Star Force: Origin Series Box Set (49-52)
Author: Aer-Ki Jyr
Date: 2016-04-04T18:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Literature & Fiction; Action & Adventure; Science Fiction & Fantasy; Science Fiction; Colonization; Galactic Empire; Military; Space Fleet; Space Marine; Space Opera; Two Hours or More (65-100 Pages); Teen & Young Adult
Description: The Origin Series is empire building at its finest, with 100 episodes and over 2.5 million words in the military science fiction serial detailing the rise of Star Force from corporate entity into an interstellar empire over the course of more than a millennium. Follow a core group of characters known as the Trailblazers as they use alien technology and knowledge discovered in Antarctic ruins to obtain limited immortality and lead Humanity out into the galaxy, encountering, befriending, and fighting hundreds of alien races all the while desperately trying to prepare Earth for the unbeatable thr
Publisher: Archon Lore
Rights: Copyrights as per source stories

PENANCE

1

July 18, 2534

Corvio System

Admat

Kara spun through a corkscrew zigzag, throwing off the golden plasma orbs coming her way from the Scionate Valeries that had broken off from the transports they were escorting. They missed easily given the range, then one of the fighters fired its scattergun as she neared it, catching her shields with a few pieces.

They held, but the Valerie’s did not as Kara delivered a green/white orb the size of an apple that punched right through and exploded inside the pointy nose of the fighter. She zipped past it as it began its fall to the ground, giving the pilot at least a 50/50 chance of surviving the crash. Had she wanted to, she could have shredded the entire fighter with a larger orb…which she began summoning up once she was past the Scionate fighter screen, with the other Valeries circling around to chase her as she angled in towards the nearest transport as it descended down through the atmosphere heading towards the surface.

Checking her power gage and seeing that her Vorch’nas was nearly full, she unloaded the first orb at range, sending the watermelon-sized Dre’mo’don glob of energy shooting out from her extended palms at incredible speed. A split second later it hit the distant transport, sucking most of the energy out of its shields at the point of impact and Kara could see the matrix react with her enhanced HUD as energy flowed from other portions to fill the breach.

With that one test she determined the shield strength and matrix type of the transport’s shields, which were decent for Alliance standards but nothing compared to the V’kit’no’sat. As she approached anti-air fire from both the transport and the fighters trailing her filled the surrounding area, but very little of it even came close given the wavy approach path she was taking as she split her hands apart and summoned up two orbs, one in each, from the small addition the Vorch’nas had made to the armor over either palm.

When Kara got close to ramming the ship she decelerated a bit and fired the first orb off, hesitated a split second, then fired the second before decelerating heavily and landing on the burnt hull of the transport. She ducked down as the Scionate shield reformed over her back, ironically giving her protection from the fighters as she crawled/flew across the hull in the 1.3 meter gap between shield and ship.

Scurrying like an ant, she moved around and blew apart two anti-air batteries and a conventional plasma cannon before she came across an airlock and blasted her way inside. From there she tore through the hallways on foot, mowing down every Scionate she came across with an adjustment to her forearm weapons. The plasma orb emitters were now gone, retracted into their holdings as nubs formed on her wrists that shot out pale green stun energy, but that was Kara’s only consideration for the Scionate as she busted through the crew and every sealed door she came across enroute to the bridge.

With a stun weapon on both wrists she entered and unleashed a fury of blasts, some hitting individual Scionate multiple times. After three seconds the bridge crew was down and she had a moment of peace as the rest of the crew struggled to figure out what was happening and send reinforcements to the bridge…for what little good that would do.

Kara ran over to what looked to be the most intricate control panel on the otherwise unfamiliar bridge and raised her right hand, fingers spread wide and firm, then rammed it down into the machinery, breaking through the outer layer and into the guts of the interface. From there she switched over to a different HUD, setting up a proximity alarm function while focusing on the specialized hacking program her armor used.

Little mechanical tendrils, not unlike a regenerator, extruded from her fingers and created a hardline access to the ship’s computer system, with Kara mentally controlling the interface without having to do any manual hacking. The protocols were already in place, she just had to choose which to use and how, with her Vorch’nas doing all the legwork itself. Within a number of seconds she had helm control and sensor interface, allowing her to see from the ship’s perspective as she turned the transport to the left and accelerated it faster than normal…causing it to close range with the transport coming down just below it.

With the blue grasslands below them only a few kilometers away, all the transports were decelerating as they headed towards the grid that Kara also saw tagged in the navigational computer. Each transport had already been assigned a position, with the first one just now setting down on the wide plain that ran north and south for some 170 miles, bisecting two large forests and several Star Force cities.

Flying the transport over top the one beneath it, Kara played bumper cars and rammed the two ships together, forcing the one below her down faster than it wanted to go as well as heading towards the right and the one already on the ground, nearly missing another that just managed to veer out of the way as the tangled pair passed it in their uncoordinated fall.

Kara kept the pace heavy, adjusting the ship as much as she could to stay on the back of the other as it tried to maneuver aside, resulting in a partial pancake on the surface. She pulled out of the control console a couple of seconds before impact, letting physics do the rest, as the rectangular transport twisted to the left with only the right side coming down on the other ship.

Both vessels smashed into the ground hard, digging in and throwing up a huge plume of dirt that rolled out and showered the other transport, missing a second collision by a mere 148 meters. Hulls bent and beams burst, but more or less the ships were intact, just buried in the ground and pinned on top of one another…which Kara made sure would stay that way, taking a little side trip to the engine room and disabling the gravity drive before exiting the ship and flying over to the undamaged one as more came down from above, though relocating around the perimeter of the wreck and off their original landing pattern.

Kara zipped over low to the ground and came around to the rear boarding ramp that had not yet lowered. She waited a few seconds, then got tired of it and flew up to the ‘door’ and started blasting a hole through it. Half a meter of melted metal later and she slithered inside, dropping in on a tightly packed army of armored Scionate clustered around and under 18 hovering tanks.

“Killing spree,” she announced, seeing so many closely packed targets as she popped out her wrist bumps and unloaded hundreds of tiny Dre’mo’don shots, her own version of a scattergun, on the assembled troops, blasting through their shields and damaging their armor by the dozens. She followed that up with stun blasts, now that their shields were down, dropping them by droves as the bay doors finally started to open.

A few plasma blasts came up at her, but most of the troops were too close together to avoid shooting each other, which was why she kept low and just tore through more than a thousand of them before pivoting around and chasing after the first tank to get out, with it not even waiting for the boarding ramp to lower completely. It pushed itself out the moment the upper gap looked large enough, then got a little distance and spun around, but not before Kara got up to it.

Like the transport she knocked down its shields with a single orb blast, then used the scans of the tanks from yesterday to place three smaller orbs through its armor and into key internal components before zipping up into the sky for a quick loop-over, coming down on the next tank as the first dropped to the ground, its power systems now trashed.

By now the Scionate commanders knew something was going terribly wrong, so Valeries from the other landing zones began to redeploy, crossing the miles in between quickly and filling the sky over the crash site as they saw a tiny red spec jumping about from tank to tank and hitting them with some kind of green energy weapon…with very little infantry resistance around her.

That they used to their advantage, picking open areas and laying out assault strikes, often firing own on their own tanks’ shields to try and make a hit, but Kara managed to dodge most of it until a pair of Valeries flew in and hovered twice the height of the tanks and started blasting away at her with their scatterguns…no matter that they were also hitting some of their own infantry in the process.

Those Scionate scattered, losing their shields and chunks of their armor while Kara ducked behind and underneath a tank, then shot out like a bullet and came up on one of the Valeries from below. She fired into the underside, easily penetrating its shields and knocking out its antigrav with the single shot, then zipped out from under it as it fell.

The other Valeries swiveled backwards, swinging around and firing another scattergun blast at the Scionate fighter, knowing it wouldn’t kill it but hoping to nail the enemy…whatever it was.

What the Scionate didn’t know was how good Kara’s shields were, and that she could take several direct hits before they breached, meaning she took one full scattergun shot face on, with most of it missing around her tiny form, then she rammed the nose of the Valerie and emitted an orbit that literally vaporized that section of the hull. As it fell she climbed forward, pulling open the canopy and ripping the Scionate pilot out of his bathtub-like cockpit, then flew him down to the ground beside where the fighter crashed and pinned him there with a forearm as she stared into his muzzle.

“Did not know who you were messing with,” she said slowly in the trade language before slapping him half-unconscious and flying off towards the other Valeries streaking through the air. On her sensors she saw a plume of them rising up from some of the now grounded transports, coming out of tightly packed racks and reinforcing the few that had been on escort duty.

Kara took after the ones above her, knowing that she only had a slim window of opportunity before the others arrived to take them down. She tore after one of them, using her superior speed and maneuverability to get on top of it before it knew what was happening and rip it in half, now very angry. She’d been deliberately avoiding targeting the cockpits, wanting to disable the craft rather than kill the pilots, but as more and more transports came down and began to unload infantry, tanks, and fighters by the hundreds of thousands she pictured the Star Force troops they were about to go up against, and some of whom were likely to die…which quickly diminished her compassion.

She took down the next fighter in a similar manner, then the others began to space themselves out and treat her more like another fighter than a flying bug, meaning she couldn’t get to them as fast and they could set up attack runs and blanket the area with scattergun fire that would eventually wear her down…and as soon as the reinforcements got to her that was almost a certainty, which made her even more mad, knowing that she needed to take down as many of the enemy now as she could before they got fully deployed.

Then a squadron of skeets flew in, taking on the Valeries and strafing the transports and the ground troops coming out, with some of them taking hits by the anti-air on the transports. Kara saw one fighter go down, ramming kamikaze into a transport, but knowing that it had been a drone controlled by a more heavily armored fighter still in the air.

That was the last straw, now that her own people were taking hits, and she flew back down to the ground level, letting the fighters deal with each other. The Scionate shouldn’t have been here and even though these troops were only following orders she no longer had the luxury of treating them as misguided allies. They were here as enemies, and if that’s what they wanted to be…then so be it.

Kara zipped across the ground, barely a meter over the blue grass all the way up to the nearest intact transport as it unloaded in excess of 1000 troops, with more still pouring out but no tanks in sight. The little armored cats were loping along with shallow hops as they ran out and formed into tendrils that began running across the ground faster than a Human could move, enroute to what looked like staging points where the tanks were forming into anti-air groupings and leading the way towards the nearest city, which was only a 22 mile hike away…but with the way the Scionate moved that wasn’t very far at all.

The honorary trailblazer turned into the back of one of those lines and popped up her Dre’mo’don nubs on either wrist, jacking up the intensity to 55%, which she calculated would be more than enough to penetrate their infantry shields, armor and flesh, then she flew directly over them and fired down one shot into each as she passed, melting through their armor and wounding/killing them on contact.

She didn’t slow down any more than necessary to maintain her accuracy, running up the line and mowing them down before swinging around and over to another line and pushing all the way back to where they were exiting the transport…all the while moving quick enough that the infantry couldn’t mount any considerable return fire, though she did take a few lucky plasma hits on her shields.

The third time through the line finally broke and the Scionate scattered, followed by a Valerie strike at nearly the same altitude. Kara took several hits while bringing down two of the fighters that bowled over more infantry as they crashed, then to recover some shield strength she dropped down to ground level and flew/ran into a knot of the Scionate, taking it to them hand to hand so fast that they couldn’t get a shot off at her and their fighters couldn’t target her without hitting their own.

That little ‘respite’ resulted in dented armor and several dozen Scionate unconscious on the ground before a pair of tanks dispersed them and hit her with a wash of their own anti-air…with one of them managing to land a plasma cannon shot on her.

That shot melted through the armor of the two Scionate next to her, killing them on contact while her shields, weakened as they were, canceled out the entire blast, but the anti-air following it got through, starting to absorb on her armor and actually give her a bit of a recharge…but doing tiny bits of damage in the process.

Now enraged, Kara shot off towards the nearest tank and flew underneath it, then put as much thrust up under it as she could, flipping it over and shoving it onto the other tank, catching it partway across and pinning it to the ground. Before either could even attempt at righting themselves she popped out her orb launchers and skewered both of them, hitting some of the crew in the process and no longer caring.

She ducked underneath the top one as another Valerie shot by and peppered the area with plasma orbs and scattergun fire, then blasted into the tank again to make a hole it the armor that she climbed in through. She punched the toppled Scionate back, knocking them unconscious with a single blow each, then she tore into the section of the machine that held the power conduit to the main cannon.

She reached in and grabbed it, siphoning off energy to recharge her capacitors while giving her shields time to reform their intricate matrix. She didn’t linger there for long, pulling only a ‘small’ amount of power from the now wrecked tank before moving back to the hole and dropping onto the grass underneath her impromptu lean-to and looked out the opening…seeing a sea of Scionate infantry and tanks moving across the landscape.

She checked her battlemap, seeing that the Star Force fighters had already pulled back to the city…save for one, which was showing as having crashed. Kara’s jaw clenched and she shot out from under her cover and fired indiscriminately into the ground troops underneath her as she flew over their armored heads towards the fighter, knowing/hoping that the pilot was still alive inside the protective cocoon.

When she got there enemy infantry were all around the crash, but not paying it too much attention save for a few that were climbing on top and trying to figure out  how to get inside the grey T-shaped craft. Kara killed them on the spot and threw their bodies off while the plasma fire from the infantry around her increased rapidly now that she had given them a more or less stable target to fire at.

She ignored them and pried open the canopy, having felt the pilot inside and given her a telepathic heads up to release the latch. The top part gave them a bit of cover to hide behind, with Kara wrapping her shields around the Regular’s flex armor as she grabbed her and flew them both up and into the sky, accelerating as hard as she could in a curve that brought them onto a trajectory towards the nearest city. It took less than a minute to get clear of the Scionate army, with a few Valeries tracking and giving her trouble, but when she got near to the city defense shield anti-air lachars took down one of the Valeries, causing the others to fall back and leaving her in the clear to drop down to the forming rows of mechs and stop just outside the shield.

Kara dropped the pilot off without a word on the pavement surrounding the outer ring of buildings, then leapt back into the sky while searching the battlemap for any weak spots in the Scionate’s developing formations that she could exploit without getting herself mauled by their now swarming air cover.

2

Outnumbered more than 10 to 1, Paul kept his drones hitting the edges of the Scionate fleet in coordinated attack groups, picking on one ship at a time and killing/disabling it before moving onto another, with damaged drones pulling back to recycle and potentially lure more of the blocky Scionate ships out away from the orbital zone they were aggressively defending. Technology wise Star Force’s ships were better, but with their capitol in this system and six worlds to draw off of the Scionate had more military might to call on than they thought they needed…though Paul was about to make them recalculate those numbers.

The Scionate’s strategy was clear…screen for their transports to get to ground, which was taking a long time considering how many of them they were bringing into low orbit. Their defensive fleet was holding position just above the atmosphere, which Paul was currently chewing on, while escort groups were meeting the transports at their jumppoint and shepherding them down with a third set of attack groups roaming the perimeter and meeting up with anything that dared to get close to their vulnerable ground troops. The Scionate had devoted so many warships to this attack that they appeared unbeatable…but looks could be deceiving, and speaking candidly the Scionate naval commanders were rookies.

They were set up for a slugging match, which Paul denied them. Using the binary drives that his fleet had he chose when and where to strike, pulling back when he wanted with the enemy unable to match the curved trajectories down towards the planet, with Paul sending the drones into the upper atmosphere and underneath the Scionate on more than one occasion to target some of the bigger ships with pointblank mauler strikes. Already the Scionate had lost a battleship to those tactics and they weren’t adapting well, allowing Paul to strike and kill the bigger ships that were out of position.

Meanwhile he had the smaller drones harassing the Scionate attack groups, outmaneuvering them and nipping away at their shields until one or more would get wounded, then swarming and eliminating it before retreating and repeating the process again and again. The remote pilots in the system were proving quite adept, despite their lack of combat…which Paul could see via icons describing each one’s current level and combat history at a glance, with most of them having decent training scores but little real experience.

Training was everything, and Star Force was putting that point to the Scionate in a very destructive way as their dominate fleet was getting chewed up and reduced in size while successfully screening for the ground transports. Paul didn’t like killing so many of their supposed allies, but this was a fight of their choosing, and should they turn around and run he’d let them go…but so long as they were attacking one of his worlds and potentially going to kill his people on the ground he couldn’t afford to cut them any slack on the naval front.

Which was why, when their formation split a crack in response to yet more probing action around the perimeter of their main fleet, he sent in the most advanced drones he had. Most of the ones in action were equipped with the standard plasma/mauler/rail gun trio of weapons, with the heavy cruisers carrying small cleansing beams. A few of the drones were missile boats, while a handful were special varieties, custom configured by the local commander into what he’d wanted on deployment.

But one warship in orbit, the one Paul had arrived on, came equipped with their most recent tech upgrades. Those ships he’d kept back, hovering behind the others and waiting for the proper moment to send them in…with his eye on the flagship of the Scionate fleet, a huge Dreadnaught-class warship that was nearly the size of a jumpship. It was sitting dead center in their formation, with the incoming transports flying within a few kilometers of it as they moved down into the atmosphere, insuring that no one was going to follow them from above.

The dreadnaught was covered with plasma cannons, nothing special in their design but in sufficient numbers that they would eat apart any drones that got close to them, meaning Paul couldn’t send in the mauler-equipped ones without suffering huge losses. That would be a mistake, for the dreadnaught was so massive that it was going to take a lot of pounding. The next best option would be to hit it with cleansing beams from the heavy cruisers at range, but the Scionate fleet was spread out enough to keep those attacks down to a handful, with very little hull damage being inflicted on the massive ship.

That said, Paul had already weakened its shields prior to the formation split occurring. When the moment of opportunity arrived he sent a single mental command to the remote pilots while assuming direct control over one of the cruisers. His perspective in the nexus shifted to the view from that individual drone as he flew it, maintaining control over the main weapon while leaving two remote pilots to handle the other weapons and another two for shields and anti-air, for the Scionate were spitting missiles out like crazy trying to hit and kill the resilient Star Force drones.

Paul executed a short jump towards the planet, something the Scionate couldn’t do off the local gravity well, and pulled an atmospheric slide/bounce to redirect underneath the enemy fleet, coming up the ‘safe’ conduit the transports were going down with several dozen Scionate ships dropping into the atmosphere to stay below them and block any run against their boxed-up ground troops.

Paul ran his cruiser in between those ships and the main fleet at high speed, avoiding most of their plasma fire before hard breaking directly underneath the hourglass-shaped dreadnaught as a wave of yellow plasma came pouring down on his ship while the other advanced drones followed him in. Mauler blasts shot out immediately, pounding what was left of the dreadnaught’s shields and penetrating the local areas, doing massive hull damage on the surface but failing to penetrate very deep.

That said, a swath of plasma cannons got hit and slagged, reducing the amount of return fire and prompting the dreadnaught to spin about to get a better firing angle on those ships beneath as the rest of their fleet repositioned as well, coming down on the sneak attacking drones.

Paul had planned for that was well, signaling a predetermined attack run up top while he aimed the primary weapon on the cruiser and fired a translucent shield column up at the dreadnaught. It hit the hull and crunched a few battle plates, almost like the ship had physically punched the other, but the damage was superficial and a moment later the emitter on the cruiser released the Ta’lin’yi energy that crackled like a fireworks display down the length of the containment shield, sucking energy out of it enroute to the dreadnaught and unleashing against the hull.

The white/gold prickles that looked like a billion tiny fairies gorging themselves on pixie dust blew through the hull armor like it wasn’t even there and blasted like a torch into the dreadnaught’s interior, exploding everything they touched on contact. The Ta’lin’yi was so destructive, in fact, that Star Force had lost several prototype weapons from backfire, requiring the most advanced shields built to date to hold and channel the weaponsfire to target…which they now had thanks to the arc elements, with those shields also temporarily protecting these drones from the dreadnaught’s plasma fire.

Paul kept the continuous Ta’lin’yi, which they simply referred to as a ‘Talon Torch,’ or just ‘Torch,’ firing nonstop so that he could eat well into the interior of the dreadnaught while the other cruisers and destroyers fired theirs off in short bursts, targeting key points on the hull that the maulers opened up. Trick of it was, the Ta’lin’yi lost most of its effectiveness against shields, making it about 3 times effective as plasma and useful in assaulting shielded ships, but it didn’t get its big bang until it hit physical matter…which was why the shield disrupting nature of the maulers was so critical, allowing them to punch at least small holes it the protective barrier to deliver the torch lances through.

Paul kept his attack up until the drone’s shields eventually went down and the main weapon was hit and destroyed, but he didn’t retreat, instead pulling in closer to the dreadnaught and letting the maulers eat away at surface targets, thinning the plasma cannons that were hitting his other ships until a coordinated salvo from the other Scionate ships eventually killed the cruiser and his display reverted back to ‘Admiral’ view…where he saw the rest of the new drones finishing the work he’d started and tearing the big ship apart via deep core damage.

The dreadnaught itself was too big to blow apart, at least not all at once, but huge conduits of damage were being poked into it along with the exterior looking like a person that had been burnt so bad they’d lost all their skin. As the big ship began to list the surviving drones turned their weaponry on the surrounding ships, with Paul instructing the pilots to fight it out to the last functioning weapon. He didn’t want to lose them, but he would gladly spend them in exchange for the damage they were doing…plus the disruption they were creating in the rest of the Scionate fleet that he began exploiting with the conventional drones.

The debris from the destroyed ships on both sides fell into the atmosphere, given that they were hovering on anti-grav rather that actually sitting in orbit…or rather a lazy orbit so the Scionate could remain overtop their ground troops at all times. That was a mistake as huge chunks of ships fell down into the atmosphere, partially burning up from the friction but also reigning down meteors on the Scionate’s own troops…most of which were deflected by the transports’ shields, but some were coming down as far off as the neighboring cities, making the Star Force personnel there having to shoot them out of the sky in the case of small ones and run away when larger ones hit, with the advanced comm system and battlemap they shared proving invaluable as the meteor strikes were calculated and warning areas were flashed as no-go zones, allowing the mechs and fighters in the area time to maneuver out of the way.

The same wasn’t true of the Scionate, who lost several hundred troops to the meteor strikes…but then came the dreadnaught hulk, unable to maintain its orbit, and now guided down to the surface with a few Star Force drones equipped with IDF tugging it on a more preferable course directly down onto a cluster of transports.

One managed to lift off and fly away, but even it got caught in the impact concussion wave and knocked into the ground, skidding in the dirt before righting itself and gaining altitude again, but once it came up out of the dust cloud and looked back down on the area with its sensors there was nothing but sheer destruction in its wake. 19 transports were now gone, along with thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks, with the airborne tsunami pushing all the way up to the nearest city’s shields and bouncing off them like a gentle wave, tugging at the mechs waiting outside for the ground troops to arrive…but they never did.

Those Scionate around the impact point that survived redirected and abandoned the attack, now in too few numbers, not to mention utter shock, to mount an assault. They redeployed towards another of the multiple landing zones, abandoning their target city to support the assault on another…with the herding drones staying down in the atmosphere and targeting a few of the transports before the Scionate warships caught up to them and had a brief fight over the surface. Three enemy warships fell, then the drones pulled back damaged towards the nearest city, firing as they fled.

The Scionate warships, now 8 in number, followed them, killing one before they got near the city and dropping it to the ground where it dug out a long furrow, but avoided hitting any ground troops.

Another kilometer closer and a tiny white beam struck out from the nearest city, slicing into the Scionate shields and penetrating them a moment later as the defense turret cleansing beam began providing cover for the drones. The Scionate pressed the attack a few moments longer, enough to lose one of their ships to a well-aimed slice from the third cutting beam shot as it hit the ship’s gravity drive…then the others pulled off as fast as possible, getting outside the preferred firing range of the small caliber CB and allowing the surviving drones to get some distance and redeploy back up to orbit.

Paul didn’t try to drop ships down into the ground campaign again, needing all he had for the naval fight. As it was he was having to pull back to more hit and run attacks, for he was losing too many drones compared to how many ships the Scionate had…and not just the ones involved in the attack, but the numbers he knew they had on their six worlds insystem, and if he let his planetary defense fleet get thinned too much he’d be at a disadvantage, no matter what their technological edge was.

Without any more deep thrusts into the enemy fleet the transports continued to flow down the ‘safe’ zone to the planet, landing well away from the dreadnaught wreck and deploying more and more troops to the assault lines heading out to the nearby cities. Paul brought up side displays in the nexus of the first ones to engage, seeing that the city defense CBs were angling down to hit a few tanks at range, but once the troops got within a certain radius the angle wouldn’t work, leaving it to the mechs and perimeter defense turrets to fight them off, with the Archons, Knights, and other commandos waiting to dual it out in the city streets and knowing not to venture out into what was going to become a massive kill zone.

Manually tinkering with the raiding drones, Paul continued to rack up kills along the perimeter, exploiting minor and a few major tactical miscues on the part of the Scionate, essentially playing ADC and running in to hit and pulling back out before shield strength went down, doing the enemy damage while taking none yourself…other than power loss. It was amazing how much he and the trailblazers had learned from playing video games. They literally were a form of training, and League of Legends had been one that he’d cut his teeth on as a youngling.

It was a winning strategy, given a long duration, and Paul continued it while the Scionate landed the last of their transports…but even then they didn’t abandon their orbital position, with Paul suspecting that they knew of and feared Star Force’s orbital bombardment capability. Pull their fleet back from the skies overhead and Paul could use his drones to pummel their landing zones with rail gun slugs, or even reposition the Sentinel in orbit and attack the surface with cleansing beams.

That would be risky, because it would expose the orbital infrastructure it was currently defending, but either way he could rack up considerable damage to the Scionate ground troops while they were clustered together on the surface. Once they moved into the cities it would be another matter, assuming their transports didn’t stay on the ground. If they did the defense fleet would have to stay in orbit and protect their flank, in which case Paul was going to continue to nibble it to death.

The Scionate could bring in more ships, and probably would, but the tactical situation would be the same until they started hitting Star Force positions in orbit or coming out after the drones in swarm tactics. Paul would make them pay a heavy price if they did that, but knew he couldn’t afford to lose the drones he had left. If the Scionate forced his hand he’d have to wait for the reinforcements that he’d already called for, which would be days away even after the relay network delivered the message to the neighboring systems.

Or so he wanted the Scionate to think. In reality he had a number of warships waiting on the edge of the system outside of sensor range that he could call in if badly needed. One other thing he’d learned from video games was that the enemy tailored their assault to the forces they thought you had, meaning if you held some back or hidden away from their view you could often turn the tables on them…and even if you didn’t, if you had a reputation for doing so you’d ward off a number of attacks just because of that uncertainty.

Which was why Paul hadn’t called them in. He was going to fight this battle with what he had in orbit and wait to see what the Scionate decided to do, but right now all they seemed to care about was grounding their insane number of troops. Star Force colonies were far from unprepared for this type of assault, something the lizards had taught them the hard way, but troopwise the Scionate far outnumbered them, from infantry to tanks to fighters.

It was about to start going down heavy, and Paul wanted to be out there with Kara and Morgan mixing it up hand to hand or at least in a mech, but he knew the ‘Admiral’ was needed here leading the naval front, and with the city he was currently in not appearing to come under direct attack anytime soon, that wasn’t likely to change.

Combat, aside from when dealing with rookies, was a team affair, and today his role was clear…with him going to press every advantage he had to take out as many of the Scionate ships as he could. He didn’t like slaughtering their enemies, but in this case it had to be done. If they didn’t choose to retreat, well, he couldn’t do anything about that, so he set himself to the task at hand and kept his attention on orbit, with only an occasional glance at the status of the emerging ground battles, leaving them to Morgan to work her magic on.

3

When Morgan got to the mech bay half of the walking machines were already gone, transitioning to the landing field outside where they were boarding dropships to be taken over to the Scionate invasion zone. She tagged one of the remaining ones for herself, depossessing a lower ranking mechwarrior and claiming one of the neos. Once onboard and strapped into the control harness she followed the others out, assuming command of the cluster and its 100 mechs. Admat had 2 galaxies of mechs, which totaled 1000 units, but they were spread out through the various cities, meaning it was going to take time to redeploy them to where the fighting was going down.

The heavy walkers were another matter, and not included in the ‘galaxy’ grouping, which had 5 clusters, each of which contained 20 stars, with a ‘star’ of mechs being a unit of 5 that worked together to take on/down targets. Already two Mk. 1 Hoths were moving outside to load up for transport, and Morgan knew the faster they got those into the field the more trouble the Scionate tanks were going to have. She didn’t know a lot about the enemy’s fighting tactics, but she’d studied what data files Star Force had, as well as the combat potential of their tanks, which essentially operated like the Canderian turtles…heavily armored hovering weapons platforms.

But she knew they only operated with plasma weaponry, no missiles or beams, meaning that a Hoth at range would eat them up before they could even get within firing range of the big machines…which were now much faster over ground than their predecessors had been, not to mention they’d been upgraded with a cleansing beam, now that the techs had figured out a way to miniaturize it even further. That said, her neo was still going to be the fastest mech on the field, but as she walked it out of the enclosed mech bay she felt the movements to be extremely sluggish, forcing her to reset her mind to ‘mech’ mode rather than ‘commando.’

She boarded a dragon along with a number of other mechs, then with fighter escorts they flew out to the edge of the battle zone, with the Scionate already having reached the target city’s edge. Battlemap data suggested they were going for at least 5 different cities, with Morgan opting to tackle the biggest assault she could find.

The dropships landed in a wide grid, giving the mechs plenty of room to exit several kilometers away from the nearest troops, though there were already enemy Valeries overhead strafing the dropships as several squadrons of skeets tried to keep them at bay. As soon as a few anti-air equipped madcats took to the field and downed a handful of fighters the Valeries backed off, with the Star Force pilots taking the initiative and pursuing them, leaving Morgan’s cluster a moment to itself as she handed out combat assignments.

She took 9 neos into her personal ‘binary’ and went to the head of the formation, with it splitting into two stars that kept close to each other, with Morgan at the point of hers. They ran as quickly as they could manage, with the other mechs trailing behind in a long column towards the edge of the engagement zone before splitting up to go after individual targets. On the march over to the enemy Morgan got a good look at what they were up against…and she wasn’t disappointed.

The fields of short blue grass were covered in Scionate yellow, both from their tanks and their personal armor, with thousands upon thousands of infantry storming the city’s outer walls and overwhelming the defense turrets that were chewing up everything within sight with lethal precision. The defending mechs had been forced to flee to the edges and fight around the city, drawing off tendrils of the enemy troops in order to avoid being overwhelmed with plasma…which added to the yellow motif that was drowning out the blue landscape and now encroaching on the white/greys of the city.

The city gates were raised, matching up with the underside of the bubble shield that was still holding. Valerie attacks on it were light, given the anti-air turrets raising up and popping through tiny holes in the energy barrier. Same with the primary turret that was roasting distant tanks and infantry with its single cleansing beam, but most of the enemy hoard were now below its firing angle, up close against the city walls, which in some cases were only lightly armored building exteriors.

That said, there was no way for the enemy infantry to get inside the perimeter without blasting a hold in either a building or the gates that had risen up to cover the gaps in between the structures, making for a crude, jerky line rather than a curved exterior, given that this city and others were constantly expanding. Morgan was glad they’d included the permanent defense protocol in the colony mandates, giving them a way to shut off access to the city from the ground at any stage of construction.

As she was running forward, now about a kilometer away from the nearest Scionate a pale white beam shot over her mech and hit one of the tanks ahead, moving down slightly as it fired and bisecting the rectangular slab with little effort while also vaporizing a few infantry on the far side where the beam sliced a narrow trench into the ground that erupted with a backblow of soil and moisture.

That meant the first hoth was finally unpacked and into play, something she was grateful for as a large group of tanks and infantry began turning towards her mechs, with them soon to be overwhelmed.

“Alright guys, this is it,” she announced to the cluster. “Don’t dig too deep or you’ll be toast. Hit and fade and pull them away from the others. Fighting retreat if possible. They’ve got the numbers, so we have to split them up…and remember to give the hoths some clear firing lines. Watch my back and shoot targets of opportunity, we’re about to bust them up and I’m not sure how they’re going to respond. Play it conservative until we get a feel for them.”

There were no responses from the other mechwarriors, given that none of them knew her personally. They were all acolytes and lower, mixed in with a lot of Regulars that also weren’t very experienced. Those that were were either fighting on the fronts or positioned to more valuable worlds. Admat was low priority, but per Star Force protocol they didn’t underdefend any world, meaning these mechwarriors had decent skills but were nowhere in Morgan’s league and they knew it, preferring to keep a respectful quiet as they headed into battle…though that wouldn’t last long before they started chatting at each other coordinating attacks.

Morgan used her superior skill and familiarity with the neo to goose her speed, running faster than the others could do without tripping over their own mechanical feet and pulling ahead of her star slightly as she popped up both mauler cannons on her mech’s arms and started firing at the nearest tank…completely ignoring the infantry until they got underfoot. She haphazardly punted one of the armored cats that didn’t move out of her way as she tore through the shields and armor of one of the tanks that couldn’t quite manage to keep her in its primary sights, giving her the opportunity to kill it quickly without having to suffer a main cannon strike to her shields.

Her neo was covered with hundreds of infantry blasts, which she knew would add up eventually, but right now, at the beginning of battle, it was the tanks that were the most dangerous so she swerved to her left and attacked another one from the flank, melting it with her maulers rather easily, taking only 9 hits before she dropped it to the ground unpowered with large chunks of the machine dripping in molten globs onto the grass and setting it on fire.

Soon there was smoke billowing up in multiple locations as she and the other mechs hit the tanks, all the while the now two hoths were sniping more further back in the lines on a regular basis as they slowly walked forward. Morgan watched her shield strength closely, backing off twice for a run through open field before circling back at a different point and hitting a strategically placed tank that further opened up the infantry to slaughter by some of the heavier armed Type 1s in her cluster.

The Scionate didn’t blink, pressing their losses by diverting more troops Morgan’s way, so many in fact that the armored kitties started jumping at and on her mechs, knocking over several before others came in to help shoot the cats off. Small as they were, the quadrupeds were heavy enough in numbers to make it difficult for the mechs to get up and move around, with her seeing a pair hanging onto the leg of a starbright whose shields had already gone down. They were latched on and firing their tiny plasma cannons into the mech at pointblank range before Morgan got to it and latched her mechanical hands around both and pried them off…then pitched them each baseball style back into the hoard.

After she threw the second one a few more infantry tried to jump on her mech…only to get a rude awakening as she maneuvered it around more like a giant suit of armor than a walking machine, punching and kicking the Scionate into mangled pulp inside of what felt like tin cans from the neo’s perspective.

They were not back down though. It was as if the more troops they lost the more committed to winning the Scionate became, with Morgan’s cluster eventually having to retreat back to the hoths to avoid being overwhelmed. They all made it out, but a few had taken significant hull damage and had to be rotated to the rear of their ever changing formation that she kept modifying with the flow of battle. Her own neo was showing light damage in places but mostly for her it’d been shield damage that she’d suffered, though she had taken a square hit from one of the tanks that left a melty patch on her chest.

She’d berated herself for walking into that for some thirty seconds afterwards before letting it go and adjusting. The Scionate where now coming after the mechs in tank groups of no less than three, making assaulting them more difficult because at least one of them would usually land a direct strike when a neo approached, and multiple ones for the less agile mechs. Morgan began hunting those personally, with the others supporting her when she busted up their formation.

With the retreat they’d stretched out the Scionate lines…but their infantry was actually surging ahead of the tanks and running suicidally right into the mechs around the hoths’ feet. Morgan knew this was their chosen tactic, no matter how many they lost they were going to swarm the mechs, meaning they had to make a stand here or abandon the hoths, which no matter how heavily armed and armored they were, the hundreds of tanks coming their way would eat them alive given enough time.

Morgan ran the numbers through her head, sizing them up visually rather than trying to count as she considered having to do just that and evacuating the pilots by some means, perhaps right now before they were swarmed, but that would mean taking the hoths out of the fight and they badly needed their firepower…not just the cleansing beam, but the auxiliary weapons that were only now coming into play and firing own on the infantry with numerous plasma cannons designed for just this purpose, along with a quartet of maulers to deal with larger, close-in targets.

It was going to be a tough one, but the more they killed out here the less there would be for the infantry within the city to deal with, so Morgan decided to make their stand, sort of.

“Alright, we’re digging in here. Don’t get sloppy and keep cycling out as needed to recharge shields, but we’re holding position on the hoths, and the big boys aren’t going to be standing still. You’re going to position 400 meters apart, side by side, and casually advance. We’re going to work around you, but we are not going to get stuck in one spot and become turrets. That’s what the Scionate want, and we’re not going to give it to them. We’re mobile, so fight mobile. That order goes to everyone.”

“Keep clear of the hoth feet and let them clean up the infantry that gets to them. We break up the chunks ahead and they sweep, got it? If we go down, stay down and inside your mech. Don’t try to evacuate or you’ll be target practice. Anybody with missiles left unload them now…all of them, hit the isolated tanks. I’m going for the groups,” she said, running in a long circle to turn around, then accelerating to breakneck speed and trampling a few Scionate that got in her way, trying to trip her up.

Morgan shot several with her maulers enroute, but as she zigzagged heading towards one of the tank groups a white cleansing beam passed through it and cut two of the five tanks in half, greatly increasing her odds. She wanted to say thank you but knew there was no time, firing four shots against one of the intact tanks as a second group not far away also targeted her.

Knowing she had to get some cover she dipped her arms as she ran and popped out the underside sword blades, jumping into the air using her anti-grav and landing on top of one of the bisected tanks. She slid off it and skewered one of the intact ones, punching through its shields and then its armor with the corovon alloy blades. She wasn’t able to cut sideways, so she pulled them back out, one at a time, and jabbed them back down in, going for both the cockpit and power core, eventually hitting which one she wasn’t sure, but the tank suddenly stopped shooting her with its anti-personnel turrets, signaling to the trailblazer that it was dead.

A plasma shot hit them both, washing against her shields and taking them down a chunk as the other Scionate tank group fired on its own in order to hit her, committed to defeating their enemies no matter what the cost or sacrifice. She knelt the neo down then jumped again, this one mostly going sideways and got to another of the closest tanks and began hacking it apart, knowing that properly used the sword blades would kill faster than her maulers.

Doing her best Optimus Prime impression, she finished off that tank and ran across the burning ground to the third as another hoth cleansing beam hit the other group, taking one of their tanks out of the fight…with hundreds more approaching on the cluttered horizon.

“Not going to make this easy, are you,” she whispered, running three steps before soccer-style kicking a Scionate that didn’t move fast enough. It bowled over three others, which she proceeded to try and step on as she ran past, managing to put foot to only one and bury it into the ground on impact heading towards another tank, this one smoking from previous missile damage but still firing its main weapon.

She took it out with her maulers from range, then knelt down with its hulk to her back, gaining some cover as she targeted the nearby infantry behind her with her maulers, resetting them for quicker, smaller bursts…with the energy expanding rapidly enough to turn the weapon blasts into mini shotguns at range. Normally that wouldn’t have been effective against a tank or other heavily armored target, but the infantry was another matter, with her lining up shots with many targets down the line and hitting them with ease given the dispersion.

As she fired she also got a visual look at the rest of her mechs…which were not in good condition. Some still had shields up, but most were taking some level of armor damage. In the corner of her eye she saw a madcat with multiple Scionate hanging on it, then under their combined firepower the left leg broke off, sending the mech to the ground as it was no longer able to stand. To the pilot’s credit it moved itself around enough with its stubby arms and remaining leg to get its weapons pointed towards the enemy so it could still fire in a straight line whenever an enemy crossed it.

Her battlemap tagged the mech as down a moment later, with the infantry around the area all turning and swarming the injured target.

Morgan clenched her teeth and sprang up from her cover, sprinting back towards it as one of its weapons was ‘chewed’ offline by the tiny yellow plasma blasts. She didn’t dare use her maulers with a friendly underneath, so she popped her blades back out from underneath her neo’s wrists and went in hacking and kicking as more and more infantry poured in to replace the ones being lost.

Midway through that frenzy her battlemap pinged a warning…indicating that one of the city’s gates had been breached.

4

When Kara got the breach warning she wasn’t even fighting in that city, but she knew that was where she had to go and took off like the flash, flying low to the ground and shooting a few more Scionate infantry as she got up to speed…then she was over the blur of blue grass below with a moment of calm that she used to check out the situation on the battlemap.

It wasn’t good. The sea of Scionate was even larger around the city that was showing Morgan’s ID tag. The trailblazer was in a neo and a tough fight herself, but the enemy troops were now pouring through the breach in one of the city gates, with the surrounding defense turrets all showing to be offline…meaning they were probably slag by now. That left an undefended side that the Scionate were grouping around and sending a small, but constant stream of troops through, including tanks by the look of it.

She pulled up a side diagram on her HUD that showed camera footage of the breach with measurements overlaid. It was wide, but narrow enough that she thought she could clog it up. That wouldn’t prevent the Scionate from poking another hole elsewhere, but it would buy the city some time and relieve the ground troops already fighting off the enemy infantry in the streets. They appeared to have them somewhat contained at the moment, including a couple of ravens to add firepower, but the Scionate, the big ones anyway, appeared to be just as strong as the Knights, for she could see some of them going at it hand to paw in a wrestling match where the enemy had rushed several defensive barricades and leapt over.

The bodies were starting to pile up too…all Scionate. They were running right into a Star Force buzz saw and attempting to overcome it with numbers, armored and very agile numbers, but numbers none the less, and Kara knew she had to cut off or at least disrupt the flow before the good guys started to go down.

The back lines of the Scionate hoard became visible ahead, a growing mass of yellow that Kara didn’t hesitate for nor slow down, passing over the rear tanks too fast for them to target her and firing down on the infantry randomly as she made a straight line to the gate breach. When she neared it she arced upwards and came down on top of those passing through like a red bullet, landing on the back of one of the Scionate so hard she heard its armor crunch…then she brought up both arms and fired her Dre’mo’don at those outside, mowing down a dozen of them before turning around to fend off a lunge/jump from those just inside the gate.

An easy spin kick sent that one flying backwards, with her shooting it out of the air and nailing three others below it before it even hit the paved ground. A cartwheeled roll to the right got her out of the firing line of one of the tanks that landed a huge plume of plasma on the ground where she had just been standing, melting the pavement into a brief-lived puddle of molten goo that resolidified within seconds.

Kara’s palms morphed and produced the orb emitters, then she summoned up and fired a green/white glob of energy and sent it directly into the tank, knocking down its shields and melting through the armor plating before detonating inside and blasting it apart like a child’s toy that had broken, though the heavy parts didn’t fly far, more like they just fell apart from the green glow that flashed inside.

Kara shot down another two dozen infantry before summoning up another large orb and killing a second tank, with the remains of both now sitting just outside the gate breach and becoming impediments to the oncoming flow. Doing so was creating a significant power strain on her Vorch’nas, but she didn’t have time to poke the tanks to death with so many enemies around her, not to mention the hundreds of plasma blasts coming her way that her shields had to deal with.

To ease that burden she retreated a few steps and swung around behind the edge of the hole in the gate, shooting some more infantry on the inside then laying in wait for the next ones to come through…whereupon she mowed them down easily, with the rim of the breach now superheating as the tanks outside tried to expand the breach and get to her position.

Kara backed up, then flew/jumped across the gap, killing two more infantry on the pass and took up refuge on the other side, simultaneously getting a glimpse of the enemy troops on the interior that Star Force was managing to thin out and overcome. A line of blue plasma even shot through the breach and held steady for several long seconds as one of the ravens took aim at a tank outside, meaning that Kara had succeeded in giving the troops a breather, even as more Scionate rushed through the gap that she diligently mowed down into a growing pile of bodies.

A large bolt of yellow plasma came back through and hit the distant raven, impacting on its shields and not getting through, with Kara having a moment of epiphany that she thought Paul would be proud of. More for the sake of the other troops fighting and only a little for her own amusement, Kara opened her comm for wide broadcast, knowing that everyone would hear it, and jumped out onto the top of the pile of bodies, ducking as another blue continuous plasma beam shot by over her head a couple of meters and two yellow ones returned, also missing her as she summoned up another large orb.

She held it up over her head like a mage and stared at the enemy troops outside, picking the closest tank, and yelled with as much confidence and bravado as she could muster.

“You…shall not…pass!” she said, augmented by the armor’s vocal programming to sound as close to Gandalf as she could get without prep work, as she launched the orb and blew apart the tank outside.

Standing behind a barricade further back, commando level 36 Colt Harrison was firing his plasma rifle at the enemy infantry needing, he guessed, about two or three shots to get through their shields, then another 10+ to get through their armor, so long as you fired on the same spot. That meant the Scionate weren’t going down quickly, with him and the other commandos around him team firing on individual targets that one of the others were highlighting on the battlemap so they would know who to shoot without the delay of talking.

He had a trio of Knights standing behind him that had four times already taken on Scionate that had leapt over the barricade, leaving Colt and the others free to keep shooting, but the stupid cats were proving too tough a challenge and he knew it was just a matter of time before they were overrun, with him thinking more about where to flee to than holding his position.

