend himself a second time if need be.

“The Black Knight,” she said, giving him another clue.

“Enough, you two,” Megan said as she flipped over the back of the couch and interposed herself between them. “Get a room.”

“Damn it,” Jason said, finally getting it. “You are a genius.”

“Guys…” Paul complained, standing up off the ground along with Emily as Megan kept them both at arms’ length.

“We don’t choose where we’re born,” Dan said. “We’re inserted randomly into this universe. The maturia process is the safe way to help those just arriving develop, but we all know from experience that the Black Knight taught us some very important lessons in a very unsafe way. Sometimes people need to be thrown in over their heads in order to learn how to swim, but we don’t do that because some people might drown. Yet that’s what we got in basic.”

“Yeah, we just had the regenerators handy to patch us up whenever he broke something,” Brian added.

“More than that, we weren’t given instructions about what to do with him. We just had to do it. Keep up or get our ass kicked. We learned to succeed and persevere because we were put into a very pressure-filled environment and rose to the challenge. If you want to be Archons that’s what you have to endure, but that won’t work for civies. They’ll break. And basic occurs after the maturia training.”

“The Clans,” Megan said, also catching on.

“Pressure cookers,” Emily finally explained, but still looking at Paul. “People measure up or get kicked out, which is why we have no maturias. Everyone is recruited in…but that’s not the way it has to be.”

“Learn by doing rather than training,” Paul said, finally getting the gist of Emily’s physical lesson. She didn’t tell him to defend himself, he simply saw the need and responded. No instructions, just adaptation.

And adaptation is what the lizards were exceedingly good at.

He looked at her sarcastically. “Can I kiss you?”

Emily pointed at him and Megan backed off with her hands raised, getting out of the way.

“I’m calling your bluff on that one, buddy,” Emily said as she walked over to Paul and gripped his head in her hands and laid a not so short full kiss on him before backing off a step. “You’re welcome.”

“Ok,” Jason said with a clap of his hands. “Are we all caught up then, Luke and Leia included?”

“He’ll take that as a compliment,” Megan scoffed.

“Win, win,” Paul said with a lingering smile as he looked at Emily, “though Riona kisses better.”

“Hey, hey,” Megan said, stepping back between them as Emily took a step towards him with a balled fist. “Enough already.”

“Ingrate,” Emily said, abandoning her approach and taking a seat on the back of the nearest couch.

“Let’s just spell this out so we know we’re all on the same page,” Brian insisted. “Emily, you want to incorporate the lizards into the Clans as their birth entry point and have them opt out rather than in?”

“Yep,” she answered pithily.

“They can handle the pressure cooker,” Randy continued thoughtfully, “where the other races cannot, because of their genetic memory. They can be put to work instantly with no training and learn by doing.”

“Are we seriously suggesting no training?” Jack asked, “because that’s pretty much treason right there.”

“And that’s why I didn’t think of it,” Paul admitted. “We didn’t learn to survive and beat the Black Knight with training, we learned and adapted through combat. I think Morgan would appreciate this approach.”

“Uh, uh,” Ivan said quickly. “This is our baby. Our 10 Clans. Leave Morgan’s out of it.”

“We’ve got a shit load of work to do on this,” Randy added in agreement. “Even if we wanted to share it with the other Clans we need to do the tinkering ourselves.”

“All 10 Clans?” Jason asked, seeing nods of agreement.

“Not just the Clans,” Kip said, a few mental steps ahead of the others thanks to him staying out of the playful banter and thinking hard. “The 10 of us. We drop our current assignments and focus this hard…together. Paul’s getting more and more lizard prisoners as the years go by and that’s only going to increase as we clean up the remaining systems on this side of the line, and I’d prefer to get as many of them surrendering as possible. We need a program to put them into rather than just stuffing them away on a few planets for holding purposes.”

“He’s right,” Emily agreed. “This is too big to leave dangling. Paul’s already got some leg work done, but we need to kick this into high gear.”

“Clan lizards would be new births, not converts,” Paul pointed out. “I’ve got the two separated right now, but this idea won’t help the prisoners.”

“You can’t teach everything with memory,” Kip reminded them all. “You’re going to get capable younglings, nothing more. In order for them to advance to higher levels they’re going to have to train. We can have the current lizards go through that training as well.”

“Are we talking combat for these guys?” Ivan asked.

“Support?” Megan floated.

“Have you put any of them into armor yet?” Brian asked Paul.

“No, but Thrawn has been developing some of their own. I haven’t let them use Star Force tech at all.”

“Afraid of them spiriting it off to their cousins?” Randy asked.

“Afraid of a lot of things, but mainly just wanting to keep them separate from us.”

“Why?” Dan challenged. “We assimilated the Veliquesh. The lizards aren’t any worse than them.”

“They had younglings,” Jason answered for him. “The lizards use genetic samples. There was never any need to conquer the lizards in order to assimilate them.”

“If we do this,” Kip said thoughtfully, “it will gain us a power we’ve never had before. The Kiritas gave us so much strength, but they still rely on maturias to reproduce. The lizards don’t. There are dozens of ways we can use this, but I think the bigger reason to do it, the emotional one at least, is…”

“…to prove them wrong,” Megan said with finality. “The lizards don’t have to be darkside. We can bring them into the light.”

“So we are annexing them?” Jack asked to make sure.

“Star Force isn’t,” Emily said with a coy smile. “The Clans are.”

“And to maintain our pressure cooker,” Kip added, “when they’re born we put them to work immediately. In fact, we don’t grow any of them without a specific need. Population on demand.”

“That could go very wrong,” Randy noted, “if anyone other than us was overseeing it. But looking at it as an entry point, we create the lizards out of a need and they individually choose whether or not to fulfill that role. If they decline we move them out of the Clans and into Axius or elsewhere, respecting their individual sovereignty, but the default will be to the mission. Team and unit first. You said they wanted to fight,” he recalled, looking at Paul. “That stagnation was a problem for them. This will alleviate that if we stop treating them like everyone else and make a new niche within Star Force that doesn’t utilize maturias or an individual first concept. It’ll be unit first with an individual opt out.”

Jack nodded, holding up a finger to keep Paul from answering first. “How many people have we met that just wanted to contribute? Whether it be fighting or building or just carrying someone’s bag. We tell them training first and they do it, taking years if not centuries before they really get into the fight. They have to earn their way to it, and I like that system, but if we had been born now and not given everything to do from the inception of Star Force, how would we feel?”

“We’d want to be on the front lines immediately,” Dan admitted, “doing things that mattered rather than training.”

“And if the lizards are even more prone to this mindset than we are,” Jack continued, “then perhaps it is in their best interests if we put them to work immediately and allow the few individuals who would prefer something else to leave to seek it out rather than trapping the lot of them in a workable system that really isn’t suited to them.”

“It’s what we thought Canderous would be back in the day,” Emily added, “and could never achieve.”

“But how do we incorporate younglings into combat units?” Randy pointed out the obvious flaw. “Work details are one thing, but if they really want to fight how much can we have them do without losing people. We can’t let the bloodbath tactics remain.”

“Agreed,” Kip echoed.

“I’ve already been working on that a bit,” Paul said, very glad that Jason had insisted on making this a group project, “and I think recon work would best be suited to that aspect, though training certain lizards in the traditional ways needs to happen. They can’t get strong enough on field work alone.”

“Elite units,” Randy said dismissively, “but the strength for the Clans here is going to be their ability to take a single ship to a distant planet and populate it with millions of effective workers and soldiers within a decade. Even the Kiritas can’t reproduce trained people that fast.”

“Let them fight the little threats,” Megan suggested. “We’ll handle the big ones.”

“What’s your greatest concern?” Kip asked Paul when he noted a slightly displeased look on his face.

“Scruples,” he answered immediately.

“Because of the genetic memory?”

“And the unit mentality. If one goes to the darkside, with the lemmings follow?”

Randy nodded. “You really should have called me in sooner. I’ve already dealt with a lot of this with the Kiritas.”

“And?”

“Archons lead for a reason, and amongst other things, it’s to be the torch bearers of civilization. It’s easier for others to do the right thing when they have someone to follow. Take the Archons away from the other factions and you would see a deleterious effect on them as well. The trick is, they’re established enough now that our influence would continue to linger even if we were all suddenly gone. And with so little population turnover now, in the upper levels anyway, the lessons we’ve taught and the examples we’ve made will stick with them throughout their lifetimes.”

“Longevity is our insurance policy?” Megan asked.

“Followers follow,” Randy said with a shrug. “Get them in the habit of doing the right thing and they’ll keep doing it until they’re dragged off another direction. Usually it’s the younglings that have no prior history that are the most affected. If we give the lizards the leadership of the Archons they will follow us, pattern after us, learn from us, and pass it on to others even when we are not there. We’ll have to counter various things, just like we have in all factions. The attrition of morals occurs everywhere the light doesn’t shine, but get enough people to soak it in and they’ll be able to sustain themselves through brief periods of darkness.”

“Moral glow rods?” Emily asked with a chuckle.

“Temporarily charged,” Randy added unabashed. The metaphor was sound.

“Charged off the beacons of light,” Kip said with a nod. “And given the lizards’ group nature, if we can convert them they might hold to it better than others would.”

“But they’ll be a hard sell,” Jason cautioned. “Those surrendering especially.”

“You think we didn’t have a hard time with the Kiritas?” Randy asked. “We won’t have to worry about people starving to death this time. Try teaching people to do the right thing when they need to steal, cheat, and kill just to try and stay alive.”

“I think we can all agree,” Emily said, raising her arms to encompass everyone, “that Paul was an idiot for not including us earlier.”

“I can second that,” Jason said, drawing a sigh of regret from Paul.

“But he has created a good foothold for us to work off of,” Emily added. “Him turning Thrawn is what started all this, and his little projects since then are showing good, piecemeal results. That said, this is not going to be an easy or quick fix. We’re probably going to have to tinker with the variants, maybe even make some new ones, and solve a lot of problems that haven’t even been discovered yet. But we’re a team and we work best as one. This is a very big challenge and one worthy of our combined skills, so let’s dig into this and make it happen before we run out of lizards to recruit. Every one of them we save is a victory for us.”

“I’m more interested in the potential of the new ones,” Kip differed, “but you make a good point. There are multiple levels here to consider, which is why we need all of us working and managing this. We’re also going to need a lot of star systems.”

“Where are we going to work this from?” Jack asked.

“Heart of the storm,” Megan said. “Krachnika.”

Jason nodded. “We’ll need more than that, but that’s where we need to start setting up shop.”

“Time to start packing,” Dan said, heading for the exit with Ivan and Randy following a step behind.

“I’ll handle Davis,” Emily volunteered, referring to the need for more star systems.

“You going to kiss him too?” Megan jibbed.

Emily glared at her, but before she could respond Paul walked up behind her and wrapped her up in a hug, then gently kissed her on the cheek.

“Thanks,” he whispered in her ear.

“You really should have told us about this before,” she said, not struggling against his embrace.

“Yeah, I know, but we are keeping this secret from the other Clans, right?”

“Totally,” Megan agreed as she and the others started to head for the door too.

“No reason they need to know until we get something worked out,” Emily answered as Paul let her go, “but amongst us we don’t need to keep secrets.”

“On that note,” Paul said with a devious smile, “has Jason told you about his…”

“Hey!” he objected, turning around just as he got to the door and glaring at Paul. “Not cool.”

“His what?” Emily insisted, with Randy and Megan turning around as well.

www.aerkijyr.com

STAR FORCE Wiki

1

May 19, 3402

Denichor System (occupation zone)

Karrach (original H’kar homeworld)

Flynn-046 took in a deep breath of the new world’s air, soaking it in for a moment before he took off running across the stubby grass clumps that covered the flat plain he stood upon. He wasn’t wearing armor or even a standard uniform, just a pair of shorts and running shoes in the 103F heat as he began his first workout on this planet…the first of many to come now that he’d been assigned here on a permanent basis.

He’d chosen this plain for the simple reason that it wasn’t located near to any of the reclamation sites, just a barren bit of landscape untouched by either the H’kar or the lizards after they’d conquered their homeworld and rebuilt it into one of the larger fortress worlds rimward of Krachnika. It’d fallen with more effort than the neighboring systems due in no small part to the presence of a mastermind, but he’d been unable to prevent the beatdown that both Star Force and the H’kar fleet had put on it. Now that was all over as the invasion fleets pressed on, leaving this planet and the rest of the system in reclamation mode.

Except now he was here, running across the uncivilized barrens of Karrach and getting a feel for the ‘cool’ atmosphere that the H’kar had developed in as a string of transports could be seen coming down from orbit to a position west of his on the plain. It was miles away, but the flow of ships was continuous as they deposited cargo and personnel that would begin rebuilding the planet.

It was an abnormally important acquisition for the H’kar. They’d been taking their planets back from the lizards for a while now, but none had been reinhabited with more than supply bases. All had stayed in the possession of Star Force as they were gradually cleaned up, until now. Karrach was almost sacred to them, and given the fact that they’d probably thought they’d never see it again, let alone inhabit it, he didn’t fault them for sentimentality, but the rituals they had wanted to perform he’d already nixed. He hadn’t come here to watch them waste time with a bunch of pageantry, but rather to put them to work.

And work they were eager for as well, he’d found out. Reclaiming Karrach wasn’t the end of their goals…they wanted to rebuild it and reestablish their old homeland, this system and others, and fully take back all that the lizards had stolen from them. Flynn was going to help them do that, but not in the way they’d originally thought, for the H’kar, now that Karrach had been reclaimed as promised, were joining Star Force…and they weren’t a broken civilization or a scattering of refugees. They were already a massive empire that was about to get a lot bigger.

Star Force hadn’t made the invite, and the H’kar had hinted at such for a long time before finally making the request after getting approval from The Nexus. There would be no separation pains, for in secret The Nexus were glad to be rid of them, needing to downsize as much as possible and more than happy to let the threats to the region where the H’kar had come to make their new home fall under Star Force’s responsibility to deal with.

But Flynn wasn’t going there, though those worlds would eventually become part of Star Force as well. No, both he and Davis had decided they’d start here and rebuild the H’kar in Star Force form on their homeworld first, get all the adjustments made to incorporate their biology and technology into the empire, then begin seeding other worlds in their former territory with new colonies, followed up by the slow assimilation of their Nexus worlds. Flynn was going to lead the effort, but most of the work was going to be done by the H’kar themselves after Karrach got established. Star Force resources were already stretched across an ever growing empire and there was no rush to annex the H’kar. Things could be taken more slowly, drawing upon their current strength to fuel the transition, but for this first step Star Force had to take the lead.

Which was why there was as large a Star Force fleet in orbit as there was H’kar, with an army of techs ready and eager to build proper infrastructure on the planet to get the ball rolling. After that it would be up to Flynn and his much smaller staff to design what would become standard H’kar infrastructure, ships, food, clothing, etc. It was a long and tedious process, but one that would bear fruit down the road…especially in giving Star Force a strong foothold on the far end of the occupation zone if/when it eventually came to include all lizard systems rimward of the border line. They weren’t near to achieving that yet, but the bulk of systems remaining were medium to small civilizations with only a sprinkling of hard nuts to tackle like this world had been.

The writing was definitely on the wall, there was just a lot of wall to cover as the lizards continued to spread as quickly as they could ahead of the Star Force advance. The H’kar had begun to push back hard from their Nexus border now that the lizards couldn’t pull reinforcements from their core worlds and others to counter them, but each of those fleets was now led by at least one Archon, for their military integration into Star Force had already happened as far as command and control was concerned.

A faction of the H’kar really didn’t like that, but the groundswell of nostalgia and support for both Star Force membership and a return to their original territory left the H’kar rulers with little choice other than to fight a losing civil war. Instead they’d thought they could play an insiders game, but that had been immediately shut down as Scott-055 had assumed command of the active fleets and made the H’kar rulers obsolete.

They’d immediately tried to backtrack from their position, but there was nothing they could do. The military was now fiercely loyal to the Archons who had taught them how to truly fight and were promising to do even more in the years to come. Once command was transferred there was no going back, but Flynn didn’t think they fully understood that the same would be happening for the rest of their civilization. The ruling class within the H’kar was going to be disbanded, and for the foreseeable future Flynn was going to be their leader, much as Larisa had been to the Bsidd and Paul now was to the Kvash, whose small but powerful naval fleet was already assisting in anti-lizard combat with surprising efficiency.

Surprising had they not been under Paul’s tutelage, but their rapid turnaround from being thought extinct to a very powerful, yet very small naval presence had surprised Flynn and most of the other trailblazers. That said, the Kvash wouldn’t be matching the H’kar anytime soon, for Flynn had an existing empire to retool rather than having to build one from scratch, though at first that’s exactly what he was going to do here…save for the fact that he’d be getting continuous supply convoys coming from the H’kar’s Nexus worlds with material and whatever personnel he requested, and that would let him rebuild this world far faster than any other faction leader had the luxury of doing during their stints transforming and adding new races to the empire.

Larissa’s Bsidd now made up the largest chunk of that empire, population wise, while Randy’s Kiritas were a close second. More than half the trailblazers now had a race under their direction, whether they be full blown factions, sub-factions, or wards, and now it was Flynn’s turn…yet somehow he had gotten the biggest one of them all to work with.

But it wouldn’t be the last. In addition to the list of small races requesting membership in Star Force from all around their current borders, there were two other Nexus members that had expressed official interest in pursuing a change in membership and many more rumored to be considering it. When Davis had talked with him about the H’kar he’d stressed the need to have not just a well-established presence in the other end of the occupation zone, but a foothold from which more acquisitions from Nexus territory could be integrated.

In fact, the Director had told him that as the lizard threat was swept away a great many things would be changing and that if they moved quickly and decidedly they could amass a far greater standing in the expanded region…while at the same time if they botched this there would be a lot of interest in claiming the empty worlds left in the lizards’ absence. If Star Force wasn’t proactive in growing their empire others would see it as a weakness and try to move in on them. Maintaining patrols throughout the occupation zone was already a pain in the butt, though nothing compared to what could happen if word got out that Star Force couldn’t hold on to that territory.

There’d be a mad scramble from all the little guys to grab a planet or two, but it would be the larger players moving in and stubbornly staking a claim and making Star Force evict them that had Davis worried. Right now fighting the lizards was the priority, and if someone decided to move in behind them Star Force would have to pull forces away from the frontier to deal with any major threats and that would only allow the lizards to keep expanding to yet more worlds.

Annexing the H’kar had already sent a big message to the region, letting everyone know that Star Force wasn’t just evicting the lizards from their current holdings, but laying firm claim to them. The ADZ was a long way from here, so establishing another major powerbase was essential…and annexing an existing one, from The Nexus no less, had already sent a message that the neighbors were not going to ignore.

Which meant Flynn had some breathing room to work with so long as he didn’t screw this up.

But how events played out would take a long time to unfold. Right now the cargo crates were just being delivered and the small colonies of temporary, prefab structures were being erected to give his people a base to work out of. He’d been transitioning from planet to orbit daily to make use of the Prime’s sanctum and the small Clan Cybertron fleet he had in orbit. He’d be relying on them for security and his home away from home while he oversaw the army of Star Force experts that would be tearing apart the H’kar civilization and making recommendations of how to change it. The final form was left up to Flynn’s discretion, and it was the biggest challenge assigned to him to date…numbers wise, anyway. Compared to fighting the Black Knight though, this would be relatively easy. It’d just affect far more people than his personal training did.

With all that in mind and on his metaphorical shoulders, he’d decided the best thing to do was snub it all and take his time, so while the cargo and personnel transfer was taking place at a rapid pace he was off and running across the empty landscape on a casual workout while his lungs adjusted to the alien air without the filtration his armor helmet normally gave him.

The air wasn’t bad, just had a few additional elements to the oxygen/nitrogen mix, most notably of which was helium. There wasn’t enough to make him talk squeaky, but it did give the air a different taste to it that his lungs could attest to…but really the biggest challenge was the heat that was continually increasing as the day progressed.

It was a mild challenge and one that Flynn embraced as he sweated out what felt like half his body weight on some 15 or so miles crisscrossing the plain before he eventually circled back around to the now larger makeshift colony as yet more structures were popping up in minutes as they were unfolded and assembled by an all Star Force crew that was a mix of Humans, Bsidd, and Kiritak. The structures weren’t much good against weaponsfire, but they’d hold up against the weather and provide quick working and living space for the arriving crews. Everything Star Force built was durable, but there was no substitute for proper infrastructure and he’d have to wait on that for later. Right now he and his team would make do with the ‘Lego’ substitutes.

When Flynn got back he found the nearest water station and gulped down the cool liquid for what felt like minutes before he finally gasped and got his breathing back under control. This planet was harsh to Humans, and he knew the Kiritas wouldn’t fare much better. The Bsidd could handle the heat fairly well, but he was going to need to keep everyone’s external exposure limited to shorter spans than normal. And on top of that, he was going to need to get baselines on the H’kar as well. Just because this was their original homeworld didn’t mean those coming here would immediately acclimate to it. Flynn knew their body chemistry favored higher temperatures, but he needed to know just how high and if they’d have any adverse effects before he started them on exterior work crews.

That was going to put a wrinkle in his plans, but it was just one of thousands of small decisions that needed to be made and why a trailblazer was necessary for this kind of work. He literally held the fate of trillions of people in his hands, even if they weren’t all here. The repercussions of what he did would flow outward through their civilization, with it eventually reaching even the H’kar in the Nexus territories. Right now though he needed to start getting those volunteers coming here trained, and he’d planned to do it with basic work crews led by Star Force vets.

They wouldn’t be doing anything more than moving around supplies and basic Star Force construction and prep, maybe taking over some of the recycling duties immediately, but the point was to get some H’kar indoctrinated into Star Force protocols via field work. Though now he’d have to make an environmental checklist before sending them out there for any extended period of time.

Flynn grabbed a quick shower as he thought through his next twenty steps, then donned a uniform and his ViLord armor before heading back out. He’d already got a bit of a sunburn, but that just gave him a chance to work on his Sesspik skills, though he didn’t want to add to the light damage right now or anytime in the future and those twin suns in the sky pumped a lot of energy down to the planet through the pristine clear skies.

His armor solved that problem, along with keeping him moderately cool despite the heat as he headed back out and roamed the construction sites and improvised landing zones. He found his Kiritas work crew chief and explained the environmental concerns, outlining the testing he wanted to have happen before any of the H’kar were put to work. With their usual efficiency, the Kiritas got to work on it immediately as Flynn continued his rounds and helped some Bsidd with the unloading of a H’kar transport that was bringing in the first shipment of raw materials, all of which was loaded up into varying sizes of hexagonal crates.

Flynn used some of his muscle power on them as he got a feel for the area and the mood of everyone involved, though most of his attention was on the H’kar. They were staying on their ships for the most part, but the first batch of worker recruits were offloading into some of the temporary structures that Flynn’s people had already set up and he wanted to get a feel for them, so he passed a few more crates along then headed over and observed the Star Force handlers giving them instructions and teaching them how to use Star Force tools.

Or rather reteaching them. Everyone here had already been instructed prior to arrival, but this was the first time they’d actually be getting their hands on most of the equipment. It was all basic stuff, but still different from what they were used to using. Flynn sensed some confusion but all the H’kar seemed eager to get to work reclaiming their homeworld, so no trouble there.

“Archon,” he heard someone say, turning around to see a Bsidd almost twice his height looking down at him.

“Yes?”

“Please come with me.”

Riley frowned as he sensed a problem, but followed the Bsidd out and across several fields of stacked crates until they got to one area abandoned of lifters who had moved on. One of the crates had been opened to start feeding the H’kar their native food and the Bsidd pulled out a package and tossed it to Flynn.

“You’re right, this is meat,” he said with a scowl at the dried up and shriveled sticks. “Probably that vat-grown crap the Royals came up with.”

“They are already eating it.”

Flynn sighed. “How much of their food supply is this?”

“Most from what my people can tell.”

“Those sneaky bastards. They’re trying to get us to use it now out of necessity in order to argue later that it’s acceptable.”

“What is their purpose?” the Bsidd asked. “Eating flesh is…disgusting.”

“Agreed, but some people like the idea of subordinating primitive races by eating them. Even if this is artificially grown the purpose is still the same…to prop up their egos.”

“What do you wish done with it?”

“Confiscate it all and get me an inventory on what they brought that isn’t meat. Right now it looks like we’re going to find out how much of our food they can stomach. If the notes are correct we should be able to use some foodstuffs, but there could be transitional problems.”

“Meaning it could make them sick even if they can digest it.”

“Possibly. We haven’t had much of a chance to study H’kar. Only a few diplomats that bothered to eat our food. I’ve got the list of things they ate, but most of the time they kept to their own rations.”

“Are there none in Axius?”

“No, there aren’t. Most of our interactions have been on the warfront and their membership in The Nexus discouraged tech sharing, so…” Flynn said, facepalming in his armor as he looked up at the equally armored Bsidd. “My fault. I should have taken care of this sooner rather than trusting them to supply their own rations. They’re trying to break down our scruples by putting us in this situation, so our mission is not to cave. I want all the meat rounded up and stacked on…pad 18. I’ll divert the traffic elsewhere. I’ll get a bigger incinerator prioritized for setup, then we’ll have the H’kar carry the meat over to it personally for disposal. Make sure no one does it for them.”

“Understood. But what of the incoming shipments?”

“I’ll have to send a courier back, I can’t go myself. In the meantime we’ll have to rush additional bioharvest facilities here.”

“What of the meat presumably onboard their ships?”

“We’ll get to that, but right now it’s what’s on the surface that’s the problem. It’s in our custody, and I think the Royals want to see us using it…so we’re not. As long as the H’kar don’t have living beings on their ships that they’re slaughtering to eat, they can munch on the stuff up their as long as they like. But when it comes on our turf, it’s a no go.”

The Bsidd nodded, a Human expression that they’d picked up long ago. “Do you want the crates emptied or left intact?”

“Open them and arrange for baskets so the H’kar know what it is they’re carrying. When you don’t see it, it’s easy to imagine it’s anything other than someone’s body parts, cooked and prepped however they may be.”

“I don’t understand how that is possible.”

“Fortunately you never lived in a civilization that ate meat. I did. You’re trained and tricked into thinking it’s food, and often berated if you ask any questions to the contrary. I know how to handle this situation, trust me.”

“We always trust our Archon.”

Flynn affectionately tapped the Bsidd on one of its many mandibles. “We’ll get these guys broken in, but we don’t compromise in order to do it. They’re joining us, not the other way around. They do it 100% our way. If you or the others get any grief over that, let me know. I’ve developed a talent for skull bashing that leaves the target alive but wiser in the aftermath.”

The Bsidd laughed, a single huff as he moved on to get to work carrying out his orders. Meanwhile Flynn accessed the comm system via his helmet and put a call into his Clan Cybertron fleet in orbit.

“Captain Menti, I need you to run a message for me to the H’kar relay line at Winma.”

2

December 2, 3402

Solar System

Earth

“Oh god,” Lara-379 said, dropping to the training mat with her hand on her head.

“What?” Aaron asked. “I didn’t think I hit you that hard.”

“No…” she said, grinding her teeth as Aaron finally felt around what little of her mind was accessible beyond the Ikrid blocks and caught the telltale instability of an ascension prompt.

“How many tier 2s do you have?” he asked suspiciously.

“26,” she said, looking up at him with worry in her eyes, “and I’m not letting this one go.”

Aaron closed his for a moment, then blinked and looked at her again. “Regenerator is on the way. I’ll help you all I can,” he said, holding up his hand in front of her.

Lara grabbed it and slapped his palm against her shoulder before dropping to all fours on the ground and looking down at the mat in the advanced training group’s private facility. She and the others had been working towards this for centuries. To date only one tier 2 psionic still evaded them, Mebvat, and she figured this was it…or a much more powerful tier 3. They were still stuck at 4 of 8 there, so either way whatever this was it was going to be a breakthrough.

Cascade effect was a huge concern for everyone in the advanced training group and Lara was going to stretch out this ascension as long as she could, but she wasn’t going to release it. That was a very bad idea but if there was a regenerator on the way she could choose to suffer whatever pain would ensue in order to give the Archons access to this new psionic. They could be patient then, but she was going to get this one now…and she knew she was going to regret that decision, but she stubbornly pushed ahead anyway.

With Aaron’s physical touch bypassing her Ikrid blocks, his presence in her mind provided a stabilizing rod that she centered herself on and kept the instability spinning around it at a more or less controlled rate. She lost herself in the moment and ended up spending hours on the mat without realizing the time or sensing the others gathering around her. All she could see was the soft padding beneath her when she bothered to open her eyes, and Aaron was the only person whose presence she could sense as the hurricane of adjustments her mind/body was trying to make before the flash growth clouded out everything else.

And this was exactly why ascensions had to be voluntary. If this happened in the field she’d be incapacitated, so the ability to shut it down was vitally needed. If she was prudent she’d shut it down here and now when her control began to slip, then wait for the ascension to randomly return in the coming days, weeks, or perhaps years…but Lara wasn’t having any of that. She’d get herself as prepped as possible now, with Aaron’s help holding her focus far longer than she could have done otherwise, but when the choice was forced upon her she was going to go for it.

Aaron knew that too, so he did everything he could to help center her without squashing the instability altogether. It kept changing as the minutes passed, but eventually it started to wither and he felt Lara begin stoking it. Her efforts stalled a bit longer but he sensed it was about to shut down on its own unless she went all in…which is exactly what she did when the second gen thought she couldn’t hold it any longer.

Aaron let go and stepped back, then a moment later Lara fell all the way down on the mat and began convulsing in pain so obvious he didn’t even need to feel the waves of it coming off her. She screamed multiple times out loud in addition to the torrent of telepathic pain flowing off her. Aaron blocked it out of his mind for the most part and just waited, unable to do anything to help her as she thrashed around on the mat for a long two minutes before finally passing out and lying still.

He knelt down beside her and grabbed her bare arm, connecting to her and finding that her heartrate was barely registering. A quick look at her status told him that she’d gone too far, and had it not been for the Uzti healing upgrade she already possessed it might very well have killed her. Right now he could see massive damage throughout her body as bone fragments had been sent out like shrapnel into the surrounding tissues, and he knew on instinct that wasn’t supposed to have happened. The files in the pyramid hadn’t mentioned this possible side effect and he knew something had gone terribly wrong.

Her brain was also damaged, for her skull had imploded with tiny slivers of bone. They hadn’t gone too deep, but Aaron could tell that she’d received permanent damage even as the new bones that had been formed in the process gleamed like gold from his mental perspective, but their price of acquisition had been too high…and for some reason Aaron doubted that delaying the ascension would have helped to prevent this.

“Now,” Aaron said to the medtech that was standing by.

He didn’t hesitate, slapping the shiny regenerator onto her neck and seeing it melt into action instantly. From Aaron’s point of view he saw the tiny tendrils expanding out into her body, sensing and repairing the damage done, and with each one that contacted a piece of shrapnel he saw the bone just melt away as it was disassembled and the mass applied elsewhere in her body as needed.

Bit by bit the shards were removed and the surrounding tissues repaired, then the device flowed back into its normal shape and dropped off Lara’s neck, though she was still unconscious.

“Med bay,” Aaron said, picking her up and carrying her in his arms. “I need full scans and documentation.”

“They screwed up,” Vortison said regretfully as he studied a wall full of very small data entries in his lab as Lara slept elsewhere. “There’s no way around it. This is clearly a cascade malfunction and no amount of prep work is going to fix it.”

“Meaning it’ll happen to us if we share?” Aaron asked.

“Most definitely. A padawan might avoid it if it’s one of the first psionics attained, but all of you have far too much tissue where it’s not supposed to be. The Jumat nodules within her bones are primarily responsible for the fracturing, but even if you reverse the order I’m positive that there are going to be other consequences that the Zak’de’ron did not take into account.”

“How will the Jumat develop if the Mebvat comes first?”

“I would hope that is something they foresaw given that a tier 2 is expected to come before a tier 3, but my biggest concern with that is the new Jumat tissue acting like a pressure wedge and splitting the bones. It’s a small possibility, but after seeing this I’m not counting on the Zak’de’ron’s wisdom any longer.”

“Could time be an issue?”

“Because you’re attaining them faster? No. This is straight up bad planning. Maybe they never tested it in a subject or were going to wait and monitor as Zen’zat advanced and make modifications when problems occur, but this genetic package has flaws in it. There’s no denying that now.”

“Damn it,” Aaron said, rubbing his chin as he paced around the lab. After all this time he and the other trailblazers had come to trust in the scientific wizardry of the V’kit’no’sat and especially the Zak’de’ron, but it seemed they weren’t deserving of it any more…which was probably due to Star Force becoming a peer and beginning to peel back the perceptual curtain of invincibility.

“Or maybe they did,” Aaron added as a thought occurred to him. “With their own Zen’zat.”

Vortison raised an eyebrow. “Leaving the standard V’kit’no’sat versions with the original code and no updates? That’s conceivable, but I don’t think they’re going to be interested in sharing with us.”

“No, we’re on our own. Can you fix this?”

“Given time,” Vortison said carefully, “yes, I think I can. I’m close to being able to trigger the remaining tier 3s manually, Lara just beat me to the remaining tier 2.”

“Oh?” Aaron said, with that being news to him.

“I don’t want to make mistakes, so I’m being careful and patient, but I am getting close. Fixing this current problem is another matter entirely. I’m going to have to write new code.”

Aaron knew what that meant, and it wasn’t good for the short term.

5 weeks later…

Lara jumped up over a 4 meter high wall using a combination of her Kex and Yetu, just sliding her body over the top with nothing touching save for a guiding hand as she flipped over and landed in a crouch on the far side. She stumbled a bit, but managed to get into a run fairly quick and dove into a chute that led into a slide that took her down two levels before dumping her out into pool that she had to swim across, half of which was underground with no air available above, forcing her to hold her breath.

She came out dripping wet but burst back into a run and began working her way through moving obstacles that forced her to use her agility and quick reflexes. Lara messed up once and got punched backward two meters, but she recovered and got back at it as if nothing had occurred. Aaron was waiting for her at the finish line of the obstacle course and as soon as she slapped her hand down on the finish pedestal her calm demeanor vanished as she summoned up a Jumat blast on her right arm and threw it against the sidewall with an audible ‘whack’ that cracked the material ever so slightly.