When he saw the red something or other ahead of them kicking the crap out of the enemy in the brief gaps of vision visible through the infantry directly ahead that he was having to quickly shoot down, he wondered who it was and what the hell were they wearing, figuring it was an Archon of some sort but never having seen that variety of armor. The red was too deep and the figure too slim, with the Archon helmets being distinctive in shape and size, while this one looked like he was wearing a skin-tight hat…but whatever, he had aliens to shoot and keep from getting hit, having already taken a plasma blast to the face that luckily his armor’s shields held up against.

Then the enemies in front of him thinned out considerably, enough for him to see the strange armored fighter climb out on top of a heap of the dead cats with what looked like a funky plasma orb forming in his hands. Colt had definitely never seen anything like that before, but then his comm opened up and he heard a deep, powerful voice bellow out a movie reference that he hadn’t heard in a very long time, with his HUD tagging the strange warrior as the one speaking.

He threw the plasma orb at one of the tanks outside and it exploded on contact, sending a chill down Colt’s spine along with a resurgence of confidence…along with a laugh. Whoever that was, they had a sense of humor packed in with those crazy weapons, and suddenly Colt was no longer thinking about where to flee to. With half an eye on the combat occurring at the breach, he and the other commandos and Archons took careful aim and killed the last of the Scionate infantry between them and the wizard they’d seemed to have picked up.

Colt didn’t have a clue who he was, but with his assistance it looked like they might be able to hold this position after all.

“Did you hear that?” one of the other commandos asked.

“Yeah I did,” Colt said, keeping his sights focused ahead as he reloaded his rifle with a spare clip.

“Who is it? They’re not showing up on the battlemap.”

“That’s the Queen of Diamonds, you rookies,” one of the Archons nearby answered. “Otherwise known as Kara-317.”

“What type of armor is she wearing?” Colt asked.

“Something alien that she picked up. One of a kind. I didn’t even know she was here, but count yourself lucky. Rarely do you ever see that amount of badass,” he said as the raven standing a few dozen  meters behind their barricade line fired another plasma streak out the gap as a wave of infantry ran forward, which Colt and the others couldn’t see.

“Heads up,” the Archon warned, just before a sea of Scionate came over the mound of their own dead in lemming fashion…too many for Kara to shoot down at once, meaning Colt and the others were about to get busy again.

“You heard her,” the Archon reiterated. “They shall not pass. First five of you that get killing sprees get 10 credits.”

Despite the wave of powerful aliens running towards them at superhuman speeds Colt laughed, his fear of them gone, now replaced by gritty determination as he started placing shots on the leaders tagged in his HUD. He and four others nearby him took one down within 3 seconds, then moved onto the next as a few of the Scionate got through the initial plasma fire and jumped over the barricades with the Knights swarming them instantly.

The raven fired all its weaponry down into the hoard ahead of them, busting up the wave and giving Colt and the other ground troops a thinned group of enemies to target.

With the Scionate fleet continuing to succumb to Paul’s hit and fade attacks, they eventually called in reinforcements from their six worlds insystem, despite the fact that they already outnumbered the Star Force defense fleet. When more warships began arriving Paul brought his two warship/jumpships forward and into the fray, both as bait and to include their bloon launchers in the battle. Previous to now they had been sitting far back, remotely controlling the drones that had come from them and assisting with others as their pilots were freed up when their vessels got taken out.

Paul tagged the remaining battleships for their attack, with the two big ships heading straight into the enemy fleet and drawing an immediate response. The enemy fleet pulled up towards them, exposing a gap between the atmosphere and their fleet that the trailblazer had been hoping for. As the remaining Star Force drones formed up around the two warships and took it directly to the enemy fleet, even as its reserves were pouring into orbit to supplement them, Paul plotted a course diversion for the Sentinel, time stamped to begin a drop towards lower orbit in a few minutes.

Before that transition could begin, for it would draw immediate attention from the Scionate, he called for his ace in the hole, knowing that he had to bust up this fleet before the enemy got majorly reinforced. As the battle with the two warship/jumpships continued in earnest, with their massive hulls eating up a lot of weaponsfire that otherwise would have been targeting the drones, thus extending their battle life, another warship pulled an insanely difficult jump into the gap between the enemy fleet and the planet, braking so hard that Paul could see the stress levels on the ship’s status display when it finally popped up.

That warship immediately began to release drones…new drones, for it was a new warship, fully equipped with not only bloon launchers but cleansing beams, maulers, and even its own Ta’lin’yi. The Mk. 32 variety was the most lethal yet, and some 21% bigger than previous models. That cut down on its available jump speed, but with progressively better gravity drives being developed it nulled out the disadvantage, leaving a ‘normal’ warship with a much larger carry capacity.

It disgorged 126 drones in a plume falling behind it as it too dove into the enemy fleet targeting their battleships, simultaneously with a second warship jumping into the planet on the topside of the enemy fleet…a much easier jump to accomplish, with the now four warships bracketing the Scionate on three sides and putting them in a momentary disadvantage that Paul pressed. He had more warships to call on if needed, for he’d brought a lot into the system in case the Scionate didn’t respond well to their diplomatic complaint, but he didn’t want to show his full hand yet.

That said, he needed to take advantage of opportunities when they arose and take as many enemy chess pieces off the board as possible, which the torch-enhanced drones were beginning to do in earnest.

The four warships were manned, of course, meaning this ploy was a bit of a gambit. If those ships were destroyed, tough as that was to accomplish, he’d be losing people, and that was something that Star Force abhorred. But with him monitoring the situation on the planet below, he knew he had to aid the ground troops…which was why as the Scionate were suddenly getting more resistance than they could handle in orbit he sent a third warship in to the planet at a location some 1000 miles off, having it brake not far above the atmosphere and send its drones skimming across the top and over to the engagement zone.

There they made a dive into the planetary gasses and headed towards the surface, with only a few Scionate warships moving to intercept them. Some of the drones pulled back up and intercepted the enemy warships in a high altitude brawl with the others moving down to surface level. Paul watched all three fleet engagements closely, but knew that he had to get to the Scionate ground troops before they got safely inside the cities…with a tone sounding that informed him that the Sentinel was now repositioning. It wasn’t a warship, and couldn’t move all that fast, but putting full power into its gravity drives would allow for some slow jumps between planets.

So with its drives cranked up as high as it could manage, it sucked itself down towards the planet and put itself on a descending track that would bring it towards the enemy fleet in approximately 27 minutes. That was slow compared to what the drones and warships could do, but it was going to be enough. Now the Scionate had a choice to make…wait and fight until it arrived, or leave now and try to hit somewhere else in orbit.

They decided to fight on for several more minutes…then they took an approach that Paul had thought was of low likelihood, but none the less effective in the short term.

With the Scionate fleet beginning to even out its disadvantage with the influx of a lot more ships, they suddenly broke off…not leaving to a higher orbit or going after Star Force’s shipyards or other facilities, but moving down into the atmosphere, passing the warship Paul had positioned there and moving towards the surface to engage the drones that had slipped by them.

Morgan’s neo was all but trash, having lost her shields more times than she could count and now down 3 emitters, leaving her left leg permanently exposed. Her left mauler was gone, with the sword blade in that arm locked into deployed mode. She could still use it, but couldn’t retract it, meaning her hand in that arm was now useless for the blade stuck out from underneath the wrist.

Her armor had damage everywhere, but none had gotten below 25% in any spots, though there was a deep cut in her back that was registering at 34% thickness. She’d gotten that damage running away from a group of tanks that otherwise would have killed her, given that there had been some 22 of them that she’d felt like trimming down to 20. Now that kind of seemed like a bad move, but it had provided a distraction for two trios of other neos to take down some smaller groups, all the while wading through the suffocating, self-sacrificing infantry that was constantly trying to slow them down.

Morgan had stepped on more of them than she cared to remember, not liking to kill enemies that way but they were giving her no choice. Even one of the hoths had taken a leg hit that made it unable to walk, but it was still standing and fighting…forcing her and the others to change their tactics to fight around it or leave it behind. She’d chosen the later, pushing forward with the still working one while leaving a pair of madcats behind to assist the hoth with the infantry that kept trying to overwhelm it.

Morgan hadn’t had time to think about much else, let alone look at her battlemap, which meant it was a huge surprise and relief when the sun was suddenly blotted out by a rectangular cloud that started firing down into the tank formations with mauler blasts that literally melted them on explosive contact.

It wasn’t until a bright torch beam swept across the infantry hoards that she realized it was coming from a warship overhead…with her amending that sentiment as she checked the battlemap and saw multiple drones coming down from orbit and beginning to annihilate the enemy troops. She wondered how in the hell Paul had managed that with the enemy fleet sitting up there…which was when she also saw on the battlemap that they were coming down into the atmosphere by the hundreds.

“Oh shit, Paul,” she whisper swore. “You better know what you’re doing.”

5

One of the remote pilots stationed on the planet, situated in a city that was currently under attack, was flying one of the drones sent to that location. It was odd for her to see where she was from above, not to mention he hoard of enemies outside and now in, given that the city wall had just been breached. Her corvette was descending rapidly through the atmosphere, now only a handful of kilometers in altitude as she and the rest of the fleet had been given orders to engage the enemy ground forces directly.

That was an unusual order, but one that they’d trained for extensively…and given the current situation one that she agreed with wholeheartedly. There were Knights guarding their building in order to keep the enemy from cutting off their control of the drones, and given dire enough circumstances they would tell them when to evacuate, so Kaleigh didn’t have to worry about looking over her shoulder, but she was apprehensive and being able to contribute to her own defense was immensely helpful. That way she could actually do something rather than sit and wait to be shot or blown up.

“Assuming direct control,” a deep, dark voice said into her earpiece and suddenly she no longer had helm control of the corvette. In fact she wasn’t linked to it at all, now pushed into a waiting cue to be placed somewhere else within the fleet remote systems.

“What the hell?” she asked, feeling like the universe was just plain being unfair until she saw the ID tag on the top of her primary screen that had bumped her from priority control. It wasn’t a higher ranking pilot, nor even an Archon…but the Admiral himself, bringing a confused frown to her face as her display shifted to a targeting program for a weapons battery on a cruiser that was just now engaging a trio of Scionate warships of equal tonnage in the upper atmosphere.

She didn’t have time to think, dropping into her new role on cue and controlling the single battery, as opposed to the 3 or 4 that a gunner would usually control. Being given one meant that there were a large number of pilots to a small number of ships with the duties being split up for greater efficiency.

Kaleigh sighted her mauler cannon on the position of a targeting tag and fired, opening up the enemy shield for another mauler blast that hit a moment later. Together she and the other unknown gunner chewed a hole in the side of the cruiser along with a lot of others before the ship finally lost power and began to fall towards the planet…with Kaleigh mentally crossing her fingers and hoping that it wasn’t about to come down on her head.

From the command nexus Paul took control of the closest warship to the second city breach, dipping it into an even steeper nose dive as he passed out targeting orders to the pilots handling the weapons. He assumed control over the torch along with the helm, but left the secondary weapons to the others, knowing they could do a better job with them than him trying to mentally control them all…which he was capable of doing with ships far larger than a corvette.

The Scionate were taking a big gamble bringing their warships into the atmosphere, and Paul knew that regardless of how that turned out he had a small window to target the ground troops without immediate reprisal. He was going to make use of that then turn his attention to the Scionate warships that, for the most part, were not configured for atmospheric flight.

But that didn’t matter at this particular moment, because the second city breach had just occurred and there was only one Queen of Diamonds around to plug holes with, so as he brought the rectangular cube of a warship down over the city its knife blade-shaped shields reformed into their normal blocky configuration and he drifted the corvette down past the curve of the bubble shield and directly over the heads of the enemy infantry and tanks outside…with the latter turning their weapons skyward and blasting into the underside of the warship.

It blasted back, with Paul using the torch as its namesake implied, targeting the tanks like a painter making long brushstrokes, punching right through the shields and armor on impact as if they were little more than plastic toys. With the remote pilots hitting the others with maulers and the anti-air chewing up the surrounding Valeries, the corvette made its dominating presence known as more and more tanks turned their weapons on it and covered its shields with plasma.

Paul watched the shield strength closely, knowing that with enough hits the tanks would get through, given that the corvette wasn’t all that much bigger than them. Still, it had superior tech and could take a beating even after it lost shields, and Paul knew he had to take pressure off the troops inside the city fighting the enemy infantry…which was being ravaged by one of the mauler cannons that he had assigned to that task.

It was coating the area outside the breach with its destructive blue energy, vaporizing the ground and creating huge plumes of moisture and dirt littered with bits of Scionate. The pilot kept pouring more mauler blasts on the area, effectively creating a wall of destruction that kept additional infantry from getting past…though he couldn’t target inside the city without lowering the bubble shield, and doing either one was fraught with problems.

With the corvette’s shields near to breaching on the underside Paul shifted energy from the top to reinforce them, then informed his gunners to target the infantry exclusively while he continued to pick off tanks with the torch. All the other weapons onboard, including the anti-air lachars, began picking off the armored cats by the hundreds, then Paul moved the warship out into the midst of the formation before drifting left, cutting a path towards the edge were a group of mechs were fighting.

With the corvette’s shields finally going down the ship began taking light armor damage, but the weapons batteries themselves were now exposed, save for small redundant shields covering them when they weren’t firing. Those shields would delay the weapon strikes but a smart enemy would shoot the weak points and clip his offensive capability rather than trying to burn through the thick armor first. Knowing this Paul drifted the ship over the mechs, helping them out while simultaneously gaining escorts to protect his underside, though the warship was still the primary target of the tanks.

That took pressure off the damaged mechs, allowing them to start fighting more effectively as they gradually thinned the enemy troops…but it wasn’t nearly enough, for more were still coming in from the grounded transports until more of Paul’s drone warships arrived and started blasting them to bits as well.

The free shoot didn’t last long, with Paul eventually relinquishing personal command of the corvette and returning his nexus to fleet view, seeing that the Scionate had now brought down several thousand warships into the atmosphere to combat the drones and protect their troops…but Paul knew they could also be used to hunt his mechs and pound the city shields if uncountered, no matter how ungainly they were in the atmosphere.

And that ungainliness is what Paul had to exploit. The air itself was aiding Star Force, because it wasn’t allowing the Scionate to maneuver as quickly as normal. They did have their Valeries to aid them, adding weaponsfire where able, but the anti-air batteries on the drones made such efforts risky for the pilots who, like all the rest of the Scionate, seemed to be in a fury that pushed aside reason. That saw swarms of the fighters running against the smaller drones and laying down considerable plasma, despite the cost to them in losses.

Those fighters could maneuver quickly in the atmosphere, but the warships couldn’t. Star Force’s were a bit different, however, because Paul had designed them for atmospheric combat, though they didn’t look it. The plain bricks didn’t have a lick of aerodynamic design like the Hycre had, but they made up for that with shield geometries that did. Invisible as they were most of the time, the drones became pointy aerodynamic needles or knife blades when needed, allowing them to outmaneuver or outrun the Scionate warships, making it almost impossible for the enemy to make a kill if the drones didn’t stand toe to toe and slug it out.

Which they didn’t. They employed similar tactics to those used in orbit, cycling in and out of the hot zones to recharge shields. Problem was that the area was clogged with ships fighting in a much smaller region than before, meaning Paul had to have his ships eating away at the perimeter of the Scionate fleet…but he couldn’t, for they were coming down on top of the ships fighting the ground troops, meaning that for several minutes all hell broke loose as ships vied for position and Paul manically reworked their fighting position at a speed no manual interface could handle.

Using the Ikrid interlink he became the fleet, issuing orders like pressing buttons on a video game controller and doing so many so fast that there was a blur of commands coming out of the nexus to the fleet that 10 controllers out in the main room behind him couldn’t have matched in volume or skill.

All the while the debris from the fighting was falling like rain over the ground battles, with many pieces hitting the city shields and sliding off down to the edges to land in a ring of trash that the mechs, tanks, and infantry had to dodge.

Morgan’s view caught the sight of half a Valerie smashing into the topside of the hoth she was pacing besides, hitting it on the head and smashing through its shields. The impact came so fast that it off balanced the big walker, forcing her to scurry out of the way before it fell on her…but the driver was good enough to maneuvering the legs around quickly to catch itself, though the big machine did drop to a knee like a dog taking a drink of water, only to come up firing its cleansing beam again at a none too distant tank.

There was debris everywhere, mostly in little bits no bigger than a trash can, but if those bits were chunks of warship armor they could do a  lot of damage to the mechs…not to mention the enemy troops. Morgan didn’t like it one bit and kept waiting for a ship to fall down on their heads, but there was nothing she could do about it now so she embraced the moment and tried to use the chaos to her advantage, as well as assigning a person in each of the hoths to keep an eye on the sky and mark approximate landing positions for the big pieces coming down to alert the mechs to stay out of the way just in case the main battlemap controllers in the cities missed something.

That wouldn’t work for the hoths, for they were too slow to move much, but it did give the Tier-1 mechs a chance, with Morgan already having missed three large strikes thanks to the heads up. They basically had to whistle through the graveyard and hope not to get hit, or at least hope the hits were survivable, like the broken fighter that had left a nasty scar on the top of the hoth’s head, digging into the armor and scraping it up something fierce, but the heavy walker was still in the game, now pushing far ahead of the other that was pinned in place, with its two escorts using it as an umbrella and hiding underneath as they shot incoming infantry.

Those three were far behind the rest, with the walkable hoth now having pushed far inside the enemy swarm and Morgan’s mechs eventually meeting up with another group that had originated from within the city outside the breached gate. They combined what numbers they had left, with Morgan assuming command of the others, and did not hold position. They cleared the entrance that Kara was still clogging up with bodies then turned and headed in the direction of the enemy transports, walking over the carpet of infantry and fighting their way through with what little weaponry they had left intact, with the hoth being responsible for most of the carnage.

They got about a third of the way out into the enemy formation before the tide suddenly turned and the infantry reversed course, sprinting away from the city with their tanks doing the same on a delay, forming a rear guard that kept firing at the mechs and covering for the infantry as they began to retreat towards their distant transports.

“Morgan?” one of the mechwarriors asked.

“Let them go,” she said, relieved. “Get into the city through a working gate and see if you can help out with the cleanup. We’re too chewed up to pursue anyway. Take two stars,” she said, tagging which ones had the most armor and weaponry still working, not including hers. “The rest are on recovery op. Let’s get our people inside before the Scionate decide to come back for a second round.”

A moment after she said that a pair of tiny white beams struck the surface on the horizon, with barely any longevity. They were little flashes, like straight line lightning. She adjusted her gaze and followed them up into the sky, gulping when she saw the thousands of dark shapes with tiny flashes occurring between them that were the battling fleets. The cleansing beam strikes weren’t coming from them though, they were coming from higher up and another small shape, this one looking like a cigar.

Morgan checked her battlemap and blanched, seeing that the Sentinel had somehow repositioned directly over them, just holding outside the atmosphere in a geosync pseudo orbit…meaning it was sitting there mostly on anti-grav, something that was hard for a mass of that size to do, let alone have enough power left for weapons.

But firing it was, sending down what appeared to be 6 or 7 different beams in rotating cycles and skewering the enemy warships with small bits of the energy punching clean through their hulls and falling to the surface. She hoped like hell the gunners were back checking their targets, not wanting one of the beams to hit a city…or her, but still the Scionate fleet didn’t run.

A warning popped up on her display, and she ran her mech off several hundred meters to the north ahead of a chunk of warship falling nearby. In fact it was heading very near the hoth, which was accelerating as much as it could to get some distance, now pointed back towards the city and nearly galloping, or at least as much as it mechanically could, with Morgan watching the falling object in its last stages on the battlemap and visually, guessing that the hoth wasn’t going to make it in time.

But then at the last second the bubble shield that was still deployed and touching the top of the perimeter wall expanded, maintaining the shape it was locked into but growing in size and expanding out over top the hoth like an umbrella at the last moment. The Scionate destroyer, or rather most of it, hit the shield and deflected, coming down on the ground some 100 meters past the hoth and creating one hell of an earthquake on impact.

Dust and debris flew everywhere, with a Scionate corpse bouncing off her neo as the cloud consumed her mech, with her losing her balance and falling forwards onto the ground. Morgan caught the mech with her hands forward, digging her stuck blade into the ground like it was hardly even there and waiting out the torrent while watching the battlemap for more falling pieces. The bubble shield shrank slowly as the hoth got closer to the city and Morgan followed it in, glad to have the cover and cursing Paul for his sloppiness. What the hell was he thinking bringing the orbital fight down into the atmosphere?

She knew it had been to slaughter the ground troops, which she was thankful for, but this debris dodging was downright insane, and she doubted the city shield could take a second hit like that without breaching.

As she was mentally cussing him out the battlemap saw the first of the enemy transports begin to lift off, apparently fully loaded. It wasn’t targeted by Paul’s fleet, which Morgan knew was probably by design. With the enemy retreating last thing you wanted to do was smoke their getaway car and force them back into combat against the cities…or at least she hoped that was his plan, though she didn’t want to interrupt him now to ask what was up, given the ruckus going on overhead.

It took a long while for the troops she’d just been fighting to make it back to their transports, but eventually they lifted off as well, with the enemy warships, or rather those still left, finally pulling back to cover the transports…with the Sentinel standing down along with the remaining drones as they allowed the Scionate survivors to pull out and leave uncontested.

After finding two of her mechwarriors buried under debris and recovering them, Morgan brought her mech inside the hold of one of the dropships that came out to retrieve her and the others, leaving the debris pickup to different teams. Once inside she tapped into the dropship external cams and got a good look at the once blue grasslands…now afire in multiple locations and dotted with what looked like chocolate chips that was ship debris, or in some cases entire ships.

It was a ghastly sight, but they’d managed to hold. Question was how much damage had been done inside the cities and what the Scionate were going to do now after this ass kicking, for they had far more troops and ships insystem than they’d deployed here.

6

July 19, 2534

Corvio System

Admat

Morgan picked up Paul’s mental signature a couple of hallways away before she crossed paths with him, her coming back into the command center and him coming out.

“We going back?” she asked, with the two of them stopping for a chat in the middle of the pedestrian traffic flow.

“As soon as you can pack. We have to take care of this now. We can’t wait on the others.”

“I agree. Just the three of us?”

“No one else can keep up.”

“Unfortunately,” Morgan echoed. “Grab plenty of senzu beans and I’ll meet you in the hangar in an hour?”

“Deal,” Paul said with the pair splitting and going their separate ways. He had to find Kara as well as do a little more homework. He’d already spent a few minutes running through their files on the Scionate, but he needed backup options and hadn’t gotten enough info for that so he eventually stopped by his quarters and downloaded what he needed on a datapad and brought it with him later when he went back to the hangar, this time allowing Morgan to drive while he read up.

“It seems we’ve greatly underestimated the Humans’ power,” Tem’lan mewed angrily in the audience chamber from his reclining pedestal as he and the other Chieftans watched the battle reports coming in via holo, with each using their own interface and screens to monitor the data streams they wanted with a single large map of the engagement zone displayed in the center where visitors normally stood. It was replaying various points of the failed assault as the Scionate leadership tried to comprehend what had gone wrong.

“You are repeating yourself,” Pra’nom said dismissively as he studied a personal display.

“I am reiterating the obvious. We cannot and should not launch another attack until we know the true strength of the Humans, no matter how wounded our pride is.”

“I concur,” Yen’sor said from Pra’nom’s left. “We lost so many in this attack and their Sentinel still stands. If we escalate this, even if we win we may suffer horrible losses.”

“And risk starting a full scale war with Star Force,” Jasnet added. “It’s not just the Humans, the Calavari are allied with them now. Our attempt at teaching them a lesson has failed, let us not make more of a mess of this.”

“What course of action would you suggest?” Ura’bor asked halfheartedly.

“I do not know the temperament of the Humans well enough to answer that.”

“Fairly stated,” Ura’bor conceded. “They have hidden many secrets from us, but this supersoldier of theirs concerns me the most,” he said, shifting his personal display to the main holo, showing crude images captured from afar of Kara fighting on the ground and attacking the transports in the air, plus a few images from when she was inside one laying waste to the troops waiting within.

“Note that,” Tem’lan interrupted before Ura’bor could continue, “this one stunned the troops initially, much like they did when they came here. It was we who escalated this to killing. We made a grave mistake in misreading their intentions. Their hesitancy was not weakness. I believe they were trying to teach us a lesson that we failed to grasp.”

“Which was?” Car’sem asked.

“They were warning us, and delivered the message personally so we would feel the effects and remember. We struck back like an arrogant child, not knowing who it was we were dealing with.”

Ura’bor growled. “I would dispute that if I could.”

“I still dispute it,” Pra’nom said, unrelenting. “The Humans are stronger than we thought, but their world is still ours for the taking if we act before they can draw reinforcements from other systems. We have far more troops here than they do, we simply need to send them and end this before it can escalate further. Honor demands that we finish what we started.”

“No matter the cost?” Tem’lan countered.

“It would be far worse not to,” Oru’ven said gravely. “We will lose the respect and fear of the other races if we walk away from this now.”

“We will lose millions of soldiers if we press this,” Tem’lan growled. “And I am not confident that we can even take their world. I believe we have been outplayed, and any further hasty action will only make the situation worse than it is now.”

“We cannot back down,” Ura’bor hissed as if Tem’lan was talking treason.

“We need a victory,” Tem’lan explained. “If we are unable to achieve one it would be best not to waste resources. What if they invade here after we bleed our defense fleet dry to take their world?”

“Tem’lan makes a good point,” Car’sem agreed. “They only struck us here to send a message. Now we have split their blood, though very little of it. If they react to that as we would, we may see a Human warfleet overhead in the coming days. I would not waste our defenses trying to destroy their Sentinel, which we will if it can move to intercept our ground troops. If it can hold the Cajdital at bay, we will be blooded taking it down.”

“Then we should recall more of our fleet to this system, regardless of what transpires,” Pra’nom suggested.

Several others nodded, seeing the wisdom in that.

“Agreed,” Ura’bor finalized. “Send courier ships while we study our new enemy in more detail. Our decision on what we do will wait until our blood is less hot with the sting of defeat. If we are to defeat this enemy, we must not underestimate them again.”

“Wise words,” Tem’lan agreed. “But there’s a possibility that we might not be able to defeat them at all.”

“We can,” the elder Scionate said confidently. “It’s simply a matter of discovering how best to do it.”

“A lot of movement,” Kara commented as they quietly reentered high orbit of Vaadsip, seeing warships moving about with a lot coming into the planet from the other Scionate worlds in the system.

“They’re not used to losing,” Morgan commented from the pilot’s seat. “I think we spooked them. Paul, you have a location for us yet?”

“Somewhere on the large southern continent.”

“There are no continents,” she said, referencing the obvious fact that there were no oceans to outline any.

“Look at the city distribution. They’re clumped into what look like continents.”

“Well that’s something then,” Morgan said, glancing up at Kara who was once again seated above them. “Is that enough for you to give me an approach vector?”

“Give me a minute, then I should have something.”

“Crowded?” Paul asked.

“Very,” Kara emphasized, “but there are always holes. It’s just a matter of finding them.”

Paul nodded, understanding her challenge as he turned his attention back to the datapad in his hand. They weren’t returning straight to the ruling den. Had they been out for blood that would have been the obvious place to go and just kill all the leaders, but that wasn’t the mission here and pissing off every single Scionate in the ADZ was a really bad idea. They needed another option, which Paul was currently searching for.

It took him another half hour but he was finally able to give Morgan and Kara a destination city situated a third of the distance around the planet from the capitol and only half as large. It took them a few hours to get through the traffic and down to it, once again coming down over the grasslands and creeping up on the perimeter detection sensors, limited as they were. Kara was able to sneak them inside rather easily, with them finding another parking space in the cluttered roofline…but even by then Paul wasn’t finished with his research.

“What’s the holdup?” Morgan asked after they’d set down.

“I’ve narrowed it down to two bloodlines, both of which have their central dens here. Picking which one is the problem, along with finding the right contact.”

“So you’re saying we’re not busting down the door this time?” Morgan asked sarcastically.

“Knocking gently, then picking the lock,” Paul responded, still scouring their records on Scionate society.

“Why not pay a visit to both?” Kara asked, coming down the ladder from above and standing on the small lower deck behind their seats.

“Because they’re drastically different, and I’m not sure which way we should go.”

“Enlighten us,” Morgan said, swiveling her seat around and leaning back.

Paul sighed. “The first is Wennitan. They’re very militant and have been at odds with the ruling bloodline over their reluctance to claim a place on the front lines fighting the lizards, Skarrons, or anyone else threatening the ADZ. We just killed a whole lot of their kin, so not sure how happy they’re going to be about that.”

“The second is Grisst. They’re brokers, playing Davis’s game and playing it well. They’re in agreement with the defensive assist policy that the ruling den has been using, preferring to wage war in the ADZ economically and keep their military as an ace in the hole. They’ve been an ally of Vensiol for several hundred years, but they’re considered to be the wisest and most farseeing of the bloodlines.”

“And the others?” Morgan asked.

“Less viable candidates, in my opinion, but you’re free to look through the data yourself.”

“I’ll take your word for it, but just remember that our files aren’t going to be the best.”

“I know, we’re going to have to play this by ear and possibly work through several bloodlines before we find an acceptable one. I’m just not sure where to start.”

“Start with the ally,” Kara suggested. “That way we can gage the level of discontent.”

Morgan shrugged. “Sounds fine to me. I just don’t want to waste time sitting here discussing it.”

Paul set the datapad down and pulled back on his black armored gloves, clicking them into the arms of his body armor before grabbing his helmet and sending Morgan and Kara the waypoint he’d already stored. “Let’s go.”

The three of them left the V’kit’no’sat gunship in the middle of the city’s night cycle, making it much easier to move around without attracting notice as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop with Kara keeping pace with them rather than flying off to do her own thing. The trio quietly made their way across the city to the location where the Grisst den was located…which was a good hike away from where they’d landed, for it was located in the densest part of the city and they’d had to park in a more industrial section with less eyes around.

The Grisst den was completely different than the ruling one. Instead of a sprawling, low level facility this one was a thick tower rising up above all the other buildings…save for three other similar towers marking rival dens, none of which were built directly next to one another. There were thousands of Scionate bloodlines, with most having their central dens on the capitol world, so there were plenty of options for the Archons to pick from, with Paul knowing they needed to talk to one that had roots and a powerbase on planet rather than one of the more powerful rivals/exiles that dominated other worlds in Scionate territory.

“Kara?” Paul asked as they stared at the far building across the city lights.

“I see several options. My choice would be a window two thirds of the way up.”

“Not exactly a quiet entrance,” Morgan commented.

“It will be,” Kara differed, “if you wait here for a few minutes.”

“Go,” Paul said, with her flying off across the night directly towards the building with the other two Archons following her with their HUD. She shrank to a dot that disappeared from view save for the zoom function that Morgan was using to follow her, though Paul knew Kara’s handiwork enough that he simply watched her tracking icon while keeping his focus on the surrounding cityscape.

“Sneaky little second gen, isn’t she?”

“No need for insults,” Paul countered dryly as he saw Kara starting to come back towards them. “She knows what she’s doing enough that I occasionally take notes.”

“High praise.”

“You’re just jealous she’s not part of your Clan,” Paul teased.

“About that. If you really want to make her a full trailblazer you need to give her her own Clan.”

Paul half choked. “Like hell I am. She’s a Saber and staying a Saber.”

Morgan smiled. “Like I said…second gen.”

“Alright, shut up. Don’t give her any ideas.”

Morgan laughed. “Has this come up before?”

“Not from her, no. But she’s too valuable to lose and you’ve got a perfectly legitimate point. So zip it.”

“We’re giving her one eventually then?”

“Honorary status has its limitations.”

“You’re so screwing her…or, are you screwing her?” Morgan asked curiously.

“Nah…I’m just interested in her jewelry,” he mocked a few seconds before Kara landed next to them.

“All set,” she reported. “You riding single or buddy?”

“You can handle both of us?” Morgan asked.

“I can carry a skeet if I have to. You guys weigh far less than that.”

“Let’s not waste time then,” Morgan said as Kara turned around and spread her arms out into a ‘T’ with each trailblazer grabbing hold of one of them at her elbow and reaching around with their other arm to get a double wrist lock that they held at a 30ish degree angle down, giving Kara two passengers, one on either side of her that kept her balanced.

“Ready?”

“Good.”

“Good,” Paul echoed, with Kara connecting to both them via battlemeld to enhance their balance and grip as she lifted up into the air a meter or so feeling their weight drag her arms down slightly, but her own strength was supplemented by the powered nature of the Vorch’nas armor, allowing her to remain in the ‘T’ as she started to fly them across with both trailblazers holding on with her elbows buried in their chests and their legs dangling freely.

Kara couldn’t fly nearly as fast, but the trip across the sky wasn’t painfully long. They got across without drawing any alarm and came up on the window that Kara had previously cut open with delicate ease, leaving it in place but still severed. When she got within a dozen meters of it she reeled back her right arm and threw Morgan towards it, pulling the pane out telekinetically a moment prior to the striker ducking through it and landing inside, falling into a somersault and coming up in sentry position, heading for the nearest door in the empty and unlit room.

Kara got a bit closer then tossed Paul through, coming in last herself while hovering the two meter wide circle of clear polymer back into position, with the seam nearly disappearing given how fine of a cut Kara had made. She walked up to it and welded it back in place at a couple of spots to make sure it wouldn’t fall out, leaving their entry point nearly undetectable…at least until someone came around to wash the windows and saw the small crack.

“Where to?” Morgan asked when no new waypoint popped up in her HUD from Paul.

“Kara, find somewhere to hack in. I need you to get a building layout and search for a few names.”

The red scale-clad Archon looked around, seeing through the walls with her Pefbar and sighting a fiber bundle. She walked over to that portion of the wall and punched inside it, grabbing the comm/computer fiber in her armored hand and linking into it with the tiny hacking tendrils.

“I’m in.”

Paul responded by rattling off a list of names from his HUD, with Kara throwing up waypoints for each one as she found them, giving the trio potential locations for them to be found, some being personal dens and others work areas.

“Hold on,” Kara said a moment later. “Number 1 on your list just logged onto a terminal,” she said, isolating the location within the building and throwing Paul a priority waypoint marked as 62 levels below them in the same quadrant of the building.

“There’s timing,” Morgan commented.

“Best route,” Paul asked, with Kara giving them three options with one highlighted, indicating a vertical shaft buried within the walls.

“Nice,” Morgan said, walking to the door and taking a look outside with her Pefbar as the trio got ready to move. “Looks clear, but let’s let the shadow go first just the same.”

“My pleasure,” Kara said, her scales disappearing into a null void shadow that really did disappear within the dark room, then became ‘visible’ again as she opened the door and walked out into the hall, more optical illusion than silhouette.

7

Ken’slan pawed the button, scrolling to the next report on the fighting on Admat, limited as they were. He had access to more information than the news kiosks, but still he was getting an incomplete picture of what was happening. Suddenly the Scionate had decided to invade the Star Force world, and from the pieces that he was pulling together the leader of the Grisst bloodline was coming to the unlikely conclusion that they had actually lost…and lost badly, but no official reports had made their way to the public as of yet, which was unusual, for as a race the Scionate fiercely supported one another. When one went into combat, all did, at least from a moral standpoint, thus news of battles was not meant to be suppressed.

The news Ken’slan was getting was fresh, but something of the launch of the attack should have been made public, with all the notice he got being a copy of the military orders forwarded to him by members of his own bloodline on the ships and in the ground forces that had been hastily dispatched.

The quadruped went to step on the button again, but suddenly his limb froze up, as did the rest of his body as he went stiff and unable to move. A sickly feeling crept through him as he was paralyzed, then panic broke out as he saw a biped figure walk into his gaze, recognizing the tell-tale Archon armor that Star Force used.

“Calm yourself,” Morgan said, taking off her helmet as she stood in front of him a couple of meters and stared down into his fixed eyes across the console. “We’re here to talk, not to fight…at least not yet. I will release you, but if you flee or attempt an alarm I’ll immobilize you again. Understand?”

Ken’slan couldn’t answer, but a moment later his body returned to his control and he took an involuntary step back into a combat crouch…which was when he noticed two more Humans behind him. He half looked back at them, then eased up slightly, but he was still ready to pounce if needed.

“What did you do to me?” he growled.

“We have abilities that others do not,” Morgan said evasively. “Get used to it.”

Ken’slan’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?”

“Vensiol has to go, one way or another. We’re offering you the chance to do it yourselves before we’re forced to do it.”

Ken’slan didn’t reply, but just stared into the Human’s pale face. “Tell me what has happened on your world. I only have pieces of information.”

Morgan crossed her arms over her chest, black armor rubbing against itself with a whisper of a scrape. “The Scionate violated the terms of colonization. Meat farms were established outside the ADZ and you’ve been smuggling it in trying to avoid detection. We found out and are even now putting a stop to it on other Scionate worlds. The three of us came here the other day to deliver a message and a warning to your leaders that such violations would not be tolerated. We delivered it personally to the Chieftans, leaving a few injuries as a reminder but killing no one. I doubt you missed the spectacle?”

Ken’slan growled again, more at what the Human was saying than as a threat. “I am aware that there was a disturbance, but nothing has been said of it officially. Our troops were summoned to battle and little has been mentioned of it since.”

Morgan looked to Paul. “So much for our big demonstration.”

The other trailblazer sent her a telepathic question, letting her handle the meet and greet.

“Your troops,” Morgan continued, “were sent to our world where they launched an invasion and subsequently got a lot of themselves killed. We lost some people, which is something we cannot let pass. We’d prefer not to have to conquer your entire civilization, but we will if we have to. We’re here to seek another option, one that has your bloodline replacing Vensiol.”

Ken’slan wanted to hiss in defiance of what would essentially be treason, but he held his composure and considered what the Human was saying, still unnerved by its ability to take control of his own body away from him, but with a growing anger at the leading bloodline if the Human’s claims were even half true.

“If you have slain Scionate blood, you will have blood in return.”

Morgan pointed a finger at his blunt muzzle. “We came here to break bone and flesh, but we did not kill. We also wanted to show you that we are not incapable of enforcing the terms of colonization,” she said, hacking into his mind again and forcing the Scionate to sit on the floor and look up at him, unable to do anything but watch. “Your leaders didn’t get the message,” she added, finally releasing him.

Ken’slan stood up again, angry, but wise enough to continue to listen. “There were rumors floating around from the incident at the den, but we dismissed them as the ravings of those who had failed to acquit their duties.”

“Not rumors,” Morgan said, telekinetically lifting him into the air on her own accord without having to link with Paul for extra power. Ken’slan’s eyes went wide with shock and horror at his own helplessness, and Morgan let him paw the air for several seconds allowing that to sink in.

“If we wanted you dead, you would be,” she said simply, then lowered him down and released her grip. “You’re supposed to be our allies. It’s time you started acting like it. Either you fix your empire or we will, and we don’t have a lot of time to offer you. We have to deal with Vensiol quickly before an interstellar war erupts between Star Force and the Scionate. You would lose that war, but it would be costly enough to us that it could jeopardize the safety of the ADZ…and if we have to go to those lengths to rectify the situation, your race will lose your sovereignty as a consequence.”

This time Ken’slan did growl reflexively, then thought better of it and began thinking…hard and fast.

“Are you certain that we spilt blood first?”

“The first blood was on our world when you invaded it, though technically Scionate died before Humans did because your people fought stupidly. We were forced to slaughter hundreds of thousands of them in order to defend ourselves, perhaps millions. The actual number we are uncertain of, but it was on our world that your people were assaulting. Your fleet began by destroying a defense platform in orbit. It was unmanned, though I’m not sure if they knew it or not. We didn’t start this fight, but we did finish it…and now we have to truly finish it before it escalates. If your bloodline is unwilling to take the lead then we will find another, and another, and another until we run out of candidates or simply grow bored from looking and decide to do things the hard way.”

“You keep repeating that threat as if it is your preferred choice.”

“No, I keep repeating it because we said the same thing to your leaders and they ignored it. This is the Scionate’s last chance to regain their honor and fix their own problem before we have to do it for them…and on our terms, which I can guarantee that you will not like. You are independent, and with that privilege comes responsibilities.”

“So it does,” he finally agreed. “But you will find that Scionate do not respond well to bullying.”

“Humans don’t respond well to oathbreakers.”

Ken’slan hissed. “Nor do we. If your claims are true then there is an accounting that must take place here, but I will not take your word for it. I must see it for myself.”

“Kara?”

Ken’slan turned when he heard the faint whisper of footsteps behind him. The one Human that wasn’t dressed in traditional armor walked up next to the Scionate, seemingly unphased by the combat threat that he was, and nudged him aside to get her arm to his console…whereupon it began to malfunction, shutting off and reactivating with new displays and a wealth of information.

“See for yourself then,” Morgan said, pointing down at the images as Kara retreated back to her waiting position with Paul as the two made sure to keep any visitors out with subtle Jedi mind tricks being played on anyone that approached in the exterior hallway to keep them walking past and forgetful of the door that led to this chamber. “Data from the meat farm and the interrogation of the pseudo-independent group running them, their link to the Scionate, and a full copy of the battle data from yesterday.”

“Your technological edge has been severely underestimated,” he said with annoyance as he stepped forward and started looking through the images, statistics, and reports written in the trade language, knowing that this might be part propaganda as well, but he was curious and the Humans didn’t seem to be in a mind to take ‘no’ for an answer.

Still on edge with the Humans’ presence, Ken’slan searched through the records from the farm, seeing that most of the individuals involved were not Scionate, as the Human had indicated. A few were, but they were rogues and not part of the empire’s forces…but it was the linkage between the organization and its employers that was damning, as was the records of where they had been shipping the meat and to whom.

The Scionate had not liked the meatless edict that Star Force had imposed on the ADZ originally, but they had agreed to it like the others and now their youngest generation had lived their entire lives without eating meat, which was becoming the norm even for Ken’slan. Though he still craved the taste of it, even he now admitted it was a dishonorable practice. That hadn’t always been the case, but since it had been forced on them he’d gained a new perspective and was now in agreement with Star Force…though not nearly as passionate about it.

What their records indicated was that the Scionate leadership had organized special privileges for favored individuals to get the meat shipments. While the Humans were probably unaware of the significance of the locations the meat was being shipped to Ken’slan was not, and right then and there his allegiance to Vensiol ended. Grisst had reluctantly worked with them in the past because they appeared mostly level headed and honorable, but the kind of backroom dealing these records implied…and there was no way the Humans could have faked them without knowing the inner relationships between the bloodlines…was dishonorable.

If one had a dispute then one aired it out. Likewise, if one made a pact, they didn’t do so in secret…let alone say one thing to one group and say the contrary to others. Truth, forthrightness, and leadership went hand in hand, with Vensiol now leading the Scionate down the path of dishonor along with several other bloodlines that Grisst vehemently hated…and to top it off, they’d offered them the meat and not Ken’slan. Perhaps they knew he would have objected to it or the betrayal of the oath they took when moving their race to the ADZ, but regardless these records showed that Vensiol had made a number of secret pacts, ostensibly to keep themselves in power when their leadership ability became insufficient.

An honorable bloodline would have stepped aside and let another with more skill tailored to the present challenges their race faced take the lead…but this farming activity was incontrovertible proof that they’d become greedy and disrespectful to the duties of leadership, and for that alone they had to be removed.

Ken’slan kept that revelation out of his face as he shifted over to the battle records, seeing the sudden and violent assault on Admat unedited and reconciling the disparate reports he’d been getting in. He saw his people attacking with great power and forthrightness, as was proper, then, like a giant beast waking from its sleep, Star Force rose up to meet the challenge and slew them with such efficiency and ease that it galled Ken’slan to be standing next to them now.

What made it worse was that they were in the right. Many of his brothers and sisters had died in an unjust battle that the Vensiol had ordered simply to assuage their own pride, which Ken’slan also saw, from the Human’s perspective, as there was helmet cam video from their ‘warning’ to the leading bloodline.

The way these two, for he assumed they were the same pair, had gone about it had been greatly insulting to the Scionate there…and he wholeheartedly agreed with their approach, and their restraint. Had Ken’slan done the same there would have been deaths involved, but that was different, considering it was an internal matter. For the Humans to come here and physically assault the Scionate leadership, well, they had done so in an honorable manner. In fact, they’d done it perfectly, given that they were in the right, and Ken’slan now saw that they’d done so as a favor.

Star Force was their ally, and they’d dealt with the Scionate in a friendly manner. Warrior to warrior. They’d given them a chance to make amends, and what did Vensiol do? They’d doubled down and increased their dishonor…and in the process had gotten many loyal Scionate soldiers killed in a battle that should not have happened, and one where they were in the wrong.

That ate at Ken’slan more than anything, and even though he hadn’t personally taken part in the battle he felt just as guilty.

“How many of your people were killed?”

“A few hundred,” Morgan answered.

“You have my deepest apologies,” Ken’slan answered genuinely. “We were in the wrong, and Vensiol is to blame. You are correct, they must be removed.”

“Glad we’re in agreement,” Morgan answered, already having known what he was going to say, having been snooping on his thoughts the entire time he was reviewing the records. “Now how do we go about doing it?”

“We shall handle this ourselves,” the Scionate said with a growl so deep Morgan could literally feel his shame. “It will be bloody, but that must be our penance. We will make amends with your people at a later time, if you will allow it.”

“Let’s do so right now,” Morgan offered. “This is personal for us as well, in so far as the Chieftans are concerned. We’re going back there and taking them down personally…and we can do it without a bloodbath. Same way we did the first time. But we need you to step in and take over control immediately,” she emphasized.  “And we don’t need your permission to do so, but you can make amends by giving us your blessing.”

Ken’slan and Morgan stared at each other for a long moment, then the middle-aged Scionate bowed his head respectfully. “Your wisdom is as sharp as your martial skill. I agree and give you my blessing, but to do so it cannot be done with a simple word. I must accompany and fight alongside you.”

Morgan frowned. “No offense, but you’ll slow us down.”

“I am not helpless,” Ken’slan growled, his pride pricked.

“If you come with us,” the other Human spoke from behind, “who will lead your bloodline in the takeover that follows?”

Ken’slan turned to face the other in identical armor, though his helmet still remained on so he couldn’t see his face, but he knew it from the recording he’d just watched none the less.

“How much time can you give me to prepare?”

Paul considered that, discussing it with Morgan briefly though a telepathic link.

“At most two days. We have to settle this soon before another attack can be launched.”

“I will not require more than 5 hours,” Ken’slan said stoically. “You may remain here until then if you wish, as our guests, or go on your way. I will inform security of your presence and they will shield you against outside aggression…on their lives if necessary.”

“Kara?” Morgan asked.

“Right, I’ll grab the car keys and be back in a flash,” she said, walking out the door and disappearing into shadow.

“We will bring our small ship here,” Morgan said. “I assume you have a hangar?”

“I will make arrangements.”

“Just make sure they don’t touch it. It’s kind of sentimental to us,” Morgan warned.

“As you wish. With your permission I will leave now?” Ken’slan asked half serious, half sarcasm…with Morgan appreciating the second.

“So long as you are honorable, you have no need to fear us,” she said with double-edged meaning.

“That I shall remember,” Ken’slan said, turning around and walking out the door that Kara had left through quickly, leaving Paul and Morgan behind.

“If he’s faking he’s doing a remarkable job of it,” Paul commented.

“We got through to him,” Morgan said confidently. “I just don’t like the idea of fighting with him alongside. We’re going to have to protect him, and that’s going to slow us down.”

“Or…” Paul said with a smirk.

Morgan didn’t catch his drift immediately, but when she did she couldn’t help but smile. “Let Kara do it?”

“Exactly.”

“I like it…but she won’t.”

“I’ll trade off with her when she needs to do some heavy lifting. Shield boy and all.”

“So I’m free?”

“To constantly kick ass, yes.”

Morgan shrugged. “Works for me then. Just make sure grampa kitty doesn’t get smoked. He is going to wear armor, I hope.”

“We’ll insist that he does,” Paul said as he sensed a flurry of minds approaching, none of them Ken’slan’s. “Company?”

Morgan stretched out and searched one of their minds. “Anxious, not angry,” she said a moment before the Scionate security came through the door, all of which were wearing ceremonial armor in their bloodline colors, which in the case of Grisst were a combination of orange and yellow, whereas total yellow was reserved to represent the Scionate as a whole.

Six of the cats came into the room and looked the two Humans over, half encircling them before respectfully sitting on their hind legs. “We have been assigned as your escorts,” one of them said.

Paul glanced over at Morgan. “Nice to have friends.”

8

“Are you certain?”

“Yes,” Ken’slan said, pressing a button that he’d previously configured to send the data given to him by the Humans in a single packet form. “You may see for yourself, but there is little time. I have told them that we will be ready within hours.”

The Scionate on the other end of the private holo transmission glanced at something off screen, then looked back at his peer. “I trust your word, for I do not think this is something you would fabricate. I will have the data analyzed later, but if what you say is true then there is no dispute from us. Vensiol must be removed. The question that remains is who is to replace them?”

“Grisst will not seek that placement,” Ken’slan said stoically. “We have wronged the Humans greatly, and must pay a penance. They are honorable warriors, and I concede that we were wrong in not supporting them to a greater degree. I believe we are honor-bound to do so now and take up a significant role on the front lines of the ADZ. Since we have been one of those arguing against such a move, it would be improper for us to lead such an effort.”

Jen’ton raised his head slightly, clearly taken by surprise. “That I did not expect to hear from you. Are the others of your bloodline in concurrence?”

“I have not had time to inform most of them, but the key members are in agreement. We have little time and must act quickly, and Grisst will support Wennitan as ruling bloodline so long as you remain honorable, abide by the Humans’ terms of colonization, and aid in the defense of the ADZ militarily…much as you’ve already proposed.”

“I am humbled by your wisdom, Ken’slan, and your willingness to put the needs of our race above the ambitions of your bloodline.”

“I expect the same from Wennitan.”

“And you shall have it,” their bloodline leader growled anxiously. “But I do not know how many troops I can assemble within hours. I need at least a day, if not a week, to make the necessary preparations in order to assure a quick and effective transfer of power. If we move within hours we risk a failed coup.”

Ken’slan shook his head. “That will not be necessary. The Humans are going to assault the ruling den, with my blessing. We need only to secure the transition of power.”

Jen’ton seemed taken aback. “This is an internal matter. If blood is to split it must be by our hands only.”

“They have assured me that their efforts will be bloodless, much like a similar assault they mounted the other day. Information about such has been suppressed considerably. If you look quickly, you will see visual recordings from the Humans’ armor included in the data packet.”

Jen’ton frowned, pulling up and opening the packet file and searching for what Ken’slan had mentioned. He’d heard rumors of an incident at the ruling den, as well as getting a few firsthand accounts from members of his bloodline that had been highly exaggerated, but this was the first he had heard of any Human involvement.

“Mother of all youngbloods,” he said, seeing the combat recordings of the battle in the plaza first.

“These Humans with me are far more powerful than we have ever encountered before,” Ken’slan explained as the other bloodline leader was glued to the footage. “And they demonstrated some of their powers on me, here, not long ago. They are either concealing abnormally advanced tech or are some form of witches. I do not know which, but they were able to take control of my body, imprisoning me within it as they began to explain the situation. I cannot tell you how they accomplished this, but I am convinced that they are here for honor’s sake and have the means to breach the ruling den’s defenses at will.”

“I don’t believe what I’m hearing…or seeing, but I know that you are no liar. Is this how they were able to slaughter our people on their world?”

“I do not know, but I get the feeling that only their advanced warriors have these powers. Otherwise our ground troops would have been frozen in place unable to fight…which is a terrifying thought going forward.”

“Unless they can do this to the Cajdital as well,” Jen’ton commented, thinking of various applications.

Ken’slan bowed his head. “It is for reasons such as that that your bloodline is better suited to lead us given the present circumstances.”

“Assume I agree to the Human assault. What exactly are you asking of us in the coming hours?”

“Both our bloodlines must have people in place to secure those the Humans’ render unconscious. I would prefer not to kill them, but we cannot let them rise or flee to begin a larger conflict. This must be done swiftly and be contained. I need your security, ours, and as many other bloodlines that we can muster to surround the ruling den while we fight our way inside and deal with the Chieftans.”

“You are personally fighting with the Humans?”

“Just myself. The rest of my people will be waiting on the perimeter. As you said, this is a Scionate matter. I cannot let the Humans act alone, nor will I send a subordinate.”

“I envy you that,” Jen’ton said candidly. “If my body were not so weakened with age I would very much like to accompany you. I will send a surrogate if you will allow it?”

“I will not,” Ken’slan said firmly. “Our bloodline’s alliance with Vensiol was a mistake. It is only right that we should be the ones removing them. That way there can be no rumors suggesting that we are working on your behalf. Grisst will remove Vensiol with the Humans, then we will step aside for Wennitan to rule.”

“Bold for a Grisst.”

“We are not so stagnant as you imagine. We simply prefer to make sure a fight is righteous before we show our claws.”

“Well stated, my old adversary. I am pleased we are finally in agreement. I will round up as many of my kin as I can. How long do I have?”

“3 hours before we depart.”

Jen’ton huffed. “Not much time, but I will not waste a moment of it. We will be ready,” he said, signing off so he could get to work immediately.

Ken’slan remained at his private comm terminal, opening up another line to the next honorable bloodline on his short list while his own people were hastily making preparations for the assault, with Grisst’s other leaders handling the various aspects in his stead to maximize time. They had been reluctant and even disbelieving two hours ago when he’d woke them and brought this to their attention, but between his assurances and the data from the Humans they had consented to the overthrow and were now working hard to make it happen before Vensiol could discover the plot and take action to thwart it.

Six hours later a Grisst transport rolled up to the edge of the plaza around the ruling den but stopping short from driving out onto it. The doors opened up and Ken’slan jumped out, wearing full combat armor, and sniffed the air through his helmet vents. He drew immediate attention, for the armor was in Grisst colors and not the yellow of the hundreds of troops surrounding the den in a permanent, yet relaxed defense deployment amongst the milling crowds.

Passersby immediately took notice, then even more did so as he roared, amplified by the speakers in his armor, drawing the attention of everyone on the street and those closest on the plaza. He took three steps forward and stood staring at the ruling den complex ahead as the three Humans stepped out of the transport behind him…to the dismay of those around. They walked up and flanked him, one on the left, one on the right, and the oddly armored one behind, then Ken’slan began walking forward, with the crowds and other traffic vehicles giving them a very wide berth, but not willing to take their eyes off them.

The guards around the den immediately went on alert, for most of them had fought the Humans the other day and knew what threat they posed…despite the news suppression Vensiol had worked to keep the rest of the city and planet in the dark as to what had truly happened. Some of the surrounding denizens also knew the truth and took up safe perches wherever they could, wanting to stay far away from the Humans but also wanting to know what was happening…and why one of their own was leading them here, which also forestalled any attacks from the crowd, futile as those would have been.

When Ken’slan stepped onto the outskirts of the plaza the onlookers had already pulled back, letting the troops form a solid mass ahead of the foursome, blocking their way to the den while calling for more reinforcements. Ken’slan knew not to waste time, so for a brief moment he retracted his helmet so everyone could see who he was, then spoke as loud as he could without it becoming a scream.

“I am Ken’slan of Grisst. Vensiol has acted with dishonor and must be removed!” he said, running forward as his helmet reformed over his head and dropping into a combat sprint headed towards the nearest of the troops.

Morgan and Paul flanked him, with Kara running behind a few steps before launching herself up into the air and hanging some ten meters above Ken’slan while traveling in a forward arc, whereupon she opened up her wrist weapons and rained down two conical jets of tiny Dre’mo’don blasts, showering the troops ahead of him and ripping off their shields before switching over to the pale green stun energy and doing the same. 40+ of the Scionate dropped to the ground unconscious as Ken’slan got to them, with him lithely hopping over the fallen and heading towards the nearest one still standing.

Kara zipped forward and repeated the process from the air, mowing down the mass of guards while leaving Paul and Morgan to pick up the pieces, with Paul sticking close to Ken’slan should he need assistance.

Once the large groups were incapacitated Kara dropped back down to the ground and took it to the scattering of troops hand to hand, punching/stunning them into submission along with the other two Archons while Ken’slan seemed content to beat his own kin hand to hand without using his plasma weapon, and was doing a fair job of it so long as Paul kept them from ganging up on him.

Within 2 minutes the mass of troops was subdued, leaving an awkward moment of silence as the surrounding crowds looked on with a mix of shock, horror, and confusion as Ken’slan roared again and Kara flew up into the air in front of the main doors, pausing momentarily to summon up a small green/white orb that she then sent into the seam between them. It melted a hole straight through, which she flew over to and pried open by hand, finally using her shoulder and legs to force the doors apart, breaking the repaired components that were keeping them locked into place as a hail of yellow plasma blasts hit her from the infantry inside…ineffectually.

Morgan came through and bowled them aside with a concussive blast, clearing the way for Paul and Ken’slan to enter while she pushed ahead. Kara dropped down behind them and pulled the doors back together as much as she could, leaving a 4 inch gap where she could no longer get a fingerhold and following Ken’slan from behind as an honor guard while Paul ran ahead and took down what little Morgan dropped enroute to the first main intersection in the hallways.

There the two Archons split up and went on a stunning spree, leaving Kara with Ken’slan as they worked their way through a different section of the den, taking down all those who they came across with the Scionate being little more than a tagalong…though Kara did let him beat down those that weren’t much of a threat to give him something to do.

The three Archons kept in contact via battlemeld and comm when they were otherwise out of range, intent on keeping the Scionate away from the exits and confined to the den while they worked through their stun slaughter, though they did have to rush to various points to head off several evacuation efforts, forcing the leadership to flee once again to other areas, trying to avoid the Humans that they knew were coming even as they called for heavy reinforcements on the outside.

Some of the Vensiol bloodline managed to make it out of the building through the back entrances, all lower ranking members, who fled across the plaza ring and ran into a barricade of multi-colored armored security forces from a number of different bloodlines.

“Stand down and surrender,” one of them demanded of the three unarmored Scionate skidding to a halt on the street ahead of them as they met up with the line of armor not allowing them to pass. One of them froze in place as ordered, but the other two turned and ran, with four of the armored Scionate jumping out and sprinting after them, setting up a chase that went across half of the plasma before one of the armored ones fired a tiny needle/dart into the back of the neck of the slower of the two. It injected a numbing agent on contact, taking a number of seconds to enter the bloodstream but almost immediately slowing the fleeing Vensiol and allowing a takedown to be made.

With one of the armored Scionate standing atop the now disconcerted one and claiming it as a prisoner, the others tracked down the second and fired a similar needle/dart with identical consequences. Gripping either one by the neck, the bloodline security soldiers pulled their captives over their backs and walked off with them, clearing the plaza and taking them to nearby transports where the dopey prisoners were properly restrained and shipped off as soon as each hover vehicle was full, clearing out the Vensiol opposition a few at a time as their military reinforcements began to arrive.

Those few that came by street were stopped by the security, resulting in some nasty fighting that ultimately saw the overthrowers winning out, but the bulk of the reinforcements came by air in the form of transports flying in over the courtyard and landing hundreds of fresh troops that moved into the den, having been kept on standby for just this sort of situation after the first attack that had thoroughly overwhelmed their defenses.

This time though they had Kara to deal with, which kept the perimeter guards’ attempted delay at a minimum, meaning that once again the Humans had managed to get inside and the reinforcements would have to go in after them. When they landed there was no hesitation, despite what they knew of the Humans’ capabilities. They eventually managed to pull open the main doors despite Kara’s handiwork, as well as moving in through the auxiliary entrances, flooding the den with troops outfitted with heavy weaponry and accoutrements…basically anything and everything they thought they’d need to counter the Humans, including grapple nets and other nonlethal gadgets meant to at least slow them down long enough to shoot them.

That gave Morgan and Paul more than enough targets to satiate the two Archons, who were both eager for a personalized beatdown after fighting the recent battle from afar…more so for Paul, but Morgan being confined to a mech cockpit just didn’t have the same satisfaction as taking it to them commando style. Fueled with plenty of senzu beans between them and an understanding of the layout and the Scionate combat preferences from the first assault, the pair wove their way around the complex solo, mowing down the opposition like they were hunting targets in a videogame for points, actually going after the reinforcements as they came in rather than playing defense and trying to avoid them.

All the while Kara stayed with Ken’slan as they did their own fair share of the takedowns, with her stunning those that he beat into submission while slowly working their way around a different section of the den from the other two and eventually ending up at the audience chamber…which they found empty. The Chieftans had been smart enough not to try and hide here twice, but Ken’slan suspected he knew where they were and led Kara across the complex to a ladder shaft that led down to the lowest levels where a sacred display of relics from Scionate history resided…and a place that was off limits to combat in any form.

Ken’slan wasn’t about to break with that tradition, but suspected the cowards were hiding there and led Kara down to it, electing to stay outside the entrance when the Human told him that there were indeed people inside, somehow having scanned the interior with her formidable, yet tiny armor.

“I cannot go in. There is too much history in that place for combat to occur. No Scionate will enter, if they have their honor, and risk the relics…or the affront.”

“I’m not Scionate,” Kara pointed out.

“Exactly,” Ken’slan said with devious pleasure. “But please, try not to break anything. Drag them out here and I will deal with the Chieftans personally.”

“Easy enough,” Kara said, quietly pulling open and slipping through the doors as if she was a patron at a museum rather than a goddess of war pursuing enemies.

9

When Kara walked inside she saw a long hall with statues and other displays along the walls, as well as a few running down a center aisle. She took the left side and walked ahead, sensing where the various minds where and seeing that they’d split up and were hiding in different locations, spread around a large ring. That ring turned out to be a square of hallways that connected to the entrance corridor forming a large key shape with rooms on the interior and exterior.

It was in those rooms that the Scionate were hiding. When Kara came up to the first one she opened the door, mentally freezing the one inside that was ready to pounce and casually shooting it with a stun blast. She walked over and picked up its limp body, swung the big, unarmored cat over her shoulders and walked out, made a right, walked some more, made another right, and headed back up the entry corridor to the entrance.

She stepped outside and walked over to where Ken’slan was waiting and dumped Yen’sor at his feet. “One down, 35 to go.”

“35?” he asked, none too gently poking a paw into the unconscious Scionate’s ribs.

“I did a quick head count. There are no other exits, correct?”

“Not that I am aware of, no.”

“Good,” she said, turning around. “I’ll be back with more.”

“Thank you, Human.”

“My pleasure,” Kara said from behind her armor’s scales that covered her face as well as the rest of her body. Then she ducked inside again to fetch another one.

Ken’slan looked down at Yen’sor, a Vensiol he knew well from previous dealings, and whispered at his unconscious face. “You are lucky the Humans took you alive. Had we done this ourselves, you and your kin would most likely not have survived.”

He reached down as he retracted his own armor’s helmet, then bit Yen’sor around the neck in a carry and dragged him over to the side just before Kara brought out another.

“Place him here,” he instructed, with her tossing the heavy Scionate to the ground as if he weighed nothing. How someone so small could exude so much strength was awe inspiring, though he guessed it had something more to do with technology than muscle.

He reached down and bit Har’man, dragging him over to the position he wanted as Kara retreated inside to get the next one, which was when the Scionate heard sounds of combat nearby. He reactivated his helmet, which extended out from his neckline and wrapped around his face, then he ran backwards a bit to see what was happening and encountered a pair of soldiers coming his way.

He growled and leapt at them, firing a plasma blast into one’s shield to weaken it before he head-butted the rest of the defensive barrier into shambles. With it down and the soldier disoriented he pawed his face aside so hard that the bigger cat bounced into the wall as he turned on the other. Those two went at it for several seconds before the other one got himself on his feet and lunged at Ken’slan, knocking him down and shooting him in the chest.

The Grisst reactivated his shield just in time to catch it, then turned it off again so that the paw blows to come wouldn’t drain energy…and old tactic that these young ones apparently had never been taught. Next thing they knew Ken’slan was back on his feet, crouched low to the ground, then he waited for them to move. When one jumped on him he leapt up towards it, attempting an undercut, but a blur of red passed him and punched both soldiers back down the hallway so hard and fast that they were immediately stunned and crumpled on the ground, unresponsive for a long moment.

Kara raised an arm and shot both of them with the stun energy, letting it sink through their shieldless armor and into their bodies, putting them out for at least an hour, if not more.

“I am glad we are not facing off as enemies on the battlefield,” Ken’slan said graciously as Kara came back to him…then she did a double take and turned the other way with little more than a nod of response.

She ran around the far corner, turning right and flying down a few dozen meters to where she kicked into a mass of Scionate heading their way, sending one of them back like a bowling ball through the others before going Neo on the rest of them and physically beating their shields down before landing punch/shots of stun into the 26 of them…with Ken’slan coming around the corner to witness only the last few before it was only her remaining standing.

“Come on,” she said, bypassing him and heading back to the relic chamber. “These guys are just a distraction.”

“For you, perhaps,” he said, following her back with lopey strides but again refusing to enter the chamber, instead turning about and playing guard should any more soldier make their way to them.

When Kara entered again she noticed that some of the mental positions had changed, and so did she…intending to just stun them all with one go-around then haul them out one by one. She headed for the closest one on the left and began to work her way around the square, eventually coming to a group of five hidden within a small room on the interior 90 degrees around the square. Freezing five minds at once was tricky, so instead she just hit them all with a Fornax field and walked in to find them lying on the floor, maintaining the field while she stunned them all.

On the way out she paused, noticing a particular relic that she could have swore was Cloud’s sword from Final Fantasy VII. She shook off the notion, realizing that some of these relics must have been trophies from past conquests, for that sword thing definitely couldn’t have been used by a quadruped with no hands.

Kara made a right and continued around the square, coming across a pair of armored guards along with one of the Chieftans, all three of which she left where they lay until she’d finished with the rest. When she came back to pick them up, she took the unarmored one first and dumped him outside at Ken’slan’s feet, with the Scionate recognizing Ura’bor and pulling his counterpart off to the side, separate from the others.

Kara eventually finished bringing them all out, with Ken’slan dismissing a pile of them as not being Chieftans, which the Human then moved to another area as Paul came up to them.

“Tag,” he said, mentally transmitting an image of hundreds of troops pouring into the complex.

Kara reached out her hand and fist-bumped Paul as she passed, knowing that she was better suited to dealing with such large numbers than he was.

Paul walked over to Ken’slan and inspected the haul of prisoners.

“Did we get them all?”

“There are 2 missing. I do not know if they are in the den or not, but their leader is here,” Ken’slan said, motioning with his nose to where he had Ura’bor laid. “How long will they remain unconscious?”

“Depends on how much stun Kara gave them. I would guess a few hours, but we need to restrain them before that.”

“We will need my security for that.”

“They’ll have to wait a bit,” Paul said, flinching as he sensed another group of soldiers moving nearby. “There are too many troops around for them to get through.”

“Can you handle them?”

“Given time, yes.”

“Then go…I will remain with these.”

“Alright, I’ll go hunting in the immediate area, but I’ll stick close in case a few slip by.”

“I can handle a few,” Ken’slan said stoically. “Help the others.”

Paul nodded and ran off, extending his Ikrid range as far as it could go and keeping it there like his personal radar, striking out towards the nearest minds while staying close enough to keep a lock on Ken’slan. It was tricky to do while fighting, but he’d had enough practice in training that he could now slip into that mode without much conscious effort.

He didn’t like the limited range he had to fight within, but it was much better than standing next to his ward while the other two fought the Scionate troops, though he had to be careful to stay within sprinting range to get back to shield Ken’slan in time, barely making it twice and intercepting the enemy infantry before they got to him…both times in which the troops had approached from the opposite side where his detection range was shorter.

Paul continued his hunter runs, clogging up the hallways with stunned troops and nearly running himself out of replacement clips before Morgan signaled that the counterassault was over. He returned to Ken’slan, informing him of the temporary cease in fighting, whereupon the bloodline leader called in his security and those allied with him using the comm in his armor…with hundreds of multi-colored armored cats arriving and taking custody of the prisoners, most of which they had to strip out of their armor.

Paul stuck with Ken’slan the entire time, making sure nothing happened to him, with Morgan and Kara patrolling the interior of the ruling den without going outside it for fear of drawing unwanted attention. Those security inside had been informed of their presence and purpose, but the rest of the city would still probably consider them to be enemies.

From there on there was a flurry of activity. Transports rolled/floated in to take away the soldiers and civilians while leaving the Chieftans behind, whom they took to the audience chamber in manacles that only allowed them to walk with short steps, unable to run or fight. A large number of other Scionate without armor joined them inside, with Ken’slan eventually deploying guards at the entrance and asking for the Humans to come inside with him.

The Scionate was still wearing his armor, helmet retracted, making him the only one in the chamber so adorned. The rest wore clothing of various colors, most symbolic of their bloodlines, but their feet were bare, as was normal for Scionate. No one was situated on the lounging pedestals, which signified the Chieftans of the ruling bloodline, while their former occupants now sat before them on the stone floor with the others grouped into clumps representing the various bloodlines, each with 3 or 4 representatives for those that Grisst and Wennitan were favorable with, and a single individual for the others that had been fortunate enough to be given invites, most of whom were powerful rivals, leaving the lesser bloodlines out of the transition entirely.

“I trust that all of you have been informed of the facts surrounding this debacle?” Ken’slan asked the crowd, getting various nods from the bloodline leaders. “Very well. Vensiol has been deposed, bloodlessly so, for the most part, and I intend to keep it that way. The former Chieftans will not be harmed, so long as they relinquish their positions within their bloodline. Their stupidity cannot be left to taint their bloodline any further. If they refuse, they will remain prisoners of Grisst…or perhaps of the Humans, given that they have suffered most from their misdeeds. What say you, Ura’bor?”

The deposed bloodline leader looked up from the ground as Ken’slan walked up to within a handful of meters and glared down at him. “You dishonor us all with your collusion. They have killed over a million of us, and yet you stand here with them as allies. I will not grace your treasonous question with a response,” he said, spitting at Ken’slan and having the sticky liquid fall a meter short.

Ken’slan turned to face the three Humans. “Do you want him?”

“We’re not in the habit of taking trophies,” Morgan replied.

“As you wish. Ura’bor, you will remain a prisoner of Grisst, and you have the Humans to thank for your life. Were this overthrow at the expense of great blood, yours would have been spilt as well. Think on that in your seclusion. You will be released when you choose to abdicate your leadership. Take him away.”

Two unarmored Scionate walked up next to Ura’bor, but he wouldn’t move until one of them punched him in the side, prompting him to lazily get to his feet so he could be nosed ahead towards the door, flanked by the guards as he was forced to walk through the other bloodline leaders in shame. When he was gone Ken’slan turned his attention to the other Chieftans.

“Abdicate or imprisonment. Which do you choose?”

“I will not taint my bloodline further with this failure,” Tem’lan said, his pride not lost. “I rescind my position so that another more worthy may lead.”

Ken’slan huffed approvingly. “Remove his restraints.”

Tem’lan stood up straight as he could as another Scionate came forward and unlocked the four tethers from his ankles, allowing him to move freely and leave the chamber under his own power to return to his bloodline and disappear from the political arena…with the unspoken ban preventing him from ever returning to a position of prominence.

Car’sem and three others followed him but the rest did not, choosing imprisonment with the hope of being freed by another coup or through trading, but Ken’slan was going to ensure that the latter did not happen. These dishonorable traitors could not be permitted to rule again, in any form.

When the last of them was removed Ken’slan walked up to the central reclining pedestal and stood beside it, with most of those in the chamber expecting him to claim leadership for Grisst, but true to his word he did not.

“What was done today was necessary, on the grounds of honor, to right a terrible wrong that has cost us many lives. The Humans are our allies, not our enemies, and they have proved far more honorable than I had previously given them credit for. That was my mistake, and I am glad to admit that I have learned from it. While capable of ruling, Grisst is not the best suited bloodline to that task given the realities of life within the ADZ. Perhaps someday when war does not cling at our throats like a constant noose we will lead, but now, when war is upon us, we must fight the enemies at our doorstep.”

“Prior to now I believed that meant hoarding our forces here, to defend our own worlds when the Cajdital broke through into the ADZ. I was wrong in such thoughts, and it is only proper for those who had more clairvoyance than Grisst to lead. With our blessing and support, Wennitan will ascend to leadership and make this den their own.”

Paul could clearly feel the shock in the other Scionate, with a lesser version mirrored in himself. He hadn’t expected Ken’slan to choose a rival bloodline, but fortunately it was the one that Paul had guessed to be on par with Grisst. Still, he was seeing some aspect of the inner workings of Scionate society that he didn’t yet understand…and that intrigued him. Not to mention the fact that Wennitan were supporters of front line combat.

Jen’ton walked out of the crowd and stood beside Ken’slan for a moment, exchanging gestures of respect, then the Grisst stepped away from the pedestal and Jen’ton climbed up on top of it…with the rest of the Wennitan leadership doing the same and assuming their positions as the new Chieftans of the Scionate.

“War Chief Paul,” Jen’ton called out with a high pitched voice…for a Scionate anyway, “please come forward.”

Paul raised an eyebrow inside his helmet and walked through the various cats, who parted to give him a direct line to the front, whereupon he removed his helmet and stared eye to eye with the Scionate, given that it sat on a pedestal and that Humans stood taller than the quadrupeds, giving them an equal eye level and an unexpected symbol of parity, whereas the other Scionate were lower to the ground, even as they stood.

“On behalf of my wayward kin, I apologize deeply for the affront we have committed. Not just the most recent attack and those few lives that it cost your people, but by our reluctance to do our part in the defense of the ADZ. We have lived in safety for many years thanks to the efforts of Star Force, the Protovic, and the Hycre with little in compensation. With your permission, the Scionate would like to colonize a handful of worlds on the border to further strengthen our perimeter, as well as to be included in ongoing combat operations effective immediately.”

Paul didn’t smile, though he was pleased with the turnabout.

“As you said, you killed some of my people. That we cannot and will not forgive. Even though you have deposed those responsible for ordering the assault, your troops willingly carried it out. Loyalty is valuable, blind loyalty is dangerous. It is clear that the Scionate do not see Star Force as an inherent ally, otherwise your troops would have refused the attack order and spared their own lives in the process.”

“There is a rift between us that has grown larger,” Paul continued with an even tone. “Words cannot heal the wounds of battle…only further battle can. Given time, effort, and execution we may one day grow into true allies, but that is not by any means a certainty. I will, however, grant you the opportunity to try and forge that bond. Your request for worlds on the border is granted, with specifics to be arranged later. Your request for inclusion into ground operations will have to be approved by the Protovic, for they are leading many of those campaigns, but I grant you permission to fight in conjunction with Star Force on ours. You will be given the opportunity to regain your honor and one day call yourself our ally…if you prove worthy.”

“Stern words,” Jen’ton said with an equally even tone, “but those of a warrior who does not have time for games and respects us enough to give us the blunt truth. We welcome the chance to prove ourselves, and will atone for our dishonor in Cajdital and Skarron blood…or Nestafar, if we should get the chance.”

“I believe there is a line forming on that last count.”

“As there should be, though your Calavari have priority rights after what they suffered. As for your loss of lives…that is something we cannot compensate you for. Your ships and other machines are another matter, and we will supply you with 10 times the resources necessary to replace them.”

“And the meat market?”

“I will send out couriers within the day instructing that it be dismantled and those responsible apprehended. You need not continue your clandestine attacks. If we do not locate them all, point out to us what we have missed and we will eradicate them ourselves. We made a pact with Star Force, and Wennitan will see that it is honored.”

“So long as you are true to your word, consider this to be the official end of hostilities on Star Force’s part.”

“And likewise for the Scionate, again, with our deepest apologies.”

“Rule wisely,” Paul said before putting his helmet back on and turning to leave, with Kara and Morgan falling into step with him and leaving the audience chamber enroute to their gunship, which they then took back to Admat directly.

10

July 23, 2534

Solar System

Earth

Davis sat in his office reviewing the report that Paul had sent him, detailing the resolution to the Scionate problem with better results than he had hoped for. Their military, while not as well equipped as Star Force’s, was far larger and adding them to the front would add another level of stability to the ADZ. As it was most of the ‘front’ was unoccupied by either friend or enemy, given that it was a spherical perimeter. The more dots on that shell that they could fill, the more secure the sphere would become, if for no other reason than to have secure bases to strike back from should, or rather when, an invasion occurred.

The Scionate had also agreed to end the meat market and vigorously pursue any violations that they found or that Star Force pointed out. Because of that last caveat Davis guessed they were being genuine, which Paul also echoed, but only time would tell on that point. The teams out dismantling the meat market through special ops action were being called back temporarily to allow the Scionate to take care of it themselves, but Paul and a few of the others were sticking around to make sure the job got done properly.

The other trailblazers were heading off to other assignments/training as was usual, with Davis’s part of this endeavor now coming into play. Paul had sent along a copy of both raids on the Scionate den, along with their own security recordings, detailing the Archons’ strike and how effective it was in cutting right past their defenses. Those records he was going to edit a bit, maybe cut out some of their psionics, but otherwise he was going to distribute them to the various news agencies within the ADZ so everyone could see what had happened and how Star Force could and would come after them if they violated the terms of colonization.

There would be a secondary reaction, he knew, to how powerful the Archons were, but word of that had already begun to spread of its own accord from various races’ troops that had gone into battle alongside them. Davis knew well the risks in tipping off the V’kit’no’sat to their existence, but at this point there was little they could do to stop the information from spreading…so he might as well use it to his advantage.

He believed, and hoped, that the V’kit’no’sat were too far away to notice. There were potentially millions of races within the galaxy, and if the V’kit’no’sat hadn’t returned to reclaim Earth by now then it was probably in a region that they cared little for. They were almost outside the V’kit’no’sat maps anyway, but bottom line was that Star Force had to be Star Force regardless of what happened…though there were plans in the working should/when they came back. They were far from complete, but Star Force couldn’t wait a few centuries to get them established. They had two warfronts to deal with that could end them before the V’kit’no’sat even glanced this way, making dealing with those the top priority.

The trailblazers had already set a no-go line on the edge of Beta Region, which Davis concurred with. Hopefully that would keep word of Star Force local, but at the end of the day the future was uncertain and there were no guarantees, no matter what they did or didn’t do. The ADZ was Davis’s immediate concern, and releasing this information would go a long way to heading off a list of problems before they arose. Fear of retribution was an effective weapon when coupled with justice, so that your allies didn’t fear you but your adversaries did. It was a delicate balance to maintain, but one that Davis and Star Force had already mastered.

Included in the news release he was compiling was footage from the assault on Admat…which Davis was furious about. Paul’s calming wisdom had kept him from going through the roof, but in no way, shape, or form could killing people ever be construed as a legitimate form of diplomacy or airing of grievances. By including those data records…which he was going to leave Kara out of…Davis intended to show everyone else the foolishness and price of attacking Star Force, for Paul, Morgan, Kara, and the rest of the Star Force troops there had pulled off a victory that Davis was still having a hard time understanding given the numbers that had been thrown against them.

Their losses should have been far worse, but those people they had lost were still eating at him. He was pleased with the resolution the trailblazers had managed to accomplish, but something still felt wrong about the Scionate avoiding responsibility for their actions. Them joining the warfront was meant as a form of penance, and Davis could appreciate that, as well as the fact of them losing so many lives in the attack, but still their empire was intact with only a change of leadership as a result…a tactic that had been employed in democracies on Earth back in the day to avoid responsibility, preserving the nation through blaming and discarding a few individuals.

Paul’s report indicated that wasn’t the case here, and while Davis trusted his judgement he still had misgivings, though he was going to let them pass and watch how things played out. The victory on Admat and the two successful raids into the Scionate capitol gave him plenty of social ammunition to use in the cultural clash that was ongoing, and putting the Scionate in their place was going to be part of his efforts. If they were admitting responsibility and altering from within, so be it, but he wasn’t counting on that good of luck, so in the news release he made sure to detail the events truthfully, but with an emphasis on the Scionate biting off more than they could chew and getting their asses kicked.

That was the message the ADZ needed to hear, along with various other threads. It also doubled as Davis’s personal jab at the race, for he could not and would not ever tolerate his people being killed, and there was no way the Scionate or any other ADZ race was going to spin this to their favor. He was going to make it crystal clear what happened and where the blame lay, then let the threat of the Archons and Star Force’s military might speak for itself. Stating a ‘this is what will happen to you’ boast would work contrary to the intended point, with letting the truth work its own magic being, Davis had discovered over the centuries, to be the most effective way of convincing someone of something. Push and they got defensive or disbelieving.

Davis was just going to make sure they had more than enough data to squelch any spinning before it began, as well as to make it clear that Star Force was capable of defending the ADZ against the lizards, Skarrons, and others…something that was still very much an active question floating around. Up until now Star Force had been seen as a tech guru, building the Sentinels and aiding the Protovic and Hycre in the fighting…but now the races would see just how much teeth Star Force had for a conventional fight, given that the Scionate had always been assumed to be the stronger head to head.

Several hours later, when Davis sent the packet off for final review by his staff to make sure he hadn’t missed or messed anything up, he was still fuming over Admat. The equipment destroyed could be replaced, but the lives lost couldn’t…and they hadn’t been lost fighting an enemy. They’d been killed by a so-called ally, and that just left Davis with a very wrong feeling tugging at his gut.

Unable to shake it, he left his office and went down to the gym for a workout, hoping the effort would help to clear his head and feeling the incessant need to hit something.

On the planet Rassakatt, far outside the ADZ and on the very edge of Nestafar space, Sarrew woke to an alarm, bolting out of his hanging sleep pod and pulling on his clothing before flying up the ceiling exit and through the narrow tube-like passageway that curved over into a tunnel that led to a nearby prep room where he and many others were hastily pulling on combat gear.

Sarrew grabbed a pair of hand blades, not expecting to need them but always carrying them in a sheath on his small belt just in case. He added a pistol and some extra gear in a ready to go utility harness that he pulled on around his back and clasped in the front, then headed out another tunnel that lead to the ready bay where he took to the air and flew across the vast chamber to the waiting transport, ducking inside a few minutes before it launched through a topside door the size of a grain field.

As the transport took to the air Sarrew moved about within the ship, coming to the internal hangar bay and climbing aboard his walker and joining the other crew assembling inside. Normally they would have boarded the walker prior to its being put into the hangar, but this particular military base was for fast response, with the machines being preloaded so they could leave in a minimum of time. The troops were the same way, having been kept nearby and on alert, rotating out in cycles, to maintain constant readiness.

Sarrew had been on call for some 3 years now after returning from the successful yet bloody Calavari campaign, but this was the first non-drill call he’d responded to, given that Rassakatt was a secure world far from what had previously been Calavari territory. In fact it was on the coreward edge of Nestafar territory, making it about as safe of a backwater world as you could get.

The planet was well established and boasted a large population, so it wasn’t some dinky outpost and undefended, but these types of military positions were for the young soldiers who needed experience and the old veterans that needed a breather…both serving a purpose in the defense of a world that probably wouldn’t need defending.

Yet now here he was, being called out to fight who knew what. Perhaps the Alliance had found them…the thought of which terrified him. The annihilation of their capitol system and all its worlds still haunted the Nestafar, and if they had come here with similar intent he could be facing overwhelming numbers of troops as soon as they dropped out of the transport.

Sarrew didn’t get an intelligence report until two minutes prior to drop off, with him unable to read more than ‘unidentified foe’ before he was actively walking the super dragon out of the transport with smaller walkers skittering out ahead of the giant machine. He got a heading from the regional military commander and set the Ho’shemon on its course, forming into the echelon typical of Nestafar walkers when traveling towards a target.

Sarrew was piloting the machine while the rest of the crew were handling weapons and other systems, and it didn’t take long before their enemy appeared on the horizon…for their own version of walkers were huge. Never before had he seen an enemy with something bigger than the Ho’shemon, which among this region of the galaxy was considered the dominant ground assault vehicle.

As they moved forward he could see weaponsfire ahead, with red plasma exchanging with white amongst many targets. Normally Sarrew would have been tasked with heading towards the biggest and strongest enemy to counter and usually kill while the smaller walkers engaged the others, pulling the heat off them and putting it on the beast that he was driving, but today wasn’t the case, with him being tasked with heading towards the nearest of the enemy walkers as a hoard of four-legged Nestafar Urriak were engaging the large, almost floating masses that moved about on impossibly thin legs.

But there were smaller ones yet, each bipeds with thick legs that were running forward into flanking positions. Sarrew saw the main plasma battery fire a spurt of red at the orb-like top of the enemy walker, splashing over it and impacting some type of shield before melting into the armor…but it didn’t go down as he expected. Instead it took three hits before the plasma melted all the way through and the burnt out hulk came to a rest…then slowly tipped over as its legs weren’t quite in the proper position to maintain balance.

From there he kept the super dragon on its original course, with the targeting head moving independent from his leg motions unless otherwise directed. He saw one of the big walkers go down ahead under a coordinated attack from the smaller Nestafar walkers, then his went into combat with another to its right, with Sarrew setting them in place and adjusting their standing angle to assist the gunners in case the spindly-legged thing tried to run.

It didn’t, and the two machines exchanged direct fire, neither doing as much damage to the other as they expected. Sarrew knew the Nestafar armor would protect them against all but an overwhelming onslaught, but the enemy shields and armor were serving them well and kept them alive and fighting far longer than he was comfortable with.

Once the big machine collapsed and crushed its own legs, Sarrew moved them on towards the next one, taking down three more before they met up with an even larger enemy walker and the odds became a bit more even…but with time and the assistance of his escorts, Sarrew’s super dragon downed it as well, beginning to put some order to the ground battle.

That was when he got orders to travel to another location as quickly as mechanically possible. He responded appropriately, turning the super dragon to the right and walking forward as he saw a plume of missiles streak across the sky and land on another super dragon ahead, blasting into its armor so badly that when the smoke finally cleared the impact divots were obvious…meaning significant damage.

That super dragon fired back on its target…only that wasn’t what had fired the missiles at it. As Sarrew brought his super dragon into play and assisted the other with the takedown along with hundreds of plasma orbs and streamers from the smaller walkers, he finally saw the missile firing target on the horizon, far outside their current range and to which the military commander was eventually working them.

The machine was monstrous, and for the first time in his military career Sarrew felt the inferior inside the Ho’shemon.

But he pushed the thought aside. The other drivers out there had less protection than he did, and a lot of them were less experienced. If he was going to give into panic what hope did they have?

So Sarrew set himself to the task at hand and continued downing targets all the way up to the Type-2 Skarron walker that he eventually assaulted along with six other super dragons and their escorts…with him eventually dying as the wash of plasma eventually burned through the stubborn Nestafar armor and disabled the Ho’shemon. He and the other crew attempted to play dead, but the Skarrons didn’t relent and burned through the interior compartments until the plasma eventually reached the command cockpit, ending Sarrew’s military career and life without him even knowing the identity of the attackers.

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EVACUATION

1

May 2, 2536

Gwet System (Delta Region)

Inner Zone

Riona-111 read the message from the Hycre on her command chair’s personal display then nodded to the Admiral, indicating for them to make the jump. Her warship and the others in the assault armada leapt off the largest of the three stars at system’s center and crossed the short gap to the desert world of Leonis where the Hycre fleet was just finishing up with the lizard incursion, tearing apart what looked like three battle stations in low orbit while chasing dozens of other ships as they fled down towards the surface.

Like the message had said, the road was plowed…now it was time to bring in the convoy.

Riona searched the updated map, receiving new data from the Hycre as well as from the Adamant’s sensors as the Melee-class warship led a handful of Star Force Warship-class jumpships into planetary orbit ahead of the troop transports that were to follow a few minutes later. The warships moved out into escort positions for the incoming ships while the Adamant moved down to low orbit as Riona quickly picked her position.

Three months ago a routine scouting expedition through the ADZ had picked up lizard activity in this system, which was on the very edge of the upper curve of the sphere that made up the Alliance Defense Zone. It was an uninhabited system, but it lay inside their ‘line in the sand’ and signaled that the lizards were attempting to bypass existing strongholds and make a push towards the nearest Alliance worlds, though none were close to Gwet. Greg had assumed it was an attempt at creating a stepping stone in closer to the prime worlds, and one that had to be gotten rid of.

How many other incursions there were Star Force didn’t know. They could only patrol so many, with the lizards having had at least a few months head start setting up here before they’d been discovered…and had they not had scout ships out and about in the ADZ the incursion could have gotten considerably more advanced prior to their finding out. Greg had counted them lucky that they’d picked it up when they did and assigned Riona to taking care of it while he and the trailblazers mounted other assaults outside the ADZ ‘encouraging’ the enemy to fight them there rather than inside their borders.

Underscoring the importance of this mission, Greg had loaned her a Melee-class…something that Riona had never had the privilege of commanding before. It was here, not to cleanse the lizard fleet from orbit, for the Hycre were just finishing up that, but to protect the ground troops and secure the system while they fought on the surface…though in point, that was going to be Admiral Bocco’s job, for she was going down to the surface with one of the teams for cleaning duty. Which one yet was still to be determined, with Riona assuming she’d end up wherever they encountered the most trouble.

When the ship settled into low orbit it decelerated into a temporary hover, something the big ship wasn’t well suited for, nor had it been designed to enter the atmosphere…though Liam had assured her it could do so in a pinch if necessary. She hoped that wouldn’t be necessary, but a piece of the ship was going down and Riona was riding it all the way to the surface drop zone.

The armor plates on the center underside of the huge warship began to peel back slowly like a metallic ripple, exposing the armored hull beneath that eventually began to detach once the opening was clear. The 2 mile wide center ‘plug’ of the ship pulled out from the giant donut and began to descend into the atmosphere as the Adamant then accelerated laterally to get itself back into a proper drift orbit.

According to sensor reports, mainly comprised by the Hycre but now being backed up by Star Force’s own, there were over 1200 grounded lizard cruisers in some 833 surface facilities that were busily recreating the sandy landscape into infrastructure. A few of those facilities already had full-fledged bases set up with defense shields, while most of the others were either still under construction or building underground where orbital bombardment wouldn’t reach. Riona had ordered assaults on the exposed ones from orbit, with her taking the Adamant’s ‘TF’ dropship down into an open area of the surface situated between three of the largest bases.

It landed on hundreds of thick leg-like pylons, sinking down into the sand and requiring some finesse by the pilot to get the ship to sit level. Once it did doors opened up all around the exterior and troops began to pour out as anti-air batteries all over the dropship began shooting down the lizard fighters coming out from their bases to engage the dropship.