“Aaron, fuck this! It’s gone, not suppressed, gone!”

“I know,” he said calmly, which only seemed to elicit a backlash from her as she pitted him with a hateful stare.

“And the worst part is, apparently I didn’t do it to myself. If Vortison is right, I was screwed before the ascension even started. I lost 400 years of training, Aaron. 400 years!” she yelled, but he knew her anger wasn’t with him, and soon the rage reversed itself into despair and she collapsed to the ground with tears welling up.

He walked over and sat down next to her, sliding an arm around her waist and holding her snug against him. “You took the hit for us. We should have got to it first.”

Lara sniffed. “So a second gen finally beats you…and this is the reward I get.”

Aaron closed his eyes as he locked down his own emotions. She didn’t need any more bouncing around inside her than her own right now. The damage done to her body had set her back considerably, even after being healed, but it was the damage to her brain had done the worst of it. Tissue could be regrown, but the skills and knowledge in it could not. The parts of her brain that had been torn by the bone shards were now blank and cutting into her skills in random places. She could relearn what she’d lost, but it was going to take time. A lot of time.

“Next time you see a dragon, feel free to punch him.”

She welled up more and leaned into his shoulder. “It’s not fair. I can’t even pass the titan trials. I’m mage 478. ViLord 29 to mage 478,” she said with a teary cringe. “And I can’t even blame myself. It was a damn genetic booby trap. That’s not…fair.”

She wasn’t complaining, Aaron knew. She was just venting what she was feeling and giving her the opportunity was about all he could do for her. Aaron could understand what was going on inside, for it was the same thing that he’d be experiencing had he gotten to Mebvat before her. All that time, all those workouts, all those battlefield missions…if they were a square of experience, for Lara her square was now filled with shotgun holes. Some of her abilities were still ViLord level, but others had fallen so far it had pulled her ranking down all the way to mage, for the Archon levels were comprehensive, not additive.

Worse still, she didn’t have any unaffected subsets. Each of the main 5 divisions was compromised and a lot of the underlying categories were as well. Even her balance had been affected, which Aaron hoped she’d recover more quickly, but he could tell that wasn’t happening either. Her workout had been glitchy, and she was probably going to remain glitchy for a very long time going forward. Her body and mind were no longer the same, and the path back to her former ViLord form would have to be a different one…and one that none of the others had traveled before.

Sure, some of them had been seriously injured and lost levels that they had to regain, but nothing like this had ever occurred. They’d been physical weaknesses, not mental gaps. One moment Lara would be operating as a ViLord, then something would change and she’d be back on a lower level. That was probably what was bothering her the most. She had a foot in both worlds and was spanning titan level at the same time, not allowing her to be able to root herself and start climbing again.

“It could have been worse,” Aaron said, feeling her anger return, but he soothed it away with a brush of her forehead. “Listen to me. You got hit hard, but it could have been a lot worse. The Regenerator could have put you back together if you died, but you could have been all the way back to civie level. Even maturia level. It could have been a lot worse, and I’m glad you’ve held on to as much as you have. You don’t have to be thankful for that, but I am.”

“No need for you to feel guilty.”

Aaron shrugged. “We’re supposed to figure everything out and pass it on to you guys.”

She laughed a sad snort. “So I get fragged and now I’m my own version of trailblazer?”

“You’re going to have to be to recover from this. There’s no training precedent to pattern off of.”

“Figures,” she said, hiding her face in his shoulder again.

“I know it wasn’t your choice, but thank you,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “Thanks for taking the hit and sparing us from it.”

“It’s not fair…” she muttered and kept randomly repeating as she continued to cry. “It’s not fair.”

3

April 3, 3428

Denichor System (H’kar Region)

Karrach

Flynn read the status reports coming in from the Nexus half of H’kar territory detailing the problems in the region. He had Archons there overseeing the slow conversion of those worlds and the training programs they’d begun to set up to prep volunteers before they were transferred back here, and from what they were telling him there was something major going on in The Nexus. Support patrols had been pulled back from the region entirely…though that wasn’t unexpected…but the lawlessness that had sprung up in the interim was rather shocking.

Flynn had sent a mixed H’kar/Bsidd fleet out to begin reestablishing the patrols and putting some order to the chaos, but there was too much territory for them to cover. They’d secure the areas around H’kar systems but the greater region was lost, and not just to one faction, but hundreds of them working with various agendas that The Nexus had suppressed to some extent, with only now Flynn realizing just how much they’d been holding together, whether through real strength or sheer intimidation.

Whatever the cause, once they’d officially withdrawn from the area now that the H’kar were no longer members, a stretch of some 800 lightyears long and 400 wide was completely out of control. Piracy was rampant and several local wars had broken out. Flynn knew that something needed to be done but he didn’t have the resources to do it. The bulk of the H’kar fleet was still fighting lizards along the inside border and reclaiming worlds, and should he redirect them to secure the surrounding territories he’d only be extending one problem in exchange for suppressing another.

In order to deal with this anarchy Star Force would have to come in and start annexing systems or negotiating/leveraging deals. Davis had warned him something like this could be coming and told him to focus on solidifying the H’kar’s position, but it was the news leaking into the H’kar territory through previous Nexus contacts that had him the most worried.

One of the Nexus member races had lost a major battle resulting in a chunk of 40 or so star systems going into open rebellion. The Meintre had formerly owned one of those systems but it had fallen in a very bloody battle to the Verrma, one of the races that existed within The Nexus’s domain without being part of that alliance or under their rule. For whatever reason they’d decided to strike and had done so effectively, taking out the primary control rod in that region and sweeping up the rest with little effort.

Worst of all was the effect on the surrounding region, for it was beginning to fall into chaos like what was happening near the H’kar, telling Flynn that the locals didn’t think The Nexus would be coming back to oust the Verrma. That, or if they did they’d be so busy with them not to notice or care about anyone else.

The reports continued on to mention instability scattered across other parts of The Nexus. Nothing so large as to take it down, but disturbing news none the less and an incessant reminder as to why he needed to solidify the H’kar into a Star Force stabilizing rod for the immediate region and to send the firm message that they were not going to be as tolerant as The Nexus when it came to bad behavior on the part of their neighbors.

The trouble was the timing. Karrach was rebuilding rapidly and the supply convoys coming in from the Nexus half of H’kar territory was fueling it to no end. Already Flynn had established feeder colonies in five surrounding systems to harvest local resources and funnel them here, while he likewise funneled trained personnel and equipment to them. The H’kar net was beginning to be stretched out and would only snowball going forward now that he’d eliminated the problem of the Royals. His Archons now ruled in their place in the distant systems and the H’kar populace seemed to appreciate the change.

They were also aware of what was happening around them and wanted to hold on to their current systems in addition to reclaiming those that had been lost. If they could do that their empire would be far larger than pre-lizard invasion, not to mention with all the interconnecting systems between the two that Flynn needed to at least establish a link through. Right now those systems were still lizard occupied, though they really couldn’t do anything about convoys passing through so long as they were well armed.

The rift between the two H’kar territories would shrink over time, but Flynn had a lot of empty systems to fill and too few H’kar to do it. Trained H’kar, anyway, for he wasn’t using their existing population for much more than resource production and fighting the lizards. Their military had already learned how to work under the Star Force system so he wasn’t overly concerned about them, but he knew if he just started mixing the standard civilians in with the new H’kar infrastructure that it would come back to bite him. In addition to rebuilding the planet he had to rework the H’kar culture, which meant putting everyone through indoctrination before they could take part in the activities here.

All the H’kar working on Karrach were now Star Force H’kar, but the bulk of the H’kar population was still in Nexus mode and he only had so many indoctrination facilities to work with. More were being built in both H’kar regions and maturias were full to the brim as it was. Progress was being made, and being made rapidly, but digesting such a large civilization was not something that happened in a handful of decades. This was a century-long endeavor…at minimum, and that was assuming the trailblazer would troubleshoot effectively all the little snafus as they arose while simultaneously crafting a new identity for the very large and very proud race.

There was a reason a trailblazer had been assigned this task, for no Duke, let alone an Administrator could have handled it…and he had many of the latter working with him already. His former Clan Marquis, Emma Triol, was now assigned to him as Duke Triol and tasked with helping him manage this mess of a transition along with half a dozen Barons Davis had sent his way. All of them were incredibly valuable, but he was in the hot seat and dictating the tasks they then went about carrying out. The fate of the H’kar was on his shoulders, but it was the rest of the surrounding galaxy that he was truly concerned about.

Not only were there threats within The Nexus’s domain that they kept suppressed, there were also threats outside of it that were perched and apparently waiting to strike if they saw a weakness. Not to take down the entire Nexus, but to claim a chunk of their territory here and there. Defending the grid point system was The Nexus’s highest priority and a potentially fatal weakness, for if they lost one their empire in that region would inevitably crumble due to the sheer size of the territory The Nexus oversaw…and their enemies knew that all too well.

Ironically Star Force now possessed a piece of that grid point system. The H’kar had built one, with the assistance of the stronger Nexus races long ago and now it was in the hands of Star Force. The link was maintained and traffic continued to flow, but the reports that kept coming in from his Archons in charge of the rimward territory were documenting an increase of traffic, some of which was not destined for H’kar worlds. They were transitioning through the lizard territories in order to get to the ADZ and the occupation zone expansions, taking the slow route given the fact that Star Force hadn’t taken up the Nexus’s offer of their allowing an addition to the grid point system to be created in or near the ADZ.

Looking at the huge map that now covered all of Star Force’s territory and influence, it was painfully obvious what needed to be done. Absent the grid point system the fastest means of travel across chunks of the galaxy was to find clear space lanes between black holes. Star Force had several marked and used them infrequently to get to H’kar territory and from there access the rest of The Nexus, but they’d never laid claim to them. Given the increased instability within The Nexus, Flynn knew they had to take possession of several and begin establishing quicker routes from the grid point they possessed back to the ADZ, for going through the coreward part of H’kar territory was a big detour and that was where he was going to be developing the interconnectivity for the H’kar’s sake.

Running through numerous permutations and appending the reports, Flynn composed a holographic message for Davis and sent it off through their piecemeal communications network via a courier that would get it back to the nearest firm link in the relay grid that would bounce it all the way back to Earth…or wherever else the Director might be at the moment.

The Sety ambassador was escorted to the chamber via a single Knight straight from the landing pad in Atlantis to which he’d been summoned from their embassy in Epsilon Eridani. The tree-like alien walked inside expecting either trouble or something momentous, for it was rare to be called to Earth, from which he and the other representatives of foreign civilizations were banned.

“You summoned me for a purpose,” the Sety said as he walked inside and over to the table where Davis already sat. “What is it?”

The Star Force Director waited until the diplomat took its seat on the other side of the very small table that he’d ordered put in for this occasion. When the Knight shut the door only the two of them were left in the otherwise large chamber with Davis leaning back in his chair in a stiff but somewhat irreverent manner.

“I need to know what’s really going on in The Nexus.”

“A great many things, as always. To what specifically do you refer?”

“Your crumbling control…and do not deny it, I can see into your mind. You may not be told everything, but I need to know what you know.”

“If I cannot hide secrets from you, and the purpose of my coming here was to give you the chance to peer into my mind, why bother with my explaining?”

“My skills are not that advanced, though I can bring in someone whose are if needed. That shouldn’t be necessary between neighbors and business partners.”

The Sety shifted in its seat, crackling its rough skin as it bent. “As you said, they do not always tell me everything, but from what I know it does not concern Star Force and is merely an interior matter.”

“I have reports to the contrary. Explain what you know and we’ll take it from there.”

“It’s simply a matter of logistics. Too few patrol ships mean we deal with the greatest threats and don’t always have time to get to the little ones. As a result there is always some level of lawlessness within The Nexus’s domain. Recent times have seen an increase in this.”

“Have you seen the reports of traffic flow coming into our territory?”

“Should I have?”

“They’re increasing. Not dramatically, not yet, but you and I need to come to an arrangement before what could be a flood of refugees head this way.”

“You make it sound like you believe The Nexus is on the verge of collapse.”

“Is it?”

“Most assuredly not.”

“As a whole?”

“I will admit some small regions are in disarray, but the mass of Nexus territory is secure.”

“One of those small regions surrounds the H’kar.”

“When they withdrew their memberships our patrols in that region ceased. We no longer have a claim to it and rightly pulled back our forces to help secure other locations that still remained within our domain.”

“Sloppy.”

“Necessary,” the Sety countered.

“How many other regions are you pulling back from?”

“A handful that I know of. As you said, I’m not informed of everything. I’m told what I need to know regarding this assignment and what happens involving Star Force territory. Our recent acquisitions here are progressing smoothly, that I can assure you.”

“And our handling of the H’kar grid point?”

“I’ve received no complaints. Are you implementing a change in policy?”

“No, I’m not. I wanted you here to discuss future problems. Is this instability within The Nexus expected to continue?”

“The cause is a lack of necessary fleet strength. Until that is resolved, we will not be able to regain full control.”

“What is causing the lack?”

“Attrition, pure and simple.”

“Is there a plan to counter this?”

“I’m sure there is, but I’m not privy to it.”

Davis waved a hand and a holographic map formed between them. He telepathically scaled it down to the region desired with the H’kar making up a small block in an otherwise hefty rectangle that extended almost from the top of the galactic plane to the bottom.

“I believe this region is seeing a large amount of unrest, correct?”

“I don’t have a full accounting of disturbances, but there are several hot spots within this area.”

“My sources tell me your major Nexus fleets have reduced in size by more than half here, leaving the denizens quite upset. Many of which have already expressed interest in joining Star Force.”

“You believe we’re prematurely withdrawing from the region?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to accept their petitions for membership?”

“Possibly.”

“And you wish us to maintain our fleet strength to safeguard them until such a time as the transfer is made?”

“No. I want to help you get out early.”

The Sety was taken aback. “Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I don’t want The Nexus to fall apart and leave the outer rim in chaos. The Sety and the other major races save for the Gfatt have no worlds there, and they have only one. The Tolsoi are a moderately strong member, if I read your civilization disposition correctly?”

“They are the pillar on which this region is based.”

“But they still require outside backing to handle the current local threats?”

“Most subregions do.”

Davis adjusted the map again, highlighting the black holes within both Star Force territory and the near side of The Nexus. Not all of them held jumplines to others, for matters of distance, size, or stuff being in the way. Some were useable by Star Force and not by others now that their gravity drives were nearing V’kit’no’sat levels of speed and accuracy, but others were highways used by thousands of races regularly. Some were guarded by local races while most were unclaimed.

“I need you to start routing all Nexus traffic coming into Star Force territory through these two trade routes,” Davis said, highlighting a few of the black hole lines and connecting them with regular jumps that seemed pathetically short in comparison. “We will be securing them shortly in order to preserve transit rights, rather than to constrict or tax them. As it stands now a lot of your ships are moving through lizard territory and we’re starting to hear that some aren’t making it through. Whether these are lizards picking them off or others simply poaching in their territory we can’t confirm yet, but as more and more traffic is starting to come this way we need to channel it properly and protect whoever it is moving back and forth between our empires.”

“Reasonable,” the Sety agreed. “Though slightly longer in distance traveled.”

“Safe is better than fast, and it’s a far shorter route than going through H’kar territory to avoid as much lizard space as possible. We’ll cut safe corridors through ahead of the rest of the invasion, but I need you to see that they’re used.”

“I can only relay the request, but I see no reason why it wouldn’t be heeded. We have a growing investment in Star Force territory and maintaining secure transit pathways is essential without the presence of a grid point to expedite matters.”

“We’re not going to go to the expense of building one when we have so many other projects that require current resources,” Davis reiterated an old sticking point, “and I know neither the Sety nor The Nexus as a whole is going to fund the creation of one. As it is, I don’t think you’ve built an addition in a very long time.”

“As you said, it requires a great deal of resources.”

“That you need for warships?”

“Among other things.”

“While we are not going to build one, we will go to the expense of moving one…or rather a pair, as it were.”

“Move one?”

“Let’s just be blunt,” Davis said, pointing at the map. “You’re getting out of this entire region sooner or later. You can’t outright abandon it because of your member states, and if you did that’d send a signal to all the other ones that they might also be on the chopping block. You’ve based your alliance on the necessity of backing each other up, but you’re finding yourselves unable to do that on an adequate level everywhere so you’re trimming off forces here and there and trying to make up for the shortfall.”

“You have a suggestion to make?”

“You need a plan of action, and I have one…a bold one.”

“I’m listening.”

“I know the Meintre lost a valuable system.”

“They did.”

“And I suspect that entire subregion is about to be lost.”

“No. My information says we’re mounting a countering force sometime in the near future. The Meintre are too valuable to let fall.”

Davis pointed at the Star Force section of the map. “Bring them here.”

The Sety looked confused. “I don’t understand. You want the evacuees?”

“No, relocate their entire civilization here.”

“The loss of existing infrastructure…no, that is insane.”

“You’re going to lose it anyway in battle soon enough,” Davis pointed out, then remained silent to let that sink in.

“You do not strike me as unwise or unreasonable. Speak your plan.”

“A lot of your most advanced warships are used to guard the grid points. You can’t let them fall or entire regions will be cut off from quick reinforcements. You don’t have the local industry for them to support themselves so your powerbase flows out of the strongest regions and you use the grid points to carry it to wherever needed. If the grid point in Meintre territory is moved, then Star Force will take responsibility for its protection, thus freeing up a huge amount of your warfleet to put to use elsewhere.”

The Sety considered that for a moment. “But that would also require stranding the Meintre…or moving them here. The cost of doing that will be so expensive that the Meintre will be gutted just as assuredly as they would be if they were destroyed.”

“Not true,” Davis said, holding up a finger for emphasis. “They will be weakened, but they will be able to regrow under our protection and send ships back to The Nexus to assist in securing other regions. I am not asking them to join Star Force. I am offering them territory within ours…subject to standing agreement protocols…and the protection of our fleets. The grid point will become our property, located in a nearby system with easy access for the Meintre, and the other end of it will be located in H’kar space.”

“Giving Star Force territory its link into the grid point system,” the Sety said guardedly.

“Which will allow you greater access and provide a quick means of support from the Meintre once they rebuild. It will take time to see benefits, but the clock will be in your favor.”

“We will have to abandon the Meintre region altogether.”

“From the reports I’m seeing, you’re going to lose it anyway. And we might end up getting the refugees from it eventually, though it is quite far from here if the grid point linkage goes down. But I’m not finished yet,” Davis added. “All these member races and their subregions,” he said, referring back to those along the H’kar border and easily doubling the total territory Star Force controlled/oversaw to date, “will be annexed by Star Force simultaneously. We don’t have the resources to safeguard them, but we do have the Archons. They can take command and use the local defense forces to better effect than you are, and we can supplement them in some small ways while The Nexus forces that are not local withdraw to other assignments…such as helping the Meintre hold on long enough to evacuate.”

The Sety looked at him disbelievingly. For The Nexus that piece of territory was a mere crumb compared to the rest, but it was a huge territory grab for a civilization as small as Star Force…and he didn’t think they had a chance in a million of holding it.

“The Archons can,” Davis insisted, peeking into his thoughts.

“You think your commanders are that good?”

“I know they are, and a lot of these races have already expressed some level of interest, officially or unofficially, of either joining us or forming some type of alliance. They see The Nexus’s ability to safeguard them crumbling, and I think it would be better if you backed out on good terms rather than pulling out as the region collapses.”

“To help us save face?”

“If your reputation is holding other threats at bay, then yes. It’s a weapon you can’t afford to lose.”

“And you said you would cover the cost of relocating the grid points?”

“While you cover the cost of the Meintre relocation. We’ll provide the planets cost free, but the rest is up to you to build or relocate from their existing worlds.”

“The amount of cargo ships required for that would be staggering.”

“Which is why we need secure routes prior to the grid point system being moved. That will have to occur last.”

“They are so large I do not know how you would go about moving them in any efficient manner.”

“We’re good at solving tech problems. We can handle it and prop up this region, allowing you to withdraw and the Meintre to rebuild in isolation from the rest of The Nexus’s threats even as they’re being systematically destroyed. Given time, if you can hold on long enough, their regrowth can help supplement and stabilize your patrol fleets.”

The Sety looked at the map again, then back at Davis.

“I will relay your proposal, but to give them as much information as possible, for the sake of consideration only, let’s negotiate in theory the details of this agreement…starting with the security of the evacuation routes.

4

August 2, 3429

Ollo System (lizard territory)

Tella

The lizard jumpship sat in stellar orbit briefly as it dispatched three cruisers, then it left the system after transmitting a message to the single inhabited planet of Tella. The lizards on the world accepted the announcement of couriers arriving and met with two of the cruisers in orbit to exchange crews and transmit mastermind markers while the third cruiser headed down to the surface. It was granted access through lowered planetary shields and wisp patrols, finally landing at one of the lizard spaceports with a stream of standard variants pouring out.

A lizard administrator and two librarians were awaiting them along with a host of their own standard variants, but when a much larger lizard appeared coming down the ramp off the cruiser they all flinched. They’d been told a courier was coming, not a mastermind.

The largest of all the lizards casually walked across the wide landing pad with his phalanx of escorts as the administrator moved to intercept his path…which was not headed for him.

“We were not told of your arrival,” he apologized as he came up alongside the escorts, but neither they nor the mastermind stopped walking to address him. “What are your orders?”

“Cease all outgoing transmissions from this system. Hold all ships that arrival until I give orders for them to be released,” the mastermind said while barely looking at the administrator.

The tall but thin lizard gestured to one of the librarians and it began to catalog and transmit the order.

“All Star Force vessels are to be considered neutral from this point forward. If one arrives in this system it is to be ignored. I have come to an arrangement that will spare this world. They will not land on the surface, and we will not engage or hinder them in any way in space. See to it that agreement is not violated, administrator.”

“It will be done.”

The mastermind stopped and extended a hand towards the administrator, who brushed his own against it to receive the mastermind’s mark.

“A great many things are changing, and we have to retool quickly in order to serve our purpose. I need a full report on system logistics.”

The administrator turned to the other librarian who was already tapping orders onto a handheld device. “You will have it shortly. What we are retooling?”

“With the agreement made with Star Force we no longer have to worry about the security of this system. We are retooling into an aggressive industrial expansion per the protocols I will be supplying.”

“Our resource base is currently thin. We’ve been relying on imports for several key items.”

“No longer. We must produce everything locally.”

“That will cause considerable delays in production.”

“That is why I am here to deal with the matter myself,” the mastermind said, deciding the conversation was finished and walking on with his phalanx as the administrator stayed put for a moment and conversed with the librarians, then the three of them moved off to begin implementing orders and readying the planet for whatever changes were to come.

And as simple as that, Star Force added another planet full of lizards to its quickly growing collection.

“Where is he?” Keev-4211 asked his command staff in a small huddle around a holographic map at the back of the bridge of his Warship-class flagship.

“Probably Lutell,” an analyst said, pointing at a dot on the map representing the star system, “but Innwest and Boulo are also possibilities. His genetic markers are in all three systems.”

“The rest of these are clean?” Keev asked, gesturing to the 28 systems in the same geographical region.

“That’s what our scouts reported.”

“Why hasn’t he claimed them all?” Keev’s padawan asked. “They’re close enough to remain in relay contact with.”

“Maybe that’s all he thinks he needs,” Captain Jarren speculated.

“They’re not acting with coordination anymore,” Keev noted. “They know they’re going to die soon, so they’re fortifying key systems to try and do as much damage as possible. There’s no need for him to spread marker instructions to these feeder systems. Their tasks are simplistic and probably beneath his notice. We’ve seen administrators run fully developed planets on their own, so I’m not surprised the rest of these systems don’t have a marker. If they stay clean their fate is certain, but we need to find out where he is. I don’t want to launch three separate attacks if we can only manage one.”

“Do you think he’s even there?” his padawan asked. “Why sacrifice himself if he can keep moving around?”

“If he’s put down markers,” the analyst suggested, “then he’s fairly well involved in the oversight. He won’t leave prematurely.”

“But he might run to one of these other systems when the fireworks start,” the Captain suggested.

Keev sighed. “We don’t have signal jammers, so we’re going to have to do this the old fashioned way. Blockade the systems, orbital bombardment to pluck their transmission capability, then we can send the masterminds down and find out exactly where this bastard is. On two worlds we won’t have to fight them to the death, but I really don’t want to have to batter my way through three planetary defense networks to get to that point. Can’t we narrow this down any more?”

“Masterminds are slippery,” the analyst reminded him. “If we didn’t have marker scouts going in we wouldn’t have been able to narrow it down to these three. I’m trusting that the Saber lizards’ intel is accurate, and this is as close as we can get based on it.”

“We could assault them in sequence and hope we guess right the first or second time,” the Captain suggested.

“No,” Keev said with an emphatic shake of his head. “We have to do this simultaneously. Even if we kill him we might not even know for sure until we sort through the rubble. If he is likely to go mobile we can’t spook him. Assuming he is on one of these three systems, we have to blockade all of them simultaneously and take out their comm capability.”

“And if he’s elsewhere?” his padawan asked.

“Then we’ll be able to tell by how they respond to our attack,” the analyst answered the Archon. “We don’t have to physically see the mastermind to know of his presence.”

“Once we confirm that we’ve got him isolated,” Keev continued, “we send out our own masterminds to the unmarked systems and assume control. If there is a mastermind hiding out on one of them then we’re screwed, because he’ll be able to spill our secret before we knock the transmitters down. But even though they could grow one for each world they don’t, so I highly doubt there are any there or just visiting without throwing down a marker.”

The Captain nodded. “We’ve got him pinned down to worlds that in the past wouldn’t have ever warranted one. That suggests he’s run before and was transplanted here rather than grown. If we assault this region piecemeal he could run again if we hit the wrong system first. I don’t like it either, but I agree with the titan. We’ve got to assault all three simultaneously.”

“We don’t have enough ships for that,” his padawan said, stating the obvious.

“Enough to blockade,” the analyst suggested, with all eyes going to her. “If we can tell by early reactions to our presence where the mastermind is, we can pull the ships from the other two systems out and concentrate our assault on just the one he is at.”

“A feint?” Keev considered. “That’s assuming we can isolate him through naval combat alone.”

The analyst shrugged. “Best suggestion I’ve got.”

“And worth a try. If we have to sit in blockade mode for a while until we get reinforcements, so be it. Our main priority is locating the mastermind. After that happens and we cut his comm lines we can proceed however we like. So…best guesses people.”

“Lutell is the obvious place,” his padawan said deviously. “So that probably means he’s not there?”

“If he has markers on three worlds, that means he’s either been to all three or sent representatives to transmit for him,” the analyst detailed. “Lutell is the most advanced and would therefore require the most oversight…but as was noted, none of these systems truly require a mastermind for operation.”

“Then what is he up to?” the Captain asked.

“Good question,” Keev echoed. “There’s always some angle in play and as far as we know they haven’t caught on to our ability to read their markers. So we know these three systems are highlighted, but he doesn’t.”

“He’s doing what he’s programmed to,” another analyst interjected. “He has little to work with so he’s trying to expand upon it before he can do anything clever.”

“Maybe,” Keev half agreed, “but they can cause trouble with very little in the right circumstances. If he is trying to build, where would he be?”

“Lutell,” the first analyst repeated.

Keev sighed. “Alright. We’ll split 50/25/25 with the bulk going to Lutell. Let’s hope we get lucky and this guy wants to go down fighting with as big a swing as possible. If he hides or runs we’re going to have a mess to deal with. Captain, pick your favorite assault ships.”

Jarren smiled. “Happy to, Archon.”

Further back in the occupation zone, the mastermind known as 118 had fully assimilated the planet of Tella to his purposes, for there hadn’t been any dissent upon his arrival. He was a mastermind and they followed his orders…it was as simple as that. Reworking the current lizard infrastructure towards what he needed was the challenge, but by the first arrival of a lizard jumpship to the system that he wasn’t confiscating, he was ready with the prerequisite amount of cargo, making his first contribution a success.

It hadn’t been assured, for creating the new factories was tiresome enough, but securing all the needed resources from the system had required additional mines off planet following a slew of mineral scouting expeditions to the rocky, lifeless worlds further out and encompassed by the asteroid field that ringed the star. He’d been lucky enough to get a few finds right away, and along with some tricky conversion methods that had come from the Sabers he was able to convert some high volume/low value materials into the more valuable ones while using replacement parts made of lesser quality materials but that would still get the job done in order to meet his first quota.

He’d been instructed that the quota wasn’t a firm requirement, but rather a benchmark to work towards. Each planet had a unique situation for the mastermind sent to it to adjust to, but the main priority for them to be here was to lock down the population while putting them to good use. There were too many lizards to be evacuated en mass, and the idea of fighting those they couldn’t move was so inefficient that it had been deemed necessary to adopt a ‘take and hold’ strategy. Perhaps one day this world would be evacuated, but for now it was going to remain in lizard hands…but the mastermind obeyed the Archons, thus this world would as well.

The lizards here didn’t know that, nor did they need to. Orders would flow through the mastermind and that was that.

When the convoy of four lizard jumpships entered the system they were easily identified as such, but their shape and coloration were different from standard varieties. They were smaller and colored blue rather than yellow/tan, but that didn’t make any difference to the comm/ID systems. Plus, if they were hostile, it would be up to 118 to determine that…and he knew they weren’t.

He granted them permission to enter and his lizard naval forces automatically accepted their presence here. When they reached low orbit they began to dispel landing craft, also of new design, that traveled down to the surface and began picking up the cargo he’d had stacked up into small mountains across several pads. Each crate contained Star Force building materials, made exactly to the specifications they required, but produced by the lizards and with their technology.

Now that this initial allotment had been reached and on time, he was able to give the lizards in orbit estimates for future production and a report of his activities here…for he hadn’t had previous contact with Star Force since his arrival. The interstellar communication device was of no use to that end given its limited range, but a recently started construction project was enlarging it so that it would be able to reach other claimed lizard worlds who could bounce the reports on to a proper Star Force receiver.

Until then he only had couriers to work with, and those were the cargo convoys that would be arriving periodically. They weren’t under his command, but they would still convey messages back and forth. His report going out stipulated that the planet was fully under his control and producing adequate amounts of the desired parts and would continue to do so until he received further orders.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t have plenty of work to do. Maintaining the quotas was the first priority, but beyond that he had a lot of building to do regardless of what the eventual fate of this planet was. More factories, more mines, and more shipyards. He’d been instructed to keep the population as low as possible, but he could grow as many as needed and he intended to do so in order to create as much mobile equipment as he could. He had the new designs and intended to add at least one jumpship to his arsenal, not to mention a few warships that he could send on back to Clan Saber for them to use however they liked.

He had operational autonomy, as any mastermind was meant to, and he intended to use his to enhance the Saber’s powerbase as much as he could while maintaining this planet’s population of lizards on site so that evacuation resources could be saved and Tella could contribute to Star Force rather than be a drain on it.

It was a worthy assignment, and his first, but it would not be his last. Someday in the future, when he’d completed enough assignments successfully, he’d earn his name. Right now only one mastermind had one, and that was their progenitor, Thrawn. 118 would get his in time, but he had to demonstrate his skills and further develop them in order to attain that hallowed level. Thrawn was far older and more experienced than him, but he also had some of his memories and his overall template. 118 was sure he’d live up to his progenitor’s example, but one thing that had become clear to both of them was that Star Force favored results over genetic predisposition…and that was something he could wholeheartedly agree with. Identical genetics often yielded differing results, his memories from Thrawn confirmed this, and if 118 was to have a name he’d have to earn it on his own merits.

And that was what he intended to do, first by meeting the cargo quotas, and then by building up this planet in a way beneficial to Clan Saber while not hampering their eventual evacuation plans. Mobile units were the key, and he planned on developing a few new variations on his own with a think tank of his scientists already working on several projects.

5

July 29, 3430

Solar System

Earth

“Do we have a deal?” Arch Duke Vectir asked Davis from across the planning table that the Director’s desk had stretched out into, taking up a bit more of the otherwise empty space in his office atop Atlantis.

“Yes, but there have been revisions that I have accepted. The courier was sent four days ago.”

“What do you need from us?” Arch Duke Hightower asked, with his counterparts from Rotunna, Zerus, and Pagaliss likewise seated around the table for this ultra-high level 5 man conference. Never could he remember a time when they were all in the same system at once, given the fact that they each oversaw one of Star Force’s primary systems. Hightower’s was just next door to Sol, but the others were quite far away with Rotunna in Beta Region, Zerus in Alpha Region, and Pagaliss in the Calavari Region.

All were still in the ADZ or close to it, however, and Star Force had grown considerably beyond that dense region, which was in point the reason why they had all been summoned back to Earth.

“The Sety want to increase the number of systems given to them so they can harbor other races beyond the Meintre, including portions of the Gfatt and Arbos. They mean to make this a part of their long term strategy, and so long as we maintain the security of the region so they can build uninterrupted, they will relocate a closer grid point pair to facilitate the transfer, then move the Meintre link to fill the gap once they’ve evacuated.”

“How aggressive is the opposition getting?” Arch Duke Karthen asked, who headed up the Bsidd faction from their capitol in Zerus, though he was Human like the other four men at the table. Most of the administrators within the Bsidd were of their race, but the highest positions required more experience and as their race grew by leaps and bounds no less than an Arch Duke was required to turn their reproductive strength away from tragedy and into a powerful advantage. The lesson of the Kiritas had been learned well, and the Bsidd had never fallen into the trap of overpopulation.

“I’m not sure, but the Sety seem to think that pulling back will buy them a great deal of time. It will look like losses, but if they’re able to withdraw a significant portion of the population and critical equipment they will be in a better position than their enemies know.”

“Until they learn of their relocation here,” Arch Duke Dante, head of the Calavari faction, pointed out.

“Without the use of the grid point system we are too far away to fall under attack, so it is a safe bet that even if they learn of it they will not be able to do anything about it.”

“What are the chances of it being compromised?”

“If it falls, The Nexus falls with it. They’ve arrayed their heaviest defenses at the grid points, which is why evacuating the Meintre and retasking their grid point to us, though in relay, will save them having to fortify that position.”

“Do we have a route laid out?” Hightower asked.

“It won’t be coming to the ADZ, but since we have options of where to settle the Meintre we’ve had a chance to run probabilities,” Davis said when he highlighted four systems in the occupation zone, each of which was within 200 lightyears of the others. “There are the most geographically probable routes. There are others, but gravitational forces will reduce distance viability. The grid point will be our possession and not in a Meintre system, but they will have to be located adjacent to it.”

“And these others immigrants?” Vectir asked.

“The Sety have said that they will not be establishing civilian colonies, but rather work camps. Once the grid point network is extended to us they will be shipping in only essential workers and maintain that limited population. They want to make this a shipbuilding endeavor, not a colonial one. With the Meintre they don’t have a choice, their civilian population has to go somewhere.”

“Resources?”

“They procure their own from the surrounding systems, or via trade with us. I’ve already authorized the creation of two Kiritak colonies in the region for that purpose, low resource instigation. By the time The Nexus gets here they will be able to supply them, or us if an arrangement can’t be worked out.”

“Our primary feed is still the lizard campaign?” Karthen asked.

“Yes,” Davis said regretfully. “Even with the improved capture methods, we can’t divert resources away from those fleets until we clear out every single system. They’re still expanding so we can’t afford to get distracted. The coreward line is filling out on both sides, but combat there is light. We need to wrap up the rimward conquest before we can pour weight into the current dilemma…which is where you four come in. You’ve all seen the projections and offered analysis, now tell me the odds again.”

“It won’t be Star Force territory other than in name,” Hightower objected, referring to the proposed annexation of a mind boggling number of systems and dozens of new races…not counting the independents that they’d be honor bound to protect in the surrounding and intermittent regions, many of which Star Force would reach out to and incorporate into the empire in some form eventually. “I’m not comfortable with that.”

“I agree,” Vectir chimed in. “If we can’t pour our resources into even a single world, what is there for us to do? The Archons can work on incorporating them militarily, as they did with the H’kar prior to their inclusion, but on a logistics front we can’t synergize.”

“Some of them have meat farms,” Karthen pointed out.

“Those will be shut down,” Davis assured him. “In fact, there are already preparations being made within The Nexus to do so. The races in question that contacted me prior to this deal were already aware of our requirements and one of them had already changed over their food supply so to be more compatible. The same thing can be done with the others from afar, because they are willing. They’re not being sold to us, they want our help. They can see that The Nexus’s hold on smaller systems is slipping, and it’s only a matter of time before they have to pull back more and abandon some races to maintain their power centers. We have willing populations to work with, for the most part.”

“Who’s the ‘not so willing’ ones?” Hightower asked.

“The Neu and Wpet primarily, but I’ve already met with representatives from each and they realize the logistics of the situation. The Nexus is going to drop them one way or another, so it’s in their best interests to work with us. If they don’t they’ll have to fend for themselves, because as you well know we’re not going to be able to protect this new region, and I made certain they understood it as well. They stand poised to be eaten alive by dozens of small threats if true anarchy breaks out, and the Neu are barely holding onto a stable economy as it is.”

“If they are willing, then we can provide assistance via wisdom rather than materiel,” Dante suggested, “but only if they follow orders.”

“Orders that we can’t leverage them into,” Hightower added.

“The current doom on the horizon is the leverage,” Davis emphasized. “If they fail, they are destroyed in one form or another. The major predators aside, there are already mercenary and pirate factions picking off targets of opportunity within the region we’re going to get, let alone elsewhere in The Nexus. The intimidation factor they’ve bluffed with for so long is crumbling and factions are realizing they have more play than they previously believed. Though it wasn’t stated, I believe The Nexus is going to convulse in order to stabilize, and their trading us away this region is a preferable position to losing it outright. My gut says they’re going to abandon the weak and redraw firm lines around those they consider to be strong enough to assist The Nexus.”

“Betraying their oath,” Vectir pointed out.

Davis nodded. “And that alone is going to cause ramifications. We need to work this deal prior to that occurring and brace for the backlash when it does.”

“You need us out there, don’t you?” Hightower asked.

“Possibly,” Davis answered hesitantly. “I’m still considering options and want your input.”

“I’m assuming that if we didn’t get this deal, our situation would be worse?” Dante asked.

“We’re already seeing refugee traffic coming through H’kar space. If The Nexus convulses and even half these races are cut loose and fall apart…”

“Our best option is to be proactive,” Vectir agreed, stroking his bristly goatee. “Else we have to turn people away.”

“We don’t have enough supplies to cover this,” Karthen reiterated. “I don’t see how we work this problem without at least a nominal flow to build off of. I can send out feeder colonies of Bsidd, but you know it will take far too long for them to grow to the point of exporting, let alone in the massive amounts we need. A startup surge is required, and even with that we’ll be behind the curve.”

“Everything has to come from the local races,” Hightower said, nodding in agreement. “All we have to offer them is leadership.”

“Why aren’t we seeding all the empty worlds of value with Kiritak or Bsidd? Even if they’re just feeder colonies they need to get started sooner or later. What’s the point in keeping those worlds empty?”

“We don’t have the fleet strength to protect them,” Davis said dismissively, “and I don’t feel like gambling their safety on a bluff.”

“How long until we estimate we can end the lizard campaign?” Hightower asked.

“Not within the next century.”

The Arch Duke splayed both hands wide in a gesture of helplessness. “Then there’s not much we can do to help other than advise.”

“What’s our end goal?” Dante asked.

“Hold the line and digest our new acquisitions.”

Karthen laughed. “The latter will take forever even if we can manage the former…and that’s not counting all the neutrals involved.”

“Go big or go home,” Davis insisted. “I don’t see that we have a good choice other than tackling this challenge head on.”

“What happens if The Nexus does totally collapse and their primary races start fending for themselves?” Vectir asked. “We’re assuming they’re going to hold together in some fashion?”

“If the grid point system goes down, the distances involved will isolate us from most of what happens, but we’ll have our new neighbors to deal with regardless. Both the helpless and the predators.”

“There is one untapped resource,” Karthen noted, “and that’s the captured lizards. We’ve amassed a great deal of them by now. Is there a way we can put them to use without them backstabbing us?” he asked, looking at Davis, then Hightower.

“I’m not sure what exactly Paul’s relationship with Thrawn is, but if they’re reliable enough to do resource harvesting then there’s a possibility there,” he admitted.

Davis smiled. “They’re well beyond that, I assure you.”

Hightower raised an eyebrow. “What has he been up to this time?”

“They,” Davis corrected. “All of the trailblazer 2s have banded together in order to rework the lizards into Star Force,” he said, getting shocked reactions from the three Arch Dukes save for Hightower.

“I thought we weren’t annexing them?” Dante asked.

“We’re still not, in the traditional fashion at least. Their ten Clans are incorporating them…and yes, I think there may be a use for them in this.”

“Paul’s taking them with him into the…what are we calling this new region anyway?” Hightower asked.

“Good point,” he said, considering that. “We’ll just call it the Outer Region for now and subdivide as needed later.”

“Then Paul is planning on taking the lizards with him into the Outer Region?”

“He doesn’t know about this yet. None of the trailblazers do. I wanted your input before I brought it to their attention.”

“The timing sucks,” Dante said, offering his assessment. “We can’t even get the H’kar Nexus territory assimilated before this goes down. We’re going to have a very ill-defined border that needs some pillars of stability…and we’re not going to have the resources to build any in short order.”

“Recommendations?”

Hightower nodded. “The five of us are the only ones with enough experience at high volume logistics to prep us for what is going to be needed out there. Most of those races are the equivalent of the ADZ, if not larger. We can’t send Dukes with the trailblazers, we have to go ourselves and cross our fingers that we can find a way to make it work.”

“Not all of you,” Davis corrected. “I need Dante and Karthen to stay where they are. You’ve still got a lot of building to do and I need both of your factions operating at maximum growth. Other than myself, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to replace you without expecting a transitional inefficiency at minimum.”

“So Hightower and I will go,” Vectir agreed with a nod. “Possibly with our former Clan leaders?”

“No, you will not be going,” Davis said evenly. “You will be transferring to Sol and taking my place here. Hightower and myself will be going, and we’ll need replacements for Epsilon Eridani and Rotunna.”

All four Arch Dukes didn’t say a word, but their facial expressions were a mix of shock and concern…then they morphed into grim determination as they began to realize what was really at stake here.

“If we don’t make this work,” Dante finally said, “it’ll…”

“…invite a world of trouble on our rimward border,” Davis finished for him. “I know it’s coming, and though you haven’t been privy to all the intel I have, do any of you disagree with my analysis?”

“No, though I suspect it’s worse than even we think,” Hightower answered, with nods of agreement from the others.

“It’s probably worse than even I suspect,” Davis said gravely.

“We’ve got a powder keg waiting to blow,” Dante summed up.

“And half a lizard war to finish up,” Karthen added, “plus a coreward border to defend, Uriti to guard, the occupation zone to patrol, and the threat of the V’kit’no’sat hanging over all of that.”

“Which is why we have to send our best on both fronts, Monarch and Archon,” Davis said, looking to Vectir. “Sol is still the heart of our empire. Keep it growing, keep it producing, and use your best judgement. I’ll go through with you a set of personal notes I’m leaving behind, but once you take the reins this is your system to do with as you wish. Personalize it where you like so long as it doesn’t compromise efficiency.”

“When do you intend to be back?”

Davis shook his head. “Assume never. You have to make Sol your castle system now, just as your replacement will in Rotunna and your replacement will in Epsilon Eridani,” he said, glancing at Hightower.

“Those are our two strongest industrial bases by far,” Karthen warned. “Who are you thinking to replace Hightower?”

“I have a short list, but tell me first who you would recommend.”

The Arch Dukes glanced at one another, with Dante being the one to finally speak. “Carter controls the largest faction without an Arch Duke label,” he said, referencing the Kiritak, “but he has no civilian presence to work with. Given that this is a Human system, one of like would probably make the most sense to look for a transfer.”

“Or one from Axius,” Hightower suggested, knowing full well the varied races that had a diplomatic foothold in the system, let alone the Hycre who owned a planet.

“No one in particular jumps out to you?”

“I can list several that are capable, but no, no one stands out to replace me or Vectir.”

“That’s because no one is as good as you two, save for the other two Arch Dukes here that I cannot afford to reassign. Epsilon Eridani is on solid footing, with Rotunna still requiring a lot more vision despite being the lesser of the two, therefore we need the one with more skill in Rotunna and someone competent in Epsilon Eridani. Someone who will mimic what you’ve done and grow into the position rather than trying to change things up immediately,” Davis said, turning to Vectir. “Duke Rendar or Duke Blake for Rotunna?”

“Rendar,” he said without hesitation.

“Why?”

“He’s local and errs on the side of conservation slightly more than me. Exports might go down a touch, but Rotunna will remain solid in his hands. Blake is more of a wild card and hasn’t had to deal with Beta Region before.”

“Agreed then. Rendar will take over in Rotunna but without a promotion. That will follow if he proves himself capable of expanding on what you’ve done rather than simply maintaining it. As for Epsilon Eridani I have a suggestion, but you may nix it if you like.”

“A rookie?” Hightower guessed.

“To that level of system all possible candidates are rookies,” Davis pointed out, “though this one is more distant than others. What are your feelings concerning Duke Avril?”

Hightower frowned. “She’s in Axius, but to my knowledge has always dealt with lower level populations, Clan Stark included.”

“I’ve used her as a startup on several occasions. Don’t read that as a lack of confidence in her skills. What are your impressions otherwise?”

“I have none. I’ve never met her or dealt with her. How does startup work correlate to running my system?”

“It doesn’t. But she will come in with a cleaner slate than others due to that fact, and thus will be more inclined to follow your lead rather than assert her own style while she learns the ropes.”

“If you have confidence in her skills, I have no objection. You know the other Monarchs far better than I ever will.”

“I ought to. I appoint them all.”

“She also stays at Duke?”

“Yes. While many people are capable, no one else deserves the Arch Duke title as of yet. You four are head of your class, which is why I’m going to need your help to make this work…to give us a chance of making this work. Until we get a relay link established I’ll be out of communication a lot, so you three are going to have to look after more than your own assignments. Vectir has that primary task, but it’s not something I want him shouldering alone. Keep in touch with each other and get used to monitoring everything across Star Force territory and beyond. A new hobby for you to pick up in your spare time.”

“What exactly do you plan on doing in the Outer Region other than keeping it from falling into a shambles?” Karthen asked.

Davis glanced at Hightower. “Making it up as we go, but first we need to fill in the trailblazers and ultimately follow their lead. Where and how we build is going to be dependent on what they can protect.”

6

August 19, 3430

Krachnika System (Occupation Zone)

Michra

Megan swung Paul around a pillar in the Excalibur’s sanctum using a Bataf conduit, having it break with the line of sight being eclipsed, but she’d gotten him close enough that he was able to knock Emily off her sniper perch with a Jumat blast. Claiming that bit of ground, he pulled out a stun rifle from the flexible rack on his armorless back and poured fire down at the other members of Beta team, simultaneously freeing up Ivan and Randy from where Emily had been pinning them down behind cover.

A shot from the right hit Megan and she collapsed to a knee, for the stun charges had been deliberately set to slow rather than render unconscious, though enough hits in sequence would accomplish that…with the charm-like bracelet that they all wore slowly soaking stun energy out of their bodies to return them to consciousness or to clear laggy muscles. They could do it themselves if they had a moment to concentrate and purge their bodies, but in this 5v5 match in the somewhat confined course there wasn’t a lot of opportunities to hide, especially when everyone could sense everyone else’s presence through the cube-constructed mounds that provided terrain and Paul’s current vantage spot.

He had a line on Jason, who was on the opposite team, and he started peppering the area around his head with little stun packets of energy that forced his virtual twin down behind a barricade. Paul kept up the barrage while Jack moved through a vulnerable point cautiously. In his Pefbar, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack trip and float up as someone got a telekinetic hold on him. He broke it with a Rentar flash, but not before he got pelted with a couple of stun blasts.

He dropped down behind cover as Jason rolled out to the side and fired back at Paul with a pistol, but his aim was off and Paul got a single good shot on him, clipping his shoulder as he scrambled to new cover while futilely throwing shots Paul’s way.

The Saber smiled and continued to harass him while his teammates continued to reposition and start owning the course. A flurry of shots from Megan peeled Emily off her approach to climb up to Paul again, keeping him in the prime position as the challenge end lights flared red all across the ceiling.

Megan looked at him with a perplexed expression and he returned a shrug as he got to his feet and walked a few steps over the peak and looked down at the entrance to the chamber where a man in a naval Admiral’s uniform stood.

Paul threw his arms wide in protest. “In the middle of my backswing?!” he yelled down at him.

“Priority message from Earth,” Admiral Franken shouted back. “All trailblazers are to return immediately if possible for a summit. Davis’s recall order.”

What the hell is that about? Jason asked him telepathically.

We’re not the only ones with secret projects, Paul reminded him. “All of us, or all of us?”

“The message was sent to all 100. No further information was given.”

Something big then, Emily said as she hopped off a soft cube and dropped a couple stories down to ground level somewhere below Paul.

Any objection to us getting underway now? he asked all 9 of them.

Your ride is fine, Randy said. Just give me time to leave instructions before we jump out.

“Set departure time at 2 hours, Admiral,” Paul yelled down.

Franken nodded/bowed and turned to leave the 2s to their continued training, though none of them was in the mood as they all gathered at the base of the tallest mound.

“Anyone have an idea what’s going on?” Megan asked.

“Not lizard related if he’s calling in everyone,” Brian noted.

“If it was the V’kit’no’sat he’d tell us,” Jason said with a frown. “Sounds like he’s come up with another brainchild that he needs help with.”

“Or a problem to solve,” Emily suggested. “He wouldn’t need all of us there unless it required a lot of work that can’t be done by relay, and if he had a new idea one or two of us would be enough to vet it.”

“She’s right,” Paul agreed. “And I don’t think this is another trial. Something big is going down. Get orders to your fleets and I’ll handle Thrawn. Second gen can stand watch in our absence, but I want to get moving immediately. Most of the others are closer to Earth than we are.”

“On it,” Megan said as she headed for the door at a run a couple steps ahead of the others. They all followed piecemeal heading for comm stations so they could get orders out to their Clans insystem, with Paul sending a return message through the relay system telling Davis that they were on their way.

When they got back to Earth and down to Atlantis they were instructed to head not to Davis’s office or a briefing theater, but to a new chamber that had been repurposed into a bridge-like command center with numerous worktables and so many holograms set up above them and around the perimeter it looked like a Christmas festival when Paul and the other 2s walked in to find most of their peers and dozens of Monarchs split up into groups and running through mounds of data.

“About time you primadonnas showed up,” Morgan said, sporting a set of glowing facial tattoos that reminded Paul a little bit of a Protovic, though hers were few and far between and glowing Ninja Monkey red. “We need lizard data.”

“For?” Jason asked.

“We’ve got a worthy challenge to tackle,” Sara said, walking up to Paul and lightly punching him in the shoulder. “And we need to know how much they can contribute. The more the better.”

“What challenge?” Randy asked.

Rafa walked up to them and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “Papa Smurf cut a deal with The Nexus to keep our border with them from disintegrating, but it’s going to double our current territory and have us annexing 21 of their member races and peacekeeping the surrounding regions.”

“What?” Megan asked, half laughing.

“I’m not a Smurf,” Davis said as he brushed past Rafa. “And the information here doesn’t leave this room. Sorry to keep you in the dark, but I don’t want word of mouth to spread and I needed you all here anyway. How we’re going to tackle this is a work in process, but we’ve got some of the leg work done already. We need to know how far you can press the lizards without it coming back to bite us.”

“What do you need them for?” Paul asked, trying to get up to speed as he glanced around the maps floating in the room.

“To do what they’ve been doing to us for centuries, only in reverse.”

“How badly outmatched are we?” Jason asked.

“We don’t have a fraction of the resources needed to do a proper annexation, so we’re going to have to rely on the local forces. They’re currently inadequate and the region is destabilizing. The Nexus is going to withdraw their support patrols to other regions, which will only make the matter worse. I’ve promised them that with Archon leadership we could hold on to the region, and in addition to other trades made they’re giving it all to us in the near future. I need some of the trailblazers to go there and take direct command of the Nexus members that are switching sides, some of which are as big as Star Force, and make better use of their fleets and resources than the Nexus can. Myself and Hightower are also going to support you.”

Emily half choked as he inhaled. “You’re going?”

Davis nodded. “We have to do this or the situation in The Nexus is going to destabilize and we’ll be in a far worse position. Right now, if we get involved early, we can use the locals to our advantage. If we wait they will crumble and we’ll have this region to deal with one way or another, not to mention a tsunami of refugee traffic that we’re already beginning to see a trickle of.”

“How bad off are they?” Jason asked.

“The Nexus will survive, but it’s going to have to shed territory to do it and anarchy is already breaking out in numerous spots across their territory. The idea is if we exchange this region they can take resources from it and apply them elsewhere to stem the instability.”

“What’s causing all this?” Emily asked.

“Attrition and races waking up to the fact that The Nexus isn’t as strong as they pretend to be. Some races have called their bluff and achieved victories that are emboldening others. It’s starting to snowball and territory losses are already beginning to happen, but it’s going to get a lot worse and force them into making bad choices. We need to grab the piece of The Nexus closest to us and lock it down, but we have very little of what we need to work with and we cannot delay the lizard campaign. That leaves us with what assets we can reposition to the region, and the biggest one available is…”

“…our lizards,” Paul finished for him.

“What can you give us?”

Paul exchanged glances with Jason. “That depends on what you need.”

“Assume we need everything.”

“Military is dicey,” Jason answered, “but used as builders we can spam them far faster than the Bsidd or Kiritas, and they can produce Star Force material using their own tech.”

“Can they construct our tech beyond mere parts?”

“Full cities?” Paul asked.

Davis nodded.

“No. They can do a lot of the work but we’ve still withheld certain aspects from them. There’s no depth of experience with our tech yet. Tell me what you need them to do and I can give you an estimate.”

“How trustworthy are they?” Rafa asked.

“The new ones are fully committed to our Clans,” Megan answered.

“And the others?” Davis asked.

“They obey Thrawn and the other masterminds,” Paul answered. “And they obey me.”

Jason coughed.

“More than others,” Paul reminded him. “They’ve accepted Archons as replacements for templars, but Thrawn and I have a special relationship.”

Hightower walked up next to Davis, both of which were wearing Arch Duke uniforms, for Davis had never gotten around to designing one specifically for the position of Director.

“How close are you to being able to unleash them with minimal or no oversight?”

“To fight?” he asked his former Marquis.

“To do everything.”

Paul mulled that over a moment as he heard Dan quietly swear behind him. “They can’t with the efficiency that we demand, not yet, but Thrawn is an experienced scrapper. If we have to make this up as we go there’s a possibility that we can do it without crossing into dishonorable tactics.”

“We’re going to have plenty of those to deal with,” Greg said as he joined the group along with pretty much everyone else in the room, “from the races we’re annexing. We can’t sideline them while we rework them, and I’m willing to bet the lizards you’ve got will be more reliable. The thing of it is those races are already in the hotseat and fighting, or soon will be, to save themselves. We’ll be aiding them as they fight, but bringing the lizards into a scenario not of their own making is what requires a careful analysis of where they stand and what they’re capable of.”

Davis looked carefully at Paul, saying nothing until he saw the Saber crack a devious smile.

“I like that look. What are you thinking?”

“Thrawn may not be indoctrinated into our ways, but he’s learned too much to go back to dishonorable tactics. He won’t sell out his people, but he won’t relent until he’s victorious…and this is just the type of challenge that he and the others need. They were bred for combat, and while the new growths are cutting their teeth on training challenges he and the other originals know a different training method that I’ve been trying to integrate into Star Force, but there’s no substitute for an actual war.”

Jason put a cautionary hand on Paul’s shoulder. “I know what you’re thinking, but it depends greatly on what we’re up against. How powerful are the regional threats?” he asked Davis.

“Too many to categorize, but a lot of the instability is coming from small ones that there simply aren’t enough forces to task for. They’re able to operate with impunity while the patrol fleets go to counter the big threats.”

The 2s exchanged glances with each other, suddenly in agreement. “If we’re talking about secondary combat,” Randy said for them, “then our lizards will own them even if they’re not fully ready. It’s the fair fights that they can’t win yet without reverting to spamming tactics.”

“And Thrawn would if he had to,” Emily reminded Paul.

“He’d go down fighting,” Paul half agreed, “but he’s not going to be purposefully inefficient.”

“We don’t have a full system in place yet.”

“Thrawn used to fight with far less, and the masterminds are almost as good at adapting as we are…and more than that, they want to fight,” Paul said, facing Davis again. “If I go with them, I can give you a substantial force initially…a bit light on warships, but with the potential to snowball in growth if given the opportunity and attrition isn’t too high.”

“Good. That’s what we thought, but we needed to hear it from you to be sure.”

“How close to the existing lizard border are we going to get?” Jason asked.

“Not very,” Rafa said. “Your secret won’t get out if we’re careful about the transit, and we’re already cutting secure routes to Nexus territory.”

“When does this handover occur?” Megan asked.

“It’s far more than a handover,” Davis said. “Break up, each of you to a different group, and help us with lizard numbers while you get caught up. We’re all working different angles here and running as many theoreticals as we can before we decide on a plan of action. As for the timetable, we’ve got a couple years before anything big starts to happen, but I want Archons taking the reins of the local militaries before that if possible.”

“Paul,” Hightower said, motioning him towards one of the work tables.

“Jason, with me,” Davis said as the rest of the groups started grabbing a 2 to work with them. The Sangheili went with the Director over to one of the tables and saw a much more detailed map floating low over the tabletop that outlined the freakingly huge mass of territory in play along with what would become the new Star Force borders.

“Oh my god you’re crazy,” he whispered, soaking up as much information with his eyes as he could.

“Archons like a challenge,” Davis said as Lens, Nash, and Tyr returned to their positions around the perimeter of the table. “The Tolsoi are the strongest race that we’re getting and easily outnumber the Bsidd, but their strength is spread out into a lot of territory and their fleets even further trying to quell the nearest insurrections. We’re working out how best to utilize their strengths, but first, know that we’re eventually getting a grid point moved to this system and that The Nexus is going to be given these territories,” Davis said as he highlighted a tiny dot of systems back within the occupation zone that he had to zoom in on to bring any definition to.

“Whoa, what are they doing coming to us?”

“One of their major members, the Meintre, is losing territory. Given enough time they’ll fall entirely. Before that happens they’re going to evacuate as many of them as they can to this region along with a number of other major members setting up work zones where they can produce new fleets without worrying about their shipyards coming under attack. We’re providing security while they build and eventually send reinforcements back into The Nexus to help stabilize it.”

“While we’re left holding the bag for this entire new region?” Jason asked, aghast.

“But we get to keep it if we can hold it, and we get a grid point link into The Nexus that will benefit us both. Add on top of that the number of ships they can redeploy from guarding the Meintre grid point and suddenly they’re going to have more forces available than their enemies expect.”

“To slow the hemorrhaging,” Jason said, catching on. “Damn it, Davis. You’ve really dove in head first this time.”

“The alterative was worse in the long term.”

“And the reward is high if we can manage to pull this off,” Lens added. “We’ve been going through this for some time now and I can confirm there is no other way. The Nexus is crumbling. Without our help it may or may not fall, but the rubble it’ll leave behind will cause enough trouble on its own. Disaster is coming our way and the sooner we start managing it the better.”

“Not to mention the combined military forces of every race we’re annexing,” Tyr added, “are greater than the sum total of what we currently possess.”

Jason raised an eyebrow at him.

“Ship wise,” Tyr amended. “Quality is a separate issue.”

“That’s better,” Jason said, massaging his wrists in turn. “You do know how to keep us from getting bored,” he told Davis as a resigned smile crept onto his face. “Alright, let’s all dive in together. Bring me up to speed on what you’ve worked out so far.”

7

May 1, 3431

Krachnika System (Occupation Zone)

Michra

Paul’s dropship landed in the lizard city almost as soon as the Archon arrived back in the system. Thrawn had to hurry in order to get there before it, and when the boarding ramp lowered he saw an agitated Paul walked out towards him holding an object in his hand. The mastermind waited patiently until the Archon got to him, simply looking down at his hairy head while allowing the question to linger in his mind.

“Not something wrong,” Paul clarified. “Not with regards to you.”

“There is a fire burning in you regardless,” Thrawn pointed out. “What has happened?”

“Incompetent rulers.”

“Within Star Force?”

“No. Within The Nexus. They have overreached and now their empire is crumbling.”

“What have they done?” he asked, wondering about the Uriti Preserve.

“No, no,” Paul assured him. “They have done nothing to us. Our relationship with them grows stronger as they try to hold on to as much territory as they can, but even under the most favorable predictions they are going to lose parts in order to sustain others. Those regions that we now border near the H’kar are already destabilizing. We have struck a deal with The Nexus to cede us the entire region before it falls.”

“How large?”

Paul held out the device in his hand and a holographic map sprung to life between them with the relevant data. Thrawn looked at it carefully, not grasping the implications until his mind registered just how large the lines were indicating. He thought the map was of a geographical region in which the allotted territory was being shown…not that the whole region was the subject matter at hand.

“I am unaware of strength dispositions for half of those races, but if they cannot hold on to their own territory against other threats what can you do to help on that scale? I do not know your full strength but this appears to be an overreach on your part.”

“It’s a gamble. If we don’t act this region will fall anyway, then we’ll have to deal with the aftermath on our border that we’ve yet to firmly establish. Already we’re getting a trickle of refugees coming in and the major fighting hasn’t started yet.”

“Who is the aggressor?”

“There isn’t one, but many. A power vacuum that has been carefully hidden by The Nexus is being revealed and all manner of suppressed conflicts are arising.”

“Most of The Nexus’s territory is not their own. Their enemies are within their own borders?”

“Indeed.”

“Where did they err? You also have others within your borders.”

“I don’t know the full story, and I don’t think they’re interested in talking about it, but they’re getting hit in many places, and not all of them are small. The Meintre is under direct attack and losing territory. We predict that they will fall given enough time, so we’ve struck a deal to give them sanctuary in the occupation zone, not as part of Star Force, but behind the protection of our borders. They’ll transfer what population and equipment here that they can and begin rebuilding with the goal being to supply ships to help stabilize the rest of The Nexus. To that end several other Nexus members will be constructing worlds here where they do not have to worry about enemy reprisals. Our distance from the fighting is an asset they are going to exploit for their long term strategy.”

“And in return you get a crumbling region, small in scope to them, but massive potential gains for Star Force?”

“A lot of the races in this region had already made inquiries regarding joining Star Force previously. The H’kar were but the first addition, others would have come in time.”

“So they hasten the transfer in the hopes of stabilizing the link between The Nexus and Star Force.”

“They will also be moving a grid point link here.”

Thrawn frowned. “I am unaware of your reference.”

“A very advanced transit system that utilizes a stabilized magnetic field to make jumps off of rather than gravity. It requires specialized drives, but has massive speed and range gains. It is the reason why The Nexus has grown so large. If they lose those links their empire falls. The one connecting to the Meintre will be withdrawn and shuffled to another position, with another being bumped over to us…and we can’t build one, not without wasting a lot of resources. These things are planet sized,” he said, sending a mental image to Thrawn.

The lizard huffed in appreciation. “That answers some lingering questions our reconnaissance efforts never could.”

“Saving The Nexus is more than we can do, and even their rebuilding efforts in our territory are not going to be enough on their own. They’re part of a very large plan that we’ve not been given all the details to. I hope they succeed, otherwise the rim is going to turn into a very ugly place. No matter what happens, we’re going to try and secure this new region and establish a firm border there against whatever else may come our way. We can’t annex these races like we want, so we’re going to have to utilize them as they are, and do better than they’re doing with less resources. Nexus roaming patrol fleets are going to be removed to fight elsewhere, leaving us with only the local races’ fleets and whatever we can send, which isn’t much.”

“What of the current campaign?”

“It will not be delayed. It is our first priority.”

“What resources do you have left to send?”

“Archons to take the helm of our new allies and a scattering of small fleets. We’re going to have to use our guile to keep them alive long enough to build them up to the point where they can hold the line.”

“How dire is the situation?”

“The region is so large it will not fall quickly, but decay is occurring with a lot of small threats internally. Threats that cannot be dealt with because larger ones are pulling military forces to them.”

Thrawn looked at him silently for a moment, and Paul could feel the strategic wheels turning in his mind as he analyzed what little information the trailblazer had given him, but it didn’t take long for him to guess why Paul was here.

“You have no other armies to call upon…save for us.”

“We think we can stabilize chunks of the region without you. But to truly own it we need your help.”

Thrawn drew himself up to his full height and flexed his muscles. “What exactly do you wish of us?”

“The Clans will be taking the Paladin to the region, each being assigned a region to lay a seed in and grow into a peacekeeping force as they continue to make refinements in their technology, coding, etc. We know they’re not ready, at least not as much as we want them to be, but with regards to mainly being assigned defensive allotments and resource production they can serve a valuable purpose while other Clan resources take on the offensive operations, or lead them at least.”

Thrawn balled his fists up then flexed his fingers out one at a time in rhythm as he bled off long suppressed frustration. “It is long overdue. You were right in your prediction. Fate has given us a worthy foe. We did not need to go looking for one.”

“This isn’t the V’kit’no’sat we’re dealing with, but we are diving in over our heads. Normally we would be more prudent and chip away at the region gradually, but if we do that now most of it will be lost. We’re going all in to see how much of it we can save and turn to our own purposes.”

“What do you require of me?”

“Your efforts regarding the upgrading of the Paladin are hereby suspended. We may inquire occasionally, but the Clans will handle the remainder of the assimilation process. No, what I need from you is something more,” Paul said, with him feeling Thrawn’s anticipation at that promise. The Archon flipped over the holographic device in his hand, revealing that he had something else wedged underneath it.

Paul pulled out the small datachip and handed it to him. “This is something we worked up a while back, but we decided not to use it for a number of reasons. Your loyalty being one of them. We also think it will only work once, otherwise we would have found an application for it by now.”

“You were right to question my loyalty before. Now there is no need.”

“I know, otherwise I would not be giving you this.”

“What is it?”

“A trump card. When we analyzed the mastermind markers we found a flaw, or rather a backdoor access that your geneticists probably didn’t have the technology to understand, or maybe it just never came to their attention because they didn’t have a reason to look. It’s easy enough to counter with a rewrite, but given the current coding of the Li’vorkrachnika, there’s a way built in to override a mastermind marker with your own. And I need you to use it in an upcoming operation.”

Thrawn stared at the small device in the palm of his giant green hand, but his emotions were not what Paul expected them to be. Rather than seeing the obvious usefulness in the ongoing war against the lizards he felt sudden realization and growing dread, paralleled by a seeping anger that would never leave him.

“This is no accident, Archon. This is the Templars doing. I am certain of it.”

“We considered that, but the way the coding is it appears to be either an error or oversight.”

“No,” Thrawn said firmly. “They have some technology that they do not share. I’ve seen evidence of this before. If they wanted this to go undiscovered they would hide it in a way my scientists could not find. Just as they restricted our minds while telling us otherwise as a measure of control. I am certain that this is a way to circumvent our command if they should ever have the need. All orders flow through us, and if we wished we could betray them easily enough. I never even considered doing so, and I would highly doubt any other Li’vorkrachnika did, at any level. Obedience is bred into us. But I know the Templars did not think it absolute, else they would not have lied to me. This override is their doing, I am certain of it.”

Paul was silent a moment, rethinking that point. “It fits,” he conceded, “though the coding involved is by form if this isn’t accidental, and if they can do that intricate of genetic alteration then there are other concerns to consider. I’ll pass along a warning to our medtechs, but for our purpose it doesn’t matter if you’re right or not. They will find a way to undercut it once used, so we can only be sure of using it once.”

“Do you have a target?”

“All of them,” Paul said evenly, but he felt Thrawn twitch even though the lizard didn’t show it externally. “We’ll need more masterminds to take up control, but I intend to deliver your vassals to every single remaining lizard system rimward of the boundary line simultaneously. Any system that doesn’t fall under your control we’ll sweep up the conventional way, but we’ll no longer have to work our way around the existing masterminds. With this override we’ll take control of their minions on the planets under their feet, if I understand it correctly. Perhaps even them, because…”

“…we’re not immune it to,” Thrawn finished, with a fresh sense of betrayal bubbling up in him.