Riona left the ship in a skeet, zipping out of a special aerial bay and into clean air a moment before she saw an approaching enemy cruiser on the horizon get skewered by a cleansing beam from orbit. The ship listed to port and smashed down into the sands, taking one of several out of the sky that were approaching as rail gun rounds began to fall on the others and would continue to do so until they got within the perimeter line…after that it was up to the dropship and its defenses to keep them off the ground pounders, which is why Riona had decided to go pilot today rather than sit on the ground and hope not to get shot.

She flew the neutral grey skeet away from the dropship as fast as she could then dove into a cloud of approaching wisps along with two other pilots, unafraid of the mass of 200+ fighters. They peppered her shields with tiny green plasma blasts, but the advanced matrix that protected her tiny craft absorbed all of the plasma fire that hit it and was thirsty for more. After a long time trying, Mark had finally got the techs to work out a plasma resistant shield setting, allowing the skeets to transition back and forth between ‘normal’ shields and the anti-plasma variety, and with it Riona felt very safe amongst the enemy that relied almost entirely on plasma.

Their warships were known to carry some missiles at times, but the fighters only had plasma weapons. Combined with her craft’s maulers and hyper lachar, the skeets were clearly the superior fighter, so much so that they literally gobbled up the lizard wisps, leaving Riona with a target rich environment that she eagerly dove into and began racking up kills with ease, for the maneuvering capability of the skeets were also greater.

Riona was in a standard fighter, but coming out of the dropship were also anti-air versions specifically designed to shoot down missiles and other fighters, with those pilots heading directly for the swarms along with her while the anti-infantry and anti-mech versions held back as a secondary screen around the dropship, also capable of eating up a lot of wisps if needed, but without that being their intended purpose.

A train of equipment poured out of the dropship at ground level behind an army of mechs, bringing the base assault gear out and getting it moving towards the nearest target some 28 miles away. It was going to be a long hike for the mechs, during which they’d be picked at by the enemy, but they were ok when dealing with airborne targets on their own and this time they had ample fighter cover so Riona assumed they’d get to the shield perimeter intact, though when going up against the lizards you never truly knew what to expect.

Riona was going to get to the shield far sooner than they would, with the defensive barrier being a flat circle riding high above the base rather than the bubble shield that Star Force used to protect its cities. The lizard version was designed simply to protect against orbital or aerial bombardment, leaving its ground troops able to fight it out against whoever dared hit them up close and in person. Creating a flat shield like that allowed for more matrix strength, maximizing the lizards’ limited technology and making for a potent deterrent. That said, Star Force knew it could breach the defenses from orbit if they spent enough time pounding,

With so many bases to take out Riona wasn’t going to waste time and ammunition hitting them from orbit…at least not all of them. Even with cleansing beams the shields would hold up for a long time, and the largest cleansing beams she had available were the medium grade on the Adamant, which could only target one base at a time if it got really close and the weather was favorable, otherwise the beam could be scattered, reducing its effect.

So the navy was going to pick at the surface targets while the mechs, aerial, and commando divisions did the real house cleaning. This opening gambit was all Star Force, intended to hit the strongest lizard targets as well as probing to see what kind of reaction they were going to get. What they couldn’t have was this invasion being a multi-year affair. They had to take the lizards out quickly before they had a chance to resupply and reinforce, otherwise this could become the beachhead for a new offensive corridor if the enemy chose to devote enough materiel to it.

Riona didn’t know what their plans were, but the more she could destroy before their friends had a chance to react the better, so it was full on assault after this opening move, with the rest of the fleet waiting in orbit for her staff on the Adamant to assign them landing zones and targets…and for her to give the final word.

That fleet wasn’t made up of Star Force personnel. 42% of it was Axius, with the balance being Scionate. Only the ground troops she’d brought down on the dropship were Star Force, given that they didn’t have so many to go around…but they were the best by far, hence she was using them in this initial assault to test the waters.

Riona chewed up some 6 wisps before breaking off and making an attack run on one of the lizard cruisers that was getting a bit too close to the TF, pulling a lot of pursuing fighters in her wake. She saw several hits on the underside of the kilometer long yellow/tan warship from mechs, along with a bit of mauler fire coming from other skeets as they dove into and out of the plasma shards, able to survive short runs then circle out and recharge their shields…allowing the skeets to literally pester the big ships to death and the enemy knew it, hence the fighter screens that were doing their best to overload the little fighters.

As the Archon made her first pass over top landing some 19 mauler hits to the upper side of the hull she immediately lost her good mojo. She’d made a run from aft to fore, with something on the ship not looking right. Riona turned around and flew high, looking down at the top of the ship and seeing an unfamiliar bump in the hull that had otherwise been burned into her memory given that the lizards had used that exact design for centuries…but now something was different.

A minute later she got her answer as to what when a solid green lance of plasma leapt out the front of the now burning hull and shot into the shield covering the dropship…and didn’t let up for some 13 seconds.

“What the hell?” she asked, immediately refiguring strength numbers in her head and opening the ‘all’ comm. “Heads up, looks like the bad guys have got some new toys. Cruisers have plasma streamers now. Keep them off the TF, I don’t want it taking hull damage. Ground convoys increase your spacing. I don’t want them laying that streamer down on several of you at once. Make their gunners earn their hits and maintain evasive weave to target until we knock them down.”

Riona adjusted frequencies to a secure line. “Admiral, get a few drones in atmosphere. I need them nearby just in case.”

“Already gave the order, Archon. They’re heading to atmosphere now.”

“Thank you,” she said, signing off and heading back at the cruiser again. Its shields were more or less down, with small segments coming back online with minimal power, one which she targeted and knocked down again before peppering the hull plates with mauler fire and vaporizing more divots into it along with toasting one of the few anti-air batteries remaining. Between her and the other skeets it was nearly plucked of its anti-air defenses, making their survival a bit easier even with the hundreds of wisps circling the big ship in a desperate attempt to fend them off.

All the while the green plasma streamer was pounding the side of the dropship. She was about to inquire why there was no return fire when she saw several small explosions on the front end from lachar hits eating into it like a rapid fire chain gun…but the cruiser didn’t continue to move forward, wisely keeping out of mauler range as it continued to deliver plasma at a greater distance than lizard weapons were typically effective from.

That said, the ship’s other plasma cannons weren’t firing, which suggested it was only the streamer that had the extended range. That was good to know, but it was still hammering the shields on the dropship along with four other cruisers…make that three, for one had just gone down on the north side, but there were still 17 more enroute and only so much she and her air cover could do to hold them off if they didn’t get close enough for the TF to eat them up with maulers.

Riona knew the dropship’s shields were solid, but there were gaps where the troops were still coming out. Fortunately those hadn’t been hit, but land a streamer into one of those and it’d mess up the interior bad…not to mention killing any personnel out moving around the deck.

No, they had to keep them back, and if the lizards weren’t so inclined then she had to take them down before they could overwhelm the shields or go kamikaze against them.

“Damn it,” she said, seeing one of the cruisers coming in at higher speeds than the rest. Not an obvious ramming effort, for the lizards were coy, but her gut told her it was going to hit or at least get close enough for a few sucker punches before it went down.

“Mechs, I need you,” she said, tagging the cruiser on the battlemap. “Hit this son of a bitch at range before it can get to the TF. I think it’s a kamikaze.”

“Copy that,” Hammer-521, the Archon leading the ground assault said as Riona saw immediate movement on the ground. A few moments later she saw a missile launch from one of the mechs, then another, then hundreds of them turned into a firestorm of smoke and flashes that shot out towards the north and on the long haul out to the incoming cruiser.

It opened up with all of its plasma shard anti-air, knocking down plenty of the missiles but there was no way for it to get them all. The bombardment hit and penetrated the ship’s shields within seconds, then began ravaging the hull inside the cloud of smoke and debris.

Riona made another pass on the cruiser she was engaged with, then as she swung around to recharge her own shields she saw the Kamikaze cruiser in the distance emerge from the cloud of smoke in a graceful downward arc, eventually falling into the sand dunes and breaking in half as it caught and tried to roll over, snapping at the midsection from the torque and cutting a huge gash into the landscape as its momentum dragged it forward, eventually settling at about 6 miles out from the huge dropship.

“Whoo, nice one, Hammer.”

“Can’t do that very many times,” he warned.

“I know. We’ll have to do better up here. Thanks for the bail out.”

“How about some close in naval support?”

“On its way. Keep an eye out for more kamikaze cruisers until it gets here. I’m kind of busy at the moment.”

“Will do.”

Riona clicked off the comm and made another attack run, this time melting through the armor and opening up a vulnerable section of the hull which she tagged as a prime target. The other skeets with her adjusted their own attack runs and pounded that section, eating down into the unarmored interior and opening up an opportunity for one of the anti-mech fighter squadrons to come in and deposit some missiles into that hole.

The resulting explosion ripped through the interior, but only blasted out through a few of the wounds on the ship, with the armor acting like a cage to contain and enhance the internal detonations before ultimately hitting the anti-grav, for the big ship went down and pancaked the sand below…fortunately without any mechs beneath it.

“One down, a billion more to go,” she said, signaling for one of the drone trios to be assigned to her.

Riona swung back towards the TF as the unmanned fighters were coming out of the bay and picked them up using an auxiliary control panel, slaving them to her own skeet. Each of them looked almost identical, save they didn’t have a cockpit. What they did have was more weapons, including missiles, which she was going to need to take down the other cruisers with the help of many, many others. As advanced as their aerial division had become, warships were still freaking huge and heavily armored, requiring an insane amount of ordinance to take down.

Which was why she enjoyed it so much. Fighters should never be able to take down a warship, so whenever it did happen it was a sweet, sweet moment…except that right now there were others still in play that needed to be killed and they weren’t obliging Star Force’s mauler range on the dropship, meaning this was going to be a slugging match.

“Guys, a little cover please. I don’t want the wisps picking off my drones.”

“On the way,” another pilot in her temporary squadron responded.

“Alright,” she said, shooting down another two wisps and getting a third with her drones as the four of them ducked through a swarm enroute to the next closest cruiser that was already hammering the dropship with plasma. “Let’s find a sweet spot.”

2

Wen’sta’lon sat in the cockpit of his Wildcat-class mech, strapped into the control harness and waiting impatiently as the Axius transport made its way down to the surface of Leonis. He’d been briefed on the assault progress earlier, knowing that Star Force mainline troops had already secured a beachhead and were in the process of taking down two lizard bases, but that’s not where his team was heading. They were going after a different lizard base, one that had already been hit from orbit and blasted into smithereens…on the surface at least.

Orbital scans showed at least some subsurface structures, how many of which was still a lingering question. He wouldn’t be probing those himself, for his mech would most likely not fit inside, but others would. His job was to secure the surface, eliminate any hostiles, and cover for the burrowing teams as they made their way down inside to engage the enemy.

This was the third combat assignment that Wen’sta’lon had seen, given that the Scionate had only recently earned his spot in the Axius military and one of the first native born colonists to do so. He was only 10 years old, but had shown remarkable skill in piloting the wildcat…or at least compared to the few others who had tried, for the mech was quadruped in design and Star Force had few that could pilot it, most of whom were immigrant Scionate completely unfamiliar with the concept given that his native race used tanks rather than mechs.

Wen’sta’lon had learned quickly, but he still was being given small assignments…for which he was grateful. He’d much rather be out here fighting real enemies than stuck in training simulations and games, especially since this time it was personal. The lizards had invaded the ADZ and they had to push them out else risk their own worlds. Yes, he definitely wanted to be out here, even if all he was going to do was swat a few infantry to cover for the others.

The long trip down in the dragon was tedious, but when the bay doors finally opened he and one other wildcat exited first, walking then running out onto the mix of burnt sand and building that had been scattered by the rail gun impacts. The mech’s paws sunk in deep, but he was still able to move about easily enough, running forward at a lope and pulling a quick circle around the drop zone as more of the Axius dropships came down.

He spotted one lizard amongst the rubble and ran after it, seeing it scurry behind a piece of shrapnel the size of a Calavari and disappear. Wen’sta’lon popped out his mauler cannon from under the ‘chin’ of the mech and fired at it, melting the piece of building and vaporizing the lizard at the same time. His first target eliminated, the Axius Scionate returned to his patrol loop.

More and more dropships came down, unloaded, and took off again returning to the jumpships in orbit ferrying the troops here. Once sufficient infantry were assembled Wen’sta’lon was ordered to scout out ahead which he took to with eager lethality, hopping over various bits of debris in a way that only a quadruped mech could and getting a good head start on the mix of various races that made up the commando units. They were all armored up, but he didn’t want any of them getting killed so he kept close attention on the area he was scouting out, intent on killing any and all of the little green heads that showed themselves.

The next thing he knew his shields were taking plasma hits from the starboard side, with him turning his mech in that direction with a shuffle of the huge mechanical legs and finding a pair of lizard tanks hidden under an overhang of rubble. One was a shade, the other a copper, and both were pouring plasma into his shields…though most of the damage was coming from the shade.

Wen’sta’lon decided to target it first, running towards it and firing his mauler twice, missing low with the first shot and melting the sand in front of the lizard anti-armor tank into a puddle of glass that shot up like a geyser, obscuring his view. The next one went right through that cloud and nailed the shade, killing it with the single well-placed hit…though in truth it had been more luck than skill.

The copper began backing under the overhang and exiting out the far side, causing Wen’sta’lon to accelerate up into a full run to chase after it…then his footing suddenly went out from under him as the sand fell away and he dropped down into a chasm.

There was a loud ‘thunk’ outside the mech, but with the IDF he didn’t feel the impact as he hit the rubble strewn ground of a cargo bay. His wildcat was laying on its side, but within the cockpit the Scionate looked around, seeing on the hologram that he’d fallen through a hole in the ceiling that had what looked like now torn paper glued to it.

“Tricky bastards,” he growled as he worked the mechanical legs around in order to get to his feet as a missile impacted the head of his mech, followed quickly by more missiles and a hoard of plasma from the ambushing troops around him in the hollow.

Even before he fully stood the wildcat up he started shooting the infantry around him with his secondary weapons, popping them up from behind armored plates around the mech’s hull and shooting with computer support using buttons on the claw pads and teeth bar. The blue plasma he fired back clashed with the deep red his mech was painted, making for a terrifying sight as the enemy infantry melted under the counter attack…then larger plasma blasts began to hit the wildcat from repositioning lizard tanks, with Wen’sta’lon realizing he was in a tricky situation.

His mech would hold up to plasma fire for a good while, but the rubble he was trying to stand on was causing him to trip and stumble, essentially holding him still in the bay and giving the enemy a stationary target to shoot at. He belatedly realized he was standing in the crater of an impacted rail gun slug that had collected the debris from the roof, meaning he was essentially standing on rough pebbles that kept moving underneath his mech’s feet.

By the time he’d eventually gotten some balance his shields went down, but he was unable to turn around and fire his mauler at the tanks behind him. He was hitting them with the aft plasma cannons but not doing enough damage, for there were more than a dozen tanks down here and there were more coming in from other subsurface chambers.

“So much for fighting on the surface,” he said, crouching low before jumping off the rubble with a bit of help from his limited jump jets. He didn’t clear the edge of the crater, but did get his front two paws on the unbroken ground around it and pulled himself clear as his armor began melting off.

Before any of the enemy weaponsfire could penetrate clean through he bathed the floor ahead of him with plasma fire, burning away a few dozen infantry and seeing a secondary explosion from a missile launcher that knocked over a few more. When he turned his mech around to face the majority of the tanks he got a warning on his battlemap, prompting him to run around the large crater, still taking shots and losing armor, enroute to the closest tank and pummeling it with mauler energy.

He worked his way up the line, still getting swarmed with infantry blasts and a few missiles as the other wildcat came down through the hole above, landing with a crunch on its own jump jets and getting tripped up as well, but not fully falling over on the bad footing. It eventually got clear on the far side and the pair of mechs worked together to chew into the tanks with Wen’sta’lon taking heavy damage.

As they did so tiny little mechs poured in through the hole, floating down on their jump packs and hopping off the debris in secondary jumps to get to the edges whereupon they ran forward and the Axius Irondel began engaging the infantry directly, both with the chicken walkers and a few quadruped neite minimechs. Following them down came a few biped armored infantry with a handful of Humans and 7 other races of similar biology all wearing what appeared to be commando armor, yet it also was colored the deep red that Axius was known for.

Those infantry spread out and worked in conjunction with the minimechs, which stood about the same height as them in most cases, and tore through the unarmored lizard infantry, most of which didn’t even have protective vests on, just plasma rifles and a fiery determination. It didn’t take them long to thin them out, then they were faced with too many corridors to follow the retreating enemy through and wisely held themselves back to secure the underground bay while more reinforcements came down.

“You certainly bit the wrong tail this time,” Ha’mon’sta commented over the comm to his fellow Scionate.

“Shut up,” Wen’sta’lon bit back. “It was a trap.”

“That you fell into.”

“You would have as well.”

“Maybe,” the older Scionate said, happy to see the ‘prodigy’ having some setbacks, “but right now your armor is torn up and your shields are weak. Restrain your combat accordingly. I will take the lead.”

Wen’sta’lon growled but didn’t offer any other disagreement, knowing he was right. He watched as the other wildcat walked out through one of the large doors ahead of a column of infantry enroute to hunting more lizards, probably of whom would have more tanks that needed to be eliminated.

Wen’sta’lon cursed himself for being so sloppy, as well as the blasted shields for taking so long to get back to full strength. Once they did he assigned himself to another infantry group heading out and worked his way to the lead, comming the troops to get out of his way so he wouldn’t step on them, then it was back into prowl mode…with the armor damage now concealed underneath his shields an ever present warning in his mind not to get too careless. He didn’t want to lose his mech, else he’d be sitting out this assault and who knew how many future ones until he got a replacement.

Riona walked into the command center in the TF, just having gotten out of the shower after a forced four hours of sleep. She hadn’t wanted to take a break, but given that this assault wasn’t going to be over in a day’s time she knew she had to keep herself fresh and reluctantly had sent herself to bed after making sure both assault groups had gotten off to a good start.

The Archon was about to head back out again in her skeet but needed to get a good overview of events across the planet before she did, and while it was possible to do so from the cockpit the layout of the command center made it much easier and quicker to get up to speed, hence the drop-in on the way to the hangar.

“Talk to me,” she said, walking inside and getting the attention of the current staff, which were also having to rotate out to keep fresh.

“Axius has successfully landed and begun assaults on six sites,” a ranger by the name of Yensic began. “Mild resistance on the surface, but it’s getting nasty underneath. No fatalities yet, but they’re losing a fair amount of equipment.”

“Warn them to be patient.”

“I already have. They’re not proceeding recklessly, our old friends are just being their usual selves.”

“Why do I ever expect less?” Riona asked rhetorically. “Where are the Scionate?”

“They landed an hour before Axius. 13 current assault zones with another two due to come into play inside the next six hours. I’ve been having discussions with their commander concerning tactics, for they are losing troops, though they’re still winning at the moment.”

“Do any good?”

“Probably not, but I felt like trying.”

“Some people have to learn the hard way. Where do we stand?”

“Choppy, but we’re starting to break through. The lizards have detonated a number of explosives to seal off access shafts to the lower levels of the city. A report less than 20 minutes old indicates that they may have some seriously deep infrastructure.”

Riona nodded. “Signal the troops for upper level sweeps and to avoid going deep just yet. My spidey senses are tingling, so let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first before we bite off more than we’ve realized.”

“You think there’s a lot of them down there?”

“I think we’re only hitting the tip of the iceberg. When we go deep I’ll lead the way, but for now I’m sticking with the air. Lots of targets to hit up top. Where do we stand with the enemy cruisers?”

“They’re still hiding out there somewhere. Scouts located one concealed surface bay, but there may be a lot more out there that we don’t know about.”

“Meaning they plan to jump us?”

“I wouldn’t bet any credits to the contrary.”

Riona shook her head in dismay. “They didn’t come here to build, they came here to fight and have been setting traps for us from day 1, but building surface blinds to hide warships is an altogether new trick. I’m surprised we haven’t thought of that.”

“Nice how the lizards keep teaching us new things,” Yensic commented dryly.

“Sensor stealthed, I assume?”

“More than that, there isn’t just a blind, but tunnels connecting the entrances to, we suspect, a main hangar underground. Infiltration team hasn’t got that far, still just chewing up the blind we control.”

“Chewing?”

“We blew up the cruiser inside, now we have to fish the pieces back out.”

Riona rolled her eyes. “Figures.”

“I suggest you start here,” the ranger said, pointing to a third city on the map that was about to see mechs and tanks meet up about a kilometer outside of the perimeter defenses. “They’ve been gathering up fighters from other locations while you slept. I think they intend to hold this one.”

“Like hell they will,” she said, already having chosen that group to fight with the moment she walked in and saw their position on the holo map. “Anything new from the Hycre?”

Yensic adjusted the smaller map alongside the main display, bringing up an orbital diagram.

“Kills made in the following locations,” he said as the computer threw up a few new icons. “Most of their fleet is in the system hunting down the other cruisers that didn’t go to ground.”

“Any help with the surface targets yet?”

“Actually, they’re the one that killed the cruiser in the blind.”

“So they are engaging ground targets?” Riona asked for clarity.

“A few targets that they choose, but they don’t have many ships down here for some reason.”

“Maybe they know something we don’t.”

“You want me to ask?”

“Yes. Phone in the results,” she said, having seen enough and heading back out and over to the hangar. Within minutes she was back into the sky and heading towards the mechs now engaging the lizard tanks underneath a swarm of wisps that were dying quickly but adding enough plasma damage to be troublesome. One drone corvette was also there, adding its weaponry to the battle, but there were literally thousands of wisps in play overhead of hundreds of tanks with more coming out onto the sands by the minute.

Numbers…always a numbers game with the lizards, and they usually played it well, but in this case the Alliance should have the advantage, so long as they didn’t waste it. The lizards were going to hit them hard and try to bleed them of troops, not enough to stop their assaults but to delay them long enough for help to arrive. That meant Riona and her assault force had a lot of work to do and not so long to do it.

A month, maybe more before they saw fresh enemies coming into play. By then she had to have the major strongholds eliminated or this could turn very ugly. The ADZ was going to take this world no matter how tough it was, because leaving it in play would create an advantage for the enemy that would cost them more later, so it had to go. Her job was to hit it fast and efficient in order to avoid that eventuality.

The lizards weren’t going to oblige her, as was their nature. They’d fight to the last individual and try to take as many of the attackers with them as possible, meaning suicide attempts and as much other mayhem as they could muster. She was probably going to lose troops to some of it, and she hated that, but the more fights like this the Alliance made the more wary they were of the lizards’ tricks, which was why Star Force was hitting the big targets, hopefully sparing Axius and the Scionate mass casualties.

She trusted her troops, but Axius was still fairly green and the Scionate were like the Hycre…allies, but out of her control. Riona had command of the entire surface campaign, but she didn’t have the ability to micromanage them like she could with her own troops and even Axius, via the battlemap and her authority as an Archon.

Which was why she thought of the Scionate as ‘help’ rather than her own, focusing on what she could control and doing her best to outthink the enemy…a long ongoing challenge that Archons had been facing for centuries, with plenty of successes and failures on both sides.

3

May 16, 2536

Gwet System (Delta Region)

Leonis

Riona’s skeet took a hit, and not a small one. Somehow one of the two lizard cruisers engaging a Star Force corvette a kilometer over the surface of yet another enemy base that they were in the process of invading had hit her with a primary cannon blast and tore off the right side engine pod. The Archon drifted through the fire zone on the other two, eventually righting her ship enough to fly in a straight line but was pounced on by the remainder of the wisps in the battle.

They hammered her hull until they knocked out the left side pod, which left her skeet hanging nose to the ground on the last one and losing altitude. She tried to fly on just the one out of the battle but didn’t make it another 10 seconds before her tail was blown off by a missile launched from the infantry on the surface. Their new favorite weapon left her central hull fully clipped and tumbling to the ground where she crashed into one of the outlying lizard buildings.

She didn’t feel the impact, for thankfully the IDF was still functioning, but did get a jarring vibration through some of the connective beams letting her hear just how hard the hit was. She activated her Pefbar and got a look at what was around outside, realizing that her skeet had landed upside down and the cockpit was pinned to the ground in the rubble.

“Wonderful,” she said, triggering the release and hearing a small click as it failed to move. Riona twisted around in the cockpit and got her feet above her, quite a trick given the small confines, then pushed hard wedging her back against the pommel seat.

She got a couple of inches of separation, wedging her left toes into the crack to hold it as she mentally turned on her striker armor’s powered setting, giving her a strength boost that allowed her to widen the crack further. As she got it a foot or so open she felt the gravity difference in her foot so she held form a moment and telekinetically reached out to turn off the artificial gravity…with her head feeling like it flipped over so that she was now standing upright rather than laying on her back.

Riona walked her feet further into the gap then let the skeet fall back down on her ankles as she slipped off the pommel and crouched down a few inches below it, getting a handhold on the rim of the fighter and lifting as hard as she could. It didn’t move easily, but she did get it up off the ground about a meter before she pulled a tricky one handed support that let her drop down underneath it and get a shoulder on the rim. She almost missed, but got herself wedged in with her muscles straining despite the power enhancement when her head started to swirl with instability.

“No, no, no, not now!” she said, concentrating and scattering the effect. Given any other circumstance she would have welcomed the ascension prompt, but right now she was in hot water and there was no time. Fortunately it took her warning and disappeared, clearing her head and letting her focus on lifting what was left of the skeet up again.

Riona repeated the jerk drop, this time forcing her arms up as she lowered her torso and held an Atlas pose for a moment with her butt nearly touching her heels. She took a twitchy step forward and came back up, pushing her helmet against the hull and making very tiny steps along it until she caught against a section of rock-like wall and could go no further, so she twisted around and pushed laterally as the fighter slipped down, creating a small crevice that she got herself stuck in just as a pair of scalely heads began to climb up over the debris.

One of them got its rifle up and into firing position before Riona yanked it from him telekinetically. She thought about trying to shoot him with it as the other came up into firing position then abandoned the idea, emitting a Fornax field as she wiggled and clawed her way up a few inches with the fighter still pinning her against the wall.

It was an effort to move, let alone maintain the field, and the instability in her head started to come back again. Now thoroughly frustrated she dismissed it a second time and continued to work her way up, glad that her striker armor’s design was smooth on the exterior and she wasn’t wearing a pack or rack on her back, for eventually she was able to slide free once she got her waist up past the choke point, letting her slender legs pull through without incident.

Riona climbed on top and finally released the Fornax field, sagging a bit with relief as she reached down and picked up one of the lizards, throwing him off the heap of rubble that was inside one of their structures and knocking down three more climbing up towards her. She mentally flicked on her shields as plasma fire started to hit around her and pulled the lizard rifle into her grip as she side kicked the other one off the top of the skeet wreck.

Her plasma rifle was in the cockpit, but she wasn’t going back down to try and pull it out at the moment, needing to deal with these infantry first. The striker took two short steps over the burnt hull and jumped, coming down into the group below and firing at them from pointblank range, taking hits to her shields as she did so.

The exchange didn’t last long, with Riona mowing them down with ease and them unable to get through her shields, though one did try to grab her legs and knock her over. He got sent back the other way with a stern kick before receiving the last plasma blast to his chest, melting through most of his vest armor before she fired a second for good measure, punching through the hole and killing him.

Riona tossed the weapon aside, noting how it wasn’t as strong as she was used to as she concentrated and searched inside her ship with her Pefbar, eventually finding her rifle and guiding it up through the crevice telekinetically and over into her waiting hand.

“That’s better,” she said, turning the power on and jumping over some of the low rubble before climbing over a broken wall and up near to the roof. She didn’t have a jump pack on, or anything else for that matter, so she tossed her rifle up first then jumped, getting a handhold on a broke piece of ceiling and pulling herself up where she awkwardly pulled her body over the ledge and into the clean air.

Riona retrieved her rifle and looked around, seeing that she was still well within the lizard base but not too far from a pair of mechs blasting their way into the interior…with the enemy counterattacking with overwhelming numbers of infantry and a good number of tanks in support.

“When in Rome,” she muttered before running over to the edge and sliding her legs over the side before dropping down to street level some 13 meters below. She fell on impact, but partially rolled out of it and came up into a run headed for the nearest lizard as they saw her and responded accordingly.

Riona dove into the melee and got to work, remaining with the ground offensive until she ran out of ammo a few minutes later, then began working her way back to the exterior of the base and fighting hand to hand where necessary until she got to a group of Star Force commandos and bummed a replacement clip from one of them, then took up command of their small group along with grabbing a Calavari Knight from nearby. With the four-armed mass of white armor leading the way she assisted them psionically in punching deeper into the infantry as one of the nearby cruisers fell out of the sky and shook the ground so hard two of her men tripped and fell.

The battle from that point on was one-sided, with the Star Force warship eventually killing the other cruiser and using what operational weaponry it had for close-in fire support, but none the less the combat was brutal up close with the lizards making them pay for every inch of ground they took…and then once they had the surface secure they transitioned into a subsurface theatre where the naval and aerial power couldn’t come into play. The mechs did, to a certain extent, but some 36 hours later they were still fighting it out hand to hand deep inside planet’s crust as an Axius team came in to relieve the battle weary mainline troops.

Riona stayed and helped them clean up most of the hot spots, then with fatigue dragging her into a near coma she eventually relented and turned over command to an Axius Protovic, letting him see to the rest of the sweeps and allowing her to return to the surface where she called for a dropship to pick her up and take her back to the TF.

Riona dosed off enroute, having to be woken up by the pilot when they’d returned. She thanked him then dragged herself out, turning on the powered nature of her armor to help her walk back into the confines of the huge dropship and find her temporary quarters where she began stripping off her sweaty armor, feeling a huge sense of relief. She was about to grab a very quick shower, if she could keep herself awake long enough, when she got two steps away from the tube entrance and fell to the ground when the instability in her head returned.

“Alright, might as well,” she said, urging it on and feeling the stress immediately increase. This had happened once before, or rather four tries ending up with one new ability, plus the battlemeld transfer that Jason had helped her trigger. Her Yetu ability had manifested just like this, and she was eager to see what new ability was making its way forward, despite how tired and loopy she was.

Lying on the elevated shower platform sweaty and naked, she suffered through the transition pains and succeeded in pushing it all the way through to spurn the new tissue growth…which left her in so much pain spread across her entire body that she wondered what the hell she had just gotten, or whether or not her fatigue had contributed to the effect, perhaps leaving her too weak for a ‘regular’ transition.

Sweaty and smelly as she was after spending a day and a half in her armor, Riona mentally told herself to forget the shower and began to climb to her feet to head to bed, not getting more than a knee step forward before saying to hell with it and easing herself back down to the ground and sinking into the fluffy bath mat and falling asleep within seconds.

Riona woke up 6 hours later, feeling like it had been maybe 5 minutes, and was shocked to see how bad she’d been hit. Her entire body ached and her neck had a pinch in it from the angle her head had been bent, but she summoned up enough energy to finally take her shower, then she got dressed and dropped into bed for another 4 hours before getting up and eating something…and by something that was two plates full of food and a load of ambrosia cookies.

Knowing she was unfit for combat and curious as to what new ability she’d gained she headed over to the TF’s training facilities for some light workouts. The dropship didn’t have a sanctum onboard, for that was located in the rest of the warship, but it did have an abnormally shaped running track/hall plus several sparring chambers and challenge specific rooms. Riona went for an easy 5 miles to start with, trying to work out the burning in her muscles from the transition before grabbing a punching bag and doing some light sparring with it…that she gradually escalated up into her normal caliber blows.

Despite her body disagreeing with her she activated her Yetu, which was a combination neural enhancement/muscle speed mode that she could maintain for 12 seconds max…or at least that had been her best to date. She didn’t try for anything so energetic, instead pulsing it for .5 to 1 seconds and getting some blurry punching combos in on the bag, which registered hits and strength intensity on a holographic diagram floating nearby, which the striker used to calibrate her workout and create a baseline for analyzing just how bad her body was at the moment.

She’d been worse before, but only barely. Everything in her seemed to be hurting, and the Yetu made that pain flare up something bad but she stubbornly kept nibbling at it, trying to work herself into a semblance of normal so she could get back out into the field. Flying a skeet wasn’t that strenuous, but she needed quick hand movements to fly effectively and right now she couldn’t hold her hand still. She was shaky and needed to bleed it off, and triggering Yetu was a painful, yet effective way of resetting herself through the super speed that her twitchiness seemed to be imitating.

Rather than trying to hold herself still she’d feed the movement, or so her theory went. It wasn’t working well but after a while she started to get a bit of inner calm that she knew would transition over into other things with time, so she pressed on. The workout continued well past an hour, but she didn’t relent nor did she escalate, preferring to just ‘grease the gears’ rather than exhaust herself again, with that sensation lingering on the edge of her senses as it was.

Riona went through a series of kicking drills against the target, some hitting with her foot and others with her shin…which was usually a bad idea for there was no muscle covering it, just skin over bone for the most part and not a good place to get hit. The bag was soft enough to alleviate that but firm enough to give necessary resistance, so after several hundred kicks her shins were starting to complain a bit…which was when it finally happened.

As if protecting her leg from the next impact, Riona felt an invisible bubble directly over her bare skin hit the bag without her flesh ever making contact. She kicked three times in sequence, with the same light effect, until she finally stopped and tried to figure out what was going on. The Archon touched her bare leg with her fingertips, wondering if her skin was starting to get abrasion fried, but there was no sign of it so she went back to the drills with the sensation returning some 30 seconds later.

This time she caught it, mentally speaking, and pulled back from the bag while maintaining the feel over her right leg. She reached down and touched it again, with her finger being stopped a few millimeters away from her shin against a slick but firm force.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, not believing what her senses were telling her. She touched the invisible barrier again, then forced herself to let it go and reengage it, fearing that she wouldn’t be able to. It took several tries but she did manage to find the mental trigger and recreate the bioshield over her shin again.

Riona stood up and focused on her left hand, forcing what felt like a glove to form around it, then curling her fingers down into a fist and forcing as much energy as she could out into the aura around it…then she stepped forward and punched the target, hard.

The hologram registered the impact, but she never felt it hit her skin. Instead she felt the pressure all along her arm, as if the shield were physically connected not to one piece of her anatomy like an emitter, but to her entire limb…which was when she realized why her entire body was aching. The bioshield upgrade Paul had got had created little bits of tissue everywhere that acted as emitters rather than one or two solid chunks.

Suddenly Riona was glad for the excessive pain, for if she was right then she’d be able to create shields around any and all parts of her body.

She took a few more ‘gloved’ blows on the bag, then her head started to spin as she suddenly felt the effects of low ambrosia sweep over her.

“Dumbass,” she criticized herself. “Paul said it eats ambrosia. I’ll need snacks,” she said, leaving immediately for the cafeteria to collect a stash of ambrosia-laced foodstuffs along with several bottles of red, feeling the draggyness of her workouts already.

When Riona came back she spent the next 3 hours probing her new ability and working through stretching and light sparring drills while her snacks digested to continue to loosen up her body then, after she was convinced she was fit to fight, went back to her quarters and set her alarm for 45 minutes, catching a rejuvenating nap before heading over to the hangar bay and grabbing another skeet. She headed out to the closest battle zone that needed fighter cover, this one being a Scionate offensive, and dove back into the fray, overly pleased with her new ability but knowing that she needed to put it aside for the time being. She’d have an opportunity to train later, right now there was a planetary assault requiring her skills and attention.

4

July 12, 2536

Gwet System (Delta Region)

Leonis

Riona flew her trio of drone fighters in a triangle formation behind her skeet, two positioned above and one below so they’d all have forward firing arcs as she made yet another pass on the lizard cruiser pummeling the TF with a green plasma streamer. The weapon was holding out despite the fact that the back half of the ship was on fire and smoking heavily. The lizards had put most of their shield strength forward to protect that battery and Riona hadn’t been lucky enough to get a shot through the tiny opening that was allowing the plasma to come out.

So the Archon did the next best thing and kept hammering the exposed section of the warship while six others were still pouring fire into the massive dropship as it recalled the last troops from the surface campaigns. Likewise Axius and Scionate dropships and transports were pulling up the last of their troops in the face of a huge lizard relief fleet that had come into the system a day ago prompting the recall. All of the lizard bases had been eliminated with some residual cleanup efforts ongoing, but those had been quickly scrapped in order to get the troops back onto the jumpships and out of the system.

The bulk of the Axius and Scionate fleets had already left, with the Adamant and the handful of Star Force warships and their drones providing cover for the others on their way out. Riona’s TF was the last major chess piece on the planet, given that she’d had her mainline troops assume the final responsibilities to cover the others getting out, meaning there were still convoys coming in to the big dropship even now.

They had avoided the warship barrages, which seemed more interested in killing the dropship than strafing the troops on the ground, though the mechs had downed one of the cruisers on their own when it got too close. Perhaps that was the reason they were staying back and hitting the TF at range, but while they did other warships were scouring the planet and harassing the fleeing Scionate and Axius groups who were putting up a good fight while covering the evacuation.

Meanwhile orbit was where the heavy fighting was going down. The Hycre had long since departed, apparently having left the system but in actuality had gone into hiding within it, so when the lizard fleet arrived to face off against the Adamant and the ‘small’ number of warships it had with it the lizards thought they’d brought more than enough firepower to overwhelm the big ship.

That hadn’t happened, with the Hycre jumping the enemy at a very vulnerable transitional period between star and planet, hitting both locations simultaneously and making several devastating attack runs that sent the battle into a free for all as the lizards split their attention between the Hycre and pushing down to the vulnerable transports waiting nearby their warship escorts.

The few ships that had come down to the surface were nothing compared to the hundreds going at it above the atmosphere, and Riona desperately wanted to be up there in a command nexus but that wasn’t an option. She had troops to get back onboard and right now that meant taking down this warship, which she tore up a little bit more with a mauler storm augmented by the few missiles her drone fighters still had left onboard.

As soon as she zipped past overhead a pair of wisps fell in on her tail that she had to deal with, triggering a preprogrammed attack pattern in the drones and having them split up and loop back. The wisps were caught with four targets to chase and only two fighters to do it with, allowing two of the Star Force craft to get in behind them and execute the kills in short order. Riona had the fighters reform behind her and turned for another run on the warship when she saw a concussion ripple move through the atmosphere as something big inside the lizard cruiser detonated…with it falling to the ground in a soft crash, bending it slightly on impact but otherwise leaving the smoking hulk intact.

Riona tagged the next closest cruiser as the primary target for the 18 other pilots flying with her, a few of which had their own drone escorts, and zipped off towards it together rather than splitting their fire between multiple targets. The rest of the aerial craft were dealing with targets in other planetary locations, covering for their allies while leaving her with the job of supplementing the TF’s defenses.

That hadn’t been the plan, but rather the only option given the timing of the lizard attack. She’d been inside the TF when it had happened, leaving her too far away from the other locations to do any good so she’d decided to make sure the TF remained where it was to pick up the ground troops while the other pilots were off making the kills. Only recently had these warships come into attack range giving her something to do, but in truth she would have preferred they’d just stayed away for the shields on the TF weren’t going to hold out forever.

That said, the last of the troops were nearly onboard and it wasn’t but a few more long minutes until the last of the mechs backed their way into the exposed hangar, firing up at the few wisps stupid enough to follow them into range of the TF’s anti-air, with the shield dropping down to cover the hatch before the bay doors fully closed. When that occurred Riona got a notification on the battlemap and broke off from her current attack run, taking the other pilots and drones with her as they shot upward ahead of the big dropship as it slowly began to rise up from the surface.

The skeets from all areas coalesced at various altitudes in bunches, with Riona taking the highest grouping. As the TF rose up the aerial bays opened and the fighters flew inside during transit, making for a dicey catch even as the enemy cruisers followed it up continuing to throw plasma into the shields. The atmospheric friction cut down on the amount making it to target, but they didn’t let it go, eventually moving in close and using their primary plasma cannons in addition to the streamer to try and get through the now very weak shields before it could hit orbit.

But that also brought them into range of the maulers…or rather their outside range. They weren’t nearly as effective, but what energy they could deliver to the cruisers added up, stripping off their shields and beginning to eat through their hulls while more and more fighters slipped inside the dropship.

Another dozen lizard warships broke away from the orbital battle and dove into the atmosphere, flashing by Riona’s position and heading into the melee below as the TF couldn’t climb very fast given it had to pick up the fighters enroute…which was when Riona made a different call, linking into the comm of all those below.

“Change of plans. If anyone doesn’t have intact atmospheric seals speak now because we’re going orbital. Rendezvous with the donut ring and get there as best you can or head back down to the planet and wait it out. The TF has to go, now, and we’re holding it up.”

Riona changed frequencies and contacted the commander of the big dropship, with the TF immediately gaining speed upwards and actually bumping one of the cruisers out of the way. She cringed when she saw that, with the dropship’s shields disappearing in the collision, but soon it didn’t matter for rest of the Adamant had been coming down towards the atmosphere to meet it and the armor on the dropship would hold out for the rest of the trip up.

Taking her own advice Riona launched her skeet up above the atmosphere and flew directly towards the Melee-class warship, mentally crossing her fingers as the space around it was filled with lizard warships. Their fighters weren’t built for space, so she didn’t have to worry about them, but there were so many ships exchanging fire with the massive donut that it looked like there was no way she was going to get through…but the sizing was deceptive, and what looked to be an unending net of plasma fire actually had huge holes in it, enough for her to shoot her skeet and drones through to one of the big ring’s docking bays just ahead of the ‘donut hole’ coming up from underneath and beginning to slide into the giant ship.

Riona parked her skeet haphazardly on the deck, getting it out of the way of the others but leaving the crew to reposition it where it needed to go as she jumped out of the cockpit and ran towards the exit, headed for the nearest lift to get her up to the bridge.

By the time she got there the TF had fully merged back into the Adamant and the ship had moved back further up into orbit, heading right into the heart of the lizard attack group while the Warship-class jumpships held perimeter positions while firing into the hoard of ships to keep out of the worst of it. The Adamant took the brunt of the attacks and tore through the enemy fleet by the dozens, but still there were more lizard ships arriving in groups and adding to the onslaught, making final fleet strengths impossible to determine.

Riona got over to the command nexus and linked in, reorganizing the battle slightly from what the Admiral had them running and chewed through as many lizard ships as possible while the Hycre fleet really did most of the damage. Eventually the Adamant’s shields went down in several places, with the huge ship beginning to take hull damage but she didn’t pull it out, knowing the beast could stand up to the slugging and reaping the rewards from it. The lizards took to the dropped shields like a swarm of bugs to a light, which allowed the Hycre to literally rip them to shreds.

Rather than retreating the lizards fought to the last ship, with several trying to ram the Adamant and one succeeding in slipping by the specialized shield emitters designed to ‘cushion’ the blow. That ship imbedded itself far enough that the Adamant had to stick around in orbit for another two days cutting it loose before they were finally able to withdrawal and make the jump back to Star Force territory.

Eventually it was decided that the ship needed to be repaired rather than being sent into another campaign immediately, which it could have been given how big it was and how it could take several more such hits and still remain mostly operational. Star Force didn’t like operating that way when they could avoid it, so the Adamant returned to Earth where it could fit into a sufficiently-sized slip and undergo repairs…along with a few new upgrades.

Riona went with it, hopping onto a dropship in orbit and riding it down to Antarctica where she eventually found her way into the V’kit’no’sat pyramid.

“Knock, knock,” she said softly coming into the open doorway of Paul’s quarters as he was riffling through a drawer to find a particular headband he wanted before heading right back out to the sanctum.

He looked up at the sound and smiled, not having felt her approach. “Hey.”

“Hey to you too…you got a minute?”

“I’m kind of in the middle of something, but if you feel like walking and talking you can come with.”

“Works for me,” she said as he came back out and shut the door, walking at a brisk pace and her able to sense a bit of an adrenaline rush in him.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“You first,” she said, glancing at the headband…which with Paul’s short hair didn’t seem necessary.

“Prototype sensor. Headbands aren’t my thing and I forgot to put it on this morning…then I got a whiff of instability and rushed back here. Might just be my imagination but I think I’ve got another ascension coming on.”

“And that would be how many now?”

“Uh, not counting battlemeld this will be the 5th if it pans out.”

“And with?”

“17th. Haven’t found any new ones recently, and neither have the twins. Whatever they are they’re buried deep…or we’re just going about it the wrong way.”

“You have to start counting those.”

“Can’t use them alone, so they’re a different category.”

“If you say so. My count just escalated to two, which is why I’m here.”

Paul looked over at her curious as they walked. “What did you get?”

“Bioshield.”

That stopped him in the middle of the hallway. So far he’d been the only one to manifest that ability, try as the others had.

“Where and when…be specific.”

“In battle on Leonis. Popped up after a crash that I had to crawl out of. I had to dismiss it at the time but was able to get it a day later when I got back to the TF.”

“Describe the crash…it’s important.”

“My skeet took a warship level plasma hit, then the stupid wisps finished me off. IDF was functional so I didn’t feel the hit, but what was left of my skeet went straight into a lizard building and I landed upside down. Had to lift the thing off to get out, and I’m really glad I had my striker armor on or I would have been in trouble. Fought my way back to our ground troops after that then stayed with them until fatigue started to win out. I was almost in the shower when the instability hit again, then I let myself pass out on the floor afterwards. That whole body transformation thing is sick.”

“I know,” Paul said thinking hard.