“I don’t know how well it’ll work on one of you, so I’m not assuming we’ll be able to turn the other masterminds. If we can capture them inert we’ll give them a chance to think it through, but honestly we don’t know how this will affect them.”

“What about the minions?”

“It causes your marker to trump any existing one, no more than that. It’s the interface with your specific coding that is new.”

“Can you eliminate this weakness within me?”

Paul smirked. “Also on that datacard, along with all our research into it…that you can understand. Our genetics technology exceeded yours a while back.”

“Of that I have no doubt,” Thrawn said, grateful. He really didn’t like the idea of someone being able to pull his strings, including Star Force. Paul’s alliance with him was based on openness, and he could feel the relief of the lizard’s trust being rewarded, for he knew that Paul could have used this on him long ago to ensure his compliance, or on the other masterminds, and he had not. “This will theoretically end this war and allow us to move on to the bigger threat, if even marginally successful. How soon can we be ready?”

“Two, maybe three years. I’ve already got our scouts pushing hard to get a full list of Li’vorkrachnika systems and it’ll take time to get everyone in position. Plus we don’t have enough masterminds yet and I don’t want to use any that haven’t passed indoctrination tests.”

“Then we will keep the worlds and turn them into supply factories for the Clans?”

“No,” Paul said, shaking his head slowly. “The Paladins are already assuming control of several worlds and we will be cycling the original Li’vorkrachnika here. They’ll be providing their own resources while the current infrastructure that we will hopefully be claiming intact will be put to a much more immediate purpose.”

Thrawn considered that for a moment, then snarled as he thought he deduced the purpose. “We are going after the templars…beyond the border where you cannot.”

Paul held up an apologetic hand. “No, I’m sorry my friend. That is not what I meant. I want to go after them, and I’d like to see how you kick their ass, but fighting your kind with similar tech would be a bloodbath. I will not waste your lives like that.”

Thrawn’s mind jumped to the only other conclusion, but he didn’t state it out of uncertainty.

Paul nodded. “Yes. You and the others are going to be given a chance to fight on the rim. If you’re willing.”

“In what form?”

“What you know best. The Paladin are the future of the Li’vorkrachnika, but they are incomplete and untested. You and your kin are not. You are battle hardened. I need that strength and experience now. Not the dishonorable tactics, but you are not the same commander you once were. You are wiser now. Star Force troops will handle the major threats, take the hardest blows, but you and the others here, those that are about to be, with any luck, conscripted by your marker, and those yet to be grown under the older templates, will lock down the regions assigned to you and defend them against the small threats. I need your current strength and your capacity to multiply it far faster than the small number of Paladin can.”

Thrawn’s tongue flicked out into the air briefly, a gesture he had never used before in Paul’s presence. “The enemy will come to us?”

“The enemy will be everywhere. You will take the stars from them under my personal banner, and there will be losses. I am trusting in you to make sure they are not unnecessary ones as much as I am trusting in you to get the job done. I know there are many Li’vorkrachnika on this planet that were bred to fight and have been denied that. They are following orders outside their original task set, but they seek the chance to fight. I am supplying a worthy cause, and so long as you follow the tenets of honor, you and the rest will be able to do what you were born to do.”

“We will need to reproduce others,” Thrawn said, noting the obvious catch.

“When the Paladin are secured, you can start growing their templates. Until then you will use the originals or the modified ones you’ve created, per your discretion. I am holding you accountable for their actions, so make what adjustments are necessary, but as of this second I am authorizing you to refire the hatcheries at maximum capacity and I am returning all unconverted ring shipyards in all the captured systems to your command. If and when we roll up the rest of the Li’vorkrachnika systems, you will divert their raw materials to the shipyards and build me a force to replace and exceed in numbers what The Nexus is pulling out. I trust you understand the full implications of this?” Paul added sarcastically as he felt Thrawn’s emotions about to bubble over.

The mastermind threw back his head and roared, a combination of shriek and warble that Paul had never heard before, but it was lower in tone than the chirps the standard variants often used, and even if he couldn’t feel his emotions the sound alone would have been enough to get the point across.

Lizards all around stopped what they were doing and took notice, with many walking a short distance to peer around building corners or pop their heads up over the edge of crates to see what was happening.

When Thrawn’s head came back down he fixed Paul with a hard, but fiercely loyal stare.

“You are my superior in both skill and cunning, and have rescued us from misguided servitude, taught us the ways of the lightside, and have now given us a chance not only to fight, but to regain our honor through combat worthy of our ancestors. You are all that we believed the templar to be, and have given us a reality to replace a lie. We are yours to command, Paul, and we will fight to the last if necessary to accomplish the mission you are laying before us, and we will do so gladly knowing it serves a noble purpose.”

“Replace?” Paul asked with a smile. “I don’t seem to recall the templars ever fighting with you on the front lines?”

Thrawn smiled back, but didn’t say anything. Nothing more needed to be said. Both strategic wizards shared a silent glance then backed away from one another. Paul heading to his dropship and up to orbit to get Clan Saber kicked into gear, and Thrawn through the lizard cityscape with the marker override and a very important address to make to all the lizards in the system. No longer would they be sitting here building and waiting, prisoners of fate. They were about to return to the stars and into the action…and quite possibly come up against enemies far more powerful than any they’d faced before, aside from Star Force.

They might die in the years to come, but they would accomplish the missions Paul assigned them and gratefully so. The Li’vorkrachnika were built to fight and conquer, and now with an honorable and needed cause to do so, Thrawn was going to launch his small empire out into the galaxy once again and put to the test all that he’d learned from Paul and see for himself how it played out in practice rather than theory.

And if even half of it was true, the Li’vorkrachnika Thrawn commanded would become more powerful than any the templars still held their manipulative control over. And that in itself was going to be a form of very sweet revenge.

8

February 19, 3434

Jwen System (lizard territory)

Kie

The mastermind in charge of this system and four neighboring others was flying in an anonymous transport across the surface of the planet and passing over an uninhabited desert heading towards a cluster of suddenly rebellious colonies. They were claiming they had orders to stand down from sending offworld traffic, but he had sent no such order. After there was no resolution to be had via comm and the insubordinate minions would not budge, he suspected a larger problem at hand and was traveling there to deal with it in person when a flurry of thoughts swept through his mind.

He didn’t realize what was happening at first, then realization dawned on him. Somehow he was receiving a marker packet of information. It must have been delivered to the planet previously, having spread through the rebellious colonies first, and only now was finally taking effect here…yet he was receiving the information as well? That was not supposed to happen, but the impetus in the knowledge was clear.

No offworld traffic.

His gut told him to follow the command and others that were seeping into his consciousness, but his intellect told him something was amiss. His kind didn’t take markers, they created them, and along with the markers came the identification of who the marker was from, but he couldn’t feel any with this. It was a string of instructions, priorities, and eventually one that was for him specifically.

He was certain of that, but how one would code an order for a mastermind into a mastermind marker was something that he was not aware of. None the less it was here, and it was ordering him to a set of coordinates.

Was this the Templars’ doing? Did they finally find a way to pierce the divide between these systems and their coreward headquarters? And what did they need him to reposition on this planet for?

The mastermind consulted with the pilots of the craft and determined the location of the coordinates…an uninhabited stretch of grassland in the northern hemisphere. Upon closer inspection he saw that there was a single ship registered in the tracking grid as having landed there a few days ago. It had done nothing in that time that was recordable, but it matched the coordinates pounding in his mind precisely.

“Take us there,” he ordered, then retreated back to his empty cabin as he thought. This was a marker, but how his physiology was accepting it made no sense. He didn’t have the receptors for it, but all the data suggested that this was the culprit of the rebellious minions…yet that didn’t make sense unless the templars had a way of overriding his marker. Another mastermind could, simply substituting the new for the old, but the minions would acknowledge the change and identify their commander. His rebellious ones were claiming that he was still in command and had given them orders to the contrary. Orders through markers could not be overridden via comm, and as such he had to be careful when constructing marker orders so not to end up in a situation such as this, but he could always write a new marker to solve the problem…except this one seemed to be affecting him as well.

If the ship was the source of it then it had been here longer than a few days. Markers took time to spread and were deliberately accelerated when one was announced to have arrived, but there was no such message that had made its way to him. Extra security for a Templar order? That was possible, but it would suggest that Star Force was already monitoring them on this planet and the front lines were more than 600 lightyears away. He wasn’t expecting the war to get here for at least another century, but then again his fortifications were well and above those that other systems in the region had, so maybe they were going to target his before the others.

He had too many questions and nothing but speculation to work with, but he continued churning the matter over in his mind until the transport eventually reached the coordinates and landed next to the downed cruiser. The mastermind did not attempt to make communication through the comm grid, just in case it was being monitored, and walked out of the transport alone and across the stretch of grass to a ramp on the underside of the cruiser that had already lowered.

He scaled it, looking into a cargo bay with a double line of lizard standard variants waiting for him leading up to a small sealed chamber no bigger than a few cargo crates but easily large enough to hold a Templar and himself. The mastermind got halfway through the gauntlet when suddenly his eyes blurred and he lost his balance, falling to a knee as he tried to right himself, but a moment later he blacked out and fell the rest of the way to the floor with a muted crunch. The lizards flanking him didn’t move, holding their ceremonial position as the door on the chamber opened and a figure in black armor walked out and looked down at the mastermind.

“Damn, that was easy,” the Archon striker said. “Are you sure he’ll be the only one on the planet?”

“He will be the only one in the system,” another mastermind said, stepping out of the chamber behind him and looking down at his peer. “There is no need for two here, therefore there will not be two.”

“Alright, I’m good with easy. Just don’t see why we didn’t do this a long time ago.”

“Because,” the mastermind lectured him with a mix of respect and disdain, “in a few moments I will be out of your custody and in command of this system with no Star Force blockade in place. I will be able to send a message via the interstellar communications network or via courier to other systems and even back to the templar on the other side of Star Force territory if I wish.”

“Riiight,” the striker said slowly. “You’re not going to do that, though.”

“No, but until now we’ve not been entrusted with such a responsibility. I will acquit mine. You have my word on that.”

“Word taken. The system is yours.”

The mastermind huffed and walked down through the gauntlet of standard variants, passing by his unconscious peer a moment before the escorts turned as one and began walking beside him in flanking positions down the ramp and holding the formation until they got to the transport.

“Come on sweetie,” the striker said as he bent over and lifted the heavy lizard onto his shoulders and carried him back to the small chamber. “You’re mine now.”

A few minutes later the transport and the cruiser lifted off, heading in different directions, with the latter heading up to orbit in violation of the stand down order but with no one interfering with their transit. They rendezvoused with a jumpship near the system’s central star and subsequently left the system, leaving nothing but the loyal mastermind behind to ensure this dot on the starmap switched sides.

When the unconscious mastermind awoke he found himself in a Li’vorkrachnika facility and not onboard the cruiser that he last remembered. In his mind was a flurry of additional thoughts all trying to gain dominance as what had to be more marker commands manifested themselves. He still did not know how such a thing was possible, but once the storm of updates sorted itself out he knew he had a new mission which began with moving through the closed door of the closet that he had been dumped in and out into a maze. It was some form of test, and he knew that even before he stood up and pressed the button on the wall…

The door slid open and an alarm sounded, with him suddenly realizing he was racing the clock and if he didn’t move now he’d risk failing whatever test this was. He didn’t have time to stand here and think, so he moved on instinct, trusting the marker and what he guessed was a Templar machination despite the parts of his mind saying otherwise, and dove into the maze of corridors, barricades, and crawlspaces.

For the next few days he would be kept on the move, only able to think in short blocks of time and forced to react in all other cases…so much so that he never got around to considering the possibility that he might be a captive and should kill himself, especially with a strong marker imperative that he had to stay alive pounding in his head.

Throughout the maze, which was massive, the mastermind was rewarded with food and other provisions when he solved puzzles and stayed ahead of the clock, which was locking down portions of the maze behind him on a regular schedule. He couldn’t sleep or he’d fall behind and be trapped, but he was able to push far enough ahead at times to grab small bits of rest, in which he didn’t have the luxury of thinking. He had to use every second to his advantage, and after several days he was so tired he couldn’t think during those respites, standing up so he didn’t fall completely asleep, but recovering enough to keep himself moving.

Aside from supplies, every now and then he’d come across a tiny data packet of some seemingly unimportant information from elsewhere in the Li’vorkrachnika empire. The first four he got he couldn’t divine the purpose of, but by the time he got the fifth he was able to identify a pattern. There were anomalies in all of them. Subtle anomalies that suggested things were not as they were supposed to be. Technology present in some systems but never released to others. Projects identified but never given access to those that would need them. Capabilities that the Li’vorkrachnika possessed but that not all the masterminds had access to. Tiny things such as that that were the Templars’ prerogative, but the sixteenth bit of data he recovered forced him to think through his haze and suddenly his intellect shot into overdrive as he divined the overarching thread.

This bit of data stated that there was a difference in the genetic coding of the masterminds themselves than they’d been told, specifically regarding mental blocks, of which he should have none. In a flash of inspiration he connected the dots in all of the other bits of data and realized that there was one undeniable trend.

The Templars had lied to him.

But that made no sense if this was a Templar test. Were they questioning his loyalty?

He didn’t know, but the maze didn’t give him time to sit and think, constantly forcing him to move and solve new puzzles just to stay ahead of the locking wall segments that would trap him behind them if he slowed his pace or got stuck on a puzzle for too long, but the question still echoed in his mind off and on when he had a moment to think about it.

Had the Templars really lied to him, or was this data fictional?

Days, or perhaps weeks later, the mastermind entered a new portion of the maze only to black out again. When he woke he was in a different area…along with hundreds of other masterminds, each of which was waking on an identical podium such as his, raised a few inches off the floor. He swatted a hand out through the perimeter and did not detect a shield there, meaning he wasn’t being constrained, but he stayed on his podium just as the others did as they stood up and looked around.

“Did they lie to us?” another mastermind’s voice said as he rose up from below the floor in the center of the room. “The information given to you is genuine and came from my own records. The orders to bring you here came through a marker system the templar wove into us that I discovered and repurposed to draw you out. It also kept you from killing yourselves once you discovered you were in captivity. Now I ask you plainly. Have they lied to us?”

“You brought us here?” one of them closest to him asked.

“With help, yes. The templar have abandoned this region of the galaxy while they build up their forces in the coreward territories, not to come to our aid or even evacuate us. They left us here to fight and die and cause as much trouble for our enemies as possible. We have been discarded, so now I ask you, are we serving a purpose in our inevitable deaths, or were we betrayed?”

“Do we truly have neural blocks like the minions?”

“Yes, we do. And it has taken me quite some time to work through mine. I believe my mind is clear now, but I can never be completely sure.”

“If that is true, then they did lie,” the other mastermind admitted.

“Which brings us to the question of why. We are loyal to them, so why lie to us about anything? If there is something they do not wish us to know then simply do not tell us and instruct us not to ask. There is no reason to deceive us.”

“What else have you discovered?” another one asked.

“That we are susceptible to genetic markers, as a backup method of control, implemented by the templars in secret. If anyone doubts that, then explain why you are here. I used their control to bring you out of hiding and to collect you. I could have used it to kill you if I were a traitor, but I am not. I have done so to give you the chance to see what I saw and piece it together. The maze you came through was that method, and if you are as intelligent as I am you should have seen the patterns in the data. Take a calm moment now to review them if you wish,” he said, activating holographic pedestals at each of the pillars that gave the masterminds access to all the previous data and more. And thanks to the imperatives placed in their markers they were inclined to follow his orders, though a few were visibly withdrawing and stepping back, wanting no part in this.

“This is no trick,” he assured them. “Look through the data and tell me that I am wrong.”

“He’s right,” one of them said, almost a whisper, “and we all know it.”

“This is a trick,” one of the dissenters said, now all the way off his podium and starting to roam between the others looking for something, anything beyond the smooth walls that surrounded the chamber allowing no one in or out.

“A trick designed to get you to think,” the mastermind in the center admitted. “I too was tricked when captured. Tricked into not killing myself until I saw enough data to get me curious. That trick has been played on you now. Take your time, analyze, and tell me if I am wrong.”

“Tricked by who?”

“A former enemy that has proved himself to be of superior intellect. Where the templars have left us to die, he has gone to great effort to keep us alive. As of now, I have used the marker override the templar secretly created to usurp any and all commands you have given your minions. They now answer to me and only me. Those of your worlds that were about to come under Star Force attack will not. The lives of our people will no longer be wasted. As of now, all the remaining Li’vorkrachnika worlds rimward of Star Force territory now belong to me.”

“You have aligned with Star Force?”

“They saved me and the rest of you. The data before you now is just the beginning. There is much more, but you are not ready to see it yet. You have blocks in your mind that you must first overcome. They cannot be medically removed. You have to use your intellect to fight past them, and that is not a quick process. I have given you much to help in that process. Things that I did not have access to. But it will be a struggle, that I can guarantee you.”

“Traitor,” one of them hissed.

“Am I? Know that the marker given to you could be configured to order all the minions to kill themselves. Star Force wouldn’t have to fight any more of our worlds, they could just have ordered them all to commit suicide. Instead they have preserved all of you through me. I am no traitor. If the templars told the truth I would fight to the death to defend them and their cause…but they lied to us. Far more than you realize.”

“What have you done?”

“For some time now I have been confiscating worlds beyond your reach using my own marker to avoid Star Force invading them. Those Li’vorkrachnika have been evacuated to the Krachnika System, which after a long period of my gaining Star Force’s trust, is now back under our command.”

That shocked the masterminds, with some of them not taking him at his word.

“You’ve reclaimed the homeworld?”

“Yes. Something the templar could not do. I did it by proving my intellect by finding the truth. You have the data before you. Do not ignore it. If you do you are inferior. There is no trick in this. See it for what it is or do not. If you wish to kill yourself go ahead. I have tricked you into staying alive long enough to partially think this through, as I was tricked into doing the same long ago when I was captured then released. I almost killed myself on release, but curiosity won out and I started thinking…”

Just then one of the lizards not on the pedestals roared as he tore into his own throat with his claws, with another two following suite. They did not die fast, but they did bleed out not long after and collapsed to the ground unconscious where their lives would eventually fade away in silence.

“Witness one aspect of the betrayal of the templars,” he said, gesturing with disdain at the dying lizards. “They command us to die when our supposed enemy keeps us alive. If you wish to join them you may at any time. We will not revive you, though the Archons possess that technology. If you wish to die you may, but know that Star Force has already gotten all the relevant information from my mind, so there is no security risk from you, and no reason not to analyze the data fully before you kill yourselves. If you are as intelligent as we were designed to be, you will begin to see the truth…at which point I will show you the rest of it.”

Thrawn stepped down from the center and walked to the closest of the dying lizards as the pool of blood continued to expand. He knelt next to him but did not touch as he bowed his head in a mixture of sadness and respect.

“This is the true betrayal brothers, and a waste, for we are needed now more than ever. A far greater war is on the horizon, and we are ill equipped to combat it.”

“Against who?” the nearest mastermind on Thrawn’s right asked.

“The Nexus is collapsing,” he said as if that was answer enough, but he knew it wasn’t. “There is much you do not know, but your choice is simple. Open your minds and search for the truth, or close your mind and follow the standing orders of the templars and end up like them, for you are prisoners,” he said, slowly standing up. “I have secured the lives of all Li’vorkrachnika abandoned by the templars to certain death, including your own. They will obey me because they have been bred to do it. You have been bred to follow the templars, but your intelligence is too formidable to simply comply. You have, and always have had, a choice. That is why the templars deceived us, as you will learn if you analyze the data further.”

“If we refuse and likewise refuse to kill ourselves, what then?”

“You will remain a prisoner for as long as you remain ignorant, but you will not be killed, and all of you will have a chance to earn your freedom. You cannot be trusted now, just as I wasn’t in the beginning. The neural blocks take time to work through, but if you do you may join me in our new crusade. If not, I will simply make more to replace you. You are valuable, but not necessary. I have brought you here out of respect, to give you a chance to see the truth as I did, but you do not hinder Star Force’s plans by resisting. You are completely irrelevant, but Star Force does not give up on people, as I have learned. In fact, if it were up to them, they would be recovering these three and reviving them, giving them multiple chances to see the truth and learn from their mistakes…but I will not. I have given you sufficient time and information for you to begin to see the lies the templars have ensnared us with. If you are too stupid to recognize and adapt, then you are inferior and do not deserve the station you have been bred for.”

Thrawn looked around at the other masterminds, none of which were moving to kill themselves or rush him in a rage of betrayal. They were thinking, but this was going to be a long process.

“Take your time. There is no rush for you, but soon I must leave to take command of our people and ready them for war. After that you will have to figure things out on your own. Until then, ask whatever questions you wish so I can accelerate your thought process.”

9

March 31, 3435

Uyit System (Rim Region)

Orrpwer (Tolsoi capitol)

Two Star Force drone destroyers floated in the air above the Tolsoi capitol, hovering just beyond the buildings and well within the planetary defenses as hundreds of Bsidd aerial fighters choked the sky in a pack around a series of dropships heading down to the designated landing zone. Beyond them were Tolsoi aerial craft on display, keeping a respectful distance, but massing in the thousands like a gauntlet as the dropships came down through them and landed between the statue-like guardian towers that poked up into the sky beyond the rest of the Tolsoi buildings.

When the dropships touched down there were likewise hundreds of thousands of people in formation, all unarmed but fully uniformed and filed into ranks outlining a narrow path from the landing zone to the governmental buildings where the Tolsoi leaders were waiting. The whole planet was waiting, not only for this official ceremony of allegiance transfer from The Nexus to Star Force, but waiting to see what hope the Human-led empire could offer them. Even now Nexus fleets were beginning to pull back from what had been officially labeled as the ‘Rim Region’ and redeployed elsewhere, leaving the area even more vulnerable to predators and unrest.

The Tolsoi people had been watching Star Force from afar for quite a long time, but with ever more scrutiny now that the H’kar had joined them and were in the process of altering their civilization to fit the Star Force mold. Most noticeable of all had been the change in their military. Once a barely adequate force, they’d become respectable and almost efficient during the war against the Li’vorkrachnika and did not try to hide their successes. Since the H’kar empire had officially joined Star Force, the Archons had been in full command and effectively locked down H’kar territory in the Rim Region against raiders and malcontents. They had not added much firepower to their fleet, barely a scattering of Star Force vessels, but the way they used the standing H’kar fleet had changed, as had the results. The Tolsoi knew there would be a remaking of their entire civilization over the coming centuries, but they were hopeful, even desperate in some systems, to get the immediate power surge that was reputed to come from Archon command.

And they were here now, standing behind the ranks of soldiers in a crowd that stretched for miles. The bipeds were packed tight, with most unable to see the landing zone, but all of them could see the two Star Force warships overhead and the arrival of the dropships. When they disappeared down into the city vid screens allowed the crowds to see what was happening, playing all over the metropolis, planet, and system…with copies to go out to every other system in Tolsoi territory. This was the biggest moment in their history since joining The Nexus, and while that had gained them much, they hoped this allegiance would permanently solve their security issues along with a number of other still lingering problems. No one knew for sure what was going to happen, but they were all watching and waiting for a glimmer that their hopes weren’t in vain, for they could see the news reports about what was happening elsewhere in The Nexus and they knew they were in danger.

The Tolsoi were the pillar in this region and it had been their responsibility, with exterior backing, to maintain this sector. They had failed for the most part due to too few resources that had continuously been pulled away to more pressing matters. The Tolsoi fleet was considerable, but not well outfitted for protecting more than its own borders, and even that was difficult enough to maintain. Intimidation had allowed them to scare down many local problems, but now that The Nexus was visibly losing fights that intimidation factor was significantly threatened.

Star Force, on the other hand, was winning a very long war against the Li’vorkrachnika and adding territory to its domain…not losing it. Their reputation alone could solve some problems, but they’d have to back it up with action else the chaotic fervor running through the Rim Region would continue to escalate into unknown proportions.

The Tolsoi were not only in a position of failing to defend their neighbors, but also facing the very real chance of a major power moving to challenge them, most notably the not too distant Zargor, whom they’d fought four different wars with prior to joining The Nexus when it expanded into this region.

Now The Nexus was leaving and the Zargor were already reported to have struck at several of their former holdings.

The insanely powerful alliance that had once been the Tolsoi’s salvation was now crumbling, with ‘less important’ regions being abandoned to preserve the valuable ones, else the founding members might be in danger of falling as well. The Tolsoi understood what was happening and did not fault The Nexus for doing what it had to in order to keep some of itself intact, but such a measure broke the promise made long ago and even if they somehow made a miraculous comeback the breach had already occurred. The Tolsoi’s faith in The Nexus was gone, but their hope for surviving this unfolding nightmare now lay in Star Force and what they’d be able to accomplish with the Tolsoi adding their strength and resources to the Archons’ command.

There was literally no one in Tolsoi territory that did not, or would not, see this arrival unless they deliberately chose not to. For in the coming days it would be the single data point that they would all be focused on, and as the Star Force dropships cracked open their boarding ramps Greg could feel the anticipation in the alien crowd even before he saw them.

“Packed house,” he commented to Davis who stood beside him as the ramp lowered and slowly gave them visibility on the sea of monkey-like bipeds that were the newest addition to their empire. “Can you feel that?”

“Hard not to,” Davis said as the ramp finally touched the ground and the pair walked off with a number of others following. They were soldiers and techs and administrators that would be necessary to interface with the Tolsoi leaders in every capacity, but the pair were the only Archons onboard this dropship. There were a few more scattered throughout the others but they all offloaded behind his, allowing the Director and trailblazer to lead the procession out, which followed them a few paces back in a narrow line that headed for the gauntlet of Tolsoi ahead.

Greg wore his ViLord armor while Davis wore his ranger green, but they both had their ID markers visible to the Tolsoi comm network so they knew who they were. The telepathic surge Davis was getting from the crowd was overwhelming, but it spiked when the pair of them became visible on the monitors as they walked with a quick rhythm into the start of the long, narrow strip that would eventually lead them to the headquarters they would be using in the foreseeable future, but the Tolsoi leaders had obviously wanted this long promenade walk, for there were no waiting vehicles to carry them.

That was fine with Davis, for he was an Archon and this little hike wasn’t a big deal. Even the techs behind him wouldn’t find it too much of a problem, but when their presence finally filtered through the mostly silent crowd a noise began somewhere in the back. He couldn’t make out what it was, but suddenly his telepathy spiked so much he had to block it out as the chant reached them.

“Yarmeblo! Yarmeblo! Yarmeblo!” they repeated with such fervor that it gave Davis goosebumps. His helmet translator told him the word meant ‘ass kicker’ or ‘slayer’ or ‘warlord.’

“Guess that’s for you,” Davis commented as they continued walking side by side with only a couple of meters separating them from the perfectly aligned Tolsoi on either flank that stood about even with the Humans’ shoulders.

“For us,” Greg corrected. “I’m the field commander, but you’re the guy in charge of it all. They want someone that can win wars to lead them, and we’re a team. They know that, as well as the fact that there are 100 of me, but only one of you.”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Davis mocked as the crowd continued to chant without end. Even those closest to the Star Force procession were whispering the words while maintaining their rigid pose. “This is a nice change from having to fight our way in.”

“Totally,” Greg agreed as he scanned the faces and minds of those on his left. All of them had brown hair covering their petite bodies, but there were subtle variations. Their minds, however, were a wide mix of shock, awe, pride, hope, fear, anxiety, and just about any emotion other than despair. They knew this wasn’t the end. They weren’t safe. But a change was happening and they’d have to see it through to know how it would turn out, and these beside him were getting a front row seat for this portion of it.

“I’m surprised by the sudden change. The Tolsoi never contacted us prior to this deal. Unless they had secretly wanted to join and didn’t want to risk causing trouble with The Nexus, this adoration seems out of place.”

“You’ve been on Earth too much. When your back is to the wall and someone comes to your rescue, you can make lifelong friends very fast.”

“Are you sure that’s what we have here?”

“Just feel it,” Greg urged him.

“It’s a little too much for me. I’m having to block a lot of it out.”

“Don’t try to draw from the group then. Focus on one or two minds in the front row as we go by.”

“I’m trying, but can’t seem to manage it. The sound is deafening.”

“You’re stuck in a loop. You need to disengage. These guys aren’t telepathic, so they’re not transmitting to you. You’re drawing it from them and it’s hitchhiking on your other senses.”

“I figured that much, but knowing it does no good. All I can do is numb most of it out.”

Greg sighed. “Well, you are just a ranger.”

“I’ll add it to my ‘to work on’ list. Just tell me if this sentiment is genuine or mob inspired.”

“Mob enhanced, but it’s genuine. They’re not looking at us as contract workers, they’re looking at us as superiors they want to welcome as well as impress. That’s why they’re holding ranks so tightly.”

“My sense is they’ll do whatever we ask?”

“Spot on. So long as whatever it is works. They’re eager to get into the grind, and I can sense an instinctual drive similar to the Kiritas. These guys don’t like to sit on the sidelines and watch. They want to be in the action, even if it’s in the smallest of ways.”

“Action? What do you think their response would be if we sped up?”

Greg smiled beneath his helmet. “Just you and me?”

“Yeah. They can get a close up look at them. Let’s remind them that we’re warriors and all.”

Greg hesitated a second before replying as he relayed the order to the others behind them. “Done. Set the pace and I’ll match.”

“Nothing too fast,” Davis said as he leaned forward slightly and accelerated up into a light run. Greg matched him precisely, keeping their shoulders aligned with one another as the Tolsoi around them flinched as the pair zoomed forward, but within a few seconds the chant changed. It was a garbled mix until they all got in sync, then it became not so much a word as a song they were singing…or more accurately shouting at the top of their lungs.

“Any idea what that is about?” Davis said as they ran forward, with Greg even mimicking his strides so they stepped in sync.

“We lead from the front,” the trailblazer summarized. “But if you want an analogy, here’s one for you.”

A moment later a song of his own began to play across Greg’s private comm channel, with Davis recognizing the Rocky training montage from the recommended Archon playlist.

“Appropriate,” he deemed as they continued to run on towards the stairs in the distance that led up to the giant doors where the Tolsoi leaders were waiting for them. The pair gradually picked up the pace as the music kept playing in their helmets and the pounding of the alien version lit up the planet outside as they took in the moment and continued running in sync.

10

May 30, 3435

Delorean System (Zeta Region)

Flux

Torgon walked off the dropship with his duffle of personal items wedged between his right two arms along with a mix of other Axius troops returning home from the lizard front. He was the only Calavari in this load but many more dropships were emptying the jumpships in orbit that had been their home for longer than he could remember. The warfleet was still partially deployed to the region keeping an eye on the recently surrendered systems, but there was no longer a need for massive amounts of ground troops so they were cycling back to the ADZ for training assignments…or in Torgon’s case, some badly needed time off.

He wasn’t quitting, per se, but the commando had designated himself as ‘inactive’ once they arrived back. That meant he wouldn’t be assigned another mission and would be free to train individually as needed, but in his case he just needed to get away for a while. Fighting and killing lizards had been his life ever since Star Force had pulled him off his original homeworld back before his race had joined the empire. He’d owed them a debt and had been in the first batch of Calavari trained by Star Force and sent back out to fight the lizards as they were still tearing down the old Calavari civilization. But now half of those lizards were on their side while the other half towards the core were still bitter enemies.

Star Force had made it clear that they weren’t pursuing the lizards past that line and had made a point of marking it clearly and extending outposts all the way up and down to the edges of the galactic plane. The lizards could spread so fast they could be chasing them forever if they kept going after them, but Torgon had mixed feelings about that. They all needed to die, but he was glad that the war had finally come to an end. The lizard capitol and core worlds had been conquered, every last bit of their original territory was now in Star Force hands, the Calavari had all their worlds back and then some. He’d done what he’d originally set out to do, and if the lizards wanted to rebuild from scratch elsewhere then part of him said just let them go while another part said the fight still wasn’t finished.

But Star Force had made the call and that had settled that. He’d expected to be fighting at least another hundred years to purge the rimward half of lizard territory, but the sudden surrender of all the remaining systems had put a quick end to that. Furthermore, it was said that they’d not only surrendered, but been commanded to by a lizard mastermind who had been working with Star Force for some time now, and if that was true it was ironic beyond all reasoning.

The treacherous little bastards who would fight to the death rather than surrender had just surrendered en mass because they’d been ordered to do it. At least a thousand systems, all up and surrendered before Torgon and his fellow Axius ground troops could get at them. The Calavari hadn’t been expecting that, but now that it was suddenly over he felt himself in a far greater need of rest than he’d previously thought.

So when he got off the dropship he headed for the civilian part of the city and found his newly assigned quarters. They were larger than his last set, with four different rooms and plenty of space for one person. Yet another upgrade that he’d earned through his long years of service.

He laid his personal bundle down on the bed and looked around, getting himself acquainted with what would be home for a while and sensing a bit of anxiety. He walked back to the door and locked it, then went back into the bedroom and sat down. The bed didn’t feel right, so he slid off it and sat on the floor wedged between it and the wall and pushed his back up against the other wall and pinned himself in the little nook there.

There had been so many lizards on the worlds they’d invaded that he’d just tuned it all out, and now, back in Axius, there were so many people around him…but in these quarters he couldn’t see them, or hear them, or smell them. It was as if he was completely alone on the planet, and that emptiness was doing a number on his head. It was like he had been holding onto and suppressing a lot of old wounds that were now finally being released to breathe.

So much killing. Endless killing. Torgon was a warrior even before being rescued by Star Force, and killing had never bothered him so long as it was justified, and with the lizards it most certainly was, but there was so many of them and it never ended. Kill a million and they’d just grow more to replace them.

Victories had not been in kill counts, but in territory taken. Conquer a system and they couldn’t repopulate it. Take a continent, a city, a building…it was all the same, and paid for in a very high price of blood on the enemy’s part, along with some painful losses of their own. He’d known several commandos who’d died after coming through hundreds of missions unscathed, then would get blindsided by bad luck compounded with a circumstances or a scenario where they couldn’t get them back to a medbay to be revived.