“What?”

“Just working on a theory. You got time to talk in detail later?”

“Ha. I came here to find you so you could teach me the ways of the Force. I’m your girl until you get tired of me.”

“Never,” he said with a wink. “Give me four hours to finish what I’m working on then we’ll get busy,” he said, raising up his hand palm out. “Show me what you’ve got.”

Riona did likewise, forming her weak shield over her hand and pressing it up against Paul’s. The two shields touched and…

“That feels so weird,” he said, relishing in the new sensation until hers popped. “Sorry.”

“That was probably just me. I can’t hold it long.”

“With time and training, you will.”

“Four hours?”

He nodded. “Meditation room. We’re going to tackle this through battlemeld.”

“Do I have to be naked like Rikku?” she said with a bit of disgust.

“No,” he said with a laugh. “Though I’ll be honest in saying I didn’t mind those sessions.”

“Well if you feel like going it in the buff be my guest,” she offered, “but I tend to concentrate better with at least a few clothes on.”

“I wouldn’t be a distraction?” Paul said, mock shocked.

Riona cracked a smile. “Ok, you have a point there.”

The levity left Paul’s face. “Full clothes and full effort. I’ve had time to get a lot of ideas and haven’t had anyone to practice with until now. It’s going to be extensive, if you’re up for it?”

“Always.”

“That’s my girl,” he said, lightly punching her in the shoulder before heading off to finish up whatever crazy training he’d just been doing, for Riona noticed his uniform was already soaked with sweat.

She let him go and stood in the hallway for a moment, trying to figure out exactly where she was for the Archon hadn’t been back here for many years and she’d never gotten the complete layout of the massive facility down. The residential area she was in now was newish, she thought, not able to remember completely given the continuing construction on the command deck and other places as Star Force added additional buildings inside the pyramid as needed. As of now it held a population of more than half a million, making it a busy city of its own, though still a secret to the public and most of Star Force.

Riona walked around a bit until she found a familiar hallway and headed back out a different entrance than the one she’d come in through, heading out for a bit of a sightseeing expedition and catching up on the new developments and discoveries as well as to just enjoy the sights. The pyramid was pretty much Disney Land for Archons and she liked being here just for the ambiance…and the constant reminder of their true enemy and how formidable they were. It both scared and impressed her to no end. To have someone that powerful as an enemy was terrifying, but to have someone that powerful was also an opportunity to learn and grow faster than you would on your own figuring things out through trial and error.

Which was why she wanted to come here to learn from Paul, knowing that he’d cut years off her own learning curve while remaining ahead of her the entire time. For bioshield he was the trailblazer, and she was immensely glad that he was still here pressing his abilities and developing others rather than out fighting in the field. She needed and wanted a teacher…not to mention the chance to get to know him better. Normally the trailblazers kept to themselves as far as any close personal bonds went, but that was to be expected. She was just a ‘second gen’ and they all outranked her.

But now that she had something to offer Paul she was eager to help out, and despite the fact that he had years of training ahead of her in this discipline she now had something the other trailblazers didn’t, making her a ‘peer’ despite the fact that she’d been an Archon almost exactly as long as they had been.

To her it felt like she’d just been bumped up to the big leagues, and now she felt different. The slight resentment towards the trailblazers was gone, now that she felt she was on par with them.

Actually, she kicked herself for having felt the resentment in the first place. It was childish and, now seeing it from a different perspective, admitted that instead of being their equal they’d ‘believed’ they were their equal, which involved more whining than doing. Now that she suddenly found herself on the other side of the line, even slightly so, it was an epiphany moment, feeling like she’d all of a sudden experienced another upgrade.

“Time to get to work,” she told herself, letting go of the last feelings of resentment and the ‘second gen’ label she’d worn with a mix of pride and embarrassment for centuries. She was an Archon, pure and simple, and it was her skills that defined her, not her birthdate.

5

September 13, 2536

Solar System

Earth

Smooth, Paul reminded her as his thoughts transmitted through the battlemeld telling her exactly what she needed to do through memory rather than words.

Trying, Riona responded, summoning up another weak shield in front of her and barely holding the effort. Manifesting the barrier around her body was easy compared to creating an independent wall not locked into a specific distance from her frame. With the invisible barrier visible to her senses, and Paul’s as well through the link, she held it in place and slowly began to walk a circle around it, forcing her to maintain its position while altering hers.

The effort was intense, but not something she could achieve through raw power. Push too hard and her ‘grip’ would slip, which was what Paul was trying to teach her. Drawing on his experiences, memories, and realtime guidance, she soaked his skill in through the battlemeld and held up the shield for the complete walk-around, then took up a position behind it as the thud shooters in the walls warmed up.

Or rather one did, placed directly in front of her while Paul was sitting with his back to the wall just underneath it and telekinetically adjusting the control panel from afar, which she could also feel through the battlemeld. He specifically wasn’t using any other psionics, such as Pefbar, so Riona couldn’t draw on those. Rather, he was letting her ‘pick his brain’ as to how her own abilities worked as the first tiny projectile shot out and hit her shield wall.

It nearly overloaded it, and when she tried to repair it she suddenly got a lot of intricate instructions from Paul, again, not in words, but in raw mental images that essentially guided her with a level of knowledge she did not currently possess. This was Paul’s choice of instruction, and Riona had to admit she was making far more progress than she’d expected. He was showing her things above her level, almost like a cheat, and as a result was helping her level up much faster than had she been doing this alone or even with an advisor.

It was almost as if he was controlling her shield for her, save for the fact that she was still making the actually projections and corrections, which right now involved reforming the damaged pieces of the shield matrix and holding them intact, for it didn’t matter how much energy she provided the shield if she couldn’t maintain the structure. Let go her concentration and the energy would dissipate…unless she recalled it, which was another trick that Paul was trying to teach her.

Riona had learned that, like the emitters on their own armor, a semi-functional shield matrix was held inside prior to deployment…kind of like opening an umbrella. That meant when a shield first formed it could be somewhat stored away for later deployment. If the shield was completely destroyed then it would have to be reformed before it could get to full strength again.

The bioemitters in her body weren’t quite to the ‘storing’ phase yet, and Paul said they’d have to be kicked in the ass to get it going, which was the next phase of this little calibration exercise…after she blocked 3 more staggered hits.

Barely making it through those, Riona then had to recall her damaged shield. She tried, really, but almost all of the energy was lost when it hit her flesh, like a glass window shattering and falling to pieces on the floor, except that in this case the shield energy simply dissipated into the environment without so much as a sight or sound…though for Paul, he could ‘see’ it through Riona’s senses thanks to the battlemeld.

“That’s better,” he said, releasing the link and standing up.

Riona frowned. “How was that better? I lost it again.”

“Not all of it. Your emitters pulled back in a touch.”

“I didn’t feel anything.”

“Yes you did, you just didn’t notice it because it’s a subtle sensation. The effort was blinding you but I was able to pick it up because I was specifically looking for it. From now on that amount you recall will grow, thanks to the small crack you’ve formed. That was the transition point, and you just achieved it.”

“If you say so,” Riona said, not sensing anything different in her body. “Are we done or are you just tired of being in my head?”

“Just taking a break, or did you not feel somebody at the door?”

“I thought they were walking by.”

A telepathic prodding resulted in the chamber door opening and Aaron walking in. “Sorry for the interruption,” he offered.

“You’re excused,” Riona said sarcastically.

Aaron smiled at her then turned to face Paul. “We just got word from the Hycre that the Elarioni worlds are getting hit by the Skarrons. So far they’re just fighting the Nestafar on the surface, but there’s no way of knowing how long that will last. They’re requesting any help the Alliance can give in evacuating their entire population to the ADZ.”

Paul whistled.

“I know,” Aaron agreed.

“How many ships do they have available?”

“Not enough, but they were able to get a messenger out through the fighting easy enough.”

“How many worlds are currently under assault?”

“They said 5 of 8, but the Nestafar are still on the other three, so they can’t just pack up and leave without getting shot at. They’re only safe underwater because the Nestafar don’t have the resources or tech to hurt them there.”

“Is Kyler going to take this?”

“Hasn’t reached him yet. I thought you’d like to handle it since you and Ariel are so close…and the fact that we’re talking a huge naval operation to get to them. Plus Kyler is probably busy with the lizards right now.”

“And I’m just sitting here training my butt off.”

“We’re just sitting here training our butts off,” Aaron amended. “I can go, but I figured this is more in your wheelhouse.”

“It is,” Paul agreed. “But there’s no way we have the ships available for this.”

“The Adamant will be available soon,” Riona added. “Repairs are almost finished.”

“We’re going to need more than that,” Paul said with a shake of his head. “Even if we can fight through both the Nestafar and Skarron fleets, it’s going to take a long time to evacuate their people…not to mention we’re going to have to configure cargo ships to carry aquatic passengers. That alone will take a few months, minimum.”

“Yeah, about that,” Aaron said deviously. “Sounds like we could use a little help.”

“So it does,” Paul agreed after a second’s delay. “Then take them to Atlantica?”

“Not sure about that one or what kind of resources they need, but that’s a definite possibility.”

“How many people need to be transported?”

Aaron cringed. “The Hycre couldn’t give us a specific number.”

“Wonderful,” Paul said, frowning. “Did they say where this messenger was?”

“At a Hycre world in the old Calavari zone.”

“Well I need more information if we’re going to make this happen,” he said, turning to Riona.

“Go,” she said, dismissively waving her hand at him. “I can take it from here.”

Paul frowned. “What, and leave my new best friend behind. Uh uh, you’re coming with.”

A smirk worked its way onto her face. “Best friend huh?”

“You know someone else with bioshield?”

“So you only like me for my abilities?”

“Pretty much,” Paul said, turning back to Aaron. “I’ll take care of this, but I may need your help down the road.”

“You know where to find me.”

Paul fist tapped Aaron’s chest and jogged towards the open door. “You mind keeping her company for a while? She gets lonely real easy.”

Riona scoffed at his back as he ran out of view, then saw Aaron smirking.

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything. You up for some sparring?”

“Actually…yeah,” she admitted.

“Come on, we’ll grab a different chamber. What were you working on?”

“Shield deflections,” she said, walking out with him.

Two months later…

Paul and Riona crossed through the shield barrier on the rear of the Sparrow-class dropship and into the watery environment of the Elarioni hangar bay. Each Archon wore a wet suit with breath mask and swam away from the dropship to where one of the mermaid-like aliens were waiting. Their muscular tri-finned tails trailed below them in the blue-lit water as their neon-colored hair floated loose around their heads. All the Elarioni were ‘female’ in appearance, reproducing trisexually, so they all tended to look alike…almost identical save for a minor tweak here and there.

Whereas Ariel had green hair these two had orange, and one of them raised a three fingered hand up to wave them forward. Paul and Riona followed, swimming crudely by Elarioni standards through the tube-like passageways with Paul doing a weird looking flip kick for propulsion that kept him ahead of Riona and her struggling to keep up most of the time.

Their guides slowed to match their pace, but were clearly riding the brake the entire way to a large chamber that had a squashed spherical design with multiple protrusions that doubled as ‘chairs’ in that there were Elarioni latched onto them operating various control consoles, though in truth they were merely floating in place, tail down for the most part.

Both of them were led over to a pair of spindly tentacle-like arms coming up from the floor that put them nearly in the center of the room with something to hold onto, after which a blue-haired Elarioni swam down to them, her skin darker than her hair save for the patches that glowed with bioluminescence.

“Thank you for coming,” she said, translated through the programming in the Archons’ breath masks, which likewise transferred their words into the Elarioni language…with a bit of imperfection, but reliable enough for most conversations.

“If we’re going to make this happen I need information,” Paul said without preamble. “How many of you are there, where is the fighting currently taking place, how many enemy ships, etc.”

“We will tell you what you require. At present there are 800 billion Elarioni spread across 8 worlds. We believe that all will be under assault in the near future, which was why we have come now to ask for assistance.”

“How many can you transport on your own ships?”

“Only a small fraction, I’m afraid. We have lived in seclusion for so long we do not have many starships, but we do have warships and we will fight both the Nestafar and Skarrons in order to get free. We simply do not have the numbers or transports to do this alone, and we will not leave people behind to die. We ask that you help us evacuate everyone, and in exchange we will use our abilities, knowledge, and strength to become part of your Alliance and fight both the Cajdital and the Skarrons. We had hoped the latter would be honorable, but their conduct thus far has shown otherwise.”

“How did you get this ship out through their fleets?”

“It wasn’t difficult. Their technology is vastly inferior to ours and as you well know orbit isn’t something that can be locked down easily. We ran through their lines and jumped away from our world without major inconvenience, but they also didn’t know we were coming. An evacuation is quite another matter.”

“As I well know?”

“We are well aware of who you are, Paul-024, even before you agreed to this meeting.”

Looks like your famous, Riona commented telepathically.

“And who am I?”

“A skilled naval tactician and a bold and powerful fighter. We have seen the recordings of many of your battles, including the raid you made against the Scionate den.”

Guess I am famous, Paul answered her. “Then you know what I’m capable of, including sizing up our opposition. Getting your people out will be very difficult, but there is a plan in the works. Before that can begin to take place we need data…and an understanding. Have you reviewed the message?”

“Yes. Our sister has described the world in question and we are willing to take her at her word. We also thank you for rescuing her. I would ask, on a personal note, how have you preserved her so long? She is more than twice the age of the oldest known Elarioni.”

“A little thing called self-sufficiency.”

“A drug?”

“No, it’s a state of maintaining a positive healing to attrition ratio, accomplished primarily through training. She learned to do it and as a result doesn’t physically age, though she does grow wiser with time and experience.”

“We have no knowledge of such things.”

“We can teach you, or she can.”

“And there is much we can teach you, in exchange for your assistance.”

Paul smiled, tapping into her mind for a bit of a read. “You’re not sure she’s telling the truth.”

“We have no reason to doubt the word of our sister.”

“You doubt whether she is real or a fabrication we have concocted. You don’t think it’s actually possible to live that long.”

The Elarioni was silent for a moment. “I do wonder why you did not bring her with you.”

“Time,” Paul stated simply. “If we’re going to evacuate your people the longer we wait the more the war between the Nestafar and Skarrons will escalate, which will make a difficult extraction even more so. At present Ariel is in transit. She will not be coming outside the ADZ, but I’ve arranged a meeting on a world near the border.”

“What do you require of us, in addition to information?”

“If we are going to go to the effort necessary to pull your people out, it’s not going to be so you can sit in the ADZ and watch the rest of us fight. You will have to become invested in the defense as well…and not just in an advisory role.”

“Agreed.”

“What are your combat capabilities?”

“Nothing that would be of use to you on land, but our ships are superior to yours. Given time to build more we will be able to defend any world you give us.”

“We’re not giving you a world, we’re offering to share one.”

“I misspoke. I apologize. I only mean to say that we will not be a burden in the long term. What aid you give us now we will repay down the road once we are free to build and grow.”

“By that do you mean other worlds?”

“Possibly, but I meant being free to build without having an enemy sharing the same worlds. The Nestafar have restricted our growth, though they also helped to hide our existence. We do not wish to make a visible impact on galactic events, for it could draw our pursuers to us, but at the moment we face a more imminent concern. We must step into the light whether we wish to do so or not. I must ask, for Ariel mentioned it, that you too are hunted by the V’kit’no’sat?”

“They do not know we exist, but if they did they would hunt us to extinction. Of that I have no doubts.”

“Yet you operate freely and obviously. Is that not welcoming your enemy to you?”

“I hope not,” Paul said honestly. “But if we’re going to have any chance of standing up to them in the long run we have to build and grow now. It’s a bad situation all the way around, but if we’re going to die we’d rather die trying than waiting and hiding.”

“Waiting and hiding have served the Elarioni well. We are uncomfortable with what we must do, but we have no choice. I would ask that our contributions to the Alliance be allowed to occur in less obvious pursuits.”

“So long as that doesn’t mean you’ll shy away from a fight, I think something can be worked out. In fact, I already have something in mind.”

“And that is?”

Paul smiled beneath his breath mask, but the Elarioni couldn’t see the gesture. “What is most obvious to outsiders is your technology. They recognize ship hulls first off, so the answer is simple…don’t use your own. Use ours instead.”

“Yours are inferior.”

Paul raised an eyebrow. “I’m not so sure about that. But even if I grant you your point, keep your current technology for defense of your new home, but use ours when battling elsewhere in and around the ADZ.”

“I hardly think you have ships to give away so freely…or do you mean to teach us how to make yours?”

“Actually, I was thinking of a third option…some of your people joining Star Force.”

6

May 27, 2537

Solar System

Inner Zone (Warship Adamant)

Paul threw a handful of tiny thuds at Riona, telekinetically guiding them into hovering orbits around her in an erratic pattern before launching one in at her leg. It hit just above her skin and bounced off, with him catching it and returning it to the halo. He repeated the process with one coming down at her head from above, but the Archon blocked it high with a projected shield rather than a ‘skin’ one. Next came a simultaneous pair, one coming at her gut and the other at her back with her deflecting the one in front but missing the other and getting a little tap on her spine.

Paul shook his head. “Pay attention to your surroundings, youngling.”

Riona rolled her eyes. “I suppose I deserve that,” she said, resetting her mental composure.

“Yes you do, “ Paul said, sending in another towards her face that she reached up and swatted out of the way with a shield-covered palm.

“Better…” he added, sending in two again, this time from left and right.

Riona closed her eyes as she manifested dual shields both a few inches away from her body and only a hand’s length wide. Both circular barriers went up in time to block the hits, but the left one was weaker than it should have been and crumpled on contact, letting the thud drop motionless to the floor while the other bounced off as it should have.

“Tolerable,” Paul noted. “You need to think of both shields as two parts of the same projection. You’re favoring one over the other and that’s a bad habit to get into.”

“I know. Hit me again.”

Paul did as asked, working with her for another 15 minutes with little progress, but each failure and mistake she made was something Riona could use to calibrate, thus the experience, while disheartening, was for a purpose and she understood that. She also knew that Paul knew, meaning there was no ego involved. He was pressing her to force her into a situation where she could learn from mistakes and kept the pressure on so that she would keep making mistakes and challenging her current limits.

That was the sort of thing a friendly Archon did, but if you didn’t have the right understanding in place beforehand it could be misconstrued as hazing, for Paul sought out any and all opportunities to exploit her weaknesses and really grind in the failure. Fortunately the two had gotten used to each other quite fast, helped in no small part by the battlemeld sessions, though for this workout that would have been counterproductive.

When he’d finished pummeling her they switched up, with her pelting him and watching how he responded. Riona didn’t hold back either, throwing three and four at him at a time and Paul having to block them with small shield projections only…no all-encompassing shield that she knew he was capable of summoning up. Still, she couldn’t get any through until she added a Fornax blast and caught him off guard, bouncing two off his taught chest.

He looked over at her with a wry smile. “Cheater.”

She was about to say something when the intercom activated with a repetitive tone. Both Archons glanced at each other as Paul walked over to the side and hit the comm. “Yes?”

“They’re here,” the Admiral said pithily.

“On my way,” Paul said, turning the comm off and walking out of the training room and eventually the sanctum onboard the warship with Riona at his side. The two eventually made their way up to the bridge as the main holo was depicting the arrival of several dozen massive ships, each far larger than the Adamant and bullet shaped, much like the old school Star Force jumpships had been, save these were shiny chrome in color and looked not to have a single protrusion, bump, or dent on their hulls.

“How are we set?” Paul asked.

“All fleets are on standby.”

“Have they made contact yet?”

“No.”

“Do so, and route it to the nexus,” Paul said, heading over that way. Riona followed him and stood a respectful two meters back to stay out of the holocomm when it activated, showing a small version of a Voku with its pointy head and thick, muscular arms. Its skin was pitch black and it had but one eye, that one a deep green and wide set like a visor, for it appeared to be made of crystal rather than flesh. Riona didn’t know if that was a natural growth or a mechanical implant, but regardless it made the Voku look intimidating…despite the fact that they were the size of Knights and larger.

“Greetings, Warlord Paul.”

“Morning, Cal-com. Glad to see you could make it.”

“I have no greater mission of importance at the time.”

“Which group are you personally traveling with?”

“That which proves the greatest challenge.”

Paul smiled. “Same here. Our ships are a bit slower than yours, especially some of the transports we’ve had to scrounge up. Do you wish to jump with us or ahead of us?”

“We will not attack until you are there, so there is no need to travel separately. We will escort you to the divergence point.”

“How soon before your full fleet arrives?”

“Only moments more.”

“Our two largest ships will bracket the convoy. The Ultrix will lead, I will bring up the rear in the Adamant. Work your ships into the formation wherever you like.”

The Voku bowed his head slightly. “As you wish. Jump when you like, we will follow your lead without further communications being necessary.”

“What is your full ship count?”

“There will be 37 conglomerates arriving. We will not reform prior to the last segment of our journey.”

“Very well,” Paul said, seeing that 32 Voku ‘ships’ had arrived. “I’ll signal the fleet to get underway.”

“May fortune favor us on this endeavor,” Cal-com said before cutting the transmission, with his holo being replaced by the sensor feeds as they came back from their miniaturized form on the left.

“Friendly,” Riona commented.

“I’ve met him before and we have an understanding. They don’t talk much, so don’t take that as a negative.”

“Big ass ships though.”

“Their version of a jumpship…except that there is no jumpship.”

“I’m interested in seeing that.”

“Apparently you’ll have to wait a couple months.”

“Bugger.”

“Yeah, it is pretty impressive.”

Riona raised an eyebrow as Paul handed out mental orders to the fleet through the nexus. “You’ve seen them transform?”

“Nothing that large, but yeah, when we had our meet and greet they showed off a bit.”

“And?”

“Worth waiting for…and stealing, if I can work out a way to do it.”

“What’s the holdup?”

“Their combat philosophy doesn’t match ours exactly, and they’ve tailored their tech to match it. Still, the adjustable nature of the transformations is immensely useful. I just have to find a way to do it without sacrificing the advantages we already have.”

“Lesser applications?”

“Probably. It’s a back burner project I dabble with from time to time. Don’t expect Optimus Prime to show up any time soon.”

“You mean for a mech?”

Paul’s head came up slightly and he turned back to look at Riona. “Damn girl, I hadn’t even thought of that.”

“I see that spark in your eye and I like it. I’m calling dibs on naming privileges for whatever you come up with.”

“Deal,” Paul said with a smile as he turned back to look at the holos…which was unnecessary since he was already mentally linked in, but he did so just in time to see the Ultrix begin repositioning around the star to get to their outgoing jumpline with a handful of warships and a host of cargo ships following.

It took a long time to get all of them into position, with the Voku ships slipping into the gaps as groups would make jumps out together, spaced with at least 1 or 2 seconds between each ship so they didn’t ram each other on exit or entry to the next system on the decel end of the jump. Larger gaps of 30 seconds or so existed between groups, allowing for the spacelanes to clear out on arrival and each progressive group tagged with emerging from the jump in progressively higher orbits, laying out the fleet in a long carpet each time it hit a new system.

Then they’d all have to reposition to the new jumpline again, stagger up and make similar jumps. That was the nature of interstellar convoy travel, and over the next pair of months they continued to do exactly that, leaving the Core Region, then the ADZ altogether and passing through what had once been Calavari territory and was now partially Nestafar and partially unclaimed wasteland.

When they got to a predetermined system within Nestafar space but uninhabited by them, the Star Force/Voku armada split up into 8 attack groups, each traveling to a system with Elarioni in it with the intent on hitting them simultaneously so both their enemies wouldn’t have any forewarning that they were coming. Paul, Riona, and the Adamant headed towards the most populous Nestafar world and the one that should prove to be the hardest to get the evacuees out of. It was called Vionsed and was part of a three planet Nestafar civilization, meaning they would have to contend with the system defense fleet in addition to whatever surprises they had in store around that particular world.

They weren’t going in completely blind though, given the information the Elarioni had provided. What they didn’t know was that the Skarrons had already invaded Vionsed. One other world in the system had already been battling the Skarrons on the ground, but when the Adamant arrived a few minutes behind the leading warships Paul saw their sensor data on the battlemap and the Skarron units already in play on the ground.

Not to mention a huge Nestafar fleet in orbit, with Skarron ships elsewhere in the system, though primarily holding onto turf around the other world that now seemed to be mostly under their control based on orbit and surface readings being fed to them by Star Force scout ships deployed there to assess ship numbers.

“Alright, time to get to work,” Paul said, mentally triggering the TF to being the dislodgement procedure from the Adamant, which Riona was on. As he did so the warships alongside began disgorging their drones and deploying them into screens as the Nestafar fleet started to come their way…but like clockwork the first of the Voku ships entered a slightly higher orbit and kept some of its forward momentum, blowing by the Star Force ships as the huge chrome bullet began to disintegrate, with smaller pieces falling off it looking like sand prior to large chunks breaking off, all of which gave the appearance that it was dying a quick death at the hands of some invisible Nestafar weapon.

But each of those chunks didn’t stay rugged. They morphed into smaller chrome ships of various designs, all with smooth lines and perfect hulls that shot off deeper towards the planet and engaged the Nestafar head on, despite their superior numbers.

They were buying time for the Adamant to drop its invasion troops to a landmass on the edge of the ocean where the transports would start setting down. They had to secure the area then hold it for the duration of the evacuation, but to do that they first had to get down there and there was no time to waste. Give the Skarron ground forces time to redeploy and you’d be in a world of hurt…something that Kip had impressed upon Paul prior to their breaking up and heading to different target worlds.

Sending a signal to the Admiral and his bridge staff, Paul ordered the Adamant lower into the atmosphere and directly into the Nestafar fleet once the TF fully separated. While the Voku made up the bulk of the firepower in this operation he wasn’t going to sit back and let them take all the damage, especially considering that their ships were all manned, tough as they were. To that end the giant donut-shaped warship slid down into the Nestafar swarm and began racking up ship kills as another Voku ship entered orbit and began disintegrating into warship pieces that fell down into the growing melee.

By the time the 3rd arrived the Nestafar saw that they were in a world of hurt and pulled back before their numbers could drop below the 50% mark, for the Voku were tearing them to bits.

They began fleeing on separate vectors, clearing the path that Star Force was hacking out down to the surface and moving off to other orbits and seeing what their new enemy would do. Paul’s ships held position, as did about two thirds of the Voku, but the rest of them pursued the Nestafar who regrouped at various locations and continued the fight with better odds.

Paul let them go, knowing that he couldn’t take the Adamant after them if they chose to dance around orbit. Besides, killing the Nestafar wasn’t the point of this mission…that was just a bonus. Getting the Elarioni out was the reason why they were here and to do that he had to hang onto orbit and protect the transports which would start jumping in from the star as soon as he signaled it was fairly safe. Right now the Voku were guarding them there, and as much as Paul wanted to head down to the surface and join in the fighting that was sure to come he knew he had to stay right where he was and oversee the naval situation for the duration of this operation.

Sometimes being the ‘Admiral’ was fun, other times it just plain sucked.

Riona didn’t wait for the TF to land, instead launching from one of the bays during the decent. Her skeet got bounced around a lot by the turbulence but eventually she got it righted and pointed down, lining up the streamlined hull with the oncoming air and pulling out away from the huge distortion ripples coming off the 2 mile wide ship with more fighters following her out. They immediately had their hands full as Skarron fighters moved to intercept the TF and met them literally half a minute after exit.

Riona ducked her skeet down through a long, hard braking loop to level off and begin chasing them through the dogfight that was forming as they tried to throw plasma into the side of the TF. At first the atmospheric turbulence shielded it for the most part, but when the tiny white plasma orbs began hitting the shields the anti-air fire started coming back too, with the enemy fighters quickly learning that this wasn’t an undefended target.

That left them to contend with the Star Force skeets that were easily outnumbered. Riona and the others kept it together though and started racking up kills while going evasive far more than they liked until the Voku fighters came down from orbit, dropping like rocks that then split up into fragments that began chasing after the Skarron fighters. The smallest of the Voku ‘pieces’ was more than twice the size of a skeet and outmassed it by a factor of 6. That said, the craft were still nimble, nearly the match of the skeets in agility alone, and armed with directed energy orbs.

They weren’t plasma, but a form of energy that Star Force hadn’t gotten around to creating yet, even in engineer play, which saw the Star Force techs building all manner of things from the database that would never be put into practical use, just so they could say they did and learn from the experience. These weapons were known as Dwio, and had an active guiding mechanism in the fighters to steer them into targets like a guided missile.

Riona could see multiple colors that she didn’t understand the significance of, but she did see that their shots rarely missed. Even when the Skarrons evaded a lined up shot, the orbs steered themselves into a correction…and passed right through the enemy shields.

The Skarron fighters had the same armor on them that their walkers did, though in significantly lesser amounts, allowing themselves a bit of longevity against the Voku orbs but it wasn’t nearly enough, with two or three shots bringing one down and there being plenty of Voku fighters to get the job done, in addition to the skeets were which holding their own.

Riona was glad for the help and by the time the TF finally set down and began unloading mechs and other ground vehicles they had the immediate airspace secured and were working on pushing the perimeter out and hitting the few surface targets that were of note, some Skarron and a lot Nestafar. Nothing civilian, but a few weapons emplacements that were throwing up anti-air and larger plasma weaponsfire at the fighters, though some tried to play dead and hide, but eventually Riona and the others cleaned out the surrounding area in preparation for the battles yet to come.

And they were coming alright. Skarron walkers were redeploying on the south and west while Nestafar ground troops were massing on the north, with the ocean and the Elarioni to the east. Within a few hours, maybe a day tops, there was going to be a showdown, with both sides looking like they weren’t going to tolerate anyone on their turf, making Riona wonder who would be shooting who if the Nestafar and Skarrons got to each other. Three way battles were extremely rare, but this looked like it might just be one in the making.

7

Ker-shat stood shoulder to shoulder with the other Voku troops inside the transport as it traveled down to the surface of the planet under assault, waiting patiently until the doors underneath his feet eventually opened, leaving him and the others standing on small squares with nothing but an energy shield separating them from the quickly moving ground beneath. As the transport slowed those behind him were released, with him waiting a few moments longer before his shield disappeared and he dropped through the square and into freefall.

The 8 foot tall Voku cushioned the drop using his flight harness, coming down onto the dirt and rock-strewn ground in a crouch as two others fell beside him. One was a skirmisher like himself, while the other was wearing the exoskeletal heavy weapons they were meant to escort to the target…which in this case was an enemy walker with infantry support that was pushing towards one of the Human positions where their infantry was guarding the coastline.

The Star Force mechs were elsewhere, dealing with larger threats and the Nestafar were trying to slip one of their own through a weak spot in the perimeter, yet it was far enough away from their massive dropship to be out of its weapon range. Those closer positions were reserved for the dozens of transports coming down and parking near the water’s edge and extending pylons out into the depths to facilitate the transfer of evacuees…and this walker was heading for the nearest of them.

The Voku transport had put them down behind the enemy grouping, with the leading elements already engaging the Humans and the four-legged machine blanketing the area ahead with plasma that the Humans were having to evade while effectively chewing up the enemy infantry. As soon as Ker-shat  got to his feet he and the other two Voku began to run, then they leapt forward and flew some 80 meters before landing again and running some more. They repeated this process three times before coming up on the rearmost infantry, with the Voku leaping up again and grabbing one of the flying Nestafar by the neck from behind.

He dragged it to the ground with him, placing a killing shot to the back of its neck from the blaster gauntlet that he wore attached to his forearm then discarding the body as he landed and ran forward. Meanwhile his double did likewise, rising up as he fell as both of the skirmishers paved the way for the slightly slower moving teammate coming up from behind as he refrained from firing so as to give the skirmishers more of a surprise factor…though his sights were set dead center on the walker ahead.

Ker-shat was wearing very little, as was Voku custom. His black body was covered by an equally black and flexible skin-tight sheath that provided a bit of armor value against abrasions and weaponsfire, but in order to preserve his agility the bulk of his defense came in the form of a pair of shield generators housed in solid strips along the outside of each hip. One was an energy shield, in that it repelled all energy while making an exclusion for his own weapons. It operated like a bubble surrounding him and anyone he kept close, with him able to adjust the size with a simple touch to the control interface he was wearing.

The second shield was the more complex, for it was anti-ballistic and also encompassed him in a sphere of protection. The delicate nature of the construction only blocked fast moving objects, allowing Ker-shat to interact with his environment as if the shield was not even there…but it was, with a matrix structured in a way not to oppose normal movements. Or rather, technically it opposed everything, just at such a low level that it wasn’t detectable. When sufficient momentum hit the shield matrix it caught and caused a chain reaction that intensified the resistance, much like trying to walk through water.

Move slowly and you have little trouble, try and go fast and you essentially run into a brick wall. It was a crude metaphor but essentially correct, though the seamless integration with Ker-shat’s combat made it appear almost magical. The only other things he wore were the gauntlets on his forearms, both weapons and comm gear integrated into a single unit. Other than that it was just his muscle and skill guiding him into combat with a fluid grace.

His flight harness was part of the shield struts attached to his legs and allowed him brief moments of ability, while needing to recharge in between. The anti-grav tech gave the Voku incredible speed across ground in addition to their own running speed, essentially able to jump ahead and close with enemies incredibly fast, as well as to augment jumping.

That was how Ker-shat approached his second target, running a few steps then dashing ahead, almost dragging his feet on the ground as he shot across 30 meters and punched a Nestafar in the head while kicking another two nearby before delivering the killing energy blasts. The rainbow glob of light seemed to defy description or shape, passing as a blur between his forearm and the targets as the rest of the nearby Nestafar began to realize they were being attacked from the rear.

That was when the heavy weapons ‘hammer’ opened fire. He wore the same equipment as the skirmishers plus an exoskeleton that contained a number of extra weapons, the most prominent of which was a tiny Dwio. He didn’t use it at first, intent on clearing out some of the infantry nearby as he closed distance with the walker, sizing up its weak spot. He knew he had to get within one jump from it first, and to do that they had to get through the infantry that was beginning to make hits on the trio’s shields with their red plasma pistols and rifles.

It was an inferior weapon, but damaging enough in large numbers. Ker-shat knew they could take a great many hits before they were in jeopardy, but not from the walker which stopped in its tracks and began to turn around, bringing its primary weapon to bear on them.

Both skirmishers went wide right, hoping to draw its attention and simultaneously diving into a thicker infantry cloud that saw about 2/3rds of the enemy shooting at them from the air rather than from the ground. Keeping on the move they avoided one large plasma blast that actually hit and killed a pair of Nestafar, with the gunner seeming not to care as it continued tracking the two as they got a bit closer to the machine.

Meanwhile the hammer was slowly approaching from the flank, fighting his way through the infantry without carrying much how many of them he got. They were for the skirmishers, his task was the walker and he cagily began to circle around behind it, eyeing the distance he needed and not wanting to dart ahead too quickly and draw attention.

Ker-shat dashed to the right, catching a small bit of the plasma orb as it hit the ground beside him and seeing his shield strength diminish considerably. He still had plenty to fight with, but too many near misses and he’d become exposed. Prompting himself to be more evasive than hunter, he took out three more enemy infantry and kept away from the plasma blasts until he saw the hammer shoot through a nearly horizontal jump and up onto the walker’s back, coming down behind the neck and firing his Dwio directly into the topside armor, vaporizing the defense turret there as it came around to shoot him off.

Ker-shat figured he had it dead to rights, but as long as it was still operational the main cannon at the top of the long neck was still a threat so he kept dancing around and killing infantry where he could until the hammer finally dropped the big machine, with it crumpling to the ground as its legs bent up to form a shallow cage around the Voku as the infantry swarmed toward him and tried to shoot him off…but it was too late.

Now no longer having to be excessively evasive, the two skirmishers went aggressive and started leaping towards whatever enemies were nearby as the distant plasma fire ahead continued without interference as the forward end of the Nestafar advance was still fighting it out with Star Force, apparently unaware that their walker was now down. It wasn’t long until a couple of silver armored Humans jumped out from behind their barricades and rushed the Nestafar while their support snipers continued laying down fire.

The Nestafar instinctively pulled back and up into the air, their natural defensive move, Ker-shat was discovering, with the Voku now making use of it and taking out two or three per leap as the Nestafar were clustering together into firing groups to try and get through the Humans’ thick armor. There were so many that the three Voku had their fill of targets, slowly wearing down their numbers with the Humans making the most kills by far, but eventually the Nestafar figured they’d lost and all of them took flight, pulling back across the dead walker and retreating towards the distant LZ that they’d come from.

Ker-shat and other Voku went after them, leaving the Humans behind and leaping forward to catch the fleeing flyers who were decently fast through the air once they got up to speed. He killed six more before an enemy fighter swooped in and landed a hit on his shield that blew away nearly a quarter of the defensive barrier’s strength. When it came around for a second pass he held up, staring it down and ready to make a defensive dash in whatever direction needing as the hammer landed a Dwio on the craft, damaging it.

The fighter pulled off and fled, with the Nestafar infantry now too far ahead to pursue.

Ker-shat activated his comm and reported their success, then waited with the others for pickup, with a troop transport flying in overhead within a few minutes. The trio jumped up to the underside and grabbed hold of the square rims, pulling themselves inside so they could be moved to another combat zone…and would continue doing so until all threats were eliminated.

Kali-1388 fired off a salvo of missiles from her madcat, with the tiny little guided projectiles swarming towards a Skarron Type-5 walker as it was escorting a Type-4 that was engaging a trio of Nestafar spider walkers and getting the armor chewed off it. Infantry from both sides were around, but otherwise staying out of the way of the big machines as there were groups of combatants everywhere.

Kali damaged the Skarron walker further with some lachar blasts but was still outside mauler range. Gauging the damage to both sides, she twisted her mech’s torso around and leveled the right arm at one of the spiders in the distance, then fired a rail gun slug at it. The metallic round shot across the distance and clipped off one of the legs with the impact, missing the central hull but none the less twisting it around on collision.

As she walked her mech forward she continued to dish out damage to both sides, not in a hurry to get in close, though that’s where her mauler would come into play. Just before she reached the enemy’s plasma range she got a waypoint ping on her battlemap and quickly turned her madcat to the left, accelerating up to full speed and sprinting the machine across the rocky ground, hoping the computer wouldn’t get overwhelmed by all the small bumps and trip on the rocks.

In the distance she could see a pair of voltrons and a slew of escort mechs tangling with a Type-2 and a pair of super dragons…which at the moment were both attacking the Star Force mechs. Ignoring the craziness of it all she targeted the damaged super dragon and launched all her remaining missiles, knowing she needed to do the most damage as she could, otherwise the weapons on the enemy walkers would do a lot more in return.

It took some 18 seconds for her two missile boxes riding above the ‘shoulders’ on her mech to fully unload, with a long plume of exhaust marking their path towards the walker as she continued to run forward…with other Star Force mechs nearby turning to coalesce around the battlemap beacon. When dealing with super-heavy opponents you had to gank them quickly or they’d wear down your side so much that they could turn the tide in any battle…which is probably what the enemies were thinking about the voltrons, prompting them to shoot at the big mechs rather than each other at the moment.

Knowing better than to try and fire the rail gun while running, she held off and tried to do some extra damage with her lachars…then readjusted her aim to a giraffe with a hole blown in its side that was still firing off plasma blasts at her team and pretty much being ignored in favor of larger targets. Taking manual control she lined up the shot then peppered the walker with lachar blasts rather than the continuous version she also had the opportunity to use. This way she could keep firing in a chain gun-like manner continuously rather than having to take a recharge break.

A lot of her shots missed, but she kept it up from range and even though her aim running was shaky she delivered enough hits to the damaged section to see the walker collapse on its own legs and power down, no longer throwing plasma at her friends.

Just then a huge explosion ripped apart the Type-1, with Kali not knowing where it came from. She hadn’t seen anything hit it, then as it twisted and fell over she saw a big chrome suit of armor riding it down…no, not one, but three of the things larger than her madcat with their arms dug into the side as it crashed.

But with all Type-1s that wasn’t the end of it, for it simply jettisoned the damaged segment and kept on fighting, with the three Voku mech/suits running away quickly as they got pummeled with plasma. Two of them made it, but the third went down hard, its shields no longer protecting it and the Skarrons exacting their revenge for the lost segment until a giant physical shield dropped over top and blocked the incoming fire as one of the voltrons moved forward to cover it.

The other two kept running backwards until they were out of the main firing lines, then Kali did a double take as the two came together in what looked like a giant robot hug and melted into one another, forming a stationary stature that the Archon couldn’t look at any longer as she was now within mauler range of a group of spiders and giraffes that were just now beginning to target her.

She slowed to a walk and opened up with her mauler and rail gun, taking a spider out within 20 seconds before turning slightly right to attack another, with all those involved constantly on the move and repositioning, though her mech was by far the most agile…up until a pair of starscreams flew in and landed nearby, transforming into mech mode and giving her some backup with their own smaller mauler cannons.

A proximity alarm alerted her to a contact coming up behind her, and she looked just in time to see another of the Voku mech/suits run past and dive head first into three spiders. It landed on one, grabbing it and rolling through a somersault with it locked in a death grip, then flipping it through the air coming out of the roll before jutting to the side and kicking another to the ground.

Kali landed a mauler blast on that one before the Voku reached its arms forward and pummeled the walker with energy blasts while ignoring the plasma raining down on its back from the third spider and others further away. She adjusted her aim to the other spider, then held up as the starscreams crossed her firing line. With a moment to glance at what else was happening she saw the melting ‘statue’ finally take shape and walk off, now half again as tall as it had been with a similar biped form.

It ran up alongside the second voltron, now almost as tall as it, and the pair ran forward together, with the second voltron joining them in a shield wedge, with the Voku in the center and mostly protected from the white plasma storm coming down on them, though the giant physical shields were starting to show a few holes.

That was all Kali could see, for she had to turn her attention to the second super dragon as it adjusted its sights away from the voltrons and towards her little section of battle. She was still outside of mauler range, barely, so she ran forward and began firing it and her rail gun off as quickly as she could, with the metallic bullets not needing to be well aimed to hit the giant machine.

It fired off one large plasma stream, hitting another madcat and melting/exploding the missile boxes off it. The mech fell, apparently already having its shields down, and buried its nose into the ground, then suddenly all the anti-air weapons on the Skarron Type-1 lit up as a mass dropped out of the air and impacted the ground with a large boom that rocked Kali’s mech slightly. Before the dust cleared a giant Voku mech/suit stood up and walked towards the super dragon and punched it down into the ground with a massive fist.

Then, prompting a laugh of joy from Kali, it picked the entire super dragon up and spun it around its body, building momentum before releasing it sideways…and throwing it into the side of its twin, sending both crashing in a tumble.

“Yes!” she yelled in a satisfactory manner as she looked for another target of her own, finding plenty and settling on a spider that was now targeting the Voku. “Kick their ass bro. I’ve got your back.”

8

August 29, 2537

Hachtat System

Eliossa

One of the Elarioni, whose name was impossible for Humans to pronounce, swam along with her sisters in a long, river-like flow of bodies through the ocean towards the shore, escorted by their aquatics warships to make sure that neither the Nestafar nor Skarrons interfered with the evacuation process and attacked the defenseless civilians. Shri, which is what she would eventually be called once they arrived in the ADZ, could sense her sisters all around her, but not just in the line she was traveling with. There were others nearby, all converging on the same area where the Human transports were waiting on shore.

The Elarioni had a limited telepathic ability, not enough to speak to one another or read minds, but they could feel each other out and read basic emotions, such as when one of them was in danger the others would know or when they were excited or happy. Right now Shri was swimming in a sea of anxiety, kicking her tail rhythmically to maintain a decent pace and having her hair swaying in the chop from the others ahead of her. She carried only a small satchel with her, having been told all other supplies would be provided on the transports and that space was at a premium.

They were going to have to endure some very close living quarters in order to get everyone offworld, but that was a small price to pay for their freedom. Already the Skarrons had attacked two underwater settlements…futilely, but their intentions were clear. Not only were they going to rid the planet of Nestafar, but they were not going to tolerate any other presence here. Their aquatic weaponry was limited to infantry troops with spike guns, but she and the others knew/suspected that the Skarrons hadn’t come here equipped for aquatic warfare, for they didn’t discover the Elarioni civilization until after they’d arrived…meaning that if they were willing to start engaging them with what little they had available, then that probably meant their true aquatic forces were on the way.

That was a fight they were willing to make in the water, but they’d never be able to remove them from the surface. And if the Alliance’s reports were accurate, the Skarrons would keep sending more and more troops from their massive empire until they eventually succeeded. Shri and the others had to flee before they could be enveloped in a no-win scenario that would gradually grind down their population and resources until they were wiped out of existence.

The fact that there was fighting going on now up above was cause enough for anxiety, but Shri and the others weren’t very keen on the idea of traveling on an alien ship…especially considering those aliens were air breathers. That said, it was a way off the planet and they were going to take it, trusting their leadership’s guidance despite their misgivings and abandoning their homes for the evacuation lines, some of which stretched thousands of miles.

Those long lines were being facilitated by aquatic ships carrying and offloading evacuees to nearby locations, then allowing them to swim the remainder of the journey on their own. Already it had been 13 days of constant evacuations, with Star Force transports landing by the dozens, loading, then taking off for the ADZ while others came down to replace them. Shri hadn’t seen any of the ships in person, only on recordings, but they were massive vessels that she had a hard time understanding how they could even land on a planet.