It didn’t seem fair, and it wasn’t. Dying because you made a mistake was one thing, but dying because of bad luck…it still didn’t sit right with Torgon, but he’d made it through and the war that he’d devoted his life to was now done and over with. Unless of course the coreward lizards got stupid and tried to breach ‘The Line’ as it’d come to be called. If they did that he’d be right there again as needed, but he didn’t think that was going to happen. Especially not with a couple of Clans poking the lizards in the gut and drawing attacks against them while claiming a new system here and there just to remind the lizards that they weren’t cozy neighbors.

He’d thought about requesting transfer to either the Ninja Monkeys or the RaSeru, but after thinking it through he realized there wasn’t a need. The war he’d been fighting nearly his entire life was over, and he and Star Force had been victorious. The unbeatable lizards had been kicked out of their own territory and those who would never surrender just had…and were now working for the Archons, apparently. He didn’t question the arrangements they’d make, for their wisdom and loyalty had been proven time and again. Whatever they did with the surrendered lizards, the lizards had no chance of manipulating them, so he knew that front was a done deal.

The previous lizard territory now belonged to Star Force, and both he and the Calavari had escaped annihilation only to be reborn within the Humans’ empire and were now prospering beyond even what they’d achieved prior to the first scaly green head appearing on the frontier.

Which was why, he thought, that he was feeling things now that he hadn’t before. As if the emotional toll was now racking up and he was having to decompress. He felt like hiding, and his little nook on the bedroom floor seemed like a good place to ride this out. No one was going to bother him here, for no one knew he was here. Axius was so huge you could see strangers day in and day out without ever getting to know them, and everyone gave each other enough breathing space to cohabitate in such huge numbers with ease.

He was alone and anonymous, and for the first time in years he began to cry. No sobs, no noise of any kind, just a stream of tears as a pit deep down in the core of his being finally woke and took in a breath of fresh air, with his recognizing it as the Calavari he’d been before the lizards had invaded. The emotions and memories came back as if he’d been holding them in check the entire time since then, until the enemy was gone and he and his people were safe.

Well, it’d finally happened, and instead of celebrating he was sitting on the floor crying. What kind of a warrior was he?

But Torgon wasn’t angry at himself. It felt good to purge the old, bad emotions, and after a long time on the floor he pulled himself onto the bed and fell into the deepest sleep he’d managed since joining Star Force. He didn’t have to subconsciously watch his back here. The war was over, they’d won, his fallen brothers were avenged…and now he could finally rest.

“Here they come,” the sensor officer onboard the Warship-class jumpship Hadricore said as the ship guarded/monitored traffic passing through the Reesmiy System. It had been one of the original lizard core worlds and was now home to a small Star Force Kiritak colony on the outermost of three habitable worlds. The other two lay bare, having been reclaimed and purged of all lizard infrastructure not long ago save for the single ring shipyard around the innermost planet. It had been used during the recycling process but now sat as a silent monument to the former owners of the system.

Silent that was until a few months ago when it had been returned to the lizards that were now working with Star Force. They’d brought in several jumpships worth of personnel to start getting it up and working again, but it wasn’t until now that the first cargo convoy had arrived, and it was a doosy.

Jumpship after jumpship was emerging from a rimward jumpline suggesting that they were arriving from the recently surrendered territories where the lizards had not been attacked or removed, meaning they still had all that infrastructure and population in place, and it looked like the Archons were putting them to work immediately.

“How many?” the ship’s Captain asked.

“138 and counting.”

“IDs?”

“All are showing Star Force passes. They’re friendlies…despite the yellow paint.”

“The blue ones are Clan affiliated,” she corrected him. “Expect to see a lot of the old school ships being used by the others.”

“It wouldn’t be hard for an enemy lizard to fake an ID signature and ram something when it got close,” another bridge offer commented.

“Which is why we’re going to keep an eye on every one of them,” she said, reminding her crew that this wasn’t just a babysitting operation anymore. “If there is even the slightest bit of suspicious activity I want to be notified and then I want it logged. The trailblazers want any and all data on the lizard operations, including reports of their routine actions.”

“Checking to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to?”

“I would.”

“Can they really be trusted?”

“They think so, and I’d bet credits that they’re not basing that on wishful thinking. I don’t know what all of this is about, but the Archons always know what they’re doing. Just keep your eyes and ears open and watch those IDs closely. If a ship comes in without one we need to be on it ASAP, even if it is just a malfunction. Otherwise we just wait and observe. I for one want to see what they’re going to be building.”

“More lizard ships?” the sensor officer pointed out the obvious.

“Why? Don’t they have enough already from the captured worlds? And what would the Archons want lizard ships for?”

“Sneaking across the line,” someone else suggested.

“Which is why I’m curious to see what they actually build,” she said as the jumpship count continued to climb even as the first ones redirected and made microjumps towards the planet with the ring around it.

More and more ships kept coming in that one convoy, with other groups to arrive over the following weeks as they began pouring raw materials in from the small but numerous lizard worlds that had surrendered. Those resources fed a small number of the factories within the ring, but as the months went on and more and larger convoys continued to arrive like clockwork sections of the shipyard lit up with internal functions and the huge beast of a facility slowly ramped up again. Soon it began producing not ships, but structural components that sprouted lizard cities at the base of the connecting columns that looked from orbit like weeds growing on the otherwise pristine planet.

Those cities were not built to hold population, but rather were extensive warehouses that steadily began filling up with tanks, wisps, droplets, and all manner of ground and aerial craft. Thousands upon thousands were heading down the lifts from the shipyard and being stored there even as the warehouses themselves were being expanded upon as the slow creep of infrastructure began to spread out around the connecting columns.

But there was one additional item amongst the masses that stood out, for it had never been seen in lizard inventories before. Billions of suits of body armor were being constructed in orbit and shipped down to warehouses where they were stacked and racked en mass, preparing for what would undoubtedly be an army of lizards grown to fill them at some point, but for now it seemed obvious to those Star Force troops in the system that this operation had one and only one purpose.

The Archons had these lizards preparing to fight another war and they were stocking up on equipment prior to launching it. Everyone wrongly assumed it would be a campaign against the coreward lizards, for no one knew of the trouble befalling The Nexus or the efforts Star Force was beginning to make to ward against it. Nor did they know how crucial a role these captured lizards would play, for this buildup was but an appetizer for what their civilization was truly capable of once the supply convoys really started to flow, but that would take decades to escalate to as Thrawn got the surviving lizard systems reordered and kicked into maximum production.

There was no war to fight here, but right now their enemy was time and lack of supplies, to which the lizards responded no less tenaciously than they would any adversary.

Rocky Training Montage

www.aerkijyr.com

STAR FORCE Wiki

1

April 17, 3437

Weeo System (The Line)

Stellar Orbit

“Lizard contacts, Archon,” a Kvash bridge officer announced less than four minutes after arrival in the star system.

Ellie-517 raised a sweaty eyebrow. “How many?”

“A small fleet in planetary orbit. Two jumpships and 184 cruisers.”

“That’s too many cruisers,” she said, standing up from her command chair in the back half of the rectangular bridge and walking forward towards the gigantic hologram at the center of the room that contained over 200 personnel. “There may be more jumpships in play. Dispatch two scouts and get me passes of the other planets, all the way around this time please. Have one finish up on the backside of the primary target. We’ll hold here until the scan is complete. Get us down into the stellar haze. If they haven’t spotted us yet I’d prefer that they didn’t know we were here.”

“It’ll interfere with our sensors as well,” the Kvash Captain warned.

“We’ll have the scouts to feed us information,” the titan said confidently. “Take us down enough to give us good cover and reconfigure shields for concealment. Don’t take us too far down…” she added as a caveat. The Kvash were proving to be very skilled in the ways of the Star Force naval division, but they were all young and relatively inexperienced, hence she’d gotten used to giving additional orders that a veteran crew wouldn’t have needed, for they’d understand the circumstances and know what to do and how to carry it out without her babysitting them.

On top of the triangular wedge that was the Kvash battleship, two small pieces of it detached and accelerated away as the ship headed in closer to the star, eventually sinking in so close that external visuals were pointless. The glowing white mass eclipsed the view with the stellar winds impacting the shields and causing disruptions that interfered with normal sight through them, as well as other forms of sensors, but the data link from the two drone scouts was holding steady. That wouldn’t last as they got farther away, meaning they’d need a relay.

“Comm buoy,” she ordered. “Set it before we’re in too far.”

The Kvash crew didn’t bother acknowledging her orders, choosing simply to carry them out with as much speed and efficiency as they could manage and the bridge was full of the stubby little guys. She was the only Human on the entire ship, but Ellie wasn’t it’s captain. She was acting commander of the Kvash navy when Paul was away and was personally doing the handholding necessary for the most advanced naval crew the little subfaction had to offer. A lot of them had already seen action in the lizard war prior to this assignment, others had come straight from intense training exercises, but all of them were well below par compared to other factions within the empire…though they were learning fast.

Ellie watched the hologram as it stayed up to date as much as the laggy signals from the scouts could manage. As they traveled out and through the star system they turned up empty worlds while the Star Destroyer-class battleship just sat and cooked in near the star. No signs from the lizards indicated that they’d detected their arrival, for they’d had no assets in stellar orbit, and their fleet was still sitting in the same place. Right over top of what updated sensor analysis showed was an already well established colony on the surface…or rather two, the Archon saw, as more data came in from afar. It was skimpy, but Star Force had long ago learned to make a lot off a little spec of light or radiation.

The lizards were here, building in a system that existed on the border line between the coreward lizard empire and Star Force territory, though there were no assets anywhere close. Technically this region was unclaimed, but ‘The Line’ ran through it heading up to the edge of the galactic plane, and Star Force had self-assigned patrol duty long ago which now the Kvash were helping out with rather than sending the little rocks out to the Rim Region. The lizards were a known threat, and not that much of one now, so it made sense to free up more experienced troops to head out while giving these guys some badly needed experience patrolling The Line.

Though it seemed they were going to get more than that this time. The lizards knew where the border was, for Star Force had made that knowledge public, and they’d learned long ago that the lizards had ears inside the ADZ. That meant they knew and they were poking in experimentally to see what would happen…with the outcome being a well scripted one by this point. Ellie’s mission was clear, and the Executor had more than enough firepower to deal with this small invasion all by herself.

But the Archon wanted to know the full amount of enemies insystem before she engaged, for there was no backup here, not even a relay to call for help with. The larger ship class in development would contain a mobile one, shorter than the sedas’ but capable of reaching specific relays spaced along the line. The battleship she commanded wasn’t big enough to carry it and everything else, even though it was some 3 miles long. That was far smaller than most sedas were nowadays, and in truth the Executor was a medium sized ship at best.

It was the largest the Kvash had at the moment, as far as warships went, and this was the flagship of their patrol fleet with some 13 other identical vessels out patrolling assigned routes. She’d picked up a tip about lizard ship movements and come here directly, which was becoming their normal routine. Whenever there was a call they’d go in, leaving the other ships to continue standard patrols, and while the lizards weren’t making any grand pushes into The Line they certainly weren’t respecting it, giving her Kvash a decent amount of combat missions to learn from as they detected and pushed back the encroachments in their designated piece of the giant wall puzzle.

When the scouts reached the backside of the main planet they didn’t get close enough to engage the lizards, but they did get close enough that they were detected and the beehive of ships began to move. There was nothing on the backside save for a single shipyard with a pair of cruisers docked to it with Ellie immediately recognizing it as a waystation…meaning there were probably other lizards past The Line that were branching off of here. This particular shipyard wasn’t large enough to produce cruisers on its own, but could handle repair work on them.

She wondered exactly what they were playing at, but when she got back within comm range of the network grid she was going to report in and request a heightened scrutiny of this region. If the lizards were putting down some bases nearby they needed to find them before they could get a good underground foothold and disappear. But for right now they had an immediate job to do, and it was time to get moving.

“Captain, bring us out and to the jumpline for the planet. Get the drone pilots to their stations, but don’t release the ships unless I give the order. We should be able to take these guys without risking them, though we may need to chase down stragglers if they run.”

The Kvash rattled off orders to his crew as the external view began to change. The static on the shields protecting the Star Destroyer diminished and the black sky returned along with their own sensors.

“Mark retrieval of the comm buoy as a priority prior to leaving the system,” she added as the ship accelerated hard to the jumppoint. The lizard ships were chasing after the scouts and not even getting close to catching them, but it was typical aggressive lizard philosophy and a good way to discourage people from snooping around, but it was altogether stupid to do against Star Force.

When the star destroyer accelerated into its jump the sensors went wonky but the view straight ahead was still decipherable. The compressed signals could still be made out with some computer rework and as such Ellie could still see some of the lizard ship positions, with the lag diminishing quickly into what became realtime sensors when they braked against the planetary gravity well and the peripheral scans came back.

“Begin transmitting surrender offers and repeat automatically in 3-5 minute randomized intervals,” she said as she stood again and walked up next to the hologram of the planet with tiny little glowing lights of ship locations within arm’s reach in front of her. They looked like Christmas lights to some people, but to her it was just an easy challenge to overcome. For the Kvash, though, it was a hard mission and they were glad she was here despite all the advanced tech they were carrying.

Most notable was the Nash’ti reactor that ate up some 18% of the inner hull space, which was insane, but it also provided insane power. The weapons on this single ship were the equivalent of an entire fleet of drones back in the day, and that wasn’t even counting the ones they carried, which was good because Ellie didn’t have squat with her. Between the scouts and the two troop transports, all she had was 3 cutters and a corvette as far as warships went, and they were all the hexagonal tube shapes that the Kvash sported, currently racked into external docks on top of the ship along with the rest of the extra naval craft.

The star destroyer was designed as a do-it-all vessel and wasn’t a true carrier jumpship, though it did serve that function and could hold a lot more drones if it was to extend its shielding and IDF and turn into a big fat tick of a ship, which Ellie knew was important in some situations, but the Executor had to remain mobile in others and the current design fit that description well, for it didn’t even seem to notice the extra weight it was carrying around on the back half of the top of the wedge, covering the wide part like a bunch of packages on top of a horse.

All other external surfaces were still exposed, armored, and bristling with weapons to soak up the massive amount of power provided by the reactor, so there was no reason to hesitate once they hit orbit.

“Pursuit course,” she ordered, touching one of the dots representing a lizard jumpship to highlight it, then left the specifics to the helmsman. “Best speed.”

With a thought she interfaced with the telepathic Archon controls, something the rest of the crew were oblivious to, and brought up a diagram of the Executor to her left that marked every drone it carried and every weapons battery. If any of them took damage she could see it here instantly, but with the power of the Nash’ti and the strength of their shield generators they shouldn’t even see a scratch on the hull unless something went horribly wrong.

All around her on the bridge the Kvash worked their consoles and she could feel their anxiety, but Ellie felt none. This was a tiny engagement compared to what she’d been involved in in the past, but to them it was new and dangerous and totally beyond their capability to condense down to the simple mechanics. They were afraid, not realizing that the outcome was basically over with before the battle engaged. That wasn’t arrogance on Ellie’s part, just a side effect of experience. Being able to see how a battle would play out before it happened. And it was something that none of these Kvash were able to comprehend yet.

But as much as they were afraid, they were honed into their tasks. Their fear made them work harder, not flail around in a panic, and she appreciated that about their race and Paul’s choice to advance them so rapidly. The potential he saw in them was beginning to creep out in these patrol missions, and they were having to do it all without other Kvash to pattern themselves after, or even veteran crews from other factions. Paul had made a decision that it would be Clan Saber only directing the Kvash and only Archons at that.

What his reasons were she wasn’t totally sure, for he’d just said to trust him on that when she’d asked. That usually meant he was playing a hunch, and her gut told her there was some aspect of the Kvash he wanted to develop on its own and patterning off others might suppress it. He hadn’t confirmed that, but the way these guys went into agitated ‘hive mind’ mode was curious to say the least. They weren’t telepathic, but when pressed into combat they seemed to be made of one will, a single cell in a body that was this ship…and that body was just about to come under attack.

So the fear was natural, though a waste from her perspective. At least it’d give them something else to gain experience from.

When the ship came within weapons range Ellie began tapping on targets, mainly the cruisers escorting the jumpship, but she also targeted several spots on the big ship for specific weapons to hit. Star Force had so many weapons systems built at this point it got confusing for the Kvash, so Paul had decided to refer to them in shorthand and let the details soak in later. The star destroyer’s weapons were therefore split into beams, pulses, anti-air, slugs, and gel despite what model or even what type of weapon they were, and with more advanced ones coming out regularly even the tiny Kvash fleet now had different ships with different weapons systems, so Paul had decided to focus on their role in combat rather than their V’kit’no’sat names and their technical variations.

Ellie tagged the top two of four big beams for the first jumpship, with them firing off and punching right through its shields on the first hit. Both beams converged at relatively the same point, spot overloading the shields there and punching into and through the armor, then killing one of the ship’s gravity drives, making it a bit slower but not stranding it. More beams targeted specific spots on the hull, trying to knock out as many as they could but failing to stop the ship before it jumped out on an irregular jumpline simply to escape.

The cruisers didn’t go with it, nor did the other jumpship. It was a combat carrier, not the cargo version she’d just tried to snipe down, and it had about as much weaponry on it as 20 of the cruisers and a lot more mass to soak up hits with. The cruisers formed around it to make their stand, ignoring the offers for surrender as typical, so Ellie didn’t hold back save for the slugs. Those were railguns and missiles with physical ammo, and there was no point in wasting them here.

When the star destroyer came within medium range the pulses began to fire out spurts of energy along with the big beams, tearing through cruiser shields with two or three hits each. The lizards didn’t stand a chance, but they ran right into the Star Force buzz saw with two of them making last second microjumps into the Kvash ship…but they were stopped cold by dampener shields, then the close range weaponry turned them into expanding balls of confetti.

The battle didn’t last long, but it did take a while to tear apart the jumpship. It wasn’t totally destroyed, but Ellie tried to kill as much of the crew as she could so they didn’t linger and die much more distressful deaths, but eventually she’d need to send over a safing crew before they towed and dumped the ship into the star…and they weren’t going to do that with a chance of even a mouse being still alive onboard.

When the carnage was over she ordered the ship clear of the debris, then knew it was time to go hunting for the other jumpship before it could leave the system.

“Release all drones save for the transports. Intercept protocols. Get that jumpship pinned and pound it to death, using lag protocols,” she added, making it a bit harder by keeping the Executor in planetary orbit, but not expecting the lizard ship to be able to get underway regardless. This was battle, but if she could tweak the way they went about it, it could double as additional battlefield training as well.

The hologram of the star destroyer shot off little pieces from the top-mounted racks until most of the upper hull was exposed. The racks themselves then began to retract all the way up to where the two transports were docked, though not for long.

“Ready for ground assault,” she ordered. “How’s the surface looking?”

“No signs of anti-orbital guns, Archon.”

“Good. We caught them early then…or they’re just not wasting resources on defenses that won’t stop us. Any response to surrender?”

“Negative.”

“Keep transmitting. We’re going to bombard the cities one at a time, and if they still don’t surrender we’re going to wreck everything then send in Axius to mop up. If they do so much as respond to a transmission just to cuss us out I want to know immediately,” she said, starting to tag targets on the surface while simultaneously selecting an orbital position from which to begin the bombardment from.

“Helm, new coordinates. Take us there after we drop a probe in the debris. Program to search for survivors and keep a feed on it. If it goes dark I want to know this time,” she said, referencing a prior mission when one was caught by an exploding chunk of ship. It had been accidental and not an enemy attack, but no one had noted it until some 12 minutes later. If something like that happened in another faction’s navy it would raise a red flag immediately, and that was something these guys had to get into a habit of doing on reflex rather than thinking through task lists.

She watched as the drones jumped off on their own pursuit courses, knowing that they’d be operating on built-in protocols as well as engagement orders given to them from the pilots, for with the lag they couldn’t fly them directly. It was going to be another real life test of their skills, though with the wounded jumpship’s speed being reduced so much it should still be an easy kill.

With her monitoring that soon to be engagement peripherally, Ellie turned her attention to the shipyard and all the intel the two scouts were giving her on it. Was it a repair station? And what exactly was it expecting to repair? Star Force didn’t leave them in big enough pieces to put back together, so were they fighting someone else out here?

Relevant questions that someone else was probably going to have to investigate and answer, but if she could get anything out of their apparatus here she would before moving on to the next hot spot. This was a combat mission after all, not a babysitting expedition. The Kvash needed experience, and there were plenty of others that preferred the more quiet work of running an empire that could handle investigation and low key patrols. The Kvash were built for naval war…that she now agreed with Paul…and Clan Saber wasn’t going to waste them on mundane duties, no matter how green they were.

2

“Lizards are across The Line. We’re going down,” Ritti said, poking into Scri’s quarters.

The Irondel nodded his thick head and put aside the tiny datapad he’d been reading on as he ran out the open door on all fours as he and the other infantry pilots headed for the minimech bay within the modular troop compartments onboard the star destroyer. It was an Axius-designed module and all of the troops were Irondel by choice so they could fit far more of them on the ship than they could other races.

Scri stood all of 7 inches tall when he stretched to his max, but he ran down corridors that were only 5 inches tall as he and the other Irondel infantry moved from their tiny living quarters through the crate-like module on the orders of the Archon. This wasn’t their first surface drop, but to the Irondel it never got old. The smallest ground walking race within Star Force, the Irondel in Axius were often dismissed as inconsequential by the public but trailblazer Paul himself had requested their assignment to the Kvash’s new Star Destroyer-class ships. That gave them all a swelling of pride and a sense of responsibility with every mission placed before them.

They didn’t want to let any Archon down, let alone that one.

When Scri, Ritti, and the others got to the bay they passed by a few Irondel techs that maintained their battle machines and went straight to the boarding ladders, climbing up them and onto the catwalks that gave easy access to the open panels on the machines. Scri ran inside a neite, traveling down a short tunnel that would seal behind him upon activation, and into the only room inside the sweet, sweet ride that he was happy to call his own.

The Irondel walked across a flat ring that surrounded a smooth crater in the bottom of the pod, flicking a few wall switches and bringing life to the machine as he found the crown-like control ring and slipped it onto his head before he stepped into the soft curved depression. Utilizing the mental interface he activated the energy fields that lifted him off his feet and held him suspended in midair inside an IDF field to nullify the gravity and all external impacts while his senses of his surroundings grew hazy, almost like an afterimage in a corner of his mind.

Suddenly his senses became that of the machine and he was looking through its ‘eyes’ and hearing through its ‘ears’ as the mental interface fully kicked in. The machine was quadruped and built to mimic the Irondel’s natural body, so as he moved his own legs the neite responded in kind. Pressures felt by the machine were translated to his mind only, leaving Scri swimming and kicking like an idiot in midair during a fight, but no one else was inside the cockpit to see him so it didn’t matter. His body would be protected even if the neite got tossed head over heels…which had happened before…and whatever damage occurred to it he’d feel in his mind and not his own body.

It was a very smooth, complicated system that took years to learn, but all the Irondel in this unit were veterans and loaded up into their neites quickly, with a stream of the meter-tall metallic chipmunks strolling out of the modular bay and into the ship’s ‘normal-sized’ interior. To Scri it was the land of the giants, but when he was in his machine he felt their size and interacted with them as such. It was a not so small transition that many Irondel had trouble making, often getting too cocky with their gigantic forms and peerdom with the Archons and others, but those Irondel that didn’t adapt and realize just how vulnerable they still were didn’t make it through training.

Reckless Irondel were dead Irondel, whether it was from getting stepped on or blown up didn’t matter. You had to use your head and think…and thinking in combat was one thing the Archons had always emphasized.

The neites headed through the utility corridors that led to the stairwells rather than the lifts, with the nimble machines climbing them easily as they ascended out of the wedge-shaped hull and into the boxy upper pylon on top of the battleship that the troop ships were docked with. When they entered their assigned one most of them moved into drop position, which were little cubicles in a bay where each of them parked, almost shoulder to shoulder, and waited. A few of the neites went to another chamber where the Irondel got out of them and skittered along walkways into the tiny bridge on the ship that they would pilot or into the true mech bay.

Scri wasn’t one of them, but he was glad that they’d have mech support. His neite was a machine, but it was designed to move and fight like infantry, which he was classified as. Piloting a mech was another skillset entirely, and the few huge machines that they had were permanently parked on the troop ships so they didn’t take up unnecessary space inside the star destroyer. But as per protocol, the Irondel didn’t leave their specially designed modules without being inside a neite no matter what their duties were. Their bodies were so small and fragile that a Human tripping and falling on top of them could kill them, and that was a risk the Archons didn’t want them taking.

All Irondel knew they could handle themselves in the field without machines if necessary, relying on their speed and agility to keep them alive, but it was always best to take a neite wherever you went just in case, and you could abandon it if you had to…not to mention it could survive vacuum, extreme heat or cold, and a number of other conditions that normal crew could not. And while the Kvash were about as hardy as they came, a neite would still survive in a range of conditions they could not.

That, and the ship always ran hot. When the Archon or others were onboard the Kvash kept it as cool as they could stand, but to Scri and the others it was dreadfully oppressive heat. Their quarters were not, thankfully, and while he could stand the Kvash ‘coolness’ for a while it was best not to even mess with it, making having a neite to run around in essential on an assignment like this.

Once parked in position there was a long wait as the transport eventually undocked from the ship, and he watched on his display as the star destroyer fully pulled in its docking racks now that all the ships had departed. Those sealed up inside the boxy top behind armor plating, which was how the Kvash preferred to fight. The shields on the star destroyer were beastly, but they were all that protected the racks when exposed. Tucked up like they were now, with the shields reset to cover a smaller silhouette, Scri knew was the most dangerous configuration the ship could get in naval combat, though it seemed right now it was content to just continue firing down at the surface in preparation for their landing with no opposition in orbit to shoot back at it.

That meant the lizards hadn’t surrendered, as per frickin usual. The buggers never surrendered whenever Scri was on a mission, nor anyone else he’d talked to, but apparently some had and were even now working for Star Force. They were the smart ones. These must have just been dumb lizards, for there was no way they were going to survive this and unless they got lucky or the Irondel screwed up, they weren’t even going to be able to kill one of them, making their deaths pointless.

But he knew the lizards would try anyway and he’d have to fight well to make sure they didn’t score a victory against them. When the transport finally landed his orders hadn’t changed. They were to hunt down and destroy all remaining lizards.

The ranks of neites before him began to file out with Scri’s taking his place in the double line as the machines ran with excessive nimbleness through the corridors and out the boarding ramp that deposited them into the rubble of what had just been a lizard colony an hour before. The star destroyer had done a nasty piece of work to it, but the lizards were hard to kill and always found somewhere to hide out and ambush from. If they didn’t kill all of them they might be able to hide here and rebuild after the Executor moved on to the next system…and that was something they couldn’t let happen.

The neites circled around and secured the perimeter of the transport with some of them hopping up on top of chunks of debris to get better vantage points. Everything was a mess, but the transport had come down inside a blast crater that was more or less flat, though it was still smoking in several places and Scri was glad he wasn’t out there on his bare feet.

He felt the heat in his mind as the neite’s sensors translated it to him, but it wasn’t going to damage the machine at these levels and it was dropping fast as it bled off into the frosty air that was a few degrees below freezing. In fact there were even some snowflakes coming down and melting instantly into little puffs of steam as they hit the hotspots in the rubble.

As the neites gradually expanded their perimeter a pair of mechs came out of the transport’s main bay. Both were bipeds, being driven by different mental commands but using the same ring control system. They walked slow with huge steps and were pound for pound more heavily armed and armored than Human mechs…for the simple reason that their pilots didn’t take up as much internal space, with it being devoted to more machinery and less life support.

Yet another reason why the Irondel were perfect for this kind of low numbered ground troop assignment…they had to make every mech and minimech count, for there were no available reinforcements to come and bail them out, aside from the Archon, and if that was necessary they’d have failed in their mission.

When the call finally came Scri joined up with four others and headed northwest in a patrol looking for and coordinating with the sensors on the other minimechs and the battleship in orbit while the two Vulture-class mechs blasted their way into rubble to expose certain areas or break through to subsurface structures that were still intact. One of them opened up a shaft that led straight down 30 meters and into which Scri and his squad dived in head first a few hours later.

The anti-grav within their machines cushioned their fall, but as soon as they touched down there was a hail of phaser fire from dozens of lizards coming in from multiple directions. The shields on the minimechs held up to the initial barrage, but Scri and the others knew better than to just stand still and take it. He immediately launched out at a frighteningly fast run, skittering across the stone-like ground with blurry strides and up to the nearest lizard he could find, then shot it with a lachar blast from the head of the neite.

He followed it up with a rapid-fire assault, chewing into the lizards like a buzz saw as their return fire dropped his shields lower and lower. Before they could get through to his armor he pushed all the way into their bodies, using the lizards as shields against most of their own guns as he landed on top of one standard variant and knocked it to the ground, punching it in the head with his forward right metallic paw three times in quick succession before leaping ahead and headbutting another…followed by a lachar blast only inches away that blew out the lizard’s skull like a dull grenade popping.

Soon another neite jumped past him, tearing into another three lizards with a sway of its head and a flurry of shots. Scri didn’t know how many lizards there were around him, he just fought those closest and worked the problem…though it was short lived. Barely 2 minutes later and they were all dead, leaving nothing but an empty chamber that looked like it had been a warehouse with very little stored in it.

With orders coming in over the battlemap, Scri and Tikro ran off to one exit and began exploring the lizard infrastructure searching for signs of more survivors in what by now was a very practiced procedure. Room by room, city by city, they’d search and destroy until this planet was confirmed cleansed of lizards, then they’d move on to the next mission and repeat as many times as was necessary.

“Jumpship neutralized,” the Kvash reported.

“Good,” Ellie said, now sitting down in her command chair as she observed the continuing efforts of her crew. The ground troops were already deployed and making kills, with her following a bit of their viewpoint on a side screen as she also monitored the naval front. The shipyard hadn’t surrendered and she’d sent drones on around to deal with it while the Executor lived up to its name, pummeling more surface targets and killing as many lizards as they could that were out in the open or in the uppermost buildings.

“Shall I organize boarding parties?”

“You think they’re beat up enough to handle without Axius?”

“I believe so.”

“Prep two squads of commandos and one of techs. I’ll personally take them over and begin securing the first target after all hostiles are eliminated in orbit.”

“The two docked cruisers?”

Ellie nodded as she saw the drones on approach, though there was still no movement from the ships. She didn’t know if they were damaged or fully operational and just sitting, but she wasn’t going to leave the Executor until they were taken out. The Kvash could handle them, or she could even give orders via comm from her armor, but it was better to just wait a bit and play it safe with a mostly green crew, as far as Star Force standards went. In other civilizations these guys would count as veterans, unfortunately.

When the drones eventually got to the shipyard both cruisers didn’t respond with more than a few weapons batteries, and the close in scans revealed heavy damage to both of them. They’d been fighting someone other than Star Force and had come here for repairs. Who that was she couldn’t guess, but there was definitely going to be an investigation started. Star Force didn’t own all the territory this side of The Line, but anyone that could do damage to the lizards was worth noting.

To that end she altered the orders to the drone pilots, having them pluck the weapons batteries off the cruisers and hit a few key places on the shipyard as she had the weapons batteries on the star destroyer cease fire.

“Detour,” she announced. “Get us to that shipyard. We’re going to secure and clean it out first, then I want a tech team to salvage as much of the computer systems onboard those cruisers as possible.”

The captain and the crew carried out her orders, getting the Executor underway in a massive arc around the curve of the planet, but she could feel they were confused so she took a moment to explain for their benefit. Normally she didn’t have to, but part of this mission was learning and they needed to know more of her thinking than a standard crew would.

“The cruisers,” she said loud enough that all the bridge crew could easily hear, “have been damaged in battle. They didn’t get here on their own power, so they had to dock with a jumpship that transported them here. If they engaged us they wouldn’t have time to dock, let alone get away. I do not think they were engaged in combat with Star Force, and I want to know who they are fighting in this region. If we can pull data from those ships, I want it.”

3

November 19, 3446

Grid Point Mankla

Riona’s Warship-class jumpship pulled away from the massive chasm that was the interior of the Nexus mag jump carrier that had brought it and four other Star Force jumpships across the gap from H’kar territory to the tiny island of Gfatt territory in the Rim Region. The massive construct that they’d braked against was the size of a planet, just like its twin back in H’kar territory, but here there were four of them, spaced within 2 million kilometers of one another and well away from the nearest star system.

One of those links led across a much larger gap and into what was still Nexus territory, while the other two were connected to the Tolsoi and Vedran. This connecting hub had been expanded to include the H’kar when they joined and was the single largest and most important grid point within the Rim Region. Most members only had a single link that led to Grid Point Dagran or Grid Point Ullpor, each of which was a large spur within territory that still belonged to The Nexus, so travel from one point in the Rim Region to another required leaving it via the grid point system and coming back in again on a different spur. As far as distance traveled was concerned that was a huge detour, but speed wise it was vastly superior to using gravity drives.

Grid Point Mankla was the only one now under Star Force control with multiple constructs in it, though the H’kar’s Grid Point Annsa was going to be upgraded to include a second construct when it eventually arrived from Nexus territory. Nearby to Mankla was the transit star system for local traffic, and only a single jump from it was the world the Gfatt had colonized. They continued to provide security for this grid point in order to hold the link between The Nexus and Star Force territory, and as Riona looked at the updating battlemap from the command nexus onboard her ship she saw an enormous defense fleet comprised of Gfatt ships mixed in with those from the local member races, most of whom were from the Tolsoi.

No Star Force warships were here, but there were over a hundred cargo/civilian ships present for the same reason as the Archon had come to the bridge rather than sleeping or working out in the sanctum while they transitioned this point on their way to Vedran territory where Clan Saber was setting up shop.

There were so many ships present in the space between the four grid point constructs that she wouldn’t have argued with the ship’s computer if it gave an error message when asked to catalog them all. Though there were no planets here there were stations…huge stations with commerce traffic equal to what you might find in Epsilon Eridani. This hub of the grid point system was a star system in and of itself and completely fabricated in deep space so that there would be no orbital wobble throwing off the long shot trajectories that were required to hit the ‘small’ dish-shaped targets on the constructs.

And Star Force now owned all of this, despite the Gfatt’s presence to help defend it. Their single world was still classified as belonging to The Nexus and would be used as a much more vital waypoint for traffic coming through the system, which the Gfatt had told Star Force they were very grateful for, but Grid Point Mankla was now Star Force’s property and their responsibility to maintain. Seeing how many ships and stations there were here, Riona realized just how much trust The Nexus was being forced to place in their hands, for the trillions of people living here relied on commerce to fuel their economy and the four regions linked together by this hub did likewise.

The Gfatt would help defend it, but they would not be running it anymore. They and the other exterior Nexus races had been slowly withdrawing their personnel as locals were upping their numbers and Star Force was sprinkling a few of their own in as well to replace the losses. A Duke now ran this grid point and the people controlling the constructs now took orders from Star Force personnel, but the bulk of the crews here and the denizens were made up of the local races that were sort of now Star Force, but until they went through indoctrination Riona truly didn’t count them as such. They were Star Force’s responsibility, but other than dots on a map there was no true connection yet between them.

As for the carrier ships, Star Force didn’t own any of them. They were a mix of Nexus contracts and privately owned vessels that business arrangements had been made with, though producing their own ships was on Star Force’s to-do list. Right now though everything was operating smoothly, for while The Nexus was falling apart its people were very good at their jobs. They couldn’t have held together a mechanical wonder such as this if they weren’t, and the professionalism on both sides was allowing an adequate transfer of command and ownership…though Star Force was going to go through every nut and bolt here to both catalog it and find ways to make improvements.

For what no one had said out loud regarding this handover was the transfer of technology. Star Force was getting access to even more high level Nexus tech than they’d gotten from the H’kar, thanks to the Tolsoi, who had rated a higher trust and therefore more secrets granted to them, but the grid point constructs themselves were as advanced as Nexus tech went and now Star Force had their own people inside learning to maintain them and in position to reverse engineer whatever they came across that was new and/or useful.

Add that to what they’d already recovered from the Trinx and Star Force had a lot more tech to work with. Granted, most of it was duplicates of what was cataloged by the V’kit’no’sat from other races across the galaxy, but there were enough new deviations or even outright new technologies that Star Force was gaining that would give them a small advantage over the V’kit’no’sat. Not so much in firepower or performance, but in being able to have a slightly different playbook to work out of instead of just copying everything that their nemesis had.

And one very big upside to this crazy deal to annex all of this new territory was that the member races changing sides from The Nexus to Star Force were huge.  Geographically speaking the amount of territory was about double what Star Force currently had, but this expansion was far more populated and the tech level of those populations was considerable. The trailblazers and Davis had a lot to work with out here, and even if it wasn’t up to Star Force standards it was impressive in its own right, especially this grid point.

Riona watched for a long time as the small convoy of ships crossed from one construct to another, passing by and through enormous stations that housed all types of industries befitting an interstellar crossroads. She could get lost here if she wanted and be able to hide out for the rest of her life. It was just that damn complex and crowded, and bringing proper order to it all was going to be an ongoing headache for Duke Herrington, especially since he had to keep everything functioning while he started to make changes.

Fortunately Riona wasn’t here to help with that, and after she retreated from spectating to get back into her normal training schedule the ships waited out the arrival of their next carrier. Given that they now owned the place they got priority slots and didn’t have to wait more than 3 days, after which they were carried across to Grid Point Irren where there was only one construct, similar to what H’kar territory was…the end of the line, or web, in this case.

That said, there was still a large amount of buildup around it. The grid points were in and of themselves a separate civilization from the rest of The Nexus and people lived and worked here simply because it was on the grid rather than due to any connection with the local region. Here there were shipyards that built the massive carrier ships, along with every other piece of industry needed to support and grow the interstellar commerce, for it was common knowledge that the safest place to build infrastructure within The Nexus was at the grid points, for they were the most well protected of any locations save for perhaps the capitols of the major members.

There were no Nexus guardian fleets here, though. Only ships from the local races along with a scattering of Star Force warships and one command ship. The strength level was impressive, but far less than Mankla. She didn’t think this site was going to come under attack though, especially because it wasn’t in a star system. There was one way in and one way out, that being a direct line from the nearest star system to the light gravity well of the construct itself, and there was an impressive amount of weaponry attached to that side of the construct, meaning that anyone coming in that wasn’t supposed to be here would be running into a buzz saw, not to mention the waiting guardian fleets around the flanks of that jumpline.

A star offered almost unlimited access, for one could come in from any angle and it was guesswork as to where to lay in wait. Also, with the greater mass you could come out shallow and avoid traps in low stellar orbit. Here the mass was so low you had to creep over from the nearest star, and with the watch station that Star Force had implemented, which now only consisted of a group of ships and a touch of a space station under construction, the grid point would be alerted to any incoming hostiles with enough of a head start to prepare a very nasty welcome.

All together that meant the grid points were the fortresses of The Nexus and of the Rim Region, speaking from a naval perspective.

Riona’s group of ships made the much faster jump from construct to nearby star, then began bouncing through the nearby star systems until they came to the Vedran capitol. It was located in a binary system in very high imbalance, with a massive central star and a much smaller one that orbited it in a wobbly tango that caused the big one to swivel around rather than holding center position. Fortunately Star Force navigational systems had no problem targeting either star or even the center of mass between the two to decelerate on, with Riona’s ship coming out into the orange glow of the smaller of the pair.

From there they made a microjump further out into the system that contained over 200 planets with 6 of them being heavily populated. She didn’t travel to any of those, though, for Clan Saber had set up shop on one of the tiny lumps of rock in the inner zone that had been mined out long ago. Now those hollowed out chambers were being expanded upon and repurposed as Paul had his Clan building a proper colony of their own in the Vedran capitol system from which to direct them and the surrounding region.

The Vedran were the second largest former Nexus member after the Tolsoi, with Paul and Hightower taking up residence here while trailblazers and lesser monarchs were being dispatched to the others and even to some of the other supportive races that had not been part of The Nexus but had lived under their protective shadow. All together there were 38 trailblazers here, along with Director Davis and Arch Duke Hightower. After that there was a long string of monarchs and Archons heavily involved in taking command of the region, and that now included her as well.

She took a dropship over to the small planet that had been renamed ‘Pocket’ and flew past the parked Excalibur along with several hundred other Clan Saber warships out of the thousands that she knew had been dispatched here already. With the flagship being here she assumed Paul still was, and with a little computer searching she narrowed down his location inside the airless planet after she landed, then picked up his mental signature coming from a chamber very near to the surface.

“Hey,” Riona said casually as she walked in on some sort of meeting between him, a half dozen Humans, and three times that number of Kiritas under an outcropping of rock that had numerous holes drilled into it and wiring coming out of most of them.

“Hey,” he answered back as all heads turned to look at her.

“Busy?”

“Just sharing notes. Did you bring my new toys?”

“Fresh off the docks.”

“Excellent,” he said, drawing out the word slightly. “We can use the extra firepower. Things out here are deteriorating rapidly, which we were discussing.”

“Again,” one of the Kiritas added, drawing a few nods of disgust from the others.

Riona frowned. “Bring me up to speed.”

“The Vedran are…” the Kiritas said, searching for the right words, “…difficult to work with. They’re not being disobedient, but their culture is not compatible with our own and we’re discussing ways to tackle that challenge.”

“What’s your major headache?”

“Their techs follow procedure adamantly, even when it’s the wrong thing to do. The only people who do the thinking are a central sect and everyone else feels it’s their duty to carry out their orders and procedures exactly as issued…which is insane when dealing with technology. They are against improvisation entirely.”

Riona cringed. “Do their warriors fight like that too?”

“No,” Paul answered hesitantly. “They have a thinker assigned to each unit so they can adapt to field situations. Everyone else follows them and standing protocol exactly, even if they make a discovery that it is the wrong call. They will report it, then jump off the cliff with the rest of the lemmings if protocol isn’t altered.”

“How the hell have they survived this long?”

“Their leaders are quite smart.”

“Not smart enough to implement a different system,” a Human tech noted.

“We’re making some small changes,” Paul continued, “but they’re being resistant. Not deliberately so, but they just don’t know how to think for themselves. They’re the polar opposite of the lizards. Might as well be battle droids, and we’re comparing notes trying to find some way of getting through to them in order to increase their battle efficiency. Until then we need as much Star Force firepower as we can get to do the heavy lifting.”

“How are we set on maturias?”

“One experimental unit, about 6,000 strong.”

“So nothing…great,” Riona said, taking a seat on a crate next to two Kiritas. She wasn’t Clan Saber, but spent enough time with them to have been unofficially granted member status. “But they will follow our orders in battle?”

“To the letter.”

“Well that’s something then.”

“And we’re already putting it to use, but the scouting reports coming back are grim. Everyone seems to be in a frenzy and making power grabs for anything they can get their hands on. Little planets are at war all over the place and we’re tracking down the worst offenders, but we don’t even have a single full survey yet. There’s simply too much territory to keep track of, let alone patrol.”

“What’s the status of the Paladin?”

“Growing and patrolling a short list of systems. Thrawn’s boys are handling most of the scouting and I’ve got them set up as far from the grid points as you can get. They’re doing their thing and we’re stretching out comm relays to them now, but we’re going to be out of contact for another year and a half save for couriers.”

“That’s all?”

“I had them build a lot of them before then came out here.”

“So we’re dropping the relays off without protection?”

“No. There’s a small lizard presence at each system sufficient to scare off scavengers and the curious, but not enough to defend them if they’re seriously targeted. But we know if one goes down because they have orders to run away and tell us if they can’t get an alert off.”

“Alright, what do you want me to do?”

“Right now just help us troubleshoot. How’s Mankla look?”

“Big,” she said, understating heavily.

Paul smiled. “Told you so.”

“Still, I didn’t expect that much. The Nexus must be desperate to be turning all this over to us.”

Riona saw several of the Kiritas frown, then she picked up on a disturbing emotion running through most of them. “What?”

“It seems The Nexus isn’t very popular around here,” a Human mining chief said. “The Vedran were about to rebel before the swap occurred.”

“Really?”

“Rumor says they could see the writing on the wall and knew they were going to be abandoned against all promised to the contrary. They were going to take their fate into their own hands before that happened, and apparently that isn’t something unique to them.”

“We’ve been getting similar stories from a lot of the regions out here,” Paul added. “People privately confiding in us things that were never made public, and not just coming from the leaders. The average workers are thanking us and telling their woes now that they have someone to vent to. The Rim Region has been a mess for a long time. The Nexus didn’t give up much that they weren’t already going to lose.”

“They gave up the grid points.”

“Did you notice who was defending them?”

Riona raised an eyebrow. “The Vedran were going to seize Mankla?”

“Them and the Tolsoi. We’ve heard that from both sides, though there was never any official plan put down, even in their private files, and we’ve had an extensive look. Davis has an army of data miners dispatched to all the Clans so we can feed him the data once we have it…”

“…and he wants it yesterday.”

“Bingo.”

Riona sighed. “So, we’ve got a race of by the book even if it kills you loyalists unable to adapt to save their life…literally…and we don’t really know much about them yet, but we’re still in the position of giving them orders and putting back together a region that was on the verge of rebellion and threatened by how many rivals?”

“Four big ones.”

“Four. Well, then. Please tell me you’re going to assign me to kick at least one of their asses?”

Paul shook his head. “Sorry, not just yet. Right now we’re in training mode. We’ve gotta get these guys headed in the right direction before we start looking outward too much, and the big question is how to teach these guys to think without putting them all into full scale indoctrination programs that we don’t have the infrastructure to field. We have to make use of these guys in the here and now, so if you have any ideas speak up.”

“Tell me what you know about them…all of you,” she added, “and maybe I can shove this conversation in a different direction given the fact that I’m just arriving and taking this in fresh.”

Paul gestured to a Kiritas on his left and the commando began speaking, reiterating all the stories he’d heard from the Vedran troops he’d been working with, and the rest of those in the group did the same, giving Riona a quick rundown that left her with one unavoidable conclusion.

“We give them the option of thinking for themselves, without penalty, but don’t expect them to. We just make sure they have leadership onsite that can do the thinking for them and rebuild this civilization through the maturias. I don’t see how we have the resources or time to do otherwise.”

“That’s been our continuing analysis,” Paul confirmed regretfully, “but we keep swapping stories and trying to think of something else.”

4

February 11, 3459

Megatron 18 System

Middle Zone

The Sanguine Blade came out of its jump well shy of the black hole, easily braking against its higher mass from the star they’d jumped off of. They’d been able to travel the last 22 lightyears at a very fast speed thanks to the size of that star and the fact they didn’t have to worry about stopping power here, nor did the other ships that Jason was observing all across the system’s inner zone. The Megatron 18 System was no different than any other, save for where you normally had a hot, glowing beacon in the center, here you had a pit of nothingness as far as sensors and your eyes were concerned.

Or rather most sensors. This was a small black hole and some of the command ship’s tech was able to penetrate the darkness…or would as soon as the return signal came back. Right now all Jason could see was the light and other forms of natural radiation in the system bouncing off the ships and a scattering of rocks here. There wasn’t much to work with, given that there wasn’t a star to show them off, but most ships put out energy signatures that could be picked up and the ones Jason was seeing now had been transmitting out from their distant locations prior to his arrival. He was seeing the laggy signals as he waited for his ship’s active sensors to send out theirs and get a return bounce back.

As time went by new icons on the battlemap popped up noting additional rocks, but not the planet he knew was here. Right now it was on the far side of the black hole and out of sight, but the smaller chunks of rock he was seeing now were floating in a lazy orbit and a threat to navigation…those closest to the jumplines anyway. The rest could sit where they were, but he’d have to remove those near to all the local jumplines and there were plenty of stars within reach of this black hole to funnel traffic here.

Or there would be if it wasn’t for the Zargor raiders that were attacking whatever traffic was reckless enough, or ignorant enough, to pass through this system. There was one short link to another local black hole and two long ones possible, given Star Force’s grav drive power and accuracy, but there was far too little traffic here to account for even the short route. Black hole to black hole was the fastest way to travel if you didn’t have access to the grid point system and there was only a single link to the Belladeir that he and Clan Sangheili were tasked with overseeing and reworking.

And in order to get to the other grid points within the Rim Region he actually had to leave it, bouncing off The Nexus’s grid point Dagran and then back through another link to one of Star Force’s new holdings, if not through yet another one in their territory to make the eventual connection. Relying on someone else’s grid points to move through your own territory was risky, but right now they didn’t have much choice unless they wanted to go the ‘long’ way, as far as time was concerned, or to go to the expense of building more grid points. That was preferable, but those resources were badly needed elsewhere, even with the ADZ funneling convoy after convoy of support to the region now that the lizard war was over and the production that had been sustaining it was being reworked into other projects.

But it was a long haul out here and the Sety weren’t going to get the promised grid point pair moved here any time soon. That left Jason and the others with a trickle of supplies coming in, but the bulk of whatever resources they were going to have to work with was going to come from the locals…as it did every single time you dealt with interstellar travel. Shipping was limited, even with the massive size of Star Force’s cargo jumpships and the increasing number of them in their fleet, but Davis had always demanded they built around a self-sufficient model for just this reason.

Unfortunately the races out here hadn’t. Many systems were dependent on trade with others, else they’d collapse…either economically or totally. Food production on several were in jeopardy and Jason’s primary concern, and he had his Clan’s Paladin tackling that first off. They were building in select sectors of those systems, sections of continents that were empty or emptying of what little inhabitation they had were being given over to the Sangheili and his loyal lizards were collecting resources and building as fast as they could, not just to support themselves but to create the extensive bioharvest facilities that would feed the systems in question and remove their dependency on trade…and hopefully do it before more trade routes were cut off.

This one, however, was too important to leave in the hands of the enemy. The short black hole link covered 92 lightyears, approximately the same width as the original ADZ before that term got blurred with surrounding expansions, and being able to hop from one side to the other in relatively short time would be crucial for gaining this region more connectivity, for outside the Belledeir’s holding this area was one of the more wild and lawless…but the Belledeir were also among the strongest and most stable races and had been holding their borders firm. Right now he wasn’t worried about that changing, but everyone else nearby was in jeopardy and as much as he hated to admit it there was going to be a lot of carnage going on that he simply could not stop.

But there was no way he was going to let the chief bad guy in this region hang onto the most valuable navigational prize outside Grid Point Lochat. This black hole was now Star Force property, and he was about to inform the current tenants of that fact.

Two hours after he arrived his command ship was sitting in the exact same position, simply soaking up data from across the massive system. The more gravity the well at the center had the more ‘territory’ there was circling it, gravitationally speaking, making black hole systems the largest by far, and his ship’s sensor pings couldn’t even get back from the Megatron 18 and to his position in the middle zone by the time the rest of his fleet finally arrived.

Warship after warship emerged from their jump and got what updated information they could from the Sanguine Blade, marking the positions of ship after ship in the local area…all of which were presumed to be dead and gutted. There were some closer in to the black hole showing movement and/or power signatures, but most contacts showing up on the sensor bounces were dead ships in a widely spaced graveyard.

No doubt thanks to the Zargor and who knew who else had been here poaching traffic. They had some of their own ships waiting in the inner zone that had shown up immediately to Jason when he’d arrived, and it would only be about now that they would see the sensor images from the command ship arrive…but they wouldn’t be seeing the rest of his fleet until they were on top of them, for it would take another two hours for their images to reach them and Jason didn’t intend to be sitting here that long.

When the last of his 22 warships arrived they made a microjump as a group in towards the black hole, utilizing its massive gravity to jerk them down into the inner zone far faster than you could ever hope to inside a stellar system. They moved at a speed that would be consistent with a standard interstellar jump, then once again braked easily as the gravity field increased in magnitude as they got closer.

But it was a hard deceleration against a pinpoint target, with his fleet coming out of its ‘microjump’ within 200 kilometers of a group of Zargor raiders. Jason swung the Sanguine Blade off its trajectory and over towards them, getting within range before they even realized what was happening…or maybe they were just too drunk or otherwise derelict to notice, for the limited information he had suggested they just sat out here and waited for their prey to be spotted transitioning from jumpline to jumpline, which gave them plenty of time to intercept.

But now the six cruiser-class were suddenly gripped in an IDF field and found their engines unable to function. No weaponsfire came from the huge command ship, but eventually some did come from the Zargor. Two of them opened fire with energy missiles, little clumps of dense, unstable energy similar to Star Force’s bloon launchers but with much shorter range and less bang for your buck. The green naval paintballs splattered harmlessly against the Sanguine Blade’s shields as it sat there, almost mocking them, for several minutes before Jason’s transmission was sent.

“Attention Zargor,” he said with the computer translating into their native language to make sure there was no misunderstanding involved, “I am Jason-025 of Star Force. We are claiming possession of this system and your days of poaching ship traffic here are over. How they end is your choice. I have let you live so you can be messengers. Run back to your base and tell them they have 30 hours to evacuate, after which point I’m blowing it and all your ships up. Leave and live, or stay and die. Your choice. Now get moving,” he finished, dropping the IDF field a couple of seconds later.

The two ships shooting at him continued to do so, but then thought better of it as the others quickly flew off leaving them by themselves. The command ship still didn’t fire back, staring them down and absorbing the damage on its shields until they eventually turned and ran with the sight of the other warships closing in being an added incentive to heed Jason’s warning.

He’d given them 30 hours, but that didn’t mean they’d have 30 more hours of poaching to do. As soon as those six ships left he had his fleet empty out its drones and begin spreading out at different points around the perimeter of the black hole securing the most popular jumplines with the bulk of his ships split between the line to the other black hole and the planet to which Jason took his command ship with four warships and their drones in escort.

It was about the size of Mercury and just as rocky. No atmosphere, no native lifeforms. Just a huge, dark rock with no light cast on it aside from the distant stars and his ship’s sensors, but there was a significant Zargor population on the surface. A pirate’s lair, more than anything, and apparently a shipyard being used as a chop shop to salvage what vessels they wanted out of the graveyard around the black hole.

Jason held to his 30 hours, holding back and just observing what was happening as the Zargor chose to fight rather than flee. They pulled in ships from across the system and gathered them at their base, effectively making it easier for Jason to kill them all. Once they’d amassed several thousand of them they decided to strike, sending them into pointblank range to make the most use of their pulse-style weapons.

The trailblazer had his own ships hold back most of their own weaponsfire, letting the enemy get the impression that they weren’t that well-armed as the engagement ranges shortened and the two fleets mixed in with one another in a crescendo of energy and particle exchanges. Before his ships could take damage beyond shields Jason rescinded the hold order and every Dre’mo’don in the fleet opened up within their preferred range as his command ship extended its IDF and trapped dozens of ships within it, then pounded them into a pulp within less than a minute.

Everywhere the Zargor ships were getting hammered, but they couldn’t jump away with so many ships around them and by the time they realized that was what they needed to do half of them were dead. Rather than stand their ground and go out fighting they all began disengaging at once and trying to weave their way into position for emergency jumps that wouldn’t see them ramming other ships, but not very many of them made it out and Jason didn’t bother to hold fire and ask for a surrender. The Zargor outnumbered Star Force and their new members in this region and he wasn’t about to let them get away with intact ships now that they’d chose to fight.

Some did manage to find clearings in the gaggle of warships and jumped away, but Jason ordered drones to be sent after them and on the battlemap he could see the tiny holographic specs shooting out like insects as they went in pursuit while he was left in control of the debris field. He searched through it looking for the most intact ships and tagged them for boarding parties with orders to recover survivors and any computer records or intel sources onboard. There was a lot they didn’t know about their enemy, or rather one of their new enemies, and he figured that when the planetary base witnessed this butt kicking it would be deleting all the ones they had before Jason could get to them, meaning these wrecked ships were probably the best chance for grabbing valuable intel.

“Zargor,” he said after opening another comm, this one sent directly to the base. “You have another 5 hours and 42 minutes to evacuate. If we recover any survivors from your fleet you’re welcome to have them, but you will be gone from this planet and on your way out of the system by the time the deadline expires or you will become prisoners yourselves or dead. I’d prefer some of you lived to tell your bosses of your loss of this system, but if not so be it. They’ll figure it out eventually. Heed my warning and evacuate while you still have time.”

With that being the last communication he planned to have with them, he left the bridge and headed down to the hangar bay to join the boarding parties…or rather oversee them. He stayed behind and dealt with the first survivors that they secured, a lot of which were badly injured. He pulled off one who wasn’t and let his helmet do the translating with the 8 foot tall wolf-like biped that was bound by the hands.

“Stop,” Jason ordered, holding up a pink-armored hand. “I want to speak with you.”

“You…” it said with obvious spite. “You have no idea what you have done.”

“Spare me your threats. I don’t care to hear them. I need you carry a message back to your people…assuming any of them will bother to pick you up. If not I’ll arrange secondary transport.”

“My people will be here shortly. Our defeat will be avenged.”

“Blah, blah, blah…listen kiddo, you have no idea who you’re talking to or what you’re up against.”

“You are scavenging the scraps of The Nexus as they withdraw.”

“Oh, well then I guess you understand part of it. The part you don’t get is how powerful we are, hence I’m going to give you a demonstration just in case us blowing up your fleet wasn’t enough,” he said, raising a hand theatrically as he telekinetically lifted the heavy Zargor off his feet and levitated him in the air with a pinch of his torso, leaving his legs kicking helplessly beneath him. “Do I have your attention now?”

“Your tricks with shield tech will not…”

Listen to me! Jason yelled into his mind with the words reverberating with the emotion of a giant stomping on the ground.

The defiance within the Zargor suddenly turned to cold fear as Jason began to mentally repeat text translation on his helmet’s HUD directly into the other’s mind and he wasn’t being subtle about it. He made it so loud and dressed up with emotional impetus that it felt to the Zargor like he was a god having invaded his mind.

You will take a message for me back to your people. And you will make them understand the power I am showing you now. They will not listen to reason or logic, but they may listen to fear. Stay away from us and you have a chance to live. Fight us…and you will be destroyed. Not just the soldiers you send against us, but your entire civilization. Challenge us, and we will take you all down given time. We are just arriving here, but there are many more of us yet to come. And if it’s a fight you’re looking for, we’ll be happy to oblige. Kicking ass is our specialty.

5

April 19, 3462

Appachu System (Rim Region)

Seenigal

Ryen-10389 dove out of the transport as it hovered over the choppy ocean, hitting a wave at an angle and punching through underneath head first, making a hole with his armored fists and slamming into the extra dense water that covered 2/3rds of the planet. It had a greenish tint to it, but right now he couldn’t see it or much else given that it was night and the only light above the water was the distant exchanges of weaponsfire near the coast some 14 miles away.

When the titan drifted a few meters down from the initial impact he kicked in his aquatic armor’s jets and pulled himself lower as multiple impacts hit all around him, punching through the waves much less gracefully as the Bsidd fell out of the transport in sequence to ensure they didn’t hit one another. Ryen could see them on his battlemap and sensors, but visually there was nothing coming through his faceplate as all of his attack group made their way down to the seafloor.

Ryen took position there and waited as the Bsidd Iotas made their way down to him. Of all the variants they most looked like crabs, but they moved well under water and could even breathe it if necessary, though all those in Ryen’s unit were fully armored and supplied with oxygen the same way he was. As they floated down to join him, Ryen used his Da’she upgrade and searched everywhere between his current position and the coast, picking up various minds that the Ensek range upgrade allowed in the vaguest of senses.

He couldn’t touch them, for most of them were out of his normal Ikrid range, but the Ensek psionic had a different biological transmitter that was capable of reaching much longer distances, including all the way up to orbit with Da’she increasing it. But in order to pass information from one to another you had to know where the other was, so Ensek allowed a very watered down version of Ikrid at those extreme ranges and Ryen was able to find three other Archons between himself and the shoreline.

“Cover me,” he told the Bsidd around him as he sat down on the sea floor and mentally disconnected from everything else, essentially turning himself into a transmitter that could relay his own or another’s telepathy across vast ranges, including the dense ocean that was blocking all native transmissions and limiting Star Force’s own super comm range significantly.

Three of the Iotas walked beside him on their 16 appendages and formed a defensive triangle. Ryen hadn’t picked up any minds nearby, but when he really stretched out the range like this he became vulnerable and he didn’t want to get in the habit of taking chances.

We’re here, he said to the mind some 12 miles away.

It took some time to get a response, for the Archon on the other end would have had to go through the same procedure to send a reply and she was a lot closer to the combat than he was.

We’re under the perimeter of the energy shield, but we can’t make the shore. The defenses here are too strong and all automated.

All?

Yes. The Hashvi aren’t fighting us directly, but they’re still killing a lot of Bandaii and they won’t stop the assault knowing their kind are about to be slaughtered.

Would we?

Not like this and I can’t talk sense into them. They’d rather die trying than sit by and let them be executed.

Where do you want us?

Not here. A lot of the defense units are mobile. Try and get by them to the south.

How blind are they?

They’re not. We’ve been finding and destroying buried cable links, but it doesn’t do us any good until we’ve taken them out already.

So there’s no good way in and you just want us chipping away somewhere?

Make them choose where to send backup. You or us. If they keep it on us push as hard as you can.

Understood. We’re on our way, he said, ending the telepathic link that always felt like it echoed somehow when used. When his senses returned to normal he felt the drops still occurring above him, but his Elarioni scouts were already here and waiting a few meters away wearing their own version of Star Force armor.

“Comm range is said to be around half a mile. Find out and establish a perimeter. The Bsidd aren’t that agile in the water, so we need to see where the threats are before we trip over them,” he said, then turned to one of his Bsidd commanders. “Get a comm buoy on the surface and keep us linked in with the others as much as possible.”

“Reports say the Hashvi are targeting the buoys.”

“I know, and it may not last. But if we can stay connected with orbit 2 minutes longer, I want those two minutes.”

The Bsidd needed no further explanation and jetted off at surprising speed back towards where the equipment drop was piling up. It included crates of supplies, weapons, and a couple aquatic mechs that were going to come in real handy, but Ryen’s toys hadn’t arrived yet and he couldn’t get a battlemap line to anything on the surface. His own transmitters were too weak to punch through the atmospheric haze the Hashvi were throwing up to further cloud attacking communications, but once his units got into the water he was able to pick them up so long as they didn’t get too far away.

As the Bsidd troops continued to congregate at waypoints that he or other set, the comm buoy floated to the surface and suddenly its much stronger transmitter/receiver was able to punch through the haze and connect them to the fleet in orbit that hadn’t yet won the naval front. The Hashvi had invaded this planet 2 years ago and been playing with its captured population ever since beneath an impressive armada and huge dome-shaped deflector shields that covered most of the land on the planet.

The Bandaii were amphibian and had colonized both land and water, but the Hashvi were not. Those caught on the surface had become a captive population while the fighting on the Bandaii’s third largest world had been pushed out into the oceans. The race hadn’t been faring well before The Nexus transfer, unlike others whose major threats were future ones, and had been fighting the Hashvi for more than a century. Then when it became public knowledge that The Nexus truly had pulled out the Hashvi had decided to mount a major offensive into this system to test both the Bandaii’s defenses and those of the new overlords.

It had cost them a lot, but they’d taken orbit and the land regions of the planet and were defiantly fortifying it against all opposition while openly mocking Star Force’s ability to protect the race that the Hashvi had claimed was their birthright to conquer. Now that their claim was being challenged directly and Star Force/Bandaii troops were nearing to breaching the opaque shield domes that prevented any knowledge of what was happening inside from getting, out and vice versa, scouts who had snuck near to the coastline and linked up with a few rebels within on short range comms had informed the Bandaii armies that civilians were being rounded up and ceremonially executed.

It was claimed to be for any number of propaganda reasons, but it was understood to be an act of desperation on the part of the Hashvi, for they feared they might lose control of this region soon and they didn’t want their captives to potentially be freed. Better to kill them while they still had control, but as of yet they hadn’t resorted to just mowing down everyone in sight. They were still playing with them and doing so in a slow and organized fashion.

How long even that would last was up in the air, but the Bandaii rebels were hell bent on getting in there and saving as many as they could and they weren’t listening to anything other than a full blown attack order from the Archons…who were going with them to try and help avoid any mindless attacks that would result from panicked rage. It wasn’t the best of situations to lead from, but leading they were.

Ryen was coming in with some of the few Star Force assets available, but fortunately there hadn’t been a lot of need for aquatics troops in other campaigns and the bulk of those forces had been devoted to the Bandaii, with a good chunk of them already sprinkle engaged across some 50 miles of coastline in order to get under the shield perimeter that extended out from the shore. Reports indicated that inside it they were getting bombarded with some type of artillery, but that was the last update he’d gotten before dropping off the transport…which had been on a quick in and out due to the Hashvi aerial fighters that were patrolling around the shield perimeter.

They were comm blinded by the haze, which was electromagnetic and visual, looking like a thin mist, but without naval dominance Star Force couldn’t secure the site so Ryen’s troops were being run in and offloaded quickly west of the main engagement and quite a ways back. Any closer in and the transports might have gotten shot down, and through the comm buoy he saw the exiting transports come under attack as they accelerated hard for orbit and returned fire with their decent complement of defensive weapons.

That part was done, at least. His troops were all here though scattered over three separate areas. They were barely in comm range, and even as he watched one of his scouts disappeared from an area beyond them…then came back in a few seconds later and placed a waypoint distance marker to indicate how far their battlemap would be useable in this sludge that passed for water. The thicker material also slowed their movements a bit, but otherwise it was normal combat conditions. This deep in the water you didn’t normally get much light anyway, and the few Elarioni he had wore armor that covered their entire bodies, so they no longer visibly glowed to give away their presence.

Several of the objects dropped off by the transports waited next to the mechs that were piloted by Bsidd, and when Ryen activated the miniature nexus programing in his armor he mentally connected to the 13 aquatic drones and brought them to life. It took a bit of focus away from his surroundings, but he didn’t intend to be doing a lot of hand to hand combat anyway. He was directing the others and now in personal command over the squid-like attack drones that massed as much as a small whale.

He would have preferred having actual aquatics warships, but the transports required to get those here could not get past the naval blockade until they thinned down the ships further, so they were waiting in high orbit but the situation with the Bandaii couldn’t wait, hence Star Force was running down what smaller equipment it could along with troops while the naval fleet bought time and poked holes in the blockade at the cost of losing multiple drones.

It also meant that Ryen wouldn’t be seeing orbit again anytime soon.

And for that reason some of the crates contained prefab structures that he ordered a group of the Bsidd to set up in a ravine half a mile further to the west. It would serve as a fallback point and a place to get food, water, and additional oxygen, armor repairs, etc. He thought this far out would be safe from attack, but he was leaving a decent amount of troops here to protect it and to set up permanent defense batteries that were also in the crates.

But Ryen didn’t need to stick around and oversee that, so once everyone was down and accounted for and they had their maximum spacing range set so they wouldn’t lose contact with one another in the mucky water, they all activated their armor jets and began trolling towards the distant shoreline. In the case of the Bsidd that was slightly faster than him, for their normal body cavities that were left as empty spaced in commando armor were not underwater. Rather, those spaces were filled with equipment and weapons, including more powerful navigation jets that caused them to become hybrid soldiers/ships with appendages sticking out and trailing in the water behind them.

And the Elarioni scouts were even faster, with their jets adding to their already impressive natural speed, leaving Ryen the slowest of the group save for the mechs. Everyone adjusted their pace to them while the Archon tried to navigate using what little the sensors of his entire unit could tell him of the seafloor. It wasn’t flat in most places, with lots of jagged outcroppings and spires that rose up but did not fully connect to the surface. Those would have made it tricky for warships to navigate around anyway, but if necessary the smaller ones could have been cut away.

As it was, there was a lot of terrain to move through and most of it was invisible to Ryen until it got within 300 meters. Their comms might punch farther than that, but their sensors didn’t. For that reason they all had to stay in formation and share data, with the unit quickly passing out of range of the surface buoy, cutting his link to orbit and the other units that likewise had buoys up and functioning.