Most of the Elarioni ships were small and agile, with massive hulks being the way of other races…yet one more reason for their apprehension, though in theory a big ship would carry greater defenses, yet Elarioni combat philosophy held that speed and agility was more important than armor and shields.

At least that’s the way it worked underwater. In the air or space was another matter entirely, which was also why they felt so out of place there. The Alliance was much better suited to such combat arenas, and hopefully the two could learn and supplement each other…at least that was the stated purpose of this merger with the Alliance. They rescue the Elarioni and in turn Shri’s people would help strengthen their aquatics fronts, few as they were.

The pace Shri and the others were maintaining wasn’t overly hard, but they’d been swimming for the past 14 hours and all were getting tired. None the less they persisted, understanding the importance and danger of the situation, and swam on with the seafloor gradually rising up beneath them until they were in the coastal shallows…with that environment eliciting even more anxiety, for the closer to land they were the more danger they were in. Elarioni preferred deep water above all else, with the shallows making them feel claustrophobic.

Shri had expected a large group to have gathered around the loading areas, but to her surprise there was none at all. The line she was traveling in merged with four others at various points in the shallows, with the now super-thick line ending at the opening of a massive tube with several Star Force armored suits floating nearby with flanking Elarioni escorts, for crowd control she imagined. She was less than 100 meters away from them when the line suddenly stopped and she got her first rest…though she found that floating in place waiting was more disturbing, for she felt like the enemy could drop down on her head at any moment.

Those in the tube swam on, disappearing around the upward bend and into the ship beyond. Shri and the others couldn’t see more than a giant shadow ahead of them through the water, for they were staying low beneath the surface to avoid drawing attention from enemy fighters that might be circling around overhead. A few minutes later that shadow rose up and disappeared, letting the sunlight through that created a mild haze from the dust in the water from the combat that had been occurring nearby.

Shri waited and waited, nervously flexing her three fingers in and out while giving her tail and torso muscles a much needed rest. There was little talking, for all were tired, but the guards at the entrance of the tube told them that another transport was incoming and they spread the word back down the line as the group at the end swelled up into a large crowd.

Eventually another shadow lowered over them and set down on shore, connecting to the tube and sending a pair of red-armored Humans down it and into view…whereupon the line started moving again, with them leading the Elarioni up it with the guards at the entrance setting up the spacing to keep the flow moving but not overcrowded.

Shri was held for a moment by the outstretched arm of one of her sisters, then released without so much as a casual glance at her. These guards must have processed thousands if not millions of Elarioni by now, so the lack of personality was understandable. Shri swam into the 50m wide tube along with the others and curved up, rising above the level of the ocean and onto land, she guessed, for the tube walls were opaque with nothing visible outside them…hopefully because they were covered in heavy armor.

When she got to the end of the not so short tube the line was divided up, with her being shuffled into the leftmost segment and into a much smaller tube with three others beside her. That little group swam through the curvy course, with a feeling of claustrophobia choking her mind, both from her own fear and that of the others washing over her but there was nothing they could do but keep moving so they bravely swam on, not knowing what they would encounter ahead.

About a minute later her group of four exited the tube into a large chamber, with the transition being a physical relief on all the Elarioni, but above and beyond that was the curious joy at seeing their own technology inside. The room was alien, but small stations were constructed in Elarioni fashion and even had their own language prompts and keyboards, with a repetitive audial instruction to log in at an available terminal.

Shri swam over to an open one and followed the written instructions. It was little more than a check-in station where she input her personal identification information, then a small armband was produced in a cupola beside it. She took the Elarioni designed bracelet and slid it over her wrist and halfway up to her elbow, then swam forward two meters and used it to access another tube, this one with a waterlock. She swam inside the Elarioni designed structure, knowing how to access it and closing the doorway behind her.

With the armband she touched a sensitive panel and heard machinery moving for a few seconds before the other side of the waterlock opened into a very narrow tunnel which she swam down following a guide light on the wall. She kept pace with it easily enough, for it was moving slowly, but its presence felt reassuring because Elarioni used such things in their own cities to guide children and newcomers around. Eventually the tunnel split into four branches, with her following the light into the upper right and down another length before she passed through four more splits.

The last section of tunnel finally opened up into a curious habitat area, reminiscent of Elarioni design but much more compact. She saw a few others swinging around the choked passageways that were little more than cracks between floating cubes in an otherwise huge water-filled environment.

Shri politely made her way through the crowds even as a prompt was repeating itself, indicating that all should stay ‘indoors’ during the loading procedure. Some of the others were traveling as she was, while others were moving about out of curiosity and making traffic impediments of themselves.

Following the information on her armband Shri made her way through the tight habitat to her section…a large cube suspended by beams connecting it to others and the distant walls. She entered one of the 24 entrances and swam inside searching for her compartment. After several twists and turns she came to number 73 and opened the small round door and pulled herself inside, seeing little more than an elevator-sized chamber.

Immediately she worried about claustrophobia, but the entire design was Elarioni despite the difference in materials, and she settled into a resting float in the center as she logged into the computer with her new id and accessed the newsfeeds and other aps, one of which allowed her an external view of the ship.

She unconsciously released a bubble from her nose when she saw what was happening. The Human ships were truly massive and parked all along the coast, each with multiple tubes connecting them to the water. She could see fighters streaking by overhead in patrols while walking machines did the same nearby. One of the giant transports pulled up, showing its true bulk, only to be replaced by another coming down mere minutes later.

Shri knew there had to be millions of Elarioni in these ships, and she was both impressed and afraid of so many people being packed in together, for they made easy targets.

She kept looking around the other camera options, some not even based on her transport, that showed the distant fighting. The area around the evacuation zone was secure, yet riddled with debris. There appeared to be at least two ongoing conflicts to the south, but her ship was well outside of their weapons range. She did notice the Star Force troops, which she was somewhat familiar with by this point given how much information about the ADZ had been passing around, but there was another ally in play that she didn’t realize. She searched the computer database and couldn’t find a match, wondering if it was her own fault for missing something or if they simply didn’t have information on whoever they were.

Regardless they were fighting the Skarrons more effectively than the Nestafar had been, which gave her a little bit of comfort as she waited for the transport to load. Inside her compartment there was food, which she eventually started to nibble on. Everything was right here that she would need for the trip, with the introduction material on her terminal indicating that it was preferred that she stay put for the duration of the journey, given that there wasn’t room for lounging outside.

Shri knew that wouldn’t do for a long interstellar trip, but the compartment was comfortable enough that she settled in and distracted herself with watching what was happening outside…and within. There was a separate, live feed showing the boarding process, how many compartments there were, and how many were filled. At the moment there was only 2% filled, and she’d been here for more than half an hour already, underscoring just how large the Human transports were.

There were also ways of checking on who else was onboard her ship and even the others, with Shri looking up several of her friends to see if they’d evacuated already. Some had come with her onto this ship, she knew, but it wasn’t until she looked down through the lists that she found out which ones were where…and the fact that she could send them messages.

That kept her busy for the hours that followed as she had an ongoing conversation with two of them up until the transport disconnected from the water tubes and began to lift off. Shri paused her conversation to watch and mentally cross her fingers, hoping they wouldn’t end up getting shot down. Painfully slow the transport rose up above the evacuation zone, with her getting an aerial view of it all and seeing just how large it was from yet another perspective.

From there they moved up through the atmosphere with her keeping a close watch on the surrounding combat to see if any fighters or ships would be coming their way…but the trip up to low orbit didn’t see any difficulties. There they stopped, however, along with several other fully loaded transports and many empty ones under the protection of an even larger Star Force warship that dwarfed the ship she was on. It and many smaller ones guarded them as they waited, for what she didn’t know, but they spent many hours there…with her feeling a mix of anxiousness and relief, for both she and the others were off the planet they feared they’d be trapped on, but waiting in orbit to be shot down was equally vexing.

Ultimately her ship formed up into a convoy of 9 transports that were escorted out by the other faction that was aiding the Humans. Shri still couldn’t get an identity on them, but their ships had the same chrome color as their walking battle machines and they flew out to a jumppoint with them while others were intercepting the Skarron ships that were actively trying to get at them.

Shri’s heart nearly leapt up into her throat as a group of six actually got within weapons range and fired on a transport…not hers and the shields held, but it was still frightening all the same. Those enemy ships were quickly engaged while the transports moved on, jumping out from the planet on a brief trip to the star where they met up with thousands of others, most of whom the computer tagged as being empty and waiting for their chance to go down to the planet.

Only then did she fully realize the scale of the evacuation effort. Seeing numbers on a chart was one thing, but looking at all these ships here and knowing how packed hers was underscored just how big this operation was…and how much they owed the Alliance for doing this.

More of the alien ships were here, guarding them closely as a handful of Star Force warships also patrolled the area. Things appeared quiet at the moment, with no enemy ships in orbit…as far as her sensor feeds indicated. There was another long wait, one in which Shri slept through while her transport slowly docked with a jumpship, before the console pinged an update alert as they finally got moving towards their jumppoint in a much larger convoy with one of the Star Force warships escorting them out.

Her jumpship went first, followed by the others shortly thereafter that she was then able to detect mid-jump through their location beacons. It took a while for them to register over the vast distances they were coasting between, but she did see the warship bringing up the rear, glad to have the military vessel with them and even more glad to be out of the war zone.

Now was the longest wait of all, with them having to make multiple jumps that would take weeks to get to their eventual destination. Shri stayed in her compartment for three days before venturing out and over to one belonging to a friend and talking with her in person, as most of the other Elarioni were doing. Other than that she explored a bit, finding nothing but habitats and spending most of her time in her own and accessing the entertainment, social, and knowledge software to pass the time.

Of particular interest was their destination world, which she studied intently and happy to find out that it was completely a water world with no land for enemies to occupy. If they wanted to take it, they’d have to fight an aquatics war, which she knew her people were more than capable of doing.

The database called it ‘Atlantica,’ which she had a hard time pronouncing, but by the end of the trip she had it down well enough in her own dialect and was eager to feel its waters on her blue skin.

9

November 2, 2537

Hachtat System

Eliossa

Riona was woken from a sleep cycle onboard the TF and groggily ran to the hangar bay, half dressing in the hallway as she went and getting into her skeet just in time to hit the air along with a dozen others that met up with some 100+ Voku fighters a few miles off enroute to a fresh enemy LZ where the Skarrons were just now beginning to land transports. There hadn’t even been enough time for an orbital battle, with the enemy dropping into the atmosphere directly from their jumppoint and burning hard to get to the surface past the chasing Voku vessels.

Several dozen Skarron warships broke off from the group to intercept them, screening for the transports to get to ground and unload thousands of new walkers onto the planet a few miles off from the evacuation zone…and within easy walking distance for the machines to begin a new assault from. So far, after an intense first three weeks of combat, both the Skarron and Nestafar had avoided the Star Force foothold on the planet while they continued to battle each other in other areas. There were a few attempts to get at the evacuation ships over the two months that followed, but nothing that the defenses couldn’t repulse with ease.

As was typical, that was about to change. Riona blinked away the last traces of sleep from her eyes and focused on the sensor readings from the LZ ahead as she and her impromptu squadron tucked in behind the much larger Voku fighters. The skeets were faster in super pursuit mode, but she wanted to arrive with their allies because it was going to get messy very fast and the more anti-air that went their way the better. The Voku fighters were more heavily armored than the skeets and could take a greater pounding, hopefully allowing the Star Force fighters some breathing room to maneuver.

By the time the group arrived at the LZ there were already over 50 walkers on the ground and the fighters knew better than to try and hit them. Instead they climbed and stretched out into a long line, some 5 or six fighters wide, and struck like a plasma streamer at one of the descending transports that had four Type-3s suspended underneath plus who knew how many infantry inside.

The Voku hit first, pounding and breaching its shields as they shot past taking what anti-air fire could hit them as more and more fighters struck the ship enroute to flying to the far side. Riona’s group was in the back third of the lot and unloaded their maulers and what missiles they had on the target before zipping past and out of sight as the Skarron fighters emerging from multiple transports, most of which weren’t even on the ground yet, poured down on them and the Voku in turn turned their attention to neutralizing that threat as the transports continued to flow down to the surface.

Riona’s squadron turned back after some dicey maneuvers to avoid collisions with the Skarron fighters and dove after the now smoking transport. Alternating between short attack runs and flanking ‘stalls’ that allowed them to pound the craft from short distance the skeets added to the existing damage and managed to knock it out of the sky before it could sufficiently decelerate.

The transport rammed the rocky ground, smashing the four walkers underneath it and crumpling on impact, killing who knew how many inside. Riona couldn’t watch long, for the enemy fighters were increasing in number and before too long they’d be outmatched and would have to flee, but she was content that they’d taken out those four walkers…which would mean less for their ground troops to deal with later, though given the overall numbers the Skarrons were deploying it seemed that it would matter little.

Riona brought her squadron back up to the Voku and assisted them with killing several hundred fighters before the airspace became too clogged and they had to pull back, bringing the enemy with them and fighting an ongoing battle while retreating all the way back to the evacuation zone perimeter defenses where the land-based mechs added their anti-air fire to the mix and more Star Force and Voku fighters arrived from other locations to assist.

Knowing that they had to kill as many of the fighters now, while they could before more unpacked from the transports and literally choked the skies, Riona flew hard and aggressive, more so than normal in order to rack up a high kill count but the overreach eventually came back to bite her as she risked going back into the thick of the fray with too low of shields and got hammered by a group of Skarron fighters working in concert as the two Voku fighters nearby her went down and left her momentarily isolated.

She saw the vulnerability immediately and tried to go evasive, but too much plasma was coming her way and her armor could take only so many hits. A long loop towards the ground ended with her tail being blow off and her skeet hitting and rolling across the ground in a very pod racer-like crash, with the numerous flips tearing off what appendages the enemy fighters had left intact. The last few rotations banged her around inside the cockpit as the IDF lost power, leaving her dizzy and disoriented for several long seconds after the remains of the skeet finally came to a rest.

“Damn it,” she swore, grabbing her rifle, popping the canopy open, and rolling out to drop onto the ground as she fell a couple of meters, leaving her staring up at the sky.

Riona got to her feet and looked around, seeing the fighters continuing their battle overhead but at the moment it looked like they were ignoring her…as they should, for they had plenty of targets up there that could shoot back. When she turned around and looked towards the LZ the pit of her stomach sank as she saw their ground troops already in play and heading her way…both walkers and a horde of infantry preceding them.

She figured she had about 3 minutes before the leading elements reached her, and there was no way she could fight them hand to hand out in the open…leaving her one choice.

Riona walked around the edge of her broken skeet and took off running back towards the evacuation zone perimeter several kilometers away and desperately hoping that none of the fighters would try and make a strafing run on her. The striker armor that she wore would protect her from a single hit, maybe two, but fighter weaponry was much more potent than the infantry versions and this would be a very bad matchup, especially since she couldn’t fight back, but she didn’t have any good options. Staying put was a death sentence, so she had to run and run fast.

Riona activated the powered nature of the armor and took off in a flash, running as fast as she could in just shorts and a jog bra, with the heavy armor plates moving themselves to keep in sync with her body’s own motions. After about thirty seconds she reached back and disconnected her rifle and tossed it aside to make herself lighter and more smooth, recognizing the fact that if she had to shoot it out with anyone right now she was as good as dead…plus she always had psionics to use if she had to.

With that extra weight gone her speed increased a tick, plus she threw in a few Yetu bursts that her armor matched, with her watching the skies as much as the rock strewn ground ahead of her, choosing her foot placements ahead of time so as not trip herself up. Riona ran for several minutes with additional fighters dropping out of the air…most of which were Skarron…all around her, with several pieces of debris raining down and hitting her helmet, but fortunately they were no bigger than her finger, though if she hadn’t been wearing armor they would have cut her up for sure.

Counting herself lucky in multiple ways she kept running as fast as she could consistently manage, tearing across the meters of ground with a speed that most biped races could never hope to match and searching the horizon ahead of her looking for the nearest fort/outpost that would mean a safe haven. She saw several mechs ahead, but they couldn’t do much more than distract the enemy from her. If she was going to get inside it would have to be at one of the outposts and so far she couldn’t see any, though the battlemap said they were there.

She passed by a madcat that was walking the opposite direction and firing off its rail gun with a boom that shook her steps, but the Archon managed to stay on her feet and keep running, eventually passing two more in that particular star before she got behind them, feeling a bit better but still overall exposed as large dark spots began to rise up ahead of her. At first she thought they were transports leaving, but they held a low altitude and grew in size, coming forward towards the enemy and Riona seeing that they were not tagged on the battlemap for several seconds before an update was made.

That meant Star Force didn’t know what they were initially, but soon the Elarioni tags appeared just before their ring-like warships opened fire on the Skarrons behind her with what looked like Sammies but she couldn’t be sure. They were accompanied by huge globs of glowing blue and purple that looked for all the world like a glue spitter.

Riona wanted to turn and look at what they were hitting but she didn’t, knowing that she had to keep running to safety before her luck turned from bad to worse. Eventually the warships, most of which had an elliptical design to the rings, passed overhead with her able to see the sun through their hollow center, as well as the fighters that were continuing to battle it out at higher altitudes.

Eventually one of the outposts came into view and she had to divert to the south a bit, already with her legs burning from the effort but she didn’t care. She could rest later, and sore legs were a lot easier to recover from than plasma burns so she pressed on until one of the gates opened up ahead of her, allowing her to keep her speed all the way into the interior, with it resealing behind her and the bubble shield overhead finally taking her out of harm’s way.

Riona slowed to a stop then sagged to the ground, landing on her knees and breathing heavily. She knew she had to get to the command center and organize pickup so she could get back into the fight, but right now she had to let her body recover, for she’d pushed herself far harder than she’d intended to, with the adrenaline of the moment overriding her normal inhibitions.

“Are you alright?” a Regular commando asked as she came up to her.

Riona held up a ‘wait’ finger as she continued heaving, slowly pulling her breathing back under control enough to speak.

“Yes…I need…transport…back to…the…TF,” she managed between heavy breaths.

The commando nodded. “I’ll relay the message. Nice escape by the way.”

Riona nodded but didn’t say anything as she ran off, preferring to spend her precious air on recover rather than useless sentiment. She did manage to look up and see more of the Elarioni warships passing by overhead, prompting her to adjust her battlemap to see how much damage they were doing to the enemy…which was when she also saw large Voku ground and air formations closing on the Skarron LZ and their assault columns reaching out from it towards the evacuation zone.

This was going to be one messy fight, and she had to get back into it as soon as possible.

In orbit Paul had his hands full, but nothing compared to what was going on down on the surface. The Skarrons had brought a sizeable fleet escorting their transports and some of it was headed his way to try and get at his own transports, which he was tasked to defend. That left the offensive portion of the orbital battle to the Voku, who were doing a remarkable job of it, but once again the Skarrons had brought with them a solid naval punch and were milking it for all it was worth in order to get their troops to ground…and the frustrating part was that there was no way for Paul to stop them, nor could he send drones down to the surface to help out, for he needed them all to protect the Elarioni onboard the transports.

He was relieved when he saw their own warships coming up out of the ocean and moving into the fight…something that hadn’t occurred to date, but as curious as he was to see what weaponry they employed he didn’t have the luxury of watching. The Skarrons were getting tricky in their maneuvers and he had to keep reshuffling his ‘chess board’ around the safe zone in orbit to outflank any potential runs in at the waiting transports, though some were already taking long range lachar hits, meaning Paul had to send drones out after those attacking ships to either destroy them or force them back out of range, keeping him constantly busy with only a moment here and there to glance at what was happening down on the surface.

There was someone else watching, however, and watching closely. More than a day into the battle new ships flew in, not coming from space but from overland and depositing a Nestafar army on the far side of the Skarron LZ, with them seeing a moment of opportunity to strike back at the enemy that was slowly conquering their planet. They had no love for Star Force or the Elarioni, but they recognized that they weren’t here to conquer their world and were defending only a tiny piece of it…and if they could use the confusion to put some serious hurt on the Skarrons then they were going to take the opportunity before they had to face this huge relief force on their own if/when they overran the Humans and their allies.

With flocks of Valeries following the transports out and providing air cover, the massive ships unloaded the Nestafar walkers and send them into the Skarrons’ grounded transport like several deadly arrows, hitting their weak side with the enemy sluggish in response…and even then only able to throw a few troops their way, for the bulk of them were engaged on the far side and unable to redeploy fast enough even if they’d been free to do so.

After some 20+ transports were destroyed a few of them started taking off, with the Valeries hitting them hard and sandblasting their shields with thousands of tiny plasma blasts, enough to tear through them and take a few of the ships down while the ground troops continued to blast more of them into rubble from pointblank range.

Inside of that rubble field more Skarron infantry and a handful of walkers met them, with several Type-1s and 2s throwing up missile support in a huge arc that traveled up over the transports in the LZ and down onto the super dragons, knocking out several of them in less than a minute but leaving so many more intact that they couldn’t stop the Nestafar assault wave, despite seeing it coming towards them at an ominous, pondering pace.

Now getting hit hard from both flanks the Skarrons had a choice to make…stay and fight it out or try to pull back and save what troops they could. They chose the former, making both Star Force and the Nestafar earn their victory and wearing down the troops on both sides. It took another four days before the Skarrons were eventually slaughtered, with most of their transports fleeing into space before they could be killed…yet unable to pick up their walkers and infantry to take with them.

When the Nestafar troops eventually came into contact with Star Force, the Elarioni, and the Voku Paul ordered a slight pause to allow them to retreat…but they didn’t. Instead they dove head first into their other enemies and forced another long battle that consumed the next 2 days, ending with an Alliance victory but at a heavy cost.

There were Voku mech/suits everywhere, along with destroyed fighters and infantry corpses, though the latter didn’t have massive numbers of casualties, given that they were selective in where they employed them. Many Star Force mechs and skeets were down as well, though in far smaller numbers given that they hadn’t had a large force to contribute to the battle in the first place.

Two Elarioni warships had also fallen, now dug into the ground and leaking water. Recovery efforts were being made by the other ships to try and get to any surviving crew, but land and air were death to the Elarioni and few were recovered alive.

The rest of their ships were showing damage of various levels, all of which retreated back into the water and disappeared into the depths to make repairs, leaving an incredible amount of debris behind on the battlefield, most of which belonged to the Skarrons. It stood as a testament to the effort Star Force and the Voku were going to in order to get the Elarioni off this world…all the while the evacuation transports continued to load and depart round the clock.

That was the ultimate victory of it all, but accomplished at a high cost…and one that the Elarioni would never forget.

10

December 27, 2537

Hachtat System

Eliossa

Paul stood in the command nexus onboard the Adamant, much as he had for most of the past 4 months, but for the first time he was holding back the transports. That was because the Skarron fleet in the system had been continually growing, and even as they successfully evacuated most of the Elarioni from the planet the convoys heading out to the Voku fleet guarding the jumpships at the star had been getting jumped more regularly.

The Skarrons hadn’t hit his position or at the star, trying instead to snipe their ships when they were at their most vulnerable, and now that they were devoting more and more warships to that endeavor Paul had to hold back the last of the transports or risk losing one…something he had avoided thus far.

Most of the planet was now in Skarron hands, with the Nestafar stupidly having wasted troops battling Star Force and the Voku, but in truth if they hadn’t it would have only delayed their defeat. The Skarrons were overrunning them with numbers that they hadn’t seen in the assaults on the ADZ…a dire omen for what was likely to be coming their way eventually, for Nestafar space was much closer to Skarron territory. If this was how they dealt with nearer threats, then it was only a matter of time until their border eeked out close enough to the ADZ to warrant a larger assault.

But they had time to prepare, it seemed, and right now getting the last of the Elarioni out was the mission. They were going to accomplish it with ease, Paul knew, thanks to the superiority of the Voku. But completing that mission without losing a single transport was the tricky part…and not leaving anyone behind. The Skarrons weren’t stupid, and had deduced what they were up to, all the while trying to interfere if just out of spite, for they didn’t have the numbers to take down the Voku fleet, given how superior their ships were.

So Paul held the last of the transports, getting a group of around 400 sitting in next to the Adamant and his other few warships, surrounded by a cloud of drones with patrolling Voku cruiser analogs keeping any predators at bay while frigate analogs spread out in an even wider detection zone, sending out active signals to monitor the area with such sensor intensity that it surprised Paul. Apparently they didn’t want the enemy sneaking anything in, though to date Skarron tech hadn’t shown any such capability and Paul wondered what enemies the Voku had that did.

When the last transport was loaded at 3/4ths capacity he held the six more empty ones that were waiting in orbit and signaled the other empties at the star to stop coming. Some of the ships were on their third round trip, just having gotten back from Atlantica thanks to the ever increasing speed of Star Force’s newer jumpships. The long trek, however, still meant that Star Force had to devote an insane percentage of their transport fleet to this endeavor…and not just here, but the other 7 planets that were being simultaneously evacuated.

Paul had gotten a few status reports from them, passed along by the transports who were meeting up at their eventual destination and swapping intel, and so far there had been no major problems in any of the campaigns, each of which was led by a trailblazer. Paul had taken the most difficult assignment for himself, or so he’d thought in the planning stage, with the reports coming back indicating that he’d been correct.

This planet’s Elarioni population was the largest also, so it was with only a small shock several hours later when the TF finally pulled up from the surface that several thousand Cruiser-class and smaller starships rose up from the oceans across the planet simultaneously, making the waters look like a giant cereal bowl full of O-shaped Cheerios as they made the transition to air.

The Voku stayed on the ground covering Star Force’s exit and came up with the Elarioni, bringing their ground troop transports back up to the carriers in orbit and joining with them in transformer style while their warships pulled back from hunting the Skarrons elsewhere in orbit and formed up into a defensive wedge around the transports and Elarioni civilian starships while the aquatic race’s own warships did likewise.

Not to Paul’s surprise the Skarrons began moving their fleet around quickly, attempting to bring one last hammer blow before they escaped. Problem was such a massive fleet comprised of 3 different races couldn’t move together with as much coordination and alacrity as a single, smaller one. They had to jump out in stages while the long carpet of ships was laid out for the enemy to hit at whatever point their wanted.

Paul held the Adamant back until the last section began to move, knowing the stragglers would be the most vulnerable, and began fighting a rearguard action as Skarron warships began to come up from below them, skirting around to the gap between ship and atmosphere and hitting the rear…intent on coming up the middle and getting at the Star Force transports just ahead.

Devoting what drones he had left, Paul sent them down into the enemy not expecting them to return. He’d had enough with the playing it safe routine and decided to nail the bastards for their insolence…and with Ta’lin’yi they certainly were able to accomplish that, catching the Skarrons off guard with the offensive maneuver and creating a bloody melee as the Adamant gained altitude ahead of them and followed the back of the convoy out.

The Voku commander contacted him and they set up their final battle plans, including sending a few ships back to destroy the drone debris that was large enough to potentially survive impact with the planet. Paul didn’t want the Skarrons getting their hands on any intact pieces, and he’d purposefully had the Adamant hovering over the target zone rather than occupying a normal orbit prior to their final departure, knowing that the drone debris would fall into the atmosphere and burn up…if it was small enough.

Some of the Voku ships flew back and killed the handful of Skarron ships remaining before blasting apart the intact hulls of the drones that were now partially or totally inoperable. None had survived to return to their warships, with Paul having ordered their pilots to hurt the Skarrons as badly as possible…and their having destroyed more than 500 enemy vessels in the process.

But the Skarrons had thousands more insystem with a large chunk of those harassing the outgoing fleet and more jumping in from the other planets to tighten the noose. They weren’t going to get them all here in time and the Voku were insistent that it wouldn’t matter, taking it to the enemy head on and making them pay heavily whenever they ventured close to one of the transports.

The Elarioni warships were doing likewise, guarding their own people closely, on both their ships and the Star Force transports, and giving Paul his first good view of their military hardware. They had beam weapons similar to the Dvapp’s Sammies but these were using an altogether different type of energy. Using the limited sensor readings he was able to get what he thought was a match with the private database of V’kit’no’sat documented tech.

It was a Yor’vok, and something the Elarioni had not originally possessed when the V’kit’no’sat had hunted them. Or, to be more accurate, not what they’d possessed the last time the Elarioni had been updated in the database, with their eventual ouster happening much more recently than the fall of Earth. The Yor’vok was pretty much a standard, straightforward weapon that employed altered photons and worked like a slow moving laser…only infinitely more powerful. Normally light particles were scattered and had large gaps between them in transit, but with the Yor’vok they were densely packed together, so much so that little bits would escape and cause the beam to glow whereas a laser was invisible until it hit and reflected off of something.

It was a burning weapon, effective against shields and armor alike, but the sticky energy matrix they also had was what intrigued him more. That was an even higher level technology and something that Star Force wasn’t yet close to developing. The Elarioni weapon was crude by V’kit’no’sat standards, but it was the first time Paul had seen one of the ‘holy’ weapons employed on the battlefield…and it sent a shiver down his spine.

The Elarioni version couldn’t attack shields, meaning they had to take them down with the Yor’vok first, after which they would essentially spit a glob of glowing destructive goo at slow speeds and splatter the enemy ship…with the Ha’star melting the matter as if it were little more than snow to a bucket of hot water. The drawback was, if you could call it a drawback, that the Skarron ships were so big that the Ha’star could eat large chunks into them and the rest of the warship could keep fighting.

The Elarioni didn’t know yet the interior structure of the enemy and where to probe for weak points and there was no time for Paul to inform them of that now, but none the less the Skarrons had no defense against the Ha’star after their shields went down, for the armor they so depended on was like tissue paper to the Elarioni weapon.

Even though most of his thoughts were centered around the evacuation, a part of Paul’s mind sized up the threat the Elarioni would pose if Star Force fought them…and immediately saw a weakness. Not in his own fleet, but theirs. The Yor’vok was a pure beam weapon, which meant it was easily defendable against with a reflective shield. To date Star Force hadn’t had cause to use such a thing except in low level applications against lachars, with only partial deflection occurring. Against a Yor’vok they’d get full deflection so long as the shield matrix was strong enough, and would even be able to, with a bit of luck and a lot of skill on the shield controller’s part, redirect the Elarioni’s own weapon back at them.

And without being able to take down the Star Force shields their Ha’star would be next to useless. For as advanced as their tech was, their battle layout was lacking. Then again, they were aquatic, with naval warfare probably being something they delved into rarely, especially given that they’d spent so many years in hiding. He was thoroughly impressed by their tech and knew how effective it would be against the lizards and others, but in a head to head he’d own them.

With the Voku warships quickly cleaning up behind the Adamant, the big command ship slowly made its way up to the jumppoint…with more and more Skarron warships closing in around them, so many in fact that the only way to keep the jumppoint clear was to engage the enemy in a slugging match and slowly pull your ships back into themselves as the mass jumped out. The Adamant got severely beaten up in the last few minutes, taking many hits that otherwise would have gone to the Voku as they recovered their damaged ships, melding with them and carrying them out, until finally only a few dozen the Star Force command ship remained.

Those few jumped out together under heavy weaponsfire and ended up at the star a few minutes later, seeing that several skirmishes were already taking place there and knowing that the rest of the Skarron ships would soon be on their way. The evacuation fleet was already repositioning around to the exit jumppoint, which was where one of the conflicts was occurring, but with the influx of Voku and Elarioni ships they kept it clear and sent a continual stream of Elarioni starships out while the Star Force transports continued to load up onto the waiting jumpships.

Paul watched the jump signatures of the Elarioni, getting a computer estimate as to their speed and seeing that they were only slightly faster than the Skarrons…but like their enemy they also didn’t need jumpships, which was a double-edged sword. Paul informed the Adamant’s bridge crew that they’d need to match the Elarioni jump speed in order to stay at the back of the convoy, with a message from the Elarioni coming through that they were claiming the ‘galaxy down’ part of the road, meaning that after they made their departure jump they’d drift lower on the galactic plain, allowing the faster moving jumpships to pass them by above the jumpline to avoid any potential collisions.

As expected the bulk of the Skarron fleet showed up to ‘escort’ them out of the system under fire, with the Adamant taking a few more hull hits but nothing major as it soaked up a lot of the enemy’s attention. The Voku stayed with it and all of the remaining jumpships, ensuring their departure and sending ships with them to further guard the convoys as they moved from one system to another, knowing that an enemy could be waiting for them ahead if they were smart enough.

Paul didn’t expect the Skarrons or Nestafar to be that determined, but he was glad for the backup regardless. Once the jumpships were fully loaded they began winking out of view, carrying their precious cargo out of harm’s way and leaving nothing but warships behind. Those then stayed around a bit and fought it out with the Skarrons to make sure they didn’t jump after the convoy and potentially meet up with it mid jump or cause trouble at the destination system.

After more than an hour of combat and a lot of dead Skarron ships the Voku commander consulted with Paul and they both began to pull out, with the Elarioni already having gone ahead, given their slower speed and desire to stay with their own ships.

Most of the Voku took off at amazing speed, but the commander kept a good chunk of them with Paul and the Adamant, so when the command ship made the jump and left the enemy system behind the chrome ships reformed around it within a few kilometers, demonstrating their navigational skill, not to mention their gravity drive strength, because pulling on stars lightyears away for maneuvering capabilities mid jump was a very expensive and unrewarding venture, allowing you only a little tug here and there, with most ships using thrust engines to accomplish such maneuvering.

Paul took note of the positions of the convoy ahead, with their beacons signaling back and allowing the computer the ability to calculate their approximate position, even if the signal was lagging an hour behind. Seeing that all was in order and marveling at the Voku’s fleet, Paul released the control sphere in the nexus and left the bridge, intending to get in a short workout then a long sleep period. Something he’d been reluctant to do during the evacuation, taking only brief rest periods sufficient enough to accommodate his limited workouts.

He met up with Riona later and they got back into their training routine as if they’d never left it, both recovering a bit of lost fitness and probing their bioshield capabilities as the fleet made its way from system to system, back into the ADZ, and over to the far side where Atlantica lay near the rimward lizard border.

“Hello stranger,” Paul said through the water as he swam up to Ariel’s quarters in Manaan.

She turned around, her green hair spraying out into a fan around her head as it floated in the pristine water inside the city and bracketed a huge smile on her blue face. He could have sworn the glowing patches on her skin increased their aqua-colored intensity, but regardless it was obvious that she was glad to see him…given that it had been decades since they’d last met in person.

“Finally,” she said through the translator in Paul’s breath mask. The Elarioni swam over to him and locked him up in a big hug. “Why do you do this to me? I’ve missed you so much. You could at least stop by every 5 years or so,” she said with a touch of sarcasm.

“Bad guys to kill, ships to build, systems to conquer…I’m a busy guy,” he said, hugging her back.

“I know, I know,” she said, finally releasing him and looking him in the eyes that weren’t covered by the small, compact mask that gave him his Elarioni voice. “And you did just bring me some new friends, so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.”

“I would have found you sooner, but you’ve been out and about.”

“Yes, things are absolutely crazy right now…but a good crazy. There’s no room to put everyone so we’re camping out in free water and that is something I haven’t done for such a long time. They haven’t either, so it’s a new experience, but one that they’re loving. They really like Atlantica, and your cities, by the way. I think this is going to work out beautifully.”

“Well, you did help design most of our stuff,” Paul pointed out as she pulled him all the way inside her quarters by the wrist, with him letting her propel him forward given that she was the far better swimmer.

“Some,” she corrected. “Kyler knows the water almost as well as I do now.”

“High praise.”

“And well deserved,” she said, finally letting go of him for a moment, then swinging around behind him and pressing on his lower back. “Let’s see what progress you’ve made.”

Paul laughed, then assumed an old position and let Ariel test his flexibility and kick strength as he went through several motions while she held him in place.

“Not much better,” she commented dryly. “But no worse. You haven’t been doing much practicing.”

“Actually I have, you just forget how bad I was.”

“No I don’t,” she said humorously.

“That and I’ve picked up a new trick. I’m still not as fast as you, but I’m much quicker.”

“Oh? Then why aren’t you showing me.”

Paul’s face tightened up in a smirk, but more from effort than amusement as he formed bioshield fins over his legs and kicked in a very similar way to how Ariel moved.

The water behind him moved in such a way that, despite not being able to see the shields, Ariel instantly could feel the difference…and the power that he now had.

“What is this?” she asked, curious and excited.

“A new ability,” he said, grabbing her wrist to get her to let him go, then he righted himself parallel to her and held up his bare hands, forming a shield bubble in between them that pushed back the water and formed a small vacuum, which him altering the shield so it became partially visible. “I can create energy shields and use them in multiple ways, including giving me a tail, more or less.”

“Come on,” she said, grabbing his wrist again and pulling him back towards the door. “You’re going to show me on the course.”

Paul smiled underneath his mask and let her drag him out and across the watery tunnels within the city to one of the obstacle courses that Ariel trained on to maintain her self-sufficiency…something that she’d be teaching her own people to achieve, given that she was far older than them all, but none the less younger than when he’d found her on the lizard jumpship, which her grip testified to.

He enjoyed the ride over, then swam the last few meters to the starting position near the pedestal as Ariel took up position on the other side of it and stared at him with her glowing golden eyes.

“Ready?”

“Always,” he said, putting his hand on the start button.

“Impress me,” she taunted, smashing his hand down and activating the timer in the friendly method of starting the courses they’d developed whenever running one in tandem.

Pushing off the pedestal for a bit of momentum, Paul leveled out and began the intricate kick that she’d taught him long ago, summoning up shield enhancements and finding himself still outpaced by Ariel, with her looking back at him and smiling…but with her tail kicking harder than it normally did to stay ahead of him.

She was still the better swimmer, but he wasn’t so inferior now…and judging by her smile he guessed that he’d advanced to the point of being a peer. Maybe a slower little brother, but still a peer rather than a student.

Which Paul’s mind immediately corrected into Star Wars metaphor. No longer was he a youngling, for in that satisfied expression of hers he’d just been promoted to Apprentice.

The Force is strong with this one, Paul thought, trying to goose a little more speed out of his body.

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1

September 30, 2538

Megatron 1 System

Inner Zone

Bo-065 sat in the command chair onboard the Bowser, a Warship-class jumpship leading a fleet of two others and 16 Mammoth-class cargo jumpships through orbit around the black hole that Star Force had affectionately labeled ‘Megatron 1.’ It was the only gravity well in the system, meaning that moving around it to get to their preferred jumpline was taking time as they had to pull on one side of the dense mass as opposed to the center line and that gave them very literal lateral movement as high up as they were.

A slingshot approach was faster, but then they’d have to stall it out on the far side to hit their jumpline anyway, so Bo had ordered the Captain to take it nice and slow as they monitored the traffic as best they could. Sensor signals traveling in near the black hole got funky with the event horizon completely shutting off anything from inside and slowing those reflections near it to worthlessness, making the area around the EH a sensor blind spot.

The Telaris sensors the Bowser was using reduced that blind spot considerably, but didn’t eliminate it…and they noticed quite a few starships dipping down into the EH and coming back out as they cut close orbital tracks to get to the far side quickly. With proper IDF and gravity drives there was no danger for a ship going in that close, for the black hole’s gravity was their best friend and able to lift them away from the mass at the center almost effortlessly given that only a small energy expenditure was needed to reverse the massive pull into anti-grav to keep the ships in orbit.

The trouble was if there was debris in the area or you ran into another ship, but with Megatron 1 there was nothing left that the black hole hadn’t eaten up and given the size of the thing the chances of ramming another ship passing through, even with the high level of traffic they were seeing now, was low.

Bo didn’t like low, and preferred ‘no,’ so they were making their way around in an orbital path that still allowed their sensors and beacons to be partially functional. They were declaring their position while scanning for others to avoid collisions as they got closer and closer to one of 3 hot zones.

Those hot zones were the jumpline links to 3 other distant black holes and had traffic coming and going from races that Star Force was mostly unfamiliar with. Everyone seemed to give each other space, not wanting to interact and just going on about their journeys, but the closer the Bowser got to the jumpline the more congested it became…and there were no stoplights to keep everyone organized, more of an impromptu ‘get to the head of the line first’ situation that was more than a bit hectic.

Then there were the ships coming in on the jumpline. Fortunately most of them were transmitting beacons so their signals arrived ahead of them, hyper-compressed from the speeds they were traveling, but able to be detected if you had your sensors calibrated correctly. That let outgoing ships know where not to be on the jumpline and allowed them to move around with a decent certainty that you weren’t risking your life on the off chance of a collision.

That said, there were some ships popping up with no preceding signal. That worried Bo, but it couldn’t be helped. As his fleet finally moved into position there were seven ships ahead of them on the line that had just jumped into the system at a much higher orbit. The Star Force convoy waited for them to move off, looked for incoming signals and saw they had a gap, then made their slightly staggered jumps off the black hole’s gravity well and accelerated far faster than any traditional jump.

Soon they were out of the system and drifting across the stars towards the black hole on the other end on a trip that would take them better than 2 months. As soon as they were away and on course the small Star Force fleet set themselves into a drift to the right, getting them off the jumpline so to avoid ships coming at them from the other way. Still there was always the possibility of collisions, which was why someone had to be at the helm constantly monitoring for incoming beacons so they could move aside if necessary.

Bo had them taken well off the jumpline to reduce that possibility, then nulled out the drift with tugs on the distant stars to keep them headed in the correct direction. When they got near their destination they’d drift back up to the jumpline and run the traffic gauntlet again, but for the interim it was hopefully going to be a silent, steady trip as the jumpships moved like bullets from one black hole to the next.

The trickiest part past them, Bo left the bridge and headed to the sanctum where he spent most of the next two months training, for there was little else to do while they waited to make the passage.

When they eventually arrived at the exiting black hole, which they’d designated as ‘Megatron 2,’ Bo oversaw their deceleration and movement off the jumpline over to a stellar one, bouncing off the black hole with minor power in order to move at a safe speed that could be successfully braked at their destination star, whose gravity well was infinitely smaller.

From there they made another six jumps, hopping from star to star on a path that Yori had trailblazed years ago until they arrived at another black hole, this one much smaller but still producing a gravity well far larger than any star. It was labeled ‘Megatron 5’ and took them another 120 lightyears out to Megatron 6. From there they had to travel star to star until they eventually ended up in the Lothlorien System.

They were still well within the Orion arm, which was approximately 10,000 lightyears wide, but they were the farthest rimward Star Force had yet expanded, more than 1,000 lightyears away from Earth. In contrast, the ADZ border terminated at about 100 lightyears, leaving the Lothlorien System far outside everything that they knew…and knew them.

Which was the point. As invested as Star Force was in the ADZ they also knew that their distant future would probably involve running from the V’kit’no’sat if/when they ever found them. To do that they’d have to have some place to go, and Lothlorien was one small stepping stone out into the true rim of the galaxy where the V’kit’no’sat had no presence or maps. They were in the wilds now, as far as their progenitors were concerned, and the further they got out there the better.

Bo brought his fleet out from the central pair of stars to one of six planets major planets in the system. Three were habitable, in atmosphere only, and there was no other presence within the system. Star Force had mapped out the surrounding area, finding a more or less dead spot on the local starcharts to set up camp and begin terraforming one of the rocky planets by introducing plants onto a world that had none.

Bo could see the first little bits of green on the surface below when they made orbit, clustered around the single city colony that Star Force was in the process of building and to which the supplies he was escorting were going. The warships would be remaining here, save for one that would be taking Yori and the empty cargo ships back as Bo switched places with him and took over control of the planet, named Legolas, as well as all other operations in this small region of space that included multiple mapping missions that were even now ongoing.

Already there was another warship in orbit, along with a few construction projects. The one operational station was a defense platform equipped with a large cleansing beam that was covering the construction of a shipyard and other key infrastructure pieces, for the goal of this colony wasn’t to rely on shipments from the ADZ but to become self-sufficient as most Star Force colonies were. That was even more important in this operation, given that if the ADZ was cut off by an invasion it would have to supply itself and any future colony expansions rimward on its own.

Which was why a trailblazer was needed here at all times. There were too many uncertain factors in play and the delay to get a message back to the ADZ took 7 months one way, making this colony truly on its own. Until it was better developed it had to be watched and grown carefully, so as boring as this sort of thing was Bo knew the importance of it and how it had to succeed in order for them to start further extending the chain out into the rim.

As the cargo transfer began in earnest Bo hopped onboard one of the descending dropships and rode it down to the big city that was all that currently existed in the colony and eventually found Yori waiting for him in the spaceport. The two shared a hug then headed over to the local sanctum as they filled each other in on current events, then began a long series of workouts knowing that the cargo transfer was going to take days to complete.

Catching up on missed time and using the opportunity to press each other in training, the pair of trailblazers worked through some very long sessions taking breaks to tour the infrastructure so Yori could get Bo up to speed on what he’d built since last being in contact. In addition to the obvious stuff on the surface he’d added a considerable amount of subterranean structures, plus various sites around the planet for resource collection, including two new ones on other planets. The material being collected was just beginning to snowball, which would make Bo’s job of continuing the effort much easier now that Yori had done the hard part getting it all up and running.

Coming in the convoy was also an abundance of new personnel, with only a handful transferring back with Yori, giving the colony a new population of 55,000, up from the 42,000 previously. The extra manpower would help greatly, Bo knew, but more would be needed as operations escalated and have to be shipped in with the following convoys. People couldn’t be grown as fast as infrastructure, let alone those with the skillsets required, and that was the major drawback in the self-sufficiency goal. Lothlorien was going to have to grow quite large in order to have enough people to take care of its own needs, and by large he meant in the billions.