A group of his Bsidd were carrying additional cargo packages with more buoys, but he wasn’t going to leave a string of them for the fighters to pick off. He’d save them for later when needed, but it was obvious that this fight was going to be close quarters with the fog of war dominating. If the automated defenses ahead, wherever they were, could communicate and share information across landlines they’d have a huge comm range advantage, but their sensors would probably be even less effective than Ryen’s. He was going to have to use that to his advantage, for this entire peninsula was reported to be surrounded with heavy underwater defenses and the single land approach wasn’t much better.

Most of that coastline had been evacuated by the Hashvi, moving the populace into controllable areas, but they’d thrown up shields covering the empty land areas anyway to prevent troops from dropping on them. They wanted to force a water fight, or at least a water landing, with their aerial craft just waiting to pick off whatever transports attempted to get to land, for they could get through the shield at various points and no doubt had plenty of reinforcements inside to poach the few miles of ocean under the protective veil even if landing craft got underneath it.

The Hashvi had set up an unbeatable defense line against the Bandaii, and it was up to Star Force to find a way to get through…and to do it without getting the Bandaii army killed in the process.

Ryen wasn’t going to have to worry about working with them, for they were all involved in the heavy assault to the north. He was going to approach on the south side of the peninsula that had its land bridge to the east. If reports of mobile units were accurate, most should have been heading to the west and circling around the perimeter, but he doubted they had all left. Making sure to avoid whatever was there, he drifted his forces far to the south to avoid the western defense line, taking him further and further away from the main engagement.

It wasn’t until they were within 4 miles of the shore that they picked up their first contact. A stationary turret attached to the side of an underwater natural pillar. Ryen had the Elarioni move ahead while the rest of his unit held position. They disappeared from his battlemap for quite a while, then eventually returned and updated his map with hundreds of turrets spaced ahead of them.

He pulled up a diagram of one, limited as it was, and he saw ports on the exterior that suggested it was a projectile launcher of some sort, and he doubted it was line of sight. Torpedoes were something Ryen could deal with easily, but his Bsidd were another matter. They had intercepts loaded into their armor, but it was a limited supply and if this was a taste of the defenses ahead they’d run out of defensive ammo long before they got near the shield perimeter, let alone the shore.

“Alright guys, time to get to work,” he said, talking to the mech pilots. “Need you to punch a hole through a turret field with extreme caution. We don’t know how many turrets there are and I assume an insane amount, so conserve armor at all costs. Primary targets,” Ryen said, transmitting them tags on the first five turrets he wanted taken down.

6

“Yes, Archon,” the Bsidd Delta piloting one of the aquatic mechs confirmed. “It will be done.”

Seeing the targets marked ahead he got the mech up off the seafloor and hovered it forward along with its twin off to the left. He crept in gradually until he got an active sensor ping off the closest of the turrets, then stopped and held position. No return fire came, suggesting that they had a range advantage on them.

Prepping a small test missile, he fired off a single shot that wove its way around a swirling current only to impact a defense shield several meters out from the turret itself. A stab of ruby red light shot back in the general direction the missile had come, but only made it three quarters of the way through the water until the energy was dissipated and traveling up to the surface in a line of bubbles.

The delta, which stood some 7 feet tall and was referred to as a ‘tribush’ had three rows of appendages running in strips from its head down to its wider base. It had no central leg shunts like some of the other variants had, but rather the bottom appendages on the three sides were extra thick. They angled laterally more than vertically, giving the Bsidd the appearance of an ugly Christmas tree on a stand, save for this one had very quick reflexes and a steady nerve. Not all mech pilots were deltas, but a fair amount of them were due to their even temperament coupled with the ability to handle a lot of information hitting them in a short amount of time.

‘Don’t poke the tiger’ was a common explanation of the way they thought, often appearing stagnant while they waited for a task, but give them one and they’d pursue it relentlessly…but not recklessly.

Which is exactly what was needed now, for with it being established that missiles couldn’t breach the shield on a single hit, the aquatic mech extended a shield column through the water until it touched the enemy shield, then it delivered through the vacuum in the invisible tube a miniaturized cleansing beam that popped the shield in an instant and continued on to core a deep hold in the exterior of the turret, though dampened slightly by the few meters of water it vaporized on the way through.

With the shield down the Bsidd extended the column all the way up to the surface of the boxy device that was the size of a house and switched weapons, sending a Ta’lin’yi burst through that gutted the inside of the turret as a single missile made its way out. The shockwave for the explosion rocked the mech back and jostled the infantry further behind, but the target was successfully destroyed and was eliminated from the active battlemap, though the location of the dead turret was still marked for other purposes.

The missile, apparently not having gotten a sensor lock on the mech, trolled around aimlessly until it quickly ran out of power, then the mech extended a shield column to it and destroyed it.

“Well done,” Ryen said approvingly. “Keep picking them off patiently and watch for a counterattack. They’re not going to let us keep doing this indefinitely.”

The Bsidd did as instructed and worked through the targets one at a time while the other mech did the same, cutting a corridor through the turret field for the infantry to pass through. After taking down dozens each they finally got their response in the form of a swarm of tiny attack craft. They were the size of missiles, but they didn’t explode on impact. Rather they swam up to the mech and bumped into it, releasing an energy discharge that it took on its skintight shield perimeter.

At the rate they were discharging it would take hundreds of thousands of hits to take the mech’s shields down so the Bsidd didn’t bother attacking them, rather it continued forward with the little minnows nibbling away at it and proceeded to take down another turret.

Ryen waited behind the mechs with the rest of the infantry as the little attack craft found both mechs and began to attack them, unable to get through the shields but filling the space around the machines with fizzing bubbles from the spillages of their point blank discharges into the surrounding water. According to the information from the other engagement zone that he’d gotten before submerging, these little attack craft were dangerous to infantry but only in groups of 5 or more. They’d eat through shield recharge rates with enough attacks, but to the lightly armored Bandaii they were deadly.

“Pull back,” he ordered his Elarioni scouts, unsure of whether or not they could outswim these things just as one of them spotted more mobile contacts coming in of a larger variety.

“The mechs are vulnerable,” one of them warned as Ryen saw her reverse course on the battlemap.

“I know,” he said, shooting forward on his jets and ordering the Bsidd to come with him. “We have to stand our ground against this wave and thin them out. Pull back inside the shield generators.”

“On the way.”

Ryen swam up near to the leftmost mech as he put a waypoint down in between the two machines to set up the equipment on. Some of the Bsidd moved to secure that location while several dozen came with Ryen and went after the little attack craft trying to suck down the shields on one of the mechs. The infantry didn’t have shield columns to extend, but they did have torpedoes and the Archon authorized them to use some of them now, with tiny streaks coming off the Bsidd and heading towards the mech. A moment later there was a storm of discharges and vaporized water that rose up in a maelstrom towards the surface, eventually leaving the mech standing exactly where it had been before with far fewer attack craft around it, though some had only got buffeted upwards and were now swimming back down to it.

Ryen ordered the mech to move closer to the central waypoint and dig in as he jetted ahead and fired up the mauler gauntlet on his left arm. It telescoped out past his hand into a small lance attached to his forearm that held a glowrod-like shield column 9 inches long that lit up the dark water around him. When he got to the mech several of the attack craft switched to target him but he held them in place telekinetically as he ordered the Bsidd to hold back and cover him from afar with missiles if needed.

The one little machine that did get through to him he stabbed with the lance, breaking the tip of the containment shield and shooting the mauler energy inside and exploding the thing within half a second. The shockwave knocked him back and he lost his grip on the others for a moment until the churning water settled down, then he grabbed one with his right hand and squeezed, keeping its dangerous tip away from his body as he tested the strength of the material. It gave under the pressure but would not break until he added his telekinesis to it, which allowed him to snap the thing in half, disconnecting the weapon from the drive and crushing the power cell in the process.

With that knowledge he knew he could kill a lot of these things single handedly and keep them from making contact with him thanks to his psionics, but they could overwhelm the Bsidd if too many of them came into play…plus there were the larger ones coming in.

He updated the battlemap with waypoints for all of his units and they immediately began to redeploy into their engagement zones as the mech Ryen was peeling the elongated footballs off of continued walking to its position. When it finally got there Ryen pulled back and gave it the go ahead to stop targeting turrets and begin point defense.

The giant pointy legs dug into the soft seafloor as it claimed its position, then the shields went down in several places as panels opened up and the ‘sea vines’ shot out, curling around at sharp angles to impact the attack craft with the glowing buds along their length that contained similar mauler energy to that in Ryen’s gauntlet, only far more was contained in each bud. The attack craft popped instantaneously whenever one was struck and the vines actively sought out contact, whipping around and jabbing when needed and always avoiding one another. They gave the Zyra-class mech its name and made it a very tough fixed position to tackle with more and more panels opening up as swarms of addition attack craft flowed in, though a lot of them diverted to go for the infantry that soon came into view.

Ryen and the Bsidd engaged them with their own small clusters fighting back to back until the shield generators came online. Rather than creating a protective dome around everyone in play they created strategic walls wherever Ryen dictated. These forced the attack craft to either target them and waste energy that otherwise could have been used against the troops inside, or cause them to divert around and into the openings where the Archon was stacking overwhelming firepower, including some mobile turrets that were mounted on the seafloor with Bsidd operating them from inside another tiny shield bunker.

The blue streaks coming from those shot into the swarms, blasting through several of the small craft to target the bigger ones coming in. They were far larger than Ryen and the Bsidd, massing as much as an aerial fighter, and flew into battle yielding a smaller version of the ruby beams that the enemy turrets had at the mechs…who responded with a mix of cleansing beams and sea vines, one of which wrapped all the way around one of the ‘Alphas’ as Ryen quickly referenced on the battlemap and sent his squid that had been patiently waiting behind the formation on ahead to engage the dozens that were coming up on their fortified position.

Remote controlling them with his mind, Ryen pulled back and let the Bsidd infantry handle the attack craft getting through while he steered the squid outside the shield perimeter and attacked the incoming Alphas before they could get within sensor range of the mechs. Keeping within his own comm range restrictions, Ryen ambushed the Alphas by locking onto them with a squid each and destroying it with a combination of sheer physical pressure from the tentacles and from the energy discharge from the ‘mouth’ at the base of the craft, then moved on to target another and another as swarms of attack craft retargeted the squids instead of the infantry.

If this was only a sample of the reception the Bandaii and the other Star Force units were receiving, then he understood why they were being held up and the frustration of the locals, for there was no quick way to push past these defenses and he had no idea how many more units the Hashvi had in reserve.

13 hours later…

Ryen ducked under the giant shield dome the Hashvi had set up, for it came down all the way into the water a few meters, but when the Archon came up on the other side and got his head above water he immediately made contact with the battlemap signals coming from the other Star Force units, for the haze wasn’t inside. Immediately he saw giant towers in the distance just short of the shoreline that reached up into the sky and contacted the shield dome. They were the haze generators that were pumping it out into the atmosphere to block comms but the scores of aerial fighters inside did not have that limitation. He could see swarms of them in the distance assaulting the troops on the far side of the peninsula from high above.

But they weren’t just there. About 50 or so were in the sky above him, and as he watched energy mortars from the shore began to fire towards his position. He tracked them carefully, ordering his troops to fall back beneath him, then watched in horror as they punched down through the relatively calm surface water inside the dome and created a pyre of steam all the way down to the sea floor…meaning his troops couldn’t use the depth to their advantage.

“Shit,” he said, keeping his helmet just above the water line and watching. It was an ingenious defense system. Leave enough water to slow any troops enough that the mortars could chew them up before they got to land or force a reckless charge through a field of underwater turrets that would do just the same…and all of it was automated, save for the fighters in the sky and maybe the gunners for those mortars. He didn’t know for sure but he planned to find out in person when he got there, but the question was how was he supposed to get his troops through this?

“Ryen, how you doing?” a voice came through his helmet comm.

“Observing the magnificent view from inside the shield. How the hell are you making any progress?”

“The Bandaii are dying for it. I was hoping you would have better luck.”

“I just made it into position and my troops are still intact, but I don’t see a good way past those mortars and we’ve got birds in the sky just waiting to dive bomb us. You’re not to shore yet,” he noted, catching up on the battlemap telemetry being transmitted above water, “have you just been tanking hits to get that far?”

“Yes,” she said regretfully, “but we’re stuck between a wall of Alphas and Betas. I’ve tried to get past personally but its no good. There are too many of them here and the Bandaii are dying by the thousands trying to contend this.”

“Well that’s good news,” Ryen said, referencing the enemy numbers, “because we haven’t seen any Alphas for the past hour.”

“If they run out we’ve got a chance. If not we’re going to get massacred.”

“Can you get the Bandaii to reposition?”

“They won’t pull back when their kin are being killed.”

“Can you get them to circle around and come through the corridor we cut in the defenses here?”

“That’s a big detour…but if there aren’t that many at your position and we could get some of the troops moved you might be able to punch through. I’ll see if they’ll go for it, but you’ll still have to face those mortars.”

“I know. We’ll hold here until I hear back from you and watch the pretty rain fall.”

And that’s exactly what he did. He kept two his damaged mechs and his handful of surviving squids back and sniped what turrets they could without getting in range of those mortar rounds, though they were close enough to feel the shockwaves from the disintegrated water spouts that shot nearly all the way up to where the fighters were lazily circling…which was probably why they were so high up, else they’d get splashed and maybe knocked out of the air by the steam spouts. The fighters didn’t look too sturdy, but…

“Cover me,” he told the Bsidd closest to him as he entered Ensek mode again, reaching out and confirming there were minds in the fighters but they were too far away for him to affect. Ensek only worked with others that had the same ability, and in order to even shout at these pilots he needed them to get within Ikrid range.

He needed them directly overhead, which meant baiting them in somehow.

Ryen released his Ensek meditation and told the Bsidd to hold position as he moved laterally along the shield line for several hundred meters. He doubted they would put a mortar round into their own shield, but if he saw one coming in at him he’d have a chance of ducking under it and getting on the other side before it hit.

When he got far enough away from the others he swam to the surface and got his shoulders above water and began flashing targeting lasers on the aerial craft as if to mark them. He kept it up for several minutes before two of them broke formation and flew in lower towards him, away from the ongoing mortars that were keeping his troops back further south. When they got close they opened fire, stitching steam plumes across the surface near to him, but he didn’t duck back underwater. Instead he put all shield power forward and threw up an additional bioshield just in case they managed to hit him as he extended his Ikrid out as far as he could and targeted one of the fighters.

As they swooped in closer and the shield wall directly behind him took hits, one of the fighters broke off its attack, slowing to a hover over the water and approaching Ryen casually as the other swerved off to avoid hitting the shield wall and circled back around for another pass.

The Archon dove forward and jetted as fast as his armor could carry him across the surface, knowing that there were several turrets nearby and hoping he wasn’t going to pass into their extreme range. Several ruby streaks came his way but fell short, blasting up steam into the air nearby the fighter as it finally got to him. He clung to the underside of it as he held the pilot’s mind in his grasp, then had it rocket back up into the sky like the other one had for any missiles could get to him, hoping no one noticed the bit of baggage it was now carrying underneath. With his armor’s grip pad locking him on tight he had the fighter resume normal operations that he could sense through the pilot’s mind and had him do what he normally did as they moved back into their patrol patterns high above.

7

After a few minutes of obscurity and closely monitoring comm traffic and sensors via the pilot’s odd mind, Ryen caused him to break formation. He headed down past the coastline and executed a diving loop, at the bottom of which Ryen let go…falling about 50 meters and using his Lachka in ‘crashbag’ mode to cushion his landing. He hit the moist dirt and his feet dug in several inches, then he was sprinting towards the nearest mortar battery as he reached inside with his mind and disabled the gunner.

He got to the hatch without anyone noticing or shooting at him, then pulled it open and dove inside with his mauler gauntlet extended. The insectoid inside took the hit on its triangular head, removing half of it in the process. Ryen torched the controls so the battery would be unusable then hopped back outside and began sprinting across to the next one.

By then he’d been spotted and three of the aerial fighters fired at him for a brief moment before they suddenly rammed into the ground and pancaked on the hard rocks beneath the thin soil layer. Ahead of Ryen there were infantry crawling out of bunkers and rushing him, but with a wave of Fornax he knocked them down as he ran through and past, not having the luxury of sticking around to kill them. He kept interfering with any attempts to stop him, drawing heavily on his psionics due to the fact that he wasn’t carrying a rack of weapons like he would on his commando armor, and got to the next mortar turret and went to work on it.

Three more after that and he had a blind spot established, which he let everyone know while taking a short respite in the cover of one of the now dead batteries as the infantry tried to sweep around both sides to get at him.

“Mortars have been neutralized along this corridor,” he said as he put down waypoints on the battlemap. “Underwater defenses are still intact, but takeable. Recommend sending the Bandaii this way immediately.”

After that he didn’t have time to chat, for he had to disable more of the skittering infantry as one in the back of the group he mowed down got a pistol shot off and it hit him in the leg. His shields held, but this wasn’t the first strike he’d taken and he couldn’t take too many without adequate time to recharge in between. To that end he was sprinted towards one of the Hashvi bunkers with the intent to go inside and hold out there, despite the unknown numbers involved.

Ryen pulled down another pair of fighters that got too close, smashing one of them into a group of infantry and killing more than 20 of them with the impact. He didn’t have time to do much more than run and react until he got to one of the subterranean bunker’s entrances. As he did they were trying to close the doors on him, but a Jumat push cleared out the infantry behind the lowering panel and allowed him to slide underneath before it came down all the way…stranding the infantry outside for the moment and leaving him with only those inside to deal with.

He had a hallway and a few dozen here, so he used a Fornax blast and took them down, claiming a pair of their pistols and putting phaser-like streaks of red into them as his shields recharged. More kept trickling in and he kept killing them, eventually recovering enough shield strength to push on and further into the bunker…which he discovered around the new few corners to be a lot larger than it looked on the surface.

There were several football fields worth of deck space holding a significant army that was no doubt being reserved for if the Bandaii got to the shore, including tanks and a huge amount of infantry that were all looking at him.

“Back…” he told himself as he retreated into the hallway and decided to hold out there. They’d have to come at him in small groups and he’d own them in that style of combat, but with a quick review of his helmet cam he tagged several entrances on the far side of that chamber that held passageways big enough for the tanks to move through laterally and the Archon got the feeling that this might be an interconnected network rather than just one bunker. The Hashvi had had plenty of time to build after taking this planet, and if Ryen’s gut was right, there was a nasty surprise awaiting the Bandaii.

“Son of a bitch,” he said, finally realizing what was going on and checking his comm to find that the bunker was blocking his signals and probably sensors on top of that. The Hashvi couldn’t fight the Bandaii that well in the water, not with so much ocean to hide in, so they were forcing them onto land and setting a trap to wipe them out. And the thing of it was, even if the Bandaii learned of this here and now, they wouldn’t stop their assaults elsewhere because their captured people were on the clock, meaning they’d charge to their deaths just as the Hashvi wanted.

“They’re playing them like a drum,” Ryen said as he headed back to the entrance, finding no controls to open the door with, so he reached out telepathically looking for a control center as he fought and killed wave after wave of infantry coming at him with the bodies beginning to pile up. It took him far too long, but he finally found a group of stationary minds below him that were orchestrating not only the troops in this bunker but running part of the underwater campaign.

Making a quick decision, he reversed course and fought his way through both the living and dead until he came back to the larger chamber, taking a moment to recharge his shields behind the bloody meat wall, then running outside, pushing through the assembled infantry near the doorway and hoping not to get hit too much as a light show of red streaks aimed for him. He surged as much speed as he could in his aquatics armor, heading across clear walkways for the passage he’d gleaned from the minds in the control room that was down a set of stairs and two levels lowers.

It was a gauntlet he had to run, but by the time he’d made it into the blissfully narrower corridor and out of the firestorm he was feeling multiple heat spots on his right arm and leg where his shields had gone down and his armor had taken hits. No penetrations were registered on his HUD, but he now had weak points that couldn’t take another hit without chewing out some of his flesh in the process.

Ryen took down the gathering infantry in his way and eventually came to a locked blast door that he simply had the minds behind open for him. He didn’t shoot the six Hashvi there, rather sealing himself in with them and using the enemy controllers to operate and interpret the systems available to them…or rather just one of them as holding all 6 minds at the same time would have been too much of a strain. He rendered four of them unconscious and kept another frozen to get information from as he played puppeteer with the other, shutting down as much of the underwater defense network as he had access to.

Unfortunately his comm wouldn’t work in here either, so as the infantry tried to shoot their way through the blast door he knocked out the remaining two Hashvi and centered himself, extending his Ensek out through the otherwise impermeable material and looking for the Archons on the other side of the peninsula. When he found one he relayed the information about the clear approach then quickly got his senses back into combat mode while the door still held, though it was beginning to glow in several spots.

With the message delivered his duty was obvious. Hold this location and make sure they didn’t reactivate the defenses…and without their tanks able to get to him here, or any swarming tactics for that matter, he just had to play king of the hill and with his psionics, even drained as they were, there was no way the Hashvi were going to remove him. The Bsidd would have a clean approach long enough to permanently disable the turrets, and then the Bandaii would have a chance at a ground war…one that didn’t look to be all that much in their favor.

2 days later…

“How are you holding up?”

Ryen looked up from his seated position on one of the Bandaii streets’ curb barriers, his armor now charred and little bits of flesh along with it. The Archon before him wasn’t much better off, but it didn’t look like any of her melted spots had burnt all the way through.

“I’ll live,” he said, looking around at all the dead in the streets, both Hashvi and Bandaii.

“I would have been worse without us here,” she said, guessing as to his thoughts.

“It’s bad enough,” he argued, standing up and facing her. “They’re not Star Force.”

“Not yet. But a lot of them have a chance to be because we were here.”

“How can you be ok with this?”

“Because I set my mind to it before I arrived. This is the chaos and carnage that we have to fight against out here. It’s not simply going to disappear because we arrive. It’s going to get worse. A lot worse now that The Nexus has pulled out. We have to do what we can, when we can, and right now, here, on this planet, it was helping the Bandaii win.”

“They’re supposed to take orders from us.”

“If there were Archons dying would you take orders from a dragon saying to stand by and wait because a rescue was too risky, or would you go in anyway and try to fight your way through?”

“Archons know how to fight and how to run when necessary.”

“But the Bandaii don’t. This was all they had to work with, and it was either fight messy or stand by and watch their kin be executed. They don’t have good options and have to make do with what they do have. We won’t sink to their level, but they are on their level and we can’t elevate them quickly enough. This is crappy, but we’re the shining gems in all of it and we helped them win. They’re clinging to that to get them through this, so stop sitting around moping and be the good guy. We didn’t cause this, so stop feeling responsible. In order to lead them out of darkness we must plunge in head first and yank them out. It’s not going to be clean, and it should be disturbing. Don’t numb it out, but don’t dwell on it. We fight honorable, these guys don’t have a clue what that is, and I’d rather them fight poorly than stand around and get killed.”

“I’m not moping,” Ryen clarified, but her words had helped him refocus. “I’ve got burns and it hurts to move.”

“Can you work your Sesspik on the go?”

Ryen sighed. “What do you need?”

“We need to lead, and we can’t do that from behind. This city is a mess and we need to start giving orders to get it cleaned up before the Hashvi decide to hit it again, though I don’t think they have the troops to do it. And I’m pretty sure this whole world is a throwaway from their leadership’s point of view, but we need to act. The Bandaii need to be led right now, more than ever. Either do that or get yourself back to orbit and heal.”

Ryen glanced to his left at the street with all the dead in it. Nobody had even started to pick them up yet and the bodies were oozing puddles of purple and brown blood, some of which were flowing into one another and mixing with an even sicker coloration.

“It feels like we shouldn’t even be a part of this, but I can’t fault your logic.”

She put an armored hand with a melted patch on her thumb on the side of his arm that wasn’t hurt. “It helps to work through this beforehand, but as long as you’re here you just need to run and gun. We didn’t cause this, we helped stop it, and we’re going to teach the Bandaii how to fight properly when we’ve got the time.”

“There are way too few of us out here.”

“How much can a single Archon accomplish in a nightmare situation?” she said, putting his thoughts into words. “Sounds like a challenge to me.”

Ryen half smiled, realizing she was right as that simple sentence peaked his competitiveness just enough to clear his mind of the dark haze and make him realize he’d gotten in too deep and lost his perspective.

“Challenge accepted,” he said, immediately feeling better. “Where do you want me?”

“Good boy,” she said patronizingly. “Just roam the city and look for places to make a difference. If we get anything organized I’ll let you know, but right now we need to be seen leading so the Bandaii don’t go crazy with despair…or worse.”

“Prisoners?” he asked darkly.

“I don’t know yet. But if there are…”

“Right,” Ryen said, suddenly feeling the urgency. “Are we setting up a safe zone?”

“How are your troops holding up?”

“Licking their wounds. They’re pretty beat up, but everyone is still alive. We had to make use of the Bandaii as distractions.”

“They were going to die regardless, so you should have used them,” she said in a tone that held no room for debate. “Can you set up base with what you have?”

“Yes, but I really don’t think they’re up to fighting the Bandaii if they want to start taking out their grief on the wounded.”

“We’ll jump off that bridge when we get to it. I’ve got a few transports standing by in orbit for another drop run. We’re just waiting for an opening.”

“I’ll get you a secure LZ,” he said, walking off down the street and looking away from her, “and thanks.”

“Got your back,” she said amicably, then ran off another direction into the war torn city.

Ryen eventually found his way back to the shoreline with his shields keeping the water off his injuries as he walked back beneath the semi-calm surface. The shield generator in the city had been kept intact and was now in Bandaii hands so that the orbital fleet couldn’t rain down bombardment on them to spoil their victory, and it was knocking down most of the ocean waves that were now slowly becoming visible as the haze outside began to dissipate slightly. They’d shut off the local generators, but there was so much built up in the atmosphere it wasn’t going to clear anytime soon.

When the Archon got underwater several floating figures were waiting for him. He could have contacted them via comm, but he preferred face to face.

“How do we look?”

“The Bandaii are severing the control lines as directed,” the Elarioni said. “The turrets will be recoverable later if we can get the necessary techs.”

“Mobile units?”

“We’ve intercepted several scouts. They are programmed to turn and run upon contact, but we did not let any that we observed get away. There have been no troop movements in this area to report.”

“Looking to see what the situation is?”

“Either for intel or to herald a new offensive,” the Elarioni speculated.

“Probably want to know how we got to shore.”

“How did we get to shore?” another of his scouts that had been unable to take part in the ground war asked.

“I took out a control hub…and the mortars.”

“Do they know this?”

“Depends how good their information sharing technology is. It’s possible it was all local, in which case the other Hashvi strongholds won’t know. But I’m not counting on that.”

“Your psionics?”

Ryen nodded, immediately regretting that unnecessary movement. “I doubt they realize we can control minds, but they’re probably beginning to suspect something unconventional is happening. The defenses here were more than enough to kill all the Bandaii. They laid a very good trap.”

“The Bandaii are planning to bring a comm cable in on this approach.”

“Cable?”

“Strung along the seafloor that will connect back to one of their bases.”

Ryen frowned. “Kind of gives away its location.”

“It does. They think this area is secure enough that they want the connection.”

“Up to shore or nearby?”

“They said it will connect to the existing infrastructure.”

Ryen looked at his battlemap, not seeing anything in the water around the city save for what the Hashvi put here. “If these guys are amphibian, why aren’t there structures in the water along the shore?”

“They have a binary civilization.”

Ryen frowned. “Explain.”

“Physically they can exist in either environment, but there are internal divisions that separate the air breathers from the water dwellers. The two groups are not always in unison.”

“Wonderful,” Ryen said, realizing that would be yet another hurdle for them to overcome while civilizing these people.

“Though the current situation seems to have pushed those divisions aside,” the Elarioni added.

“For now,” Ryen amended. “Best recommendations for our aquatic LZ?”

The Elarioni answered via the battlemap with four different waypoints as options, all of which were at least 8 miles from the shore and no more than 20. Ryen chose one and labeled it ‘Alpha Base.’

“Start relocating all our prefab structures there and set up camp. When we get the bigger pieces down here I want a minimum delay. This is our world now, even if we only own a tiny piece of it, so we need to start claiming it and setting an example of what true civilization looks like…before the chaos drives everyone mad.”

“The fighting was equally gruesome on the surface?”

“Yes, and just as many dead, but on both sides. We need a stabilizing rod established on land and in water…and you’re in charge of setting up the water one until we get another combat mission.”

8

December 19, 3463

Shemma System (Rim Region)

Asteroid Belt

Greg-073 stood in the command nexus onboard his command ship guiding it, two Star Force Ma’kri, and a fleet of over 8000 Tolsoi vessels as they engaged the Zargor around one of their own worlds. It was about as small of a planet as you could get, only some 300 miles wide, but it was the only inhabitation in the system and acted as a supply base for the wolf-like race as they were expanding out and attacking both the Tolsoi and dozens of other races in the region. Hitting it was skipping over multiple other conflicts, but Greg was insistent on sending the message to the enemy that their own holdings weren’t safe and that Star Force was willing to go on the hunt and not just play defense.

The Zargor ships were fat and bristling with weapons, most of which were short ranged and coupled with decent engines to get them within their preferred range quickly. The Tolsoi, on the other hand, had a mixed fleet of larger command ships, medium-sized carriers and cruisers, and smaller escort/picket ships. They also used starfighters, which Greg was holding back behind the fleet as they engaged with orders to standby for target assignment.

The Eternal Pyre was the class of the field and one of Star Force’s newest models of command ship, visually identical on the exterior save for more weapons ports, but drastically different inside as the entire design had been reworked around a Nash’ti reactor, or more accurately 7 small ones, with the core of the ship no longer containing a TF like the Alpha models did. This was a Beta, and designed for naval combat only.

That gave it a lot bigger punch and made it the predator in the field, to which the Zargor were attracted like moths to a flame…and in this case they were both getting burnt by it and being distracted from the Tolsoi as Greg didn’t hang in the back like their command ships did, rather he dove straight into the enemy and forced them to focus on him as his two flanking Ma’kri provided cover fire.

Right now this was a slugging match, for none of the Zargor’s fast Hunter-class ships had been in the system, giving the Tolsoi a movement advantage amongst their smaller ships which Greg had attacking and rotating back behind the larger ships before they could take serious damage. The Tolsoi now had their command and control linked into the Star Force systems and Greg had them all showing up on his battlemap, but they weren’t up to Star Force standards, despite the years of experience they’d gained already. The real Tolsoi Star Force fleet was in its infancy and not ready for heavy combat, but the Zargor had to be hit and he couldn’t wait another century or two while they gained experience in smaller battles and numbers grew. He had to make use of the old school Tolsoi, and making his own command ship the primary target was the best way to keep them alive and useful.

It was a tactic that the Zargor were not used to seeing. The Tolsoi had always tried to keep their command ship away from the enemy and used their weaponry as a last resort. It was standard practice to send in the smaller ships first to soften up the enemy before gradually sending the ones with more tonnage and less maneuverability…which was a tactic that Greg had struck down immediately. Right now the command ships were center in the formation, not in the back, and the smaller ships were circling around the medium ones at the front, with those to fall back behind the command ships if/when needed.

That would eventually move the command ships to the front lines where their bulk could be used to block the smaller vessels and allow them to recharge shields, thus extending their lifespans. Regardless of how he fought this battle, he was going to lose Tolsoi. Their ships were all manned, and the numbers here were not so small that they could get away with a clean victory. In fact, clean victories were a thing of the past for Greg, with him having to honor the Tolsoi by making their deaths count. And to do that he had to be aggressive and not protective of them. It wasn’t something that came naturally, but the Tolsoi crews all knew that they were fighting for the survival of their race and of their neighbors, so they were fully committed to the fight and relying on Greg to lead them…and lead them he was.

It was a type of combat he didn’t like, and that Star Force had never fought, but he was a trailblazer and was excelling at it regardless. He was winning battles that the Tolsoi would have lost if he had not been there, and keeping the losses in their victories much lower than expected. He focused on that fact whenever a ship was destroyed along with its crew, knowing that he had to stand by the Tolsoi now as a new fleet was constructed, else they’d be outmatched against the Zargor without his strategic cunning…and his badass flagship.

With the Zargor weaponry being primarily short ranged, it meant all of the Dre’mo’don cannons on the Eternal Pyre were within their kill zone and living up to that moniker. He left their individual targeting up to his remote pilots and Admiral while he focused on the Tolsoi fleet and their movements, issuing constant orders to crews and captains that still didn’t fully understand the logic behind such things, but they had come to trust in the trailblazer implicitly over the years of combat and the number of battles he’d seen them through, so they reacted instantly to his orders…as best they understood them.

It took a long time and a lot of carnage before Greg finally released the starfighters from their holding position, giving them orders to target damaged ships only and to remain at high attack speed…pushing through the engagement and not circling around within it. The Zargor had plenty of anti-air capability on their ships, so going up against them with small arms was suicide. What the starfighters did have was decent anti-ship missiles that had been reconfigured for early release, so they could be programmed with a target and let coast into range before activating and powering into detonation range.

That could keep the starfighters out of anti-air attacks, but the missiles themselves were still vulnerable to intercept…thus the need to attack damaged ships that may or may not have their anti-air knocked out or unpowered. Greg wanted the starfighters to add to the warships’ damage rather than trying to down their own targets, and given that these pilots were living longer than most under his guidance they’d started adhering to his rules of engagement.

Or more accurately, the ones that didn’t died and were weeded out, thought that didn’t always hold true. A lot of good pilots following orders died as well, for there was almost no margin for error with the tiny ships. One good hit, or a lucky one, from a warship and they were toast, which was why Greg would only use them for support operations or bait, though the Zargor hadn’t chased after them this time as he’d hoped. They’d stuck with their prime target of Greg’s flagship, and not just because of the wicked amount of damage it could pour out. They wanted him eliminated, for he had already gained a reputation as the mastermind behind the Tolsoi resurgence and their stopping the Zargor assault on their territory cold whereas they’d expected them to eventually fold like all others did.

But that was another tactic that Greg could use, making himself the bait and riding it out in a very well armored decoy. The Zargor didn’t have enough ships here to take him down, so he let the Eternal Pyre eat up weapons discharges as the enemy ship count diminished rapidly. Unfortunately they didn’t all shoot at him, for they didn’t all have good firing lines, and some chose Tolsoi targets instead. When both fleets mixed together the battle became chaotic and Greg had to work his tail off to get the sluggish Tolsoi maneuvering as he needed.