That day was far into the future, however, and would be overseen by someone other than Bo. He was taking on a 6 year stint, then would be replaced by another trailblazer or high ranking Archon, based on what the situation was then. Having that fixed endpoint helped him focus on the mission ahead without getting lost in the utter isolation. The mission was temporary and necessary, but after his part in it was completed he’d head back to the ADZ where all the action was at and get back in the flow of things.

In the meantime he was going to do like all the other trailblazers did…focus on his training in his off hours. There were a few other Archons with him that he could spar with but no other strikers, unfortunately. They were too valuable and assigned elsewhere, which meant there was no one around that could even come close to pressing his limits the way Yori was.

After his fellow trailblazer left Bo set himself to the task of singular workouts and the unique challenge that they posed while overseeing the construction efforts and making a few tweaks to what Yori had been running…and the person to follow Bo would probably do the same. Neither person would care, for they were only here to carry out their part of the operation and what they left behind then became the responsibility of the other, who was right to customize it as they so chose.

Over the next 6 years the city on the surface grew in size, with Bo adding another two small ones elsewhere on Legolas and a fourth on a neighboring planet to further facilitate the corovon mining operations there. The subsurface expansion that Yori began Bo continued, but not with as much fervor. This colonization wasn’t clandestine, nor meant to be like the circuit worlds were. This was supposed to be a full-fledged colony, complete with economic and diplomatic links to the surrounding area where applicable, so hiding wasn’t the point, though having some infrastructure tucked away that no one knew about was always a plus.

Three years in and the first of those economic ties manifested itself in the form of a trade agreement with a neighboring race that Bo’s mapping expeditions came across. They were a single planet civilization that had yet to achieve interstellar travel, known as the Furrens, who were amicable enough on contact to open up formal relations with. Bo had Star Force build a starport in orbit of their world and start work on a bit more infrastructure there to facilitate the mining/trading of a rare material their planet possessed called Shema.

Originally it was a compound that Star Force thought had to be synthesized and as a result had never delved into its production heavily, though it was useful in making advanced armor when you didn’t have corovon flakes available. Since it was naturally occurring on the Furren homeworld it was of significant value, not just to Bo’s colony but to Star Force in general, and using his diplomatic skill and experience the trailblazer set up a mutually beneficial relationship between the two…the first of many such local links that would be established with their neighbors in coming years.

The rest of those would be created by others, for by the time Beck-061 came to replace him the Lothlorien colony had yet to meet any other races of note, preferring instead to keep things quiet until their defense fleet grew to decent levels…with Beck bringing an additional two warships with him that would stay behind in the system.

Like Yori before him, Bo relished the opportunity to get a few days of training in with Beck, a fellow 6, before heading back across the stars and through the two black hole jumplines leading a much larger and empty train of cargo ships…save for the Shema crates they carried. It wasn’t much at all compared to the size of their holds, but he knew the techs in Sol would like to get their hands on it and he was interest in seeing what armor modifications they could make with an ample supply.

As his single warship and cargo ships made their way back into the ADZ they passed through the first Star Force system on their journey, getting a news update that Bo tore through eagerly. It was dated, due to the lag involved in the relay network, but it was ‘fresh’ by Star Force standards and the trailblazer felt good knowing that he was back on the grid and no longer having to rely on courier ships to bring or send news.

Updated reports on the lizard fronts indicated they were still at it, probing here and there and trying to find a weakness or go around to get closer to the zone to decrease the length of their supply lines. As it was they couldn’t launch a major invasion past the border worlds without having their convoys picked apart by the Hycre. There were just too many systems to go through and the navally dominant race was using that to their advantage when they knew where the lizards were going to be.

So the lizards were trying to make a trail of ‘safe’ systems into the ADZ, much as Star Force was doing heading out to the rim, so they could protect their convoys with system defense fleets rather than sending them through an abundance of ‘empty’ systems where they could be jumped.

But Star Force wasn’t going to allow that, and kept hitting and pushing back the lizard front away from the ADZ boundary creating a sort of neutral zone that saw an enormous amount of fighting whenever the lizards tried to put down roots there, let alone try and sneak past the lines and plant one inside the ADZ.

Content that everything was still under control there Bo skimmed through a lot of other entries, getting a feel for what was going on until he came across a message for the trailblazers only. It was an invite to return to Earth and assist with a new training element…and it was co-signed by both Paul and Jason.

That piqued his interest, for the last he knew the pair were lightyears apart. If they’d gotten together on a new training project then he definitely wanted to know what was up, and given that he didn’t have a new assignment as of yet he could at least pop in and see what was going on while he chose one.

It took another month or so to get back to Outreach and transit into the Core Zone, eventually arriving at Earth on a cargo ship since he’d left his warship with Steve who needed it more than he did. Bo found out that the little training summit was being held in Atlantis rather than the pyramid, which he also found odd, as well as the fact that some 13 other trailblazers had also arrived before him, with him bringing the count up to 16 in total…which was a very rare occurrence for so many to be in the same place at the same time.

Whatever was going on was big, and he hurried out of the dropship and through the surface spaceport down into the city and straight to the training areas to find out what, not even bothering to stop off and deposit his duffle in temporary quarters on the way.

2

May 31, 2546

Solar System

Earth

When Bo tracked down the others he found them…all of them on blood gulch, bumping out the trainees that otherwise would have been using the training course as they had a 10 vs 10 match going on with the old school stinger rifles and light, flex armor. It was too late for Bo to join, unfortunately, so he laid his duffle down in one of the observation galleries and watched them from above and on the various monitors. The combat course was huge, making seeing everything difficult, and the hidden cameras helped to highlight some of the close-in action.

Bo wasn’t the only one there. A handful of random personnel were in the same gallery as him, most of whom didn’t even notice him arrive until they glanced over and saw his white with black stripe striker uniform, but they didn’t ask questions, merely giving him a little more space and continuing to watch the others go at it below.

The non-trailblazers in the match were high ranking second gen and, Bo couldn’t believe his eyes, even Vermaire was out there. At first he thought he was imagining things and it was just another Knight, but the way he took to the battle with a single sword only and moved with speed equal or greater to the trailblazers said it was definitely him…despite the fact that he wore the same pale white flex armor that the others did. Bo still couldn’t help but to expect the black armor that he was famous for, but there was no mistaking his skill…meaning they’d somehow recruited him for this match.

That was odd, for he was the one that constantly interrupted their old matches to beat them down randomly. Whatever Paul and Jason had going here was looking even more interesting.

The game was capture the flag, with the stunned individuals eventually coming out of their coma through what Bo guessed was respawning armor. Like what the Black Knight originally wore, the material in their flex armor probably had elements that would soak the stun energy out of their bodies after a matter of time, bringing them back into the game eventually. With the emphasis on getting to the opposing bunker and claiming their prize, how many times you went down didn’t really matter. Bo could already see several individuals covered in paint splatters, attesting to a somewhat lengthy ongoing match even before Bo looked at the clock display and saw that they’d just passed the two hour mark.

He suppressed a whistle. That meant both sides had to be very evenly matched…which made him want to get down there and into the fight even more. After taking another couple minutes to watch the action he’d had enough and left the platform, taking his duffle with him out the door then jogging down to the equipment room. His presence might off balance the match, but after two hours that would probably be a welcome change. If not he didn’t care, they got to see each other so rarely he would take the chance of being rude if only to get the surprise drop on one or two of them.

Bo pulled out a flex armor suit from the various sizes available and quickly got dressed, hitting the armory before running over to the entrance doors and inputting an override code to get them to open during the match. Without announcing his presence or logging into the scorekeeping software he went inside, closing the doors behind him, then disappeared off into the terrain carrying the stinger rifle that had made up such a large part of his life but had since been replaced by the pure stun rifle.

Bo kept to cover as much as he could, not wanting the others to know he was here just yet. He moved off into the trees while avoiding the large open area in the center that was scattered with boulders and dry streams that separated the distant bunkers where the ‘flags’ rested. It was actually just a finish pedestal with a button press, but a holographic flag marked the location inside of each. Getting there was the problem.

He thought about making a sneak run against one of them, but that would have been a bit too cheating…well, maybe not, but that’s not how he wanted to handle this. He had a golden opportunity here and wanted to take advantage of it. There were two teams, with one being made up mostly of 2s. Paul and Jason led it, but Emily, Jace, and Ivan were also there, with the other half being made up of Sara-012, Kiran-011, Riona, and two other second gen.

The other team was led by Greg and had a mix of trailblazers from different teams, second gen, and Vermaire…though in truth he kind of counted as more than one. And all things being equal, Bo still saw him as the terror that he’d been to them as trainees so he opted to throw in with the expanded 2s.

To that end he established a telepathic link to Jason, who was the closest, and sent him a private message.

Olly olly oxen free, he told him along with a location ping.

Bo? Where did you come from? Jason answered back, taking cover behind one of the boulders just in from the trees while he got the heads up as to what was going on.

Just got back and felt like joining in. No one knows I’m down here yet, and I’m throwing in with you guys. Where do you want me?

You armed?

Of course.

Jason smiled, quickly having a side conversation with Paul. Pay your respects to the Black Knight, he said, sending Bo a telepathic location ping. He’s giving Emily and Riona a lot of trouble.

With pleasure, he said, running off through the trees to eventually come out near his team’s bunker, swinging around behind it and coming up the far side to stay out of sight. Crossing through the middle would have alerted the others to his presence and he didn’t want to ruin the surprise so he took the long way around…and just happened to spot Greg out of the corner of his eye.

All of them were running with telepathy screens, making it all but impossible to sense someone coming unless you were focusing on a specific area. Bo was lucky he spotted Greg first, because his fellow trailblazer had no clue whatsoever that he was on his outside, probably focusing his Ikrid on the nearby bunker to try and pick up a location trace of those guarding it.

Bo jumped out from behind a chunk of ground with a small ledge that had been hiding him and peppered Greg’s back with stinger shots. Blue splatters covered him and he dropped face first to the ground, his rifle flying from his hands as he fell unconscious. Bo ran over to him and flipped him face up so he could breathe easier, then tapped him on the chest despite the fact that he couldn’t see or hear him.

“You never did learn to mind your surroundings,” he whispered before heading back into cover and moving along the irregular wall and into the small forest on the far side, at the end of which he felt Vermaire. At the moment he wasn’t blocking his mental presence, and Bo wondered if that was because he wasn’t good at it or he was just being cocky…with him settling on the latter.

As Bo got close he felt a battlemeld prompt and accepted it, suddenly linking up with both Emily and Riona and knowing exactly where they were and what they were thinking. Without even having to talk he knew what he needed to do and darted from one tree to another as they distracted the Black Knight away from the chamber’s edge, giving him a narrow corridor of approach.

When he got close enough Emily and Riona jumped out of their cover and went hand to hand with the Knight, Emily pumping round after round at him and making him juke to the side while Riona came up and blocked a sword swing with a briefly-lived bioshield. A kick to her chest a moment later broke through it and knocked her back, then as Vermaire took after her with intent to jab Bo came up from behind him and fired twice into his back.

To his surprise the Black Knight ducked beneath both, then he belated realized the big guy must have been focusing on his Pefbar to sense the immediate area around him. Abandoning Riona for the moment he ran behind a tree and disappeared from view…though Bo still had him on Pefbar and chased after him.

Riona got up and flanked Bo two steps back as both sprinted ahead, trying to run the menace down. Suddenly, and with far more speed than Bo knew he had, Vermaire reversed course and came back at them, swinging his long sword in an upward flip that caught Bo in the chin and wacked his head to the side, simultaneously delivering a bit of stun energy…not enough to knock him out but giving him the wobbles as he tried to remain standing.

With one opponent temporarily disabled Vermaire took a punch from Riona, who tried to swing her rifle up behind it with the other arm and deliver a point blank salvo into the man’s crotch as she ducked beneath his reflexive sword slash, but a light telekinetic shove moved her barrel off target and she fired through his legs. Next thing Bo knew she was on the ground covered by a bioshield as he tried to kick her, then as the trailblazer brought his own rifle up to bear on him Vermaire was lit up from behind as Emily got the drop on the mass of muscle.

“Umph!” Riona said as he fell on top of her and popped what was left of her shield. It took a moment for her to roll him off, then Bo offered her a hand, pulling the striker to her feet.

Battlemeld-linked as they were there was no need for discussion. Bo put another six shots into the Black Knight while Riona volunteered to stay put and keep shooting his unconscious body in order to keep him down. That way they’d have a 10 vs 9 without the big guy in the mix.

The two trailblazers moved out, and within the next 18 minutes Ivan finally got to the flag and won the match for them.

In the equipment room afterwards Greg came up and lightly punched Bo in the back as he was pulling his shirt off and had it over his head.

“Ow…hey.”

“That was so cheating,” Greg said with a smile on his face.

Bo finally got his shirt off and tossed it on the bench with the armor that he’d already removed. He turned around, with Greg’s levity fading. “Where did you get that?”

Bo rubbed the nasty welt on his chest, checking to see if it had gotten any worse. “A few days ago. I was helping with some repairs on the cargo ship I hitched a ride on and got skewered with a piece of frag when an overload blew out a console. I thought it was mostly healed up, but I felt something pop out there,” he said, still examining it. “Doesn’t look like the skin broke though.”

“Go find yourself a regenerator.”

“Yeah, I know. Just got back though and haven’t had time. So,” he said, picking up his shirt and heading towards one of the personal compartments lining the walls to catch a shower, which was where most of the others were right now or headed there after removing their armor, “what’s the big occasion? The dynamic duo didn’t say in their message.”

“A lot of training projects, or rather attempts. We need as many of us here as we can get to try and get a handle on them, so I’m glad you showed up. Just wish it would have been an hour later.”

“Ah, suck it up. Not the first time you’ve lost.”

“Was it you that got me in the back earlier?”

Bo smiled. “Hadn’t planned that, but you walked right by me and I couldn’t resist.”

“Figures,” Greg said, planting his hands on his hips as the both stopped outside one of the empty stations. “I couldn’t sense you at all.”

“Just like the old days.”

“Yeah, but I could find all the others when they were close by. You I completely missed.”

“You weren’t looking for me,” Bo pointed out.

“I was looking for trouble and missed you completely.”

“Pefbar?”

“I don’t know. All I remember is getting jumped. Makes me a little nervous if the Zen’zat can do that too. I think I’m starting to rely on my Ikrid radar a bit too much.”

“Something to think about.”

Greg nodded. “Catch you later.”

Bo let him go and entered the personal bathroom/shower chamber and got cleaned up, grabbing a new casual uniform without ID stripes and wearing it back to his quarters…which he found out were the originals they’d had in Atlantis when they’d just finished trainee graduation. It was odd that they were going there, but also a bit refreshing as the 16 of them met up for some old school Halo tournaments using the original gaming equipment that was still lining the lounge.

They spent several hours there, fanning the old competitive flames and relearning how to work the controls and eventually chitchatting until late at night when Paul finally pulled him aside as the others headed off to bed or for a late night snack or workout.

“Ok spill,” Bo said, with both of them sitting down on stools in the lounge along a counter with various freshly stocked ambrosia foodstuffs.

“I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, but Jason and I are getting close to identifying some triggers. We both have Pren now, and six of the others have gotten it since they got here and have been training with us. We’ve gotten them close and they made the leap on their own, but with a few more ascensions we might be able to pin it down, and if we can do that…”

“…we can start sharing it with the twin link knockoff.”

Paul nodded. “We’re also working on a lot of other things that just require us here together as a group. Using the training holo in the pyramid we know we’re pretty much on par with most of the Zen’zat, or, well, on par with the masses. Their elite are still beyond us, as you know well, but our scores are starting to match up with their line troops.”

“Actually I haven’t used it much, like maybe four or five times, and nothing recently.”

“Might want to swing by and check it out. I’ve been doing so a lot and its sobering. We’re not behind them anymore but we’re still going to get our asses kicked if they come back and throw even a low level elite at us.”

“So what are you working on to fix that?”

“No magic bullet,” Paul said, dismissing the idea of an easy fix, “but some potential reworking of our structure going forward. We’ve got the battlemeld and they don’t, but we’re not using it much.”

“We’re not?”

Paul inclined his head in a ‘really’ gesture. “How much training have you done with it recently?”

“None, but I’ve been out in Lothlorien for the past 6 years.”

“My point exactly. We’re still going out on solo missions, and while we can train pretty well doing that, working the battlemeld requires another…and one at or near our level.”

“You think we should start pairing up for assignments? Kind of a logistical waste.”

“Won’t matter if we get our asses kicked by the V’kit’no’sat.”

“Always that…” Bo said, starting to feel a similar frustration.

“Jason and I have been discussing this for several years now, and we’ve been running it by some of the others when we’ve had a chance to meet face to face. Morgan doesn’t see the need, but she likes doing the lone ranger thing anyway.”

“Big shock there.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve been training pretty hard here with the battlemeld, especially in groups of 3 or more. Takes on an entirely different dynamic, especially when we use it for more than coordination. Those are our strengths that the V’kit’no’sat hopefully haven’t discovered yet. We need to really go all in there and we haven’t been.”

Bo considered that. “With the second gen not sucking as much as they used to, we could pull back a bit from our current duties and let them handle them…the straightforward ones I mean. We’d still have to troubleshoot.”

“I don’t want to go that far,” Paul cautioned. “The ADZ isn’t exactly buttoned up yet, but if we start deploying to some of the frontiers in pairs it will give us a training partner for the battlemeld.”

“Not to mention a decent sparring partner.”

“Exactly.”

Bo looked at him closely. “Does this have something to do with the brats?”

Paul sighed. “They’ve averaged 1.9 over the past decade.”

“Holy crap,” Bo said, noting that was a faster rate of advancement than most of them had had at that point in their training. It might even have been faster than Morgan, come to think of it. Any Archon that managed 1 level per year was moving along considerably fast, but to go up 19 levels in 10 years was really cooking, especially for an acolyte.

“Yeah, I know they’re not that good, but they do everything together and there has got to be some unseen advantage to that, twin link aside.”

“And you want us back together to try and see if we get our old mojo back?”

Paul smiled. “Well put.”

Bo stood up. “I’m game. A good night’s sleep and a little quality time with the regenerator tomorrow morning and I’ll be good to go. I don’t know why, after all these years, but playing multiplayer Halo still wears me out.”

“Show me,” Paul said, staring at his chest.

Bo rolled up his shirt and showed him the mark on his chest.

“How close was that to hitting your heart?”

“2.3 inches.”

“Oh, well that’s nothing then,” Paul scoffed. “Just a beauty mark.”

“Still, it’ll be nice when we can start building our own regenerators. Healing patches just don’t get the job done.”

“I’ll be sure to kick Stark in the butt next time I see him.”

“Do that,” Bo said, walking off. “Night.”

“Night,” Paul offered, spying the video games that everyone else had abandoned. He grabbed an ambrosia cookie and headed over to the couch, intending to get a little Mario Kart action in before bed.

3

June 25, 2546

Achkor System (Skarron territory)

Zenniza

Morgan ran through the tall grasses in the night, heading for a position marked on her battlemap and arriving a few minutes after ducking down and wrapping her dark blue armor up in an impromptu blanket as a trio of Skarron fighters passed overhead. Once they were gone she got to the virtual marker and dug around through the grass until she found the tiny Star Force hatch buried underneath, through which she climbed after carefully pulling the grass back over top like a small hut to keep it from being visible from above.

A few meters down and Morgan found herself in a one person-wide walkway that she’d dug out on previous missions to Zenniza with the help of some robotic drones. The tunnel had been reinforced by compressed dirt bricks they created, likewise eating up the excess soil so it wouldn’t have to be discarded aboveground. Morgan kept her elbows tucked in so she didn’t hit the walls and jogged down the long tunnel, crossing underneath the barren strips of land that surrounded the Skarron city and into the substructure.

She came out in one of the Hobbit zones, with the entry hatch hidden behind a large, heavy crate. Morgan scanned the area with her Ikrid and Pefbar, having to wait nearly half an hour before it was clear, then she opened the hatch, pulling the door inward and putting her shoulder to the crate. With her own strength being what it was it wasn’t hard to dislodge and soon she had a half meter gap that she slid out the side from, leaving her in a maintenance/storage area too small for the Skarrons to enter. She pushed the crate back in place then moved off on her recruiting mission.

This facility was part of the Hobbit habitation zone, meaning the Engineers rarely came here unless something broke down. There were, however, thousands of the squat infantry in the area and she had to be careful to move around undetected…with which Ikrid helped out immensely. Using several Jedi mind tricks she walked past a number of Hobbits without them hearing or seeing her, or more accurately not noticing that they did, allowing her some limited freedom of movement around what had become her prime recruitment zone.

From information given to her by the Hobbit turncoats she knew the layout and the politics of the Aronsic community on the planet, as well as how to find those who didn’t hold to the Skarrons’ authority over them. Threat of death for insubordination only worked so much, and there were always dissenters making themselves known through tiny acts of defiance. It was those acts that Morgan was looking for, so she could dive into the minds of those committing them and check as to their suitability for evac.

One of those defiant activities was disappearing for a few minutes or hours when they were supposed to be contained to their barracks during downtime. They weren’t allowed to roam around, but some did manage to do so by going through sections of the facility that were dark to surveillance. Morgan had gotten a map of those areas and the routes used to access them long ago, but by now had the area layout down to memory, allowing her to make decent speed over to one of the secret hideouts.

When she got nearby she scanned ahead, finding four minds…that were in the process of mating. Deciding not to interrupt that she moved to another area, then another, and finally a third of the local hotspots until she found what she wanted…a group airing complaints while snacking on stolen rations.

Morgan had also learned that the food supply was strictly maintained, with no excess allowed. Hobbits often scavenged food from their conquests to sate their hunger, and these three had apparently managed to rip off one of the local food stores…and that definitely qualified as defiance.

Morgan didn’t just walk in on them and introduce herself, rather she linked to their minds and monitored their thoughts. Eventually she steered them and the conversation in the direction she wanted, with them finally admitting to each other that they didn’t want to be here anymore and wanted a way out.

The level 6 Mage froze them in place before she entered, crawling in through a vent that barely fit her armor and coming out amongst the three statues. She sat down next to them and gradually released their senses and heads, allowing them to turn and look at her but otherwise not move.

“Calm yourself,” she said in the Skarron language. “I’m here to take you away. The Free Aronsic welcome you,” she said as she extended her hand out and produced a tiny holographic emitter. It activated and played a message from an Aronsic that had already joined Star Force, addressing many Hobbit issues and complaints, with Morgan sensing the speech hitting home despite the fear surging through the three of them.

It went on for several minutes, and by the end of it she knew that one of them was going to go with her. The other two not so much. At least not yet.

“If you go you must go now. I will lead you to my ship and take you off this planet. If you wish to remain there will be some chances for you to go later, but I cannot promise when or where. I must operate in secret, and I do not know how long it will be before I am discovered. Have you heard of others disappearing?”

“A few have. We thought they’d been killed,” one of the skeptical ones said timidly, for Morgan was still telekinetically holding his chest in place.

“We don’t kill your kind unless you attack us,” the trailblazer explained, sensing his concern. “I know this is a lot to take in all at once, but we’re not your enemy. The Skarrons are invading our territory and we will fight them, but we have no quarrel with you until you attack us. If you do so we’ll treat you as the enemy, but many of your kind now live with us, free of the Skarrons. I know it is a great deal to ask, but if you are to come with me it must be now.”

Morgan released her hold on them while intently watching their thoughts. They didn’t move, but were relieved to be free of her magical hold none the less.

“Come or stay, your choice,” she said, backing up into the vent and crawling out.

The three Hobbits didn’t say anything for a moment, then began conversing amongst themselves into what became an argument. Eventually one of them followed her, but only one.

“There are really others out there…free?”

“Yes,” Morgan confirmed as she looked down on him from her taller height in the access corridor on the other side of the vent.

“Then I will go.”

“Good,” Morgan said, freezing him in place while she crawled back inside and moved into the hideout where the other two were chatting rapidly. The vent was the only way in and out, so before they ran off to tell others or sound an alarm they had to let her leave first.

Morgan froze both of them as well and finished crawling back inside, pulling her left gauntlet off and exposing her fingertips to the air…then she planted them on one of their heads and concentrated, having to keep all three frozen while she worked on the one, which wasn’t easy to do.

This wasn’t the first time she’d had to wipe memories though, so she quickly found what she wanted to erase and blurred it out of existence before switching over to do the other one. She pulled a double check on both, holding their bodies and minds in a frozen state so they wouldn’t know what was going on, then crawled back out and stood up next to the other Hobbit in approximately the same position she was when she froze it.

“Follow me,” she said after releasing it.

The Hobbit blinked a couple of times, momentarily disoriented, but it did as told and Morgan walked off with it in tow, holding the others in check until she got to the limits of her Ikrid range. When she released them they didn’t remember her or that their fellow Hobbit had crawled into the hideout with them. After an awkward moment of silence they looked at each other and picked up on their previous conversation, never knowing that one of them was missing or how they’d had a chance to go with him.

Morgan kept a close watch on the thoughts of the one with her, wandering if he was going to back out but to his credit he didn’t waver. The recorded message from the other Aronsic had done the trick, and he stuck very close to her dark blue armor the entire way through the facility, not understanding just how they were sneaking past others that should have seen them.

When they got back to the hidden tunnel Morgan pulled the crate aside and pointed the Hobbit to go in. He hesitated a moment, preferring to follow the Human.

“I’ll be right behind you,” she promised, giving him a little telepathic nudge.

The Hobbit trodded up into the gap and slid inside, with Morgan wedging herself behind the crate then pulling it back as much as she could with her hands…but that still left a noticeable gap. Concentrating hard she telekinetically grabbed it and pulled, wiggling the heavy mass into place flush against the wall, but taking nearly a full minute to do it, thanks to the amount of weight she was having to tug around.

Once it was back and in place and the chances of someone discovering it back to nearly nothing she nudged the Hobbit on and took him out through the tunnel, eventually coming up into the grasses just before dawn. The night was still pitch black save for the star light, but there were a handful of fighters on patrol that they had to be careful about.  Morgan led him through the grasses, following the waypoints on the battlemap with the Hobbit not having a clue as to where they were going. There was no path or trail to follow, so he just stayed on her heals, fearing for his life if they were caught but desperately wanting to be free of the Skarrons.

Morgan couldn’t move very fast with him, just like the others she’d rescued countless times before, so she set a slow and steady pace and reached their destination well into the morning, arriving at the camouflaged infiltrator and bringing the Hobbit onboard, exhausted and hungry but still able to stay on his feet.

As soon as he got inside he realized he wasn’t the only one she’d pulled out, for there were four more Aronsic already there, three of which were wearing their normal uniforms but one that was wearing what he guessed was Human clothing.

Morgan let her assistant take over and headed out again, running back to the tunnel entrance and recruiting another 6 Hobbits over the following day before finally pulling out of their concealed niche and stealthily heading back to orbit. The pilot she had with her got them out through a hole in the orbital grid, bypassing the ships in orbit and on an outbound vector to a jumpline that would take them past several planets in the system to where her warship hid in waiting.

But before they got to that seldom-used jumpline a wave of Skarron ships began jumping in on the stellar entry line. It was a convoy, containing warships and transports, but it didn’t end for more than half an hour. Thousands upon thousands of ships were coming into orbit, and by the time the infiltrator reached its jumppoint they were still coming in, with a sinking feeling manifesting in Morgan’s gut.

“This is…not usual?” the pilot asked in the cockpit as Morgan was seated beside him and the Hobbits were off in the back out of earshot.

“No,” she said, her armor now off and stowed in back. The Mage crossed her arms over her chest as she continued to watch the waves of ships coming in. “We didn’t expect the lull in attacks to last forever. It looks like they’re finally gearing up for round 2.”

The pilot shook his head. “With as bad as the Nestafar are getting hammered, how in the world do they have enough ships to hit us simultaneously?”

“Their empire is huge, and there’s no telling what their force dispersion and priorities are. We’ve got the Sentinels in place, and they know they can’t take them out easily. They needed more ships to even have a shot at it, and it looks like they’re rising to the challenge.”

“How long do you think we’ve got?”

Morgan shook her head. “I don’t know. This is their forward operating base, but not the closest position. They may reinforce the skirmishes going on first, or come straight for us or the Protovic…or maybe even the Dvapp. There’s no way of telling without reconnaissance.”

“Stay and watch or make the jump now?” he asked.

“Stay a few minutes longer. I’m curious to how many they’re bringing in…at the moment.”

“How many do they need?” he asked, watching the computer tally the incoming numbers as it monitored on passive scans that were picking up the Skarrons’ own reflected signals and beacons.

“A lot,” she said dismissively. “Depends on how they plan to use them.”

“How many before we’re really in trouble?”

Morgan shook her head, but didn’t answer. Both Humans watched and waited for more than 20 minutes, but the streams continued to come in and the fleets formed up into groups that spread out around orbit…including some that were coming in their direction. They didn’t appear to have noticed them yet, but get close enough and their sensors would pick them up, stealth ship or not. Zenniza orbit was getting cluttered, which was going to make it difficult, if not impossible to head back down to the surface to go hunting for more Hobbits.

“Let’s get going,” Morgan finally said, not wanting to take the chance of being discovered.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to come back for a while.”

The Archon sighed. “I know. We’ll have to go back to hitting up their outposts.”

“Thought we’d picked them dry?” he asked, making final jump preparations.

“Well,” Morgan said, eyeing the ship counter as it finally crept up past 10,000, “I get the feeling they’re going to get some new blood in soon.”

“Point,” he said, keying the gravity drive and shooting them off away from the planet. The sensor feed went out, leaving them without any intel about how many more ships were coming in.

As soon as they got back to the Tigerzord Morgan headed up to the bridge and got the Captain to get them moving in towards the star. She wanted to sneak back into planetary orbit and have a look at how many ships had arrived, but didn’t want to tip their hand as to having been in the system. Traveling to the star always had that chance, but to date the Skarrons didn’t have any detection platforms set up to monitor traffic, so the only way they’d know that there was a Human jumpship in the system was to have another ship nearby at the time. With quick in and outs it was possible to enter and leave unnoticed, though it was a gamble each time they did so.

Morgan and the Tigerzord had been insystem for more than 9 months plucking out Hobbits to bring back, so the number of trips they were making through stellar orbit wasn’t many and she hoped the Skarrons had no idea they were even here, but there was no way of knowing for sure. Dropping into planetary orbit, even the extreme high orbits that their binary drives were capable of placing them in, would be like waving to the enemy. The infiltrator was small enough to sneak around, but a jumpship was another matter entirely.

None of that mattered when they got to the star anyway. It had been several hours since the infiltrator had left planetary orbit and Morgan assumed the incoming Skarron convoy had completed arrival…but it hadn’t. What she saw on the sensor display was like a kick to the gut by the Black Knight.

There were ships still coming in from outside the system, visible as tiny specs on the sensors along a specific jumpline some 58 degrees around from their current position, and a HUGE pool of ships around the star gradually transitioning over to the jumpline to the planet. The computer tagged in excess of 270,000 and there was no way of knowing how many more had already parked in planetary orbit or were still to come from deeper inside Skarron territory.

There was no way they weren’t going to be spotted, so time was of the essence. There would be no more Hobbit fetching from here. She had to get back to the ADZ to warn the others immediately for this was no mere reinforcement. The Skarrons were going to drop the heavy end of the hammer on them…and even now she still didn’t know just how large that hammer was going to be.

“Get us out of here,” she ordered the Captain, sitting back in her command chair and beginning to run the naval numbers through her head versus their various defense positions along the border.

4

June 29, 2546

Solar System

Earth

Bo stood in the middle of the ring, his body stationary but his mind ablaze with telekinetic control signals. All around him thuds were coming in and he was having to block them with short-lived grips, then drop and move on to another. Add in the random Fornax twitches that Paul and Jason were hitting him with to disrupt his focus and you had one headache of a training drill…but Archons liked challenges and this one had a very specific purpose.

They were trying to get Bo the Pren ability, which was a power upgrade to Pefbar/Lachka. In order to get him into the desired zone for it to occur they had to overload his Lachka skills, as they had done with the others and hope that they hit on the trigger. They still didn’t know exactly what it was but had narrowed it down considerably. It had taken Jason 3 weeks to get it, Paul 2.5, and the others above and below them, with Emily finding it the quickest once she arrived after only 3 days of trying. That said, she’d been the most recent to arrive aside from Bo and had the benefit of the others’ experience…but it didn’t seem to be helping him.

He’d been at it now for several weeks and Paul and Jason’s response to that was to up the intensity even further, pushing him to the ascension point, in theory, but so far nothing had happened aside from him getting pelted with thuds from the surrounding walls. He was blocking a lot of them, but every time one got by it hit him with such force that it knocked his mental balance off. The trailblazer was having to constantly reset while trying to minimize the disruptions when they happened…for his two friends were making sure they did regularly.

Right now the walls were chucking out some 12 thuds per second. Some simultaneously, others staggered. The pattern was random and kept Bo guessing, with him having to relent and just take them as they came, for he couldn’t get into much of a rhythm. Already he had some small welts from repeated hits and was trying to cover certain angles more than others…such as those headed for the face, neck, and crotch.

He lost himself in the effort…that was the only way he could hope to keep up, and he had to remain still, for if he stepped outside the small circle around his feet it would be an immediate disqualification. That had happened several times already, thanks to the blindsiding of the Fornax blasts, but lately he’d been managing to stay on his feet when they hit and the next one was no exception.

Paul hit him with one from the left where he sat against the wall underneath the thud shooters, causing Bo to lose his balance for a microsecond but he didn’t have to take a step to recover. A twitch in his hips was enough and he was back on center, but he missed swatting down two thuds and they hit him in the back and lower right leg. He accepted two more hits to his right side as he concentrated and held one coming in at his head a split second longer than normal…enough to throw it to his left and hit Paul.

His fellow trailblazer caught it a foot in front of his face and tossed it aside with a smile, then tossed another mild Fornax blast his way. Paul knew they had to keep pressing him in order to find the trigger, for most of the ascensions that he’d studied the data from occurred during some form of overload.

Power comes in response to a need, not a desire, he remembered Goku saying, and as far as psionics were concerned that appeared to hold true. Trouble was they still didn’t know exactly where and how to push, but with every ascension that occurred they got more data. Bo was wearing the monitoring headband that Jason and Paul were also sporting, though at the moment they were just sitting and ‘watching’ while Bo was the one working up a good sweat, despite the fact that he was barely moving.

Paul sent another three Fornax blasts his way, all low intensity until Jason threw a big one at him. That sent him forward a step, just inside the boundary of the circle with Paul cringing. They needed Bo processing heavily to trigger the ascension, and every big stumble he took was going to interfere with that and essentially give him a momentary mental break. With 11 thuds hitting him in succession as he stabilized his stumble Paul was about to complain to Jason when Bo went the other direction, dropping to a knee and getting pelted by everything coming in.

Jason flicked the stop button on the far panel telekinetically as he frowned. “Bo?”

“Got some instability,” he said, focusing on it and dropped his second knee down and sitting back on his heels.

“About time,” Paul said, getting to his feet and trying to get a read on his mind. “Say something if you need help.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it,” Bo said as the little monitor icons on his headband began to tick up into the red. Before long they started flashing and Bo physically yelled a good imitation of a DBZ powerup as Paul felt the change occur within him. Tissue flash grew as his mind appeared to explode, dulling the other trailblazers’ limited connection to him…then after a few seconds it began to recede as the last bits finished their growth and stabilized.

“Damn that hurt,” Bo said, holding his head and sagging backwards even further onto his heels, with them pressing up into his butt. “Still hurts, actually. Feels like I pulled something.”

Jason and Paul exchanged glances. “It wasn’t that bad for us.”

“Do you mind?” Jason asked, walking up to him and putting a hand on his head.

“Help yourself…I’m still picking up the grenade pieces.”

Jason linked in and began searching through his mind, particularly the physical structure, and blinked in surprise. “Ah, I don’t know what you ascended to, but it isn’t Pren or anything else we’ve got yet. The tissue is in the wrong place.”

“You sure?” Bo asked, still wincing.

“Positive,” Jason said as Paul came up and put a hand on the other side of Bo’s head, with Jason mentally directing him to the new growth.

“Damn that’s big,” Paul said, seeing a spider-like network of tendrils where there should be none…and they were all mentally afire with activity typical of recent flash growth.

“That’s what she…ah hell, I can’t even make a joke,” Bo said, leaning forward and curling up into a ball as he sat on his legs with the pain swelling again.

“I’m not joking, you have a huge new growth,” Paul pointed out. “And Jason’s right, I’ve never seen this one before.”

“Shoot me now,” Bo moaned.

“Suck it up, cupcake,” Jason said half serious, for he’d been through worse back when their abilities were first manifesting.

“Yeah, you’re all heart, Jason.”

“And focus on slipping into Sesspik,” he added.

Bo made an exasperated sound. “I can’t even think straight,” he said, trying to steady himself enough to get into a healing trance, which hadn’t even occurred to him to try.

“Hold onto this,” Paul said, creating a telepathic hard point for Bo to hold onto. When he mentally grasped it the blurriness that came along with the pain reduced somewhat, but his head was still awash with disorientation. Paul felt his mind begin to settle a bit, but whether he got into Sesspik or not he couldn’t say, for his current state was so erratic that even Paul was having a hard time reading him without exposing himself to the same pain.

“Thanks,” Bo said, not moving so much as a muscle as he tried to bleed off the fragmentation, getting just a hint of coolness as the Sesspik activated.

“Wait a sec,” Jason said, not believing what he thought he was seeing.

“What?” Paul asked, sensing something important.

“Stay with him. I’ll be back,” Jason said, letting go of Bo’s head and hurrying out.

“What?!” Paul asked.

“Not sure yet. I’ll let you know,” he said, leaving the other two trailblazers behind and trying to keep a mental picture of Bo’s new tissue intact without it warping…too much. He ran through the corridors until he found the closest room with a computer terminal, politely kicking aside the trainer who was using it and logged him out. Pulling up a special prompt he accessed Atlantis’s online database of V’kit’no’sat translated information and dug into the psionics files.

He skipped over the tier 2 abilities and brought up the 3 known tier 3s, though by this point they knew there were actually 8…but without any files on the other five.

The three were Jumat, Beynat, and Sav. He knew it wasn’t Jumat, for he’d studied those files closely after what happened to Morgan, but he thought one of the other two might be the case. That spider-like tissue pattern caught in his memory and he dug up the files on the physical growths of the other two…with Sav coming up with an almost exact match.

Jason double checked to be sure, comparing the image still in his head with the basic construction of the Sav psionic, and after several minutes of not believing his eyes he logged out of the terminal and headed back to the training area…finding Bo sitting up but still sprawled out on the mat with Paul’s hand on his head trying to help stabilize him.

“Alright you space monkey,” Jason said, shaking his head as he walked over to and knelt down next to Bo. “Look at me.”

Bo tilted his head up and unclenched his eyes…with Paul and Jason now seeing that they’d changed in color to an eerie twinkling gray.

“You just skipped tier 2 and joined Morgan’s exclusive club.”

Paul’s eyes widened. “He got Jumat?”

“No, he got Sav…I think. The tissue looks almost identical.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Paul said, looking from one to the other.

Jason smirked. “Jealous?”

“Very,” he said, actually a little ticked.

“Remind the pain-stricken one what Sav does?” Bo said, his eyes watery.

“It’s the multi-tasking upgrade,” Paul said, still miffed. As far as naval was concerned that was the holy grail of all psionics. “If you’ve really got it then you should be able to utilize different psionics simultaneously.”

“Processing power upgrade?” Bo asked, vaguely remembering reading that file.

“As well as being able to control more drones,” Jason added. “Which is why Paul really hates you right now.”

Bo laughed, but that hurt his head even more. “Wanna trade?”

“Just think of what this will do for your naval scores,” Jason prodded, with some amusement. “You’ll be able to remote control entire ships down to every available system…if not fleets. You might even come close to matching him.”

“Shut up,” Paul said, looking down at Bo. “It’ll do a lot more than that. If I remember correctly it’s not psionic specific and essentially acts like a second brain, focus wise at least.”

“Like what I needed to keep track of all the thuds,” Bo pointed out.

“We need to take a close look at those files,” Paul insisted. “Not sure how we’re going to confirm this one while his head is fragged.”

“I’m serious,” Bo reiterated. “You got bioshields and I got a bigger brain. Trade?”

“Actually I want both,” Paul answered honestly.

“You’re no fun,” Bo said. “Jason, any advice? This feels a lot like what you described.”

“You think it misgrew?” he asked, his merriment now gone.

“I don’t know, but it’s bad.”

“Something caused you to skip a tier…though that might not be quite accurate,” Paul said, thinking. “Regardless, we’re not supposed to access the third tier until we’re much more advanced, or so the Zen’zat say. This might be some sort of glitch or malfunction.”

“So don’t even think about undoing it,” Jason said firmly.

“I’m not hurting that much,” Bo clarified, “but close.”

“We need to get you under a bigger scanner,” Paul said, glancing at his headband that, as far as the indicator lights were concerned, was registering no lingering instability. “Walk or carry?”

“Is stun an option?” Bo asked, slowly pulling himself to his feet with Jason grabbing his arm to help stabilize him.

“Come on,” Paul said, leading the way. “Let’s get this figured out.”

“Here,” Vortison said to Paul as Bo lay on a bed on the other side of the room under a scanner with Jason by his side monitoring other readouts. “This data you probably never looked at. It’s all statistics relating to the tissue growth process and has never been translated. I just got used to looking at it in V’kit’no’sat because some of their means of recordkeeping don’t have English or Metric equivalents.”

Paul looked at the data, seeing a bunch of mathematical symbols mixed in with various terminology. “What am I looking for?”

“Nothing without the proper context, but basically this outlines how the tissue is supposed to be grown…and in this case the Sav is clearly supposed to occur in various stages. The ‘instability’ that you guys refer to is actually part of the prep work that allows a smoother transition. I’d guess that Bo forced the transfer too quickly, which is why he’s in so much pain now. Same thing for the rest of you. Once the flash growth stops the pain should as well.”

Paul considered that. “I was under the impression that the instability was a hurdle to overcome in order to activate the ascension. I didn’t know it was variable?”

“I can’t say for certain because I’ve never experienced it myself, but I would guess that your tissues want time to adapt in stages. Not entirely sure what that would feel like from your end though…”

“Did his form incorrectly?”

“I would say no, for the most part. Everything appears to be there that should be, it’s just chewed up from the hyper-condensed process. He’s got more than a pound of new tissue in his head. That alone will cause headaches until everything adjusts.”

“I went through that with the bioshield ascension,” Paul reminded him.

“Yes, but that was spread out over your entire body. His tissue is all in one place, more or less if you ignore the tendrils.”

“Cranial pressure?”

“Stabilizing. The V’kit’no’sat did good work when they designed these. My guess is he’ll work it all out in time, he just rushed it and got temporarily fried in the process.”

Paul nodded, taking that as good news despite the fact that meant Bo would be in considerable pain for at least few days, if not more. “Any idea why he went to tier 3?”

Vortison held up a finger as he switched screens, bringing up the data that had been transmitted to the computer just before the ascension occurred.

“I don’t think the tiers are meant to be stepping stones. They’re a level of power or difficulty if you want to think of it that way. Sav has no precursor other than the tier ones, and I think it’s the intensity of your training that triggered it. You know far better than me…what’s your training like compared to what the Zen’zat do?”

Paul hesitated for a moment, for that was a tricky question. “We use a different basic philosophy, but a lot of their training regimens are just as intense, if not more so.”

“Do they have an equivalent to the drill you were running with Bo?”

“Not that I’m aware of. We were actually trying to activate Pren when this happened.”

“Same drills as the others?”

“Exactly the same.”

“Then I would hazard a guess that there was something different in his training leading up to this point. I’d dig into those records, if you have them.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” Paul promised, walking back over to Bo and Jason.

“He’ll be alright,” Jason said confidently. “Not as bad as I was,” he said, tapping the flatscreen display, “but he did get a good rug burn.”

Paul thumbed back over his shoulder towards Vortison. “He thinks we’re pressing the ascensions too fast and that’s the problem. Seems Sav is meant to occur in growth stages. You got it on the first try and as a reward got fried.”

“So we shouldn’t be trying to press?” Bo asked, knowing that flew in the face of everything they’d been working on to this point.

“Oh we’ll press,” Jason confirmed. “There’s just an added bonus if we fail a few times first.”

“Some reward,” Bo said, still in agony.

“Worth it in the long run,” Jason said from his perch atop the pain pedestal…except maybe for Morgan, but hers was a special case. Either way, Archons weren’t going to let a pain barrier stand in their way to accessing the additional psionics…and given how impatient they were, they probably wouldn’t back off much, if any, in probing instabilities when they arose in the future. At least he knew he wouldn’t.

“At least you did this to yourself,” Paul commented, “and there appears to be no structural problems.”

“Good…can I get stunned now?”

“Fastest way to recover is Sesspik,” Vortison commented from a few meters away.

“And you need to be conscious for that,” Jason reminded him unnecessarily.

“Wonderful,” Bo said, moving the scanning equipment aside and slowly standing up. “Sounds like it’s back to my quarters for a nap. Escorts, if you please,” he said, holding up a hand for balance.