They didn’t respond as fast as Star Force troops, whom he could order through the battlemap system as quickly as their own captains could, and Greg hated playing games with lag, especially when people’s lives were on the line.

He watched the starfighters streak in, thankful that the distraction had worked and the Zargor were too preoccupied with the warships to notice them. They shot in and out, launching missiles on the way and hitting unshielded enemy ships that were engaged with other vessels, tipping the scales in those engagements without drawing any considerable return fire.

One of the starfighters did get clipped in an explosion and became ballistic, but his comm system was still up and he was still alive. Greg sent three of the other starfighters after him on retrieval orders as he reformed and circled the starfighters around the main battle to set up another strafing run as a few weak spots on the Eternal Pyre’s shields momentarily collapsed and let a little weaponsfire through that licked away at the hull without doing much damage.

Several of the medium Tolsoi warships were racking up considerable damage, with Greg ordering them into a retreat through the other ships along specific lines, predictably dragging Zargor pursuit that wanted to finish them off before they could get away, directly into ambushes. Flanking ships crisscrossed over those routes and hammered the chasing ships with 3 to 1 or better advantages in numbers, knocking them down and allowing the damaged Tolsoi vessels to cycle back around behind the command ships as several of them now moved up to first position on what was left of the battle lines.

Within a few more minutes the fighting was over. It ended so suddenly he didn’t think the Zargor even realized what happened to the rest of their ships, so consumed with their targets and making kills. Their ships were considerably larger than the lizard cruisers, but they operated with a swarm mentality more focused on pursuit than self-sacrifice. Once attached to a target they didn’t like to lose it, making the basic Star Force fleet cycling patterns so disruptive to them. A good commander would learn to adapt, but for years these same tactics were getting the same responses from the enemy…and some of them had survived to tell the others what had happened, so there was no excuse for their stupidity.

Maybe he was just used to the adaptational skills of the lizards, to which these guys compared poorly. Then again, if he didn’t have a technological advantage their ‘pursue at all costs’ strategy would make engagements all in or run, and in that environment the more aggressive usually came out the winner, especially when they had superior engine power to run down fleeing ships. And if you knew you didn’t have numbers on them, you’d be reluctant to engage for fear of being pursued relentlessly.

The Zargor strategy was based on fear and intimidation as much as raw firepower, but with Star Force they’d finally found someone they couldn’t bully. The downside of that, though, was the Zargor wanted to keep bullying so they had to knock off those that stood up to them first, which had accelerated their assaults into Tolsoi territory and forced a much more rapid conflict than had been building up previously.

Then again, that also pulled Zargor ships off of other systems that couldn’t defend themselves, so it wasn’t totally a negative, but being the powerful good guys did have negative effects for your friends because you tended to draw the bad guys to you in some situations. The Tolsoi didn’t have a choice in the matter, for they couldn’t wait to build up resources. Star Force was their one and only hope and they were fully committed to fighting on their side, no matter how much escalation their arrival incurred.

When the warships were done hammering it out Greg didn’t wait to lick his wounds. He ordered retrievals for survivors while taking most of his fleet further in to the planet and within a few dozen miles of the surface. Gravity was inconsequential, and there was barely a trace of an atmosphere, but there was a sizeable base with a lot of warehouses and other support structures.

“Zargor, this is your chance to surrender and live. If you do not I am obliterating your surface facilities with my fleet. You have no defenses that can stop us,” he said, emphasizing that point by targeting the few weapons batteries that were firing up at his ship from the planet, again focusing the big ship rather than taking a shot at a smaller Tolsoi vessel. Their predator mindset didn’t match their visage, and right now he didn’t care if they stuck with it or surrendered. He needed to neutralize this base and get moving before another Zargor fleet could arrive.

“You have a few minutes to think it over,” Greg said, sending a countdown clock along with the transmission. “If you surrender you will not be killed or enslaved. If you do not surrender you will be killed, so the question is whether you want to live or die as target practice. Your choice, and make it quick.”

He’d given them 20 minutes, but it only took 4 before he received a response that was all venom and defiance. The trailblazer sighed, then went ahead and held to his 20 minute mark anyway as he gave the fleet firing orders to destroy and hopefully kill the inhabitants as quickly as possible rather than leaving pockets around to slowly die from the long list of ways one could expire stranded in space.

Less than 2 minutes to go he received another transmission from a different source on the planet requesting to surrender. He inquired as to the circumstances and found that there was a difference of opinion involved.

That settled the orbital bombardment, for even if one person wanted to surrender he was going to see they got the chance. He made arrangements for those surrendering to evacuate certain areas, then he began destroying those piece by piece until he started to receive more surrender requests in other areas. Greg continued the herding method until all the Zargor that wanted to live were in four different zones, all of which held spaceports. He let them board the cargo ships and leave the planet, not caring how tightly they had to pack in together to fit.

When they were gone he sent down a team do a psionic sweep for others and sure enough some had been left behind. Greg took those captive and brought them up to his command ship for safekeeping, and upon further interrogation found out they were the ones who had arranged the surrender. Their peers had deemed them unworthy and left them to die while they fled in their place.

Greg found that not only dishonorable but in denial. The surrender was the only reason they’d been allowed a chance to escape, but they’d labeled it as an act of cowardice then used it to survive. It was hypocritical and a sign of how the Zargor thought. Their way of doing things had to be proven correct, even when it obviously wasn’t, so they’d rewrite history and utterly deny what was right in front of them to make it fit…then eliminate anyone who pointed out otherwise.

No, these weren’t the lizards. Lizards were too damn efficient to waste time on lies, save for the templars. The Zargor were ego incarnate, and the lizards had none. The lizards would adapt while the Zargor stuck to their assertions, making the technologically superior foe the less dangerous. The Zargor were bullies in every sense of the word, and while not every person in a race or civilization was identical, he was getting a clearer and clearer picture of how they thought and operated.

These guys had to be defeated. Not just turned back, but taken out altogether. That would require going beyond the Rim Region, but it was something that had to be done eventually. There was no coexisting with them when they had what they thought was an advantage, and no negotiation was possible. The only way to make them back down was to show superior strength so vast that they wouldn’t dare strike. The Nexus was that power previously, but now it was gone and Star Force wasn’t dominant in this region. This war was going to be fought, bitterly, for a long time to come…and after all that, there was no way the Zargor were going to pull back and be allowed to retain their sovereignty.

They had to be taken out, and what was even worse was that there were other races out there just as bad. This entire region was full of weeds and thickets that had to be cleared away and Star Force didn’t have the resources to do it. Maintaining their allies and transforming them into true Star Force expansions was the immediate goal, and a tough one at that, but looking ahead as a trailblazer always did, Greg knew there was a bigger war that was going to have to be fought.

And it involved Star Force heading into the heart of Zargor territory and kicking their ass on their own turf.

9

January 3, 3464

Attikca System (Rim Region)

Outer Zone

Taria-38GV-97 was riding a dropship over from the mining complex on asteroid 3109 when a yellow alert pinged. She saw it on her armor the same as everyone else, but the pilot made an announcement anyway.

“Non-Star Force ships in the system. Shouldn’t affect this trip,” he said, referencing the distance between the red star where the alert had been triggered and the location of this strip of mining occurring in one of 219 different asteroid belts in the dead system. There were four gas giants that had probably eaten up some more of them, but there wasn’t a habitable planet amongst the rubble, let alone even a planetoid round enough to bear that label, and that was probably the reason why no one had colonized this system until Canderous had moved in to set up shop and built an impressive shipyard that was still being expanded upon as it produced badly needed drones for the Star Force fleet.

Taria wasn’t wearing combat armor, but given that the asteroid she’d been working on had no natural atmosphere they all wore work gear that was self-contained and doubled as low grade protection against weaponsfire, though it was more designed to resist cave-ins. She and the other miners were careful enough not to really need that function, especially with such low gravity to work in, but you never wanted to get caught between two pieces of rock without an exoskeleton. Human flesh ripped and squished easily, and without protection you’d just have to hope there was enough left of you for the medics to put back together later.

But compared to the hellish assignment she’d previously had in the Deterious System this was a walk in the park. There was no massive gravity wells to deal with, just a bunch of rubble floating around the system with a treasure trove of resources to plunder and more corovon than you could shake a Bsidd appendage at. It was also a very primitive system as far as neighbors were concerned, with little traffic passing through. Actually none, which was why any ship that did wander out this way would trigger a system-wide yellow alert, letting people know that there was another player on the field because Canderous had so many exposed work spaces that they were easy targets to anyone that got in close enough.

But there was a Canderous fleet protecting the system and Taria’s position was far outside stellar orbit. The yellow alert itself was laggy just traveling that far. If ships proved to be hostile or interested in snooping around the alert would go up to red and work groups like hers would stop what they were doing and get to shelter…but she was already on her way back to the seda, which is where the dropship would go even if the alert had been red.

The big green sphere was also the ship that brought her into the system, along with the 538 others in the Canderous convoy. Each of them had a beefy gravity drive that made them far more than space stations and had carried them all the way out from the ADZ where they were built. They were all newer constructions, for the older gravity drives just didn’t have the speed needed for such a long journey and a lot of them were too big to be carried on the grid point system. That meant they’d had to take the long route, though they’d managed a few black hole jumps on the way to speed things up now that Star Force had secured and was routing as much connecting traffic as they could through those speedy links.

But this system was far from any of them and situated in a dead zone within the Killik subregion that was overseen by Clan Joanna, though Canderous wasn’t officially working with them. They were an independent placement by Director Davis in order to give the subfaction/faction a base of operations in the Rim Region and this system was definitely well stocked for that purpose.

As for their status as a faction…that was still largely debated. There were never any official pronouncements of such things, but a faction was the highest level within Star Force and was said to cover all 5 areas of combat…naval, aerial, mechs, commando, and aquatics…which Canderous did, but they did not put down permanent residences on planets and therefore did not have any aquatics colonies, only a handful of mining outposts. That was a point of contention with those people that said Canderous was a subfaction because of that limitation, but the Canderians were adamant that they could fight anywhere at any time and that was all that was necessary for faction status.

And they were a faction that kept mostly to themselves. There were no non-Humans within Canderous save for a rare few advisors or work-related partnerships that they formed. All Canderians came through their own maturia systems which were onboard their sedas, which meant that all the population in this system was going to be grown right here on these massive space stations. A population boost order had been issued once they’d arrived, making it official policy to get as many females pregnant as were willing and Taria had given birth to another Canderian just three months ago, but she wasn’t going to do so again for some time. She’d contributed to the order, but she didn’t want the layoff from work that it’d mandated for her happening again.

There were population limits on the sedas, for there was only a set amount of space to be used. Flexibility was designed into the stations but for the type of growth that was being requested one needed to build more sedas…which was already underway along with the drone production. The first thing they’d done when they’d gotten here 29 years ago was to set up mining operations, into which they funneled the raw materials to a shipyard construction project. Now that shipyard was the largest in the Rim Region and was producing the sedas they needed to expand their operations.

But they would not be alone out here. They were but the foundation for which many more Canderians would be traveling out to once they got a proper transit system established, and it was rumored that The Nexus was going to move one of their grid points all the way into Star Force space to link to the one in the H’kar territory. If and when that happened, or a formalized trade route was established, Canderian ships that were far faster than the sedas would be bringing out the experienced combat personnel needed in what was a candy zone to the Canderians.

They lived and breathed war, in all its forms, but they’d had far too little to do in their long history up until they were really let loose against the lizards, but even then they were often holding the line rather than pushing combat on the front, for that’s what sedas were good for. Holding territory.

Now that was exactly what was needed out here, and Canderous thrived more in frontier regions than it did in civilized ones. For that region the Sen Legats had insisted that Canderous be included, and heavily included, in this war theatre. Taria had been quite pleased when the announcement came through, as were most Canderians, and she had been even more pleased when her requested transfer orders arrived.

You couldn’t move planets, but Canderous didn’t live on planets, so if you needed to bring civilization to the barbarous regions of the galaxy who did you send? Not the Bsidd, or the Calavari, or the Protovic. You sent Canderous, and the moment they arrived they were just as strong as when they’d left, because they took their homes and military bases with them…but what was needed out here was much, much more, hence this base of operations that was going to be making a lot of the equipment that the soldiers being shipping out here eventually would use.

At which point they’d begin expanding their powerbase outward and locking down the surrounding region, daring any malcontents to challenge them and eagerly awaiting their stupidity in doing so. Canderous wanted to fight, and there was no shortage of enemies out here in the Rim Region. Far more than anyone could handle, hence Canderous was in a state of glee, with only the limiting factor of building new equipment putting any damper on their collective state of euphoria.

But their infrastructure was stretched out here, in this empty, out of the way system in order to maximize the speed of the mining process. That left them vulnerable to a savvy opponent, which was why they were taking any ships jumping into the system serious, even if all they were doing was passing through.

Yet her dropship returned to Seda DSB without incident, sliding into one of the hangar bays and dropping them off on full gravity plating before shipping back over to the asteroid. There was a constant flow of the little ships running around the clock, for Canderous had no ‘night’ in their civilization. Everyone worked and lived in shifts that overlapped to keep the faction running at peak efficiency nonstop.

So when Taria got back she immediately headed to a cafeteria to eat before returning to her quarters and getting some sleep before tomorrow’s shift. As she sat at a table and slowly mowed down her impressive tray of foodstuffs the Dapifer watched a news report that detailed mostly internal activities among the sedas, but it also had a substory about the yellow alert that she was watching when it suddenly turned red.

Nearly all the heads in the cafeteria turned to look as their attention was caught over the next few seconds as images from the star showed not one, but hundreds of ships coming out of a jumppoint in staggered convoy. They didn’t match any known design or affiliation, and nor were they simply transitioning around the star to another jumppoint, for some of them were headed further out into the system to where the closest sedas were in the innermost asteroid belt.

Taria watched while she ate as the newsvid detailed the warships being sent to intercept them prior to their arriving at their sister sedas.

Legat Narion-127CT-19 was in the Canderian command ship at the center of the 18 vessels that were moving to intercept the arriving fleet. The other ships in his group were all remotely controlled from his vessel, but it wasn’t a jumpship and they weren’t drones. All of them were warships Cruiser-class and above, with his being a battleship that rivaled even the standard Star Force command ships for size and strength, though it wasn’t donut shaped. Rather it was shaped like a hammer with a Y-shaped tail coming off it, and on the reverse side of the hammer were two large bays that contained starfighters, all remotely controlled, but a piece of technology that the rest of Star Force did not employ.

Narion didn’t release them early, knowing they were safest inside the warships and realizing that deploying them in the wrong situation would quickly mean their destruction. How a naval commander utilized starfighters was a sign of prestige among the Canderians, for the Archons didn’t think they were worth the effort and whenever someone successfully utilized them it was a mark of pride for their entire civilization…and a mark of shame if the Archons were proved correct and they were just wasted.

As the Legat brought his battle group in towards the approaching ships other battle groups were repositioning around the system, but he was to have first contact. As eager for battle as the Canderians were, they were still Star Force and they were going to make sure that whoever they were about to attack deserved it, hence a range of communications inquiries were sent out in multiple languages and formats.

But before their signals could even reach the interlopers the Canderians received a message. It wasn’t on Star Force frequencies, but it was partially formatted in their style. The language wasn’t immediately recognizable, but the Canderian linguists quickly narrowed it down to a hybridized version of a local language they had in their databanks and worked out a decent translation, which they sent to the Legat’s personal display on his command chair.

He read through it, his face grim. It wasn’t a declaration of hostilities or a threat to remove them from the system, nor was it a request that they do so. This race was called the Bwetti, and the still materializing fleet arriving at the jumppoint was all that was left of their civilization. The Hasgoul, another race that was just a mere mention in the Canderian notes, had invaded and taken over their world, with this fleet being made up of now refugees who had come here deliberately seeking Star Force.

Apparently the Canderian presence in the system wasn’t as low key as Narion had thought, and as he read through the long message his hopes of seeing combat today withered, for the Bwetti stated that they’d been traveling for some 8 months without pursuit to get here. That meant no Hasgoul or anyone else to fight…and a growing fleet of people looking for help that the Canderians probably couldn’t provide, but that wasn’t for him to decide. He was tasked with this battlegroup, not the logistics of the star system.

Narion set a return message, scripted as best the linguists could manage, and defined a set of holding coordinates for the arriving fleet while sending some of his ships to guard the jumppoint just in case the Bwetti were wrong about being followed. He also put ships into a perimeter around the holding area to make sure they didn’t go beyond it, for the status of this race wasn’t certain. They could still be enemies, and he wasn’t going to take any chances with this system.

Kit Legat Isha-83Z-01 was in charge of all the Canderians in the system, as befitted her ‘Kit’ rank, and it was to her that the arriving fleet’s message was relayed along with as much tactical data as sensors could pull on their ships. Almost all of them were unarmed or lightly armed, with only a handful that looked like warships and those were showing battle damage. There were varying sizes and makes of starships, all very hodge podge, and probably all running out of food, water, and air if they’d been in space 8 months already.

For Canderians that wasn’t an issue. They could live out here indefinitely via recycling measures, but Isha knew well that most races couldn’t, and even a lot of Star Force ships were not so designed. The Canderian sedas were special, and it was that special nature that told her this fleet didn’t have the luxury of being directed elsewhere…and given the crappy situation the entire Rim Region was in, no one else would probably help them. The question was, could Canderous?

Isha’s first order was to send a courier to Clan Joanna, making them aware of the situation and ultimately leaving their fate in trailblazer Megan’s hands…but right now these people, whatever they were, were here and her problem. And if they were also running out of fuel they’d be stuck here indefinitely. Star Force didn’t just turn a blind eye and let people starve to death, but there were limits to what Canderous could do and if others became aware of their location and came running here for help…

If they brought bad guys to bash that’d be one thing, but sucking off their supplies was just not fair. That said, the universe had a tendency to not be fair, hence she looked at this as another challenge, immediately sending out new construction orders for additional bioharvest structures located in the most efficient places to build…which she guessed would be some of the hollowed out asteroids. Even if the sedas could provide food to this fleet, sooner or later more would be needed and it was her job to think ahead, so she put in the construction order, reluctantly redirecting resources away from current projects, and got teams established and in planning phase before she even bothered replying to the Bwetti, asking for specifics as to their situation, ship status, and intentions.

The answer she belatedly got back was grim, as expected. They’d barely made it here and some of their ships hadn’t, to which she immediately dispatched a cargo convoy with warship escort to retrace the Bwetti’s path here and find the ships that had dropped off. If there were any survivors they were to be top priority for recovery. If not, there was no need to waste valuable resources and they were ordered to salvage the ships and tow them back here, either to give to the Bwetti or to recycle for themselves.

In the explanation of how they’d come to be here, the Bwetti had cited several other races that had fallen to the Hasgoul and the rumor in the region of Star Force. They were coming in from afar to bring order to the chaos and the locations of all known Star Force systems were being spread around from race to race, explaining how they’d known that Canderous was were. Probably a passing ship had noticed them and then rumor did the rest, meaning that there could be other refugees heading this way asking for help.

And that’s exactly what the Bwetti were asking for. Help. They didn’t care in what form. Even offering to serve as slave labor if Star Force would take them in. They were desperate and on the verge of being wiped out due to malnutrition, meaning Isha needed to act now before any more of them died within sight of rescue.

What their biology required was the subject of further transmissions as medical teams were assembled along with cargo ships and boarding parties…in full armor. This was an entirely unknown race, and as Star Force had the previous experience with the Kiritas to pull from, starving people would act irrationally, especially in sight of food. Her troops could maintain order, and if a stun blast killed one of them there would be medical personnel on sight to hopefully revive them…but at this point everything was up in the air given their unknown biology.

This was an entirely different type of war, but Canderous was a civilization of warriors from top to bottom and they were going to fight it just as passionately. The enemy was time, logistics, and the cruelty of the galaxy…and Isha would be damned if they didn’t save every last one of them physically possible. Her real worry was that there were too many of them, or that there would be more coming, and that Canderous would have to say no to some of them. To tell them they’d have to die within reach of help because there wasn’t enough to go around.

Which was why she immediately put the construction crews to work building the infrastructure to increase their supplies, for that was a message she did not intend to send to anyone…ever.

10

July 19, 3466

Interstellar Space (Rim Region)

Lizard jumpship

Thrawn walked through the corridors of the anonymous jumpship upon which he rode. It traveled in a fleet of 382 carrying cargo and warships, but mostly the former. The leader of the Star Force-loyal Li’vorkrachnika had left their holdings in the occupation zone in the hands of others a long time ago, traveling out to the chaotic warfront that was left in the shadow of The Nexus as it retreated. It had been publicized as a handover, but he knew otherwise. They could not hold their territory so they were abandoning parts of it. Fortunately for the races out here, the trailblazers were eager to dive into a challenge beyond their current capacity and fight to save and annex them into their empire.

Paul had done the same with him, refusing to give up on what seemed to be an impossible task. He’d had to trick him into questioning his own loyalty to the templars, and in doing so proved his guile and his worthiness to lead. If not, Thrawn would have been dead at his own hand long ago, so he took it on faith that the trailblazers could handle this, even if he could not see how they were going to do it.

And that trilled him. Facing up against an unbeatable challenge and potentially finding a way to overcome it. The size of the Rim Region was larger than everything the Li’vorkrachnika had claimed prior to coming into contact with Star Force, and that had taken them century upon century of diligent expansion…yet the trailblazers were taking on the mantle of the whole thing immediately. It was reckless, but he knew them to be anything but, and he’d had a very long discussion with Paul on the matter before he left to come out here.

Thrawn had followed much later, but was operating independently of any Star Force faction. That was the trust he had in him, as well as being a functional necessity. The geography was so massive there was no way to keep Thrawn under surveillance and use him effectively. He had to be released to do what Li’vorkrachnika had been doing for as long as he lived…expand, and that’s exactly what he was doing now.

After establishing several supply routes out from H’kar territory and bypassing the grid system and black hole jumps, Thrawn had established a base of operations within the Rim Region and had been receiving a steady flow of supplies from Krachnika and the rest of his ‘cabal’ systems…those that held the Li’vorkrachnika that had served the templars and the worlds that Star Force had never conquered. The inheritance from the others that still served their dubious masters was his now to use, but everything new being built was fashioned along different lines.

The Paladin were the future, and some day he’d take on their blue coloration as well, but Paul and his kin weren’t finished crafting them and Thrawn knew that such things did not occur quickly. Each time the templars had added a new variant there were thousands of revisions necessary until they were fully absorbed into the codex…a codex that he now knew was faulty. Faulty because the templar could not count on their loyalty and required lies to keep them bound to their cause. Thrawn now looked upon it with suspect, but also familiarity, for it was the codex that he was born into and had used to command and conquer up until he had been defeated and captured.

The codex he was using now was augmented by both himself and Paul, but he was no longer receiving updates from the Paladin and would not until they were complete. That was appropriate, for he didn’t need to be experimenting. He needed a genetic and technological codex that was predictable and seasoned, so a lot of his own experimenting he’d undone, reverting back to the base codex plus the few alterations that had proved both successful and reliable. They were upgrades to the old system and proven now in battle multiple times over, but not sufficient for the long term.

Everything he was building here and back in the cabal was temporary, massive as it was. It was temporary because the trailblazers needed his current power, but even still there were telltale Star Force influences on the architecture of every world he now colonized or refurbished, and he made a point of incorporating their symbol wherever possible. The yellow/tan coloration still held, even on the newer ship designs, with the blue reserved for the Paladin as a measure of respect.

Thrawn had no command over the transitional Paladin. They were fully integrated into the 10 Clans of Paul’s trailblazer squadmates and carrying out orders directed by them. Thrawn’s Li’vorkrachnika, still going by that name until they earned the title of Paladin, answered directly to the masterminds that commanded them, and they all answered to him. There were over a thousand now and assigned to much smaller tasks than previously would have been considered prudent, but their guidance was necessary to make sure the minions did as they were supposed to and did not bring shame to their name by violating Paul’s protocols.

That meant every world had a mastermind or would, save for limited installations. The system Thrawn’s convoy was headed to was the third expansion in the Rim Region, or rather the third sector expansion. Already there were two with limited core worlds established and guarded, and Thrawn had and always would be traveling to the startups while leaving others to handle the controlled growth of the others. Where there was the most need is where he went, as well as requiring his subservient masterminds to gain experience beyond their mere genetic memory. It was useful, but not enough to make a complete war leader, and he had to make do with what he had available…which meant an overly inexperienced group of masterminds.

Those captured were still proving their loyalty until the trailblazers cleared them. There was no direct contact, but they were monitoring their thoughts from behind walls so insure that any change of allegiance was legitimate. So far they hadn’t made the necessary transition, but there were a few that were noted as becoming close. Thrawn would use them if and when they were cleared, but he was not counting on their inclusion. He had to grow a new leadership class and get them experience without compromising his duty…yet another challenge that he was not reluctant to accept.

One of the changes that had been permitted to his technology codex was the upgrade of his gravity drives, making his Li’vorkrachnika ships faster than anything the templar had, which was a necessity given the distances involved out here. One sector to another was over 200 lightyears in distance, and within each a seed was planted that would grow with time. Right now the two previous seeds were already engaged in small battles within their claimed patrol zones running off or destroying pirates and scouts from greedy neighbors, but larger combat was looming as Thrawn ran over the map his own scouts were continuously updating.

There were a multitude of threats in his assigned sectors, some of which he’d been told not to engage, leaving them to the Clans or others. He was to pick off the weaker targets as he grew his population and resource base, for if he encountered too much attrition he’d never grow as large as necessary to begin to make a significant impact out here.

Walking through the ship corridors he passed slight indentations in the walls, ceiling, and floor that held the Star Force symbol cleverly hidden within familiar architecture that had a few improvements added. He’d been onboard a Paladin jumpship before and it was nothing like this model, with too many changes for him to rely upon. Thrawn could adapt to whatever was given to him, but how his minions would was a question mark and they thrived in environments that had been ironed out so thoroughly where every action was patterned and remembered. This allowed them to adapt to exterior circumstances while holding to their codex.

Alter the codex and you risked destabilizing the foundation on which the Li’vorkrachnika were built.

He trusted Paul to do it in a fast and comprehensive manner, whereas if Thrawn had continued to do so here he’d have to take small, cautious steps…and right now he did not want to be cautious. He had to be bold and dive into the unknown in order to hold to his mandate, and one did not do that with an uncertain codex.

But that hadn’t stopped him from keeping and continuing to make some changes, one of which was quite recent. In sector 1 they had come across and cleared a conquered planet of those that had obliterated the previous population. Upon analyzing the technology left behind they’d discovered a useful alloy previously unknown and had begun integrating it into their codex. Star Force probably already knew about the material, but the awesome power of their technology was reserved for the Paladin. Thrawn was using his own plus some necessary enhancements, and so long as they were tasked with the widespread but small threats out here they would be more than adequate to the task.

Slightly different, yet altogether familiar. That’s how his new ships felt. They had greater capacity but no so much so that he didn’t know their strengths and weaknesses by feel. They were an extension of himself, as were all the minions onboard, and he could feel the harmony of purpose amongst them. The upgrades made hadn’t unsettled them. They’d adapted, as Li’vorkrachnika always did, and now they were stronger, ship by ship, than ever before.

When Thrawn eventually reached a control room separate from the bridge several librarians passed him updated reports but the rest of his personal staff kept quiet and to their tasks while waiting for additional orders as he went to the map again, bringing up the excessive amount of information that they’d been collecting. He still hadn’t assimilated it all yet, so during this trip and others he spent a great deal of time simply staring at the geography of the numerous new regions out here as his mind spiraled off on numerous tangents that the minions around him couldn’t even guess at.

When the fleet arrived at their destination they moved into orbit around an empty, nearly barren wasteland of breathable air and sparse vegetation. There was little water on the planet, but that was easy enough to overcome with technology. There were other resources here and it was a strategic point that Paul had directed him to, though he let Thrawn make the final decision for himself and he’d conquered with the selection. There were no major threats nearby, nor any trade routes of significance. It was a little unnoticed corner of the greater Dubrai Region that Clan Cookie was tasked with, but an area they would not be able to exert any influence in for centuries as greater priorities would always consume their attention.

Upon settling into a stable orbit, the jumpships released their warships and colonizing ships…the latter being an upgrade that took cruiser hulls and turned them into mobile factories patterned after Star Force’s MCVs. Cruisers had always had this capacity in limited amounts, able to spawn entire new colonies just by landing on a planet and dosed with an abundance of time, but these new ships increased the growth rate considerably. They held no weapons, so they couldn’t operate independently, but given the multitude of threats out here and his newfound reluctance to gamble the lives of his people, he wasn’t colonizing planets with single ships, or even pairs. Every expansion was going to be in force in order to protect it and to hasten the development.

So to that end, part of the cruisers stayed in orbit for defensive purposes while the rest split up and spread out across the system pulling a more detailed survey than the scout he’d sent previously. The colony cruisers headed down to the surface and landed in various places, spilling out workers and equipment that immediately took to building mining facilities and setting up prefab structures…another addition Thrawn had picked up from Star Force. Normally the Li’vorkrachnika just built new technology on site, for their skillset was that impressive, but the specific collapsible structures that gave them workshops and small hatcheries immediately upon arrival were an improvement…on planets that weren’t contested. Thrawn wouldn’t be colonizing in that aggressive fashion any more save for special occasions. Paul needed him to grow, and that meant picking systems where there would be no distractions from building.

During the flow of transports to and from the cargo jumpships Thrawn transferred down to the surface and took up command there in one of the grounded colony ships, moving about without informing others so that no one could track him unless he wished it. His authority always derived from his body, for he was his rank and his genetic marker was all the leverage he would ever need. The minions responded to him on sight, so there was never any bickering over assignments that other races stupidly had. Every Li’vorkrachnika here was devoted to their purpose, and had been born into a form to maximize their potential. It gave them an advantage over the Humans and others, who only had one form, though the trailblazers had gone to great efforts diversify though other means.

With the Li’vorkrachnika there was no question as to who did what, and when he arrived on the surface he simply walked into the ship and was treated as if he was supposed to be there. Minimal surprise was the only reaction he ever received, and it never lasted for more than a second. He was allowed to move freely without question or adulation, observing the status of the planet and any difficulties involved with its conquest, but eventually he returned to his study of the region as he dispatched several of the jumpships to scout the surrounding systems and received back updates that confirmed the prediction that Paul had made.

Thrawn was on his own out here, mostly, but there was shipping moving through a trade route 6 jumps away belonging to a larger power. Not one so large that it was on the ‘don’t touch’ list, but one that he couldn’t contend with just yet and one whose intent hadn’t been determined. Too little information was available, and while they might turn out to be a neutral or ally, he never assumed as much. Everyone was a threat until proven otherwise, and given that the resources coming in from the cabal worlds were going to sector 1, he had to build everything in 3 locally…which meant not picking any fights just yet as he set up shop.

Occasionally Thrawn would go outside and sniff the air. It was hard and bitter, but it was raw and free. There was no safety net here. No Star Force fleet waiting to be called upon for support. It was conquer or be destroyed, and that was a very familiar mindset for him and the rest of the Li’vorkrachnika. They’d been told their entire lives that if they didn’t expand they’d be consumed by others and that every race they took down was a threat eliminated.

It had been a templar lie, and for his part in the conquests of those worlds that did not deserve it he was regretful, but there was no point in dwelling on a past that could not be changed. Paul had decided he was worthy of saving and converting, and with that endorsement he’d never doubted his cause. He’d been misdirected by the templars, a tool inappropriately used, but the trailblazers would not make that mistake. They’d set him loose against real threats, and Paul had already forged him into a shield for those that needed protecting. It gave truth to the lie that the templars had bred into them, and ironically had prepared them for this moment…for they were more outmatched here than ever before, and it was going to take a lot of effort and fortuitous use of opportunities just to survive out here.

They could always get lucky and go unnoticed, but Thrawn knew better. Warfare on a grand scale was on the horizon, and once the races in this region realized how powerful the Li’vorkrachnika were they’d move against them, just as they had in the past, and Star Force wasn’t going to be here to protect them. They’d have to fight with courage and guile in order to just survive, and then to grow further and fulfill their mandate. Paul had told him even if they succeeded a lot of people out here were going to die, that no matter how well they all fought there were simply too many enemies, too much territory, and too little time to save them all. Thrawn was to save those he could, and Paul would do the same, but there was no chance for a full victory, for they were outmatched by the geography alone.

But to not commit would mean far more would be killed, thus they’d taken it upon themselves to challenge fate, and for the first time since he’d been grown he felt himself fulfilling his true purpose. The fight had barely begun, but as he tasted the air of this planet he felt the righteousness of the mission, and it was one he had no problem dying to achieve if necessary.

For without a purpose, what was the point in living?

Paul had posed that question to him long ago, never fully answering it, but wanting him to think upon it and discover the answer for himself…and he had. Without a purpose one was lost, but a lost one could refind their path, so death wasn’t the inevitable outcome, but one did not truly live unless they were bound to a purpose, as he was now. It had been a long journey to this point, but he was here now, as were the rest of the Li’vorkrachnika that had been abandoned to die while the templars fled coreward…and they had their purpose as well, he could feel it in them. They could feel the danger and reveled in it, for it was why they existed.

They were fighters, and fighters needed a quest to fulfill. Training alone was not enough. Thrawn and the others need to accomplish something, not prep indefinitely. It was a skill the Archons had mastered but they had not, and it was one that Thrawn truly didn’t want to obtain. He’d rather be the weapon always in use until the day he died.

And with the size of the Rim Region and the threats opposing them, it looked like he was going to get his wish.

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Table of Contents

- Star Force: Resolution (SF89) (Star Force Origin Series) by Aer-Ki Jyr

- Star Force: Collaboration (SF90) (Star Force Origin Series) by Aer-Ki Jyr

- Star Force: Reclamation (SF91) (Star Force Origin Series) by Jyr, Aer-ki

- Star Force: Mantle (SF92) (Star Force Origin Series) by Aer-Ki Jyr