Jason took him by the elbow and began to lead him out. “You’re such a wuss.”

5

July 13, 2546

Solar System

Earth

Bo woke up to a jabbing finger in his ribcage, blinking his eyes open mid-dream and coming back to reality in a hazy flash. He sat up in bed, shaking his head out as Jason retracted his arm.

“Ah,” he sighed. “Not again.”

“Afraid so,” Jason said, referencing the fact that Bo had slept through his alarm. Ever since the Sav ascension his sleep patterns had been deeper than normal…so deep in fact he’d arranged it with his fellow trailblazers to come and wake him up if he didn’t signal them over the comms that he was up within 10 minutes of his alarm going off.

Which it now did, on repeat. Bo glanced at the control console on the wall and telekinetically flipped it off, wondering again how he could have slept through the screeching wail…the most annoying sound he could get his hands on, trying to find something that would pierce his doped up state. He put his hands on his head, massaging his forehead that was still carrying a lingering bit of discomfort but the outright pain was gone.

“Meet you in the cafeteria in 20?” Jason asked, heading for the door.

“I’ll be there in 15,” Bo said, heading for the shower.

The warm water nearly made him doze off again, but he focused on flexing his muscles every now and then to get some tension in his body as he cleaned up. Fortunately shaving was a thing of the past with his now deactivated hair follicles, so after a moderately long shower he pulled on a fresh training uniform and headed out, meeting Jason, Paul, Emily, and Greg at one of the tables for a not so early breakfast. Apparently the others were already out and about, for no Archon ever slept in late…save for losers like him that couldn’t keep it together.

He had thought he was getting better, but it seemed his head was craving sleep. Probably some type of recalibration going on but it was starting to look like this was going to be a normal thing. He told himself that so long as his head hurt a little then he wasn’t done recovering and so not to worry, but very many more of these inadvertent comas and he was going to start to wonder.

He piled up a full plate of carb and sugar-laced foodstuffs and headed over to their table amongst over 300 other people at various stages of breakfast. Most weren’t Archons, but regular Atlantis staff, though they were quite well acquainted to seeing the living legends walking around so not too many people stared.

Bo grabbed a bottle of green on his way and sat down next to Emily, immediately drinking half of the vitamin-laced liquid before tearing into one of several pastries. She glanced over at him, then reached a hand up and put it on his head.

“You’re running hot still?” she asked, not meaning temperature but how his brain was processing.

“Can’t turn it off. All I can manage is a slow idle,” he said before taking another large bite and chewing vigorously.

“Is it eating ambrosia?”

“Thankfully no…” he said with his mouth half full. “But it’s still taking over when I sleep.”

“Have you tried staying awake?”

“Doesn’t help, but yeah. I only got about 6 hours in last night.”

“So you’re physically fried too?”

“Not so much, but if this keeps up I will be. I just hate nodding off before I can’t get all the way asleep. My new processor wants to run its own simulations. The only way I can get it to shut up is to be really tired, then it takes over sometime after my body soaks up the rest it needs.”

“Want some help?”

“I don’t even know what could help…other than letting this play out.”

“We can catch a nap later and I can help nudge you off to sleep. At least give you an hour or so of real rest.”

Bo hesitated, thinking. “Not sure if that will work or not, but it’s worth a shot.”

“About 3 then?”

“That works…I think. Not sure what drills these guys have set up for me today.”

“Still holding your hand?” Greg commented.

Bo glared at him but didn’t say anything, preferring to continue eating.

“Speaking of which,” Paul added, “they’ve got the new obstacle course ready. I ran through it this morning for a light trial and got my ass kicked pretty easy. I’m curious as to how you’ll stand up.”

“New course?” Greg asked.

“Designed for me,” Bo answered. “They want to put my multi-tasking abilities into the next dimension so they rigged up something.”

Emily whistled. “Oh, I want to see this.”

“Later,” Jason said. “He needs to get adjusted first. Cheerleaders can wait.”

Emily levitated a bit of the filling out of one of her pastries and sent a glob Jason’s way, but Bo telekinetically intercepted it, freezing the red goo a foot in front of his face and pulling it into tiny pieces that he arranged in a cubical grid, further dividing them down into smaller and smaller segments until it looked like a holographic grid map.

Greg’s jaw dropped when he saw the intricate control he had over his Lachka. “Now that is impressive. How many pieces is that?”

“12 by 12 by 12. Can’t do much more without losing focus.”

“1728?” Greg said after doing the math. “That’s one hell of an upgrade. Most I’ve ever managed was 162, and nowhere near that small.”

“I can see smaller detail now too,” Bo added. “I think my Pefbar was overloading to the point that we can only see as much as we can process and now…”

“How small can you go?” Greg asked.

The filling collapsed in on itself, returning to a single glob that Bo sent the rest of its way to Jason’s face.

“That small.”

Greg laughed, but Paul just shook his head. “No, look,” he told Greg, pointing to what appeared to be an empty spot of air in between him and Bo.

Greg focused, then his jaw dropped again when he flicked on his Pefbar and saw a tiny little speck…no, four tiny little specs so small that they were all but invisible with normal eyesight.

“How in the galaxy are you doing that?”

“Not sure,” Bo admitted. “I just have a finer control of my Lachka.”

“When did this kick in?”

“A couple days ago when I started messing around with stuff.”

“Jealous yet?” Paul asked.

Greg stared at the tiny little pieces, not believing what he thought he was seeing. They were so small it was hard to be sure. “Combat applications? I could see how this would help a tech but…”

“We’re working on it,” Jason said. “Right now it’s about mass coordination. We’re not sure if the microscopic angle is intentional or just a side effect.”

“I don’t think the database mentioned anything about it,” Emily said, thinking back to what she’d read a few weeks ago.

“It doesn’t,” Bo answered between bites, for he was really shoveling it in trying to make up for lost time. “I’ve been through those files more than these two, and there’s nothing there. All they’ve got is some notes from the few Zen’zat that achieved it, and they cited use in either remote control or particle deflection with Lachka…including a huge power savings versus the wall technique.”

“If you can individually track and catch every piece,” Greg said, following the line of thought.

“Exactly.”

“But you don’t have time for than in the case of an explosion.”

“Actually…he does,” Jason said, glancing over at Greg after a sip from a bottle of blue. “His reaction speeds have increased. Not his physical skills, but his mental processing. Eye hand coordination has gone up as a result, but now it’s his body that’s holding back further upgrades.”

“I can see things before they happen,” Bo said, taking another swig. “Sort of. It feels that way because my senses are a step ahead of my body. They’ve got me running through drills to test that theory and so far my reaction speed is upwards of Mage 73.”

“Holy crap,” Emily said, looking at him again. “And I thought you were just becoming a better chess player.”

“Haven’t actually tried that,” he admitted. “Head is still fried enough that I don’t want to plug into an interface just yet. Need to clean out the debris with drills first.”

Emily raised an eyebrow at Paul. “Can’t believe you’re holding him back on that one.”

“I just want him at full strength before I kick his ass,” he said with a smirk.

“I think we’re going to sell tickets for that one,” Jason commented as he finished his tray.

“What’s up first today?” Bo asked his two volunteer trainers, starting on another pastry.

“Light sparring drills then a 5k before we hit the obstacle course.”

“We?”

“I’m doing it to. Jason needs someone to compare you with.”

Jason stood up. “I’ll meet you guys there. Got some sword practice to do first.”

Bo nodded and Jason walked off with his empty tray…while his was still half full.

“Em, what are you up to?” Greg asked.

“Swimming, swimming, and more swimming,” she said, sipping out the last of her bottle of blue. “Endurance day, then I’ll catch a nap with Bo and probably go back for some flexibility drills or sparring afterwards. Depends how dead I am. Wish we’d get the stupid triggers figured out so we can start sharing. I’m really envying those bioshields.”

“Speaking of which, where’s Riona?” Greg asked Paul.

“An early start today. I won’t join her for training until the afternoon.”

“I thought you two were joined at the hip?”

“We are, but had to make room for this guy. Besides, we can’t train bioshield all day every day.”

“I thought you were going for the whole Master and Apprentice thing,” Emily added.

“About that,” Paul said, taking the opportunity while the three of them were here. “I don’t like suggesting this after the fact, but I think we should rework the Mage levels.”

“How?” Greg asked, curious. Paul was top ranked at level 8 now, with Morgan none too happy about it, but she still preferred field work to training on Earth so for her it was kind of like letting Paul get out ahead of her so she’d have a challenge to reel him back in. At least that’s what it appeared to everyone else. Her thoughts on it were less…cheerful.

“The time I’ve spent with Riona has opened my eyes to a lot of things.”

“I’ll bet it has,” Emily said sarcastically.

Paul threw her a very familiar annoyed look but continued on without comment. “I think we need to keep previous Archon levels as they are. We might not need a lot of the stuff in them now, but the newbs do…like the heavy armor and no psionics up till acolyte.”

“Agreed,” Greg said, not sure where he was going with this.

“I think we need to rework Mage and make it into a much larger category…and one that has an automatic pairing with a higher ranking Archon.”

“Except there are no higher ranking Archons,” Greg pointed out.

“Our problem, which we’ll work through, but when the second gen get to this point I think it just has to happen and we have to start working and traveling in pairs…for all assignments.”

“I don’t know about that,” Emily said. “There are too few of us as it is.”

“If the V’kit’no’sat didn’t exist I’d agree, but we’ve got to take it to the next level and having, at minimum, a sparring partner with you at all times will help us advance quicker. Me pulling ahead of Morgan should be proof enough of that.”

“Generous of you,” Emily pointed out.

“I like beating her, you know that, but if she were here training the same amount I was we’d be even…at best. That’s a challenge I like tackling and going back and forth with her on, but since she’s out fighting and doing other stuff her training isn’t at such a high level. Don’t tell her I said that, because it’s not a dis, just a fact that she has no peers to work with. Now, we all learned how to train solo and the newbs should as well, which is why I’m not suggesting we pair them up until they hit Mage, or as I like to think of it, the ‘Apprentice’ stage.”

“Enter the automatic Jedi metaphor,” Emily declared.

“Actually I think he might be onto something,” Greg said, thinking hard. “We’ve already been seeking each other out, those of us with the same psionics, to train for them. A more formal structure that has it happening automatically would make sense…though I really don’t want to lose the freedom we have right now.”

“We can do whatever we want,” Paul reminded him. “I’m thinking mainly about the second gen coming up.”

“We’re the masters and can take on an Apprentice by choice?” Bo asked, finally working to the end of his plate.

Paul waved a hand side to side in an unsure gesture. “Numbers game, but eventually yes. If we want to go solo we can, but if we’re in the field I think we need a partner. The combat applications should be obvious, but even if just for training purposes.”

“I can agree with that,” Bo added. “6 years out on Lothlorien without any of you guys around sucked.”

“My point exactly,” Paul agreed.

“So we split up…how? By psionics?” Greg asked.

“What Riona and I have going works well, but I’m thinking further ahead to when we learn how to share. I think the sharing should be done Master to Apprentice.”

Greg leaned back in his chair, rubbing his smooth chin. “They get whatever psionics they can break through to on their own up until they hit ‘Apprentice’ then they get the full load, along with the personalized training of how to make use of them.”

“I like the sound of that,” Emily added. “Except we can’t share and don’t know how to use them yet.”

“Work in progress, like always,” Paul said, going a step further. “We’ve also got to make this level more than 100…or make each more difficult. A hundred years on average seems like a long time, but from the Zen’zat’s point of view we’re still young. We need to structure our levels thinking far ahead of now.”

“That had crossed my mind,” Greg admitted. “But we can’t design levels that far ahead of our current abilities.”

“I know, but I meant between status changes. I also think it’s time we diversified the armor. I’m liking the heavier version, but some are wanting to go in Kara’s direction to maximize agility. I think we should have two options available at Apprentice while us Masters get more choices…after we design them.”

“We’re going to run into the problem of getting too big of a skill gap,” Bo warned. “Right now the second gen isn’t that far behind us. But 1000 years from now it’s going to be like bringing your kid brother along and I for one am not going to be too into that. Well, maybe once or twice but not as a regular thing.”

Greg nodded. “We also need elite pairings.”

Paul raised and pointed a finger at Greg. “Good idea.”

“Are we going to give them the telepathic armor too?” Emily asked. “Or save that for the ‘Masters?’”

“I don’t know,” Paul said, knowing that it was in prototype stage at the moment. “What we give ourselves isn’t the same, and we can’t overload the others with a lot of changes all on the same level.”

“They’re going to have their hands full with the psionics if we can learn to share them,” Greg pointed out. “That and a choice in armor should be all we throw at them.”

“Agreed,” Bo said, now with a clean plate, “but are we renaming it?”

“Mage fits with the psionics being added, in theory,” Greg said. “Not sure exactly how that will work. The requirements might need to be easy just to get them all up and going.”

Emily nodded, thinking along the same lines. “Mage should be the hard hitting psionic requirements. We can keep the current level progression we’ve mapped out, that way you and Morgan don’t get in a hissy fit by resetting them, then add the new ones when we get access to them.”

Bo shook his head. “We really need them all unlocked first, otherwise we’re going to have people marked ahead of where they should be.”

“Can’t be helped at the moment,” Greg said, “but we can get the armor mod going.”

“Work on it, guys,” Paul said as he stood up and Bo followed suit. “Right now it’s time for training.”

“Isn’t it always,” Emily said, getting up as well.

“I’ll get back to you later today,” Greg told Paul. “Already starting to get some ideas.”

“I thought you might,” he said as the four of them abandoned the table and returned their trays before splitting up and heading off to various training facilities within Atlantis. Paul and Bo went together, but he made a mental note to stop by and have a chat with Wilson later in the day and see if he could offer any insights as to how they might progress forward. Even though he wasn’t an Archon he had always been the training master, more often than not cluing them in to new ways to approach problems that they then expanded upon.

If you were ever stuck he was the go to guy for help with training issues or all around advice.

6

“Ready?” Paul asked.

“Whenever you are,” Bo answered, toeing the starting line next to Paul while Jason watched from behind.

With the slap of the starting pedestal Paul took off with Bo matching him stride for stride up to the first barrier and both of them jumping up on top of it and walking across three narrow beams only 2 inches wide. Paul took the middle lane and Bo the right, with numerous thud launchers activating and targeting the two of them from above, ahead, behind, and from underneath. As per the rules of the course Paul couldn’t use his bioshield and neither of the Archons could create a telekinetic field to deflect the thuds with. They had to intercept each one individually, catching, bouncing, or deflecting them in order to keep their balance.

As he walked, Paul sensed the incoming thuds with his Pefbar extended out nearly to its limits, giving him a split second warning for each which was just enough time to create a hand-sized Lachka field that he placed in their path, knocking down each one individually as he cycled about mentally from point to point. There were dozens coming in at once, forcing him to have to create multiple fields simultaneously and each on their own timing, but he managed well enough. Only a few thuds made it through to hit him and it wasn’t enough to throw off his balance and dump him into the disqualification pit below.

He made steady progress across, one step at a time and wobbling here and there when he did get hit…but Bo had already made it across. He’d never stopped to walk, and though Paul couldn’t pay attention to what he was doing he noticed a hail of deflections coming off him as he got pelted repeatedly.

Jason had a better view from the starting area, in which he saw Paul slow up and work his way across the rail gradually while Bo didn’t slow at all. He ran right across, with all the thuds just bouncing off his Lachka fields as if it was no trouble at all. That was the first sign that something was considerably different between the two, but it was only the start of the course and arguably the easiest section.

When Bo finished getting across he had to climb a ladder, still under thud assault that would last through the entire course. He scurried up the ladder like he had gone across the beam, almost as if the thuds being stopped a few inches from his body were nothing more than holograms and couldn’t touch him. In fact Jason hadn’t seen a single one hit him, while several had gotten through to Paul.

At the top of the ladders were three circles, into which Bo stepped and activated the timer. He held position as 5 times as many thuds shot at him, literally throwing about 30 per second from multiple angles, but the trailblazer just settled in and blocked them all. First he caught and dropped them, then he began deflecting them back towards various targets near the turrets and racking up some bonus points. He could have grabbed one and threw it back, but Jason noticed he wasn’t doing that. He was actually bouncing them in the direction he wanted…which was when Jason finally realized he was just showing off.

When the timer expired and Paul was just getting to the base of the ladder the floor opened up beneath Bo and dropped him down through a short tunnel and rounded a curve, sliding him out to a lower section of the course that had two different sizes of thuds…one tiny and one large, both of which were being first at him at different speeds and with different kinetic loads. Trick of this section was to probe his differentiation skills and see just how aware he was of what he was doing.

Again, Bo surprised Jason. He traced a line on the floor that had a holographic beacon through a complicated series of twists and turns around an otherwise open square area the size of a basketball court, getting hammered the entire time he had to stay inside a two meter perimeter of the glowing ‘mist’ that was guiding him erratically. Adjusting to it and maneuvering as he was should have been a problem, but Bo handled it with ease and continued to rack up bonus points by deflecting thuds towards nearby targets…and doing so individually, because Jason could see his Lachka fields thanks to his Rentar ability, and he was in fact creating tiny fields to intercept each…and much smaller fields than Paul was using.

The smaller the field the more accurate the trajectory trace you had to pull, and given that this was all happening in a split second you had to create wider fields the less sure you were of their exact position. With Bo’s fields being so tiny it was almost as if he could see them coming with ease…which shouldn’t have been possible with so many being fired at him nonstop.

Jason was already impressed, but it only got better the further Bo worked around the course. Eventually the thuds increased speed, size, and diversity…setting up a final gauntlet run down a meter wide elevated ‘sidewalk’ with disqualification pits on either side and a hailstorm of thuds. The ceiling and nearby walls were literally covered with launchers, some of which were sending out baseball sized projectiles while others were spraying him with pebbles in shotgun sprays.

Those Bo did take with single fields, which Jason wasn’t sure was within the rules or not, but it was how he also would have reacted had he been running it. The normal-sized thuds and larger he kept deflecting singly, then he started grabbing them in the air and holding them up in a halo around him to use as a shield as he ran down the long hallway.

Jason couldn’t see most of him for the rain was too heavy, but some 18 seconds later he emerged past the line that deactivated the launchers and walked up next to the starting platform as he dropped the 200+ thuds he had suspended around his body at once, with them bouncing and rolling off as he casually reached out and pressed the finish button.

Some of the thuds rolled over to Jason and hit him in the feet, with the trailblazer just looking at his peer and shaking his head.

“I want one,” he said pithily, drawing a smirk from Bo.

“How’s Paul been doing?” he said, looking back.

Jason had forgotten to look when Bo was going through the final gauntlet, and as he scanned the course for Paul he couldn’t find him. He reached out with is Ikrid and found his mind’s location…in the bottom of a disqualification pit.

“Not good,” Jason summed up. “You were ahead of him right from the start.”

“I’d hope so. I want to go again. Now that I’ve got a handle on what I can do I think I can manage more speed and I know I can rack up more bonus points.”

Jason looked at the score floating in the air nearby, seeing a mark of 132 bonus points that added to his time score for a total of 1032. “Somehow I think that basic mark is going to be virtually unobtainable for the rest of us.”

“How about you two tandem it this time?”

Jason smiled as Paul finally got back up to the start area, having walked through the corridors of shame below that linked the pits to the start area. “You’re on.”

Bo walked back over to the start pedestal as the other two had a brief telepathic conversation, then they lined up beside him and Paul tagged the button, sending all three off…with Bo coming out the easy winner once again, but at least Jason and Paul did manage to get to the finish with the help of a battlemeld link and staying close enough together to help block for one another, coming up with a finish score of 208.

They tried once again while Bo made half a dozen more runs, bumping his score up to 1321 and demonstrating several weaknesses in the challenge. They’d keep it as is, but if they were going to push his new ability they were going to have to design something…harder, which Jason and Paul got to work on later that day, turning in the schematics to the techs before evening so they could get it built as quickly as possible.

Two weeks later a whole new wing of Atlantis had been retrofitted into a Sav-specific training area. Paul and Jason couldn’t use it, though they’d tried and failed miserably. They’d had to really jack up the difficulty level in order to find Bo’s current limits, which they knew would only grow with time and training. He could have designed them himself, but given that he was the first to attain this ability they didn’t want him to have to do that, instead they wanted him to focus on beating challenges rather than creating them.

So they did it for him and got to analyze from afar what he could and couldn’t do, making tweaks here and there and adding new challenges as they thought them up…but there was one application they didn’t understand the full implications of until Bo happened into a sparring match with Vermaire one day…and beat him.

Fortunately they’d been recording that match in order to study Bo, and he’d been wearing a monitoring headband at the time, as they all did now. Between the two there was a lot of analysis going on, both from the medtechs and the Archons, but it was Wilson who finally got the prize for making the connection. He reviewed the records, along with those that Paul had been feeding him of Bo’s other training activities, and sent a message to both of them to stop by his ‘lair’ when they had a chance.

Both of them knew not to keep him waiting, for when he had something he wanted to talk about with them, which was rare, it was usually significant. His office complex within Atlantis, from where he ran the entire Archon trainee program, wasn’t a typical office. Over the centuries he’d reworked it into part combat operations center, part training facility of its own, and when the two trailblazers got there he had a very young trainee going through some null gravity training inside a containment cylinder…drawing skeptical looks from both trailblazers.

“A bit of disorientation syndrome,” Wilson said as he came out to meet them, holding up four fingers at the trainee inside, who nodded…throwing off her balance and causing her to start twisting about until her hand hit the sidewall of the shield that was keeping her inside. As she continued to bounce around trying and failing to steady herself Wilson looked on, knowing well that she had to learn to do things on her own without him jumping in to help whenever one of them got into trouble. If they wanted to become Archons they had to learn to improvise.

“Bad?” Paul asked.

“Very. Which is why I have her here every third day for special sessions. Her mind doesn’t want to calibrate to the zero g. I’ve seen this before and what is required is a lot of metaphorical face punching before the subconscious finally catches on and makes the adjustment,” he said, turning away from the trainee and pointing a finger at Bo. “You, on the other hand, are something new. And I always like new challenges. Come with me.”

Wilson led the two trailblazers out of the main area and into a side chamber, with Paul immediately recognizing V’kit’no’sat script floating in holo above three different workstations in the moderately small room. Wilson telekinetically shut the door behind them and the room’s lights dimmed with him bringing up a central hologram depicting Bo’s fight with Vermaire.

“Nice piece of work, and far better than I could do, but still very sloppy.”

Bo raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“I’ve been studying the V’kit’no’sat records in detail, as I’m sure you have, but there are a lot more entries than those just listed under psionics…which you know are not, given the lack of an organization system to the database. I’ve come across numerous seemingly random entries with training components, and the techs send any new ones they’ve translated my way, but I make a habit to peruse the untranslated files and I’ve found bits and pieces of information over the years that suggest a duality in the physiology of combat…as far as the psionics engineers were concerned.”

“Go on,” Bo said, not insulted but rather intrigued by whatever Wilson was getting at.

“The mind upgrades similar to the way the body does, but a person can only fight as fast as the slowest portion. Your slowest portion is now your body. Your processing power has risen beyond it, allowing you to make more of your senses and leaving your muscle response speed lagging, which is why you were fighting sloppy…though it was enough to outmatch Vermaire. His strength is still beyond you, but he couldn’t handle your speed. But then you already knew that or you wouldn’t have tackled him the way you did.”

“Um, well…actually I was just trying to avoid getting my ass kicked. I didn’t spot a weakness, I was just staying ahead of his movements for the first time in my life.”

“Then you were even sloppier than I realized,” Wilson continued, again without negativity and just coming with a fresh, honest, and useful analysis. “Up until now your physical speed has been held back by your mind’s ability to process, but freed of that you were still making choppy/floppy attacks. I thought there had been some strategy in them.”

“Afraid not. I was just poking him where I could. He almost had me several times.”

“I noticed. What you need to do is retrain your body to make use of your faster mind. I’m fairly sure you’ve got greater speed in you already, just uncalibrated. After that you’ll have to physically train for greater speed, but the first step is getting yourself back in alignment. You’re off balance and while you’ve leveled up considerably you’re still fighting sloppy.”

“Do you have any drill suggestions for calibration?” Bo asked.

Wilson walked a step to his left and grabbed a datachip. He input it into a slot on the console and had a new hologram pop up alongside the fight with Vermaire, which was playing continuously and on a loop. It was 8 minutes long and Wilson didn’t want to have to reload it every time he rewatched it, with him going through it blow by blow for several hours previously.

When it came to a certain section of the fight he paused, rewinded, and replay a specific series of blocks Bo had made and set it into its own mini-loop. Wilson went on to point out the small errors and the drills he had constructed to counter them, then proceeded through the entire fight in a similar manner…switching over to footage of some of Bo’s training drills at the end and offering a few upgrades there as well.

After he was finished he had a question for Paul.

“How close are you to finding the next trigger?”

“Battlemeld is the only reliable one, but I thought we were close to nailing Pren until he went Sav. He was doing the same training the rest of us had done to trigger it, and I’m at a loss as to what happened. I thought we were starting to get a handle on it but now I’m not so sure.”

“Tell me how this individual compares. I know he isn’t nearly as advanced, but from what you’d learned prior to Bo’s ascension how close do you think he is?” Wilson asked, grabbing another datachip and bringing up the biotelemetry data that Paul could almost see in his sleep by now, he’d gone through so many of them.

He gave it a quick look then glanced at Bo, having a silent conversation.

“Close,” Paul said, mildly impressed. “All the major skill areas are weak, but the internal alignment looks favorable. Who is this?”

“Not an Archon,” Wilson answered vaguely. “Is it worth your time to train with them, or would they be too much of a stretch?”

Paul didn’t know if this was a test or a request, so he just took the question at face value. “I’m curious as to how he got to this position. He’s so stacked towards what we thought was a Pren trigger that even if he didn’t get it quickly I think we could learn something from the attempt. And the closer we get to the triggers the better. What division is he?”

“Gotta be commando,” Bo said, looking at the stats. “No one else does that much physical augmentation…and he’s too short to be a Knight.”

Paul shook his head, taking to the guessing game they seemed to be playing. “No, he’s missing several commando traits. Could be an oddball, but my gut says no.”

“Then what?” Bo asked.

Paul hesitated, then went ahead and said it. “This can’t be true, but the only connection I can make is this being a quitter,” he said, referencing the handful of Archons that had turned in their badass card and went civilian. “One making a comeback?”

Paul looked at Wilson, but the taller man shook his head. “No, but I’ll thank you for the compliment. You’re looking at my biotelemetry.”

Bo let out an exasperated sigh. “Should have known.”

Paul glanced at the numbers again. “Have you been trying to get to Pren?”

“Yes. There’s only so much I can help you guys with if I don’t experience these things for myself. I can’t be a backseat driver and do much good.”

“Your past history says otherwise,” Bo added, “but I get what you mean.”

“Do you have time to join us?” Paul asked.

“Do you have time to train here while there’s a war going on?” Wilson countered. “I’ll make time, if you think it’s worth yours?”

“I’m too curious to say no regardless,” Paul said with a smirk and extended his hand to the bigger man. “Welcome onboard.”

Wilson took it with a fairly firm grip.

“But don’t expect us to go easy on you,” Paul warned.

“It’d defeat the purpose if you did.”

“Alright then,” Bo said, feeling like getting back to their workouts. “Let’s get at it.”

7

July 15, 2546

Solar System

Earth

Bo sat in one of the sparring chambers, legs crossed, eyes closed with hundreds of tiny thuds orbiting around his body in a pattern too intricate to easily pick up on…except that the trailblazer was hardly concentrating on them. Archons often found pure meditation not to work, and that in order for them to really disconnect from their environment and let their minds wander they had to be at least partially involved in the environment, as if no action whatsoever put them on guard for something to come and low level activity allowed them to relax.

Some of the Archons used handstands, others more active drills that required little effort that they would repeat over and over again. Ever since his Sav ascension Bo had turned Jedi, levitating and orbiting objects around him not so much to free his mind but to work out some of the lingering pain that seemed to be grudgingly diminishing with each day that passed. It was 1 pm and he’d just finished up an hour run, with the slight fatigue that brought warming his legs as his mind worked through the telekinetic manipulation necessary to keep his little star system of thuds in order.

Two hours from now he would get back to harder workouts, but for now he wanted to get some meditation time in before catching a shower and a quick nap…the latter of which was helping his head. Straight rest and he’d lock up, but action/rest cycling helped to loosen him up…an old Archon training trick they’d learned back in their first 100 years.

As Bo’s mind wandered he gently nudged it into the parts of his mental capabilities that were untapped, probing the limits of his thoughts almost randomly as if he was bouncing around. That was another old trick, that when one didn’t know what they were looking for they had to ‘shoot around’ randomly. That little tidbit had come from Taryn, who often went crazy in drills trying to shake more speed out of herself. A crude, jerky, almost completely random action sometimes had the ability to access a part of yourself that your normal control didn’t allow you to touch, so in order to find new mental territory Bo was flailing around inside his head, making him feel kind of like a Human pinball machine.

It was something he had done many times in the past, but now that he had new brain tissue and a whole new mental structure he had plenty of room to bounce around in, and exploring those new capabilities was something he was going to chew on in every way possible…though at night he tried to do the opposite and not think, needing smooth sleep. That didn’t always work, but he found that if he let his mind go in meditation then sleep time would often not be invaded by as many random thoughts.

Which was another reason to take a nap afterwards and suck up some good minutes while his mind was satiated from the meditation randomness.

But that wasn’t going to happen today, for somewhere in his ramblings he hit on something. He didn’t know what, but almost immediately he felt instability swelling inside his head.

“What the…” he said, dropping his orbiting thuds as his mind suddenly lost its cohesion. He focused on the ascension prompt, not understanding how this would happen outside of training. Every single time it had occurred previously, in all the Archons, it had been during some type of physical stress. He was under none now, nor mental stress given how easy holding the thud grid was. What was going on he didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to squander the opportunity for another upgrade.

With the little semi-bouncy balls dropping and rolling everywhere Bo concentrated, channeling the instability and trying not to overload himself…but then he said screw it. If he got brain burn again so be it. It would be worth it.

Not taking Vortison’s advice, the trailblazer pushed the instability onward, unable to see the indicator lights on his headband creep up into the yellow. This time the instability fought him, not wanting to be drawn out as fast so Bo went with it and tried a very gradual draw, playing to not lose it rather than force it out. Little by little it crept upward, with the indicator lights marking his improvement up into the red…which was when he sensed another presence in his head.

It felt like a solid pole imbedded into the ground amidst the hurricane he was riding out and stoking. Bo grabbed hold of it and used the mental signature to stabilize himself further, which added to his ability to channel the mental winds. That didn’t cause him to get to the transition point immediately, but with a considerable amount of time and effort his mental storm took shape and in mind’s eye turned into three tight rings before it flashed and his head began screaming from new tissue growth.

The pain passed quickly, unlike the Sav upgrade, and Bo blinked his eyes open…to see Paul, Jason, Greg, and even Wilson standing in front of him.

“Where did you guys come from?” he said, getting to his feet.

“When you were overdue for your workout I came looking for you,” Jason explained.

Bo frowned. “What time is it?”

“A little after 5,” Greg answered.

Bo’s eyes widened. “That’s not…”

“I found you here an hour and a half ago,” Jason confirmed. “That’s the longest ascension anyone has ever endured and we were worried that something might have gone wrong.”

“How long were you in here before it started?” Paul asked.

“I was meditating and it happened so I jumped on it. I don’t know what time it was…maybe 1:30.”

“I wonder what he got,” Greg commented.

“Pren,” Wilson said, holding a datapad that was linked into the biomonitors on all their heads. “I don’t know why your ascension lasted so long, but we got so much data from it that Vortison says he’s found the trigger.”

“When?” Paul said, frowning.

“Text message about 15 seconds ago,” he said, hefting the datapad.

“You always carry that with you?” Greg asked.

“Habit,” he answered, but apparently one he’d picked up after the trailblazers went through basic.

“You alright?” Paul asked Bo.

“I think so,” he said, levitating one of the thuds up into his palm, then his eyes tightened a bit and it shot off and ricocheted against a wall and stopped a foot in front of Paul’s chest, with the trailblazer raising an eyebrow as he telekinetically caught it.

“Definitely a speed increase,” Bo confirmed as Paul tossed the little projectile off to the side. To have gotten that much of a rebound showed considerable strength, but to line up the shot that well to hit him was definitely a Sav moment.

“Let’s take this elsewhere,” Jason prompted. “I think we all would like to have a chat with Vortison.

“Agreed,” Paul said, walking out. Wilson and Greg followed him while Jason hung back with Bo a few meters behind them.

“You didn’t black out earlier, did you?”

Bo shook his head as they walked through the entry doors. “I had to be awake to keep the instability going, but it felt like maybe five, maybe ten minutes tops…not hours.”

“I’d like to see what it did to your Sav tissue, if anything.”

“Think there’s a connection?”

“You’re the only one to have gone that long, by far.”

“Could be some other wrinkle we haven’t come across yet.”

“All the more reason to get you under a full scanner.”

“Doesn’t explain why I ascended while meditating,” Bo added.

“Another good point. Seems every time we start to get a handle on psionics something new pulls the rug out from under us.”

“That’s what happens when you buy a new toy and throw out the instruction manual without ever reading it.”

“Speaking of which…I think we need to have a chat with our own.”

“Kara?”

“I’m going to swing by my quarters and send her a message. Meet you guys at Vortison’s lab.”

“Recall?”

Jason hesitated. “Just a chat for now. I don’t want to pull her off the front if we don’t have to.”

Bo nodded. “Anything she can remember would be…useful.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Jason said, turning left at the next intersection and breaking off from the group.

“If you’ve really done what you claim to,” Paul said when the four of them, plus Jace and Riona who they’d picked up on the way, walked into the genetics research lab, “you can have the rest of the day off.”

“Why would I want time off?” Vortison answered deadpan as he enlarged a hologram that showed biotelemetry in a synthesis of numbers and icons that made for easy recognition…once you got used to the tech vocabulary. “Here it is,” he said, pointing to one particular area. “Quite obvious now that I know what to look for. Bo’s data offered more than all the rest of you combined. If you guys can prolong your ascensions as he did it will shave centuries off us getting the complete set.”

“I don’t know how I did what I did,” Bo said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I completely lost track of time.”

Vortison pointed towards one of the beds and Bo walked over and laid down…with the scanning equipment coming out over him.

“Any side effects with this one?”

“No pain, if that’s what you mean.”

“Anything new?”

“Other than a power boost, no.”

“That’s standard for Pren,” Vortison explained, “but you should be extremely tired now.”

“A little bit, but compared to the others this has been by far the easiest ascension…I don’t know why it took so long though.”

“Perhaps therein lays the answer. You weren’t trying so hard and took your time with it, hence the lack of physical trauma…cellularly speaking.”

“Ah…actually I was pressing hard and it just wouldn’t come.”

“Impatient as always,” Vortison said as the scan results started to come in. Archons never did like waiting for anything.

While they were doing that Wilson was studying the trigger hologram intently along with Paul and Riona, with the two men having a telepathic conversation that was going on at a feverish clip…so much so that when Riona asked him a question he held up a wait finger until they’d finished.

“What?” she whispered.

“We’ve got two puzzle pieces now. Pren and Battlemeld.”

“And there are some similarities in the triggers,” Wilson finished.

“Trackable?” Jace asked, walking away from Bo and joining the conversation.

“Possibly,” Wilson said, comparing something on his datapad with the hologram. “I’ve seen these patterns before.”

That comment got Vortison’s head spinning around to face him, momentarily ignoring Bo’s scan. “Where?”

“V’kit’no’sat engineering. Whether it be combat philosophy, infrastructure, or societal architecture there are fingerprints on all of them that can be recognized with a trained eye…and I’m seeing them here as well.”

“What are you noticing?” Greg asked.

“It’s just a hunch, but I’d say that Bo’s stall during his ascension was the result of his Sav tissue. It’s not an add-on like the others, but fully integrated into his every waking thought and subconscious process. I think they designed it that way on purpose, and if I’m right every ascension from this point on for him will take extra long while it makes the upgrades.”

“How did you get that from that data?” Vortison asked, very confused.

“It’s a training thing,” he said simply.

“Then his massive headache earlier?” Paul wondered.

“It wasn’t just growing tissue, it was acclimating that tissue to his current psionic tissues,” Vortison said, taking the next logical step in the path they were traveling.

“Meaning the more you get the more it will hurt,” Greg said, cringing.

“If you rush it,” Vortison added.

“We don’t know which is which when they start,” Jace pointed out. “Instability is instability from our point of view. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever felt even the slightest variation.”

“Neither have I,” Paul said, thinking hard as Wilson continued to study the holographic data.

“Are you done here?” Bo asked, still lying down.

“Almost,” Vortison said, getting back to the work at hand. 30 seconds later he had it completed and up on a different hologram.

Bo rolled out from under the scanner and stood up with the others as they waited for the medtech to do his thing and translate most of the mathematical gibberish they were seeing.

“Interesting,” Vortison mewed as he altered the view to a more traditional brain scan, with the various psionic tissues highlighted. “There are minor variations in your Sav.”

Greg threw a look at Wilson, who he saw crack a smile but say nothing. “Don’t suppose those will help you find its trigger?”

“Probably not, but any information is better than none. Right now I’m more interested in his Pren. It’s advanced further than any I’ve seen to date, including those of you who’ve had time to train and develop it.”

“Synergy,” Wilson commented, still pulling through a comparison of his datapad and the hologram.

“I would agree,” Vortison said, shaking his head slightly, “but I have no idea how. I thought the tissue growth was a fixed lot, but if it can be flash grown variably…then this is a whole new ball game.”

Paul looked at the more intricate holographic scan that had just been done, seeing not only the Sav tissue but the Pren that was spread out like a clump of fiber optic cables between his Pefbar and Lachka tissues. There was already some interlinking there, but this added more onto it…which Paul knew was like adding more shield emitters to a warship’s hull. Upgrading the emitters was one way to get more powerful shields, while adding more was another.

In this case Bo had gotten an emitter count increase, just as Paul and the others had done before. The thing was, he’d gotten a higher level version. Paul could see the difference, though not recognizing all of the statistics at first glance despite the extensive study he’d done into this area. Vortison was the expert, but still he could tell that this wasn’t the same Pren as he had.

“Wilson?” he asked.

“From a functional standpoint it only makes sense that the Sav would unlock higher processing capabilities that would aid the other psionics. In order to do that there would be a physical restructuring needed above and beyond training adaptation. I’m guessing that since Bo already had Sav those upgrades simply occurred simultaneously with the growth.”

“What are you basing that on?” Vortison asked, glancing at his datapad.

“Nothing more than a hunch.”

“A hunch?” the medtech repeated.

“You look on the body from a designer’s point of view, I look and learn as a user. We see things from a different angle and trust our gut and experience, because we have no rulebook to work off of except what we write and record as we live and learn.”

“Gamers guide,” Paul said, understanding his metaphor, as would the other trailblazers, he knew, for they were all gamers.

“Can I get a copy of Wilson’s version,” Jace said in a pleading voice. “Please.”

The taller man raised an eyebrow at him. “I record everything in my logs.”

“That just didn’t come from your logs,” Jace pointed out. “I can from your head and things you would never write down because you’re uncertain of them. That’s the playbook I want.”

“We each have our own,” Wilson said, dismissing the compliment. “We share when we can, but mine won’t work for you and vice versa because we have different experiences to pull off of.”

Bo looked at Jace. “Try to give the man a compliment and he schools you for doing it inaccurately.”

“Yep,” Wilson confirmed.

Paul laughed. Usually the master trainer didn’t show much sass.

“So,” Bo said, glancing at both Wilson and Vortison. “Big picture is if I can ascend again it’ll take longer?”

“If his theory holds, yes,” the medtech said.

“And if yours lasts longer,” Paul added, “we might be able to get enough data from you alone to find the triggers.”

Riona walked over and wrapped Bo up in a big hug from behind. “Looks like you’re going to be our new training buddy.”

“She’s right,” Greg said. “You’ve got to stay here and train your ass off. Forget field work, go after as many triggers as you can.”

“Please,” Paul urged.

Bo held up his hands in surrender. “You don’t have to tell me twice. Sounds cool, regardless I’ve been wanting to catch up to Morgan for a long time anyway.”

“Ha,” Greg laughed. “Good luck with that one.”

“Hey,” Paul said, frowning. “I’m ahead of her now.”

“We all know that won’t last,” Bo dismissed offhand.

Paul glared at him. “Now them’s fighting words.”

“If I can beat Vermaire…” he floated with an innocent look.

“I believe,” Wilson said casually, still studying the hologram and making some notations on his datapad, “that he is looking for a rematch. I’ll wager 100 credits he’s going to beat you next time around.”

“Ouch,” Paul said with a hushed laugh as he saw the air visibly go out of the other trailblazer.

“No bet there,” Greg added. “But it’ll be fun to watch.”

“Killjoy,” Bo mumbled.

8

July 18, 2546

Solar System

Earth

It took three days for Jason to get the trigger down, with him having to internally adjust his physical and mental state to what was required for Pren ascension. He’d already gained that ability, but it was necessary for him to realign himself with it in order to pass it onto others…something rather easy in execution, once you knew what you were looking for. The trick was calibrating yourself without knowing where you were.

Originally he and Paul had learned the battlemeld trigger, which was now so familiar to him he didn’t require any biomonitor help when he helped a ranger ascend and gain the ability. In this situation that wasn’t the case, so he’d worn a headband biomonitor connected to a datapad display and sat in a meditation chamber making internal adjustments until he’d hit the mark. Then he repeated the process again and again until he was fairly confident he could hit and hold the necessary trigger.

That was when it was time for his first ‘handshake.’ Paul was lagging a little behind him in learning the trigger, as was Greg, so it was Jason who got to try the first share outside of Battlemeld, with him choosing Wilson to be at the head of the line. He did that for two reasons, one being that Wilson was already close to getting it on his own, so it shouldn’t take that much link prodding to hit his trigger. The second was that he knew that if Wilson got it he’d probably learn new angles to train it, which Jason would rather have sooner than later.

When the time came the two sat down in a meditation chamber, alone with nothing else aside from Jason’s datapad that he kept linked to his biomonitor so he could troubleshoot if he lost the trigger.

That wasn’t the hardest part, for he also had to form the twin link with Wilson. He and everyone else who had the Battlemeld shared with them already had been trained to replicate the link, so that wasn’t a problem, but each person was different and forming the link was a bit of a customization endeavor. He’d done it so many times with Paul that it just felt natural, but attempting to do so with others always required a great deal of work…which is what Wilson and Jason started with.

They spent nearly four hours in a mental chess game as they tried to line up their minds with one another, then finally they achieved the handshake and locked up, with one’s body/mind mimicking the other by registering it as their own. It was essentially a forced Ikrid glitch, but a very useful one, not only in that it could help share triggers but that it completely bypassed the Ikrid blocks and allowed one to read another, not by requisition of data but by continuously transmitting everything.

Once the two men had that link established they remained still, Wilson focusing on holding the twin link while Jason began adjusting himself to the Pren trigger…without jeopardizing the link. That was very delicate work, but he’d done this so many times with others in sharing Battlemeld that he knew how far to press before the twin link would break on his end. It was Wilson that was the unknown factor, but the man was a beast in anything training related and held his end up admirably.

A little less than an hour later and Jason successfully held himself aligned to Pren long enough for it to register in Wilson’s mind, making his subconscious think that he was actually in that required state. When that happened his trigger activated and Jason immediately felt the instability surge inside both of them.

The trailblazer broke the twin link, knowing that it would interfere with the process. Wilson had to chase it, and Jason’s presence would be a stabilizing point that would essentially weigh him down. That said, he was going to help him, so once he broke the link he reached with his Ikrid and transmitted like a beacon a stable point into his mind for him to use, but otherwise staying out of the process. This was Wilson’s battle to fight, as it should be.

It took him a long time to increase the instability, and Jason felt him almost lose it several times, but whenever that happened Wilson used Jason’s mental anchor to effectively reset the ascension process and try again. He was learning each time without losing the trigger activation, which impressed Jason thoroughly after he reached out and made physical contact to monitor what was happening more closely. Wilson only had one ascension under his belt to date, and he was showing considerable skill navigating the process despite his ‘newb’ status…and on top of that he wasn’t even an Archon.

There were a handful of trusted individuals who had gotten the psionic carwash, but only two had been given battlemeld…Wilson and Davis. Paul had offered it to Vermaire, but he’d declined stating he didn’t want anyone in his head. That was typical Black Knight, to the core.

Davis had taken some 18 tries to eventually get the battlemeld, underscoring the fact that it was something he wasn’t ready for and reinforcing the Archons’ ranger 50 minimum benchmark for sharing the ability. They didn’t regret sharing it with Davis, for he was a very special case, but those who weren’t Archons and didn’t earn it were so mentally inexperienced in such training disciplines that it was going to be difficult for them to achieve the ascension, even with help.

Wilson was no exception, but how he went about working the problem was the impressive part. He was literally learning how to fight as he fought, which truly showed his caliber in a way that Jason nor any of the other Archons had ever seen before…which only added to his already considerable respect for the man.

Jason sat and gave him the mental anchor for more than 5 hours before Wilson’s headband started flashing 3 red and he eventually let go of his wrist, breaking the Ikrid connection.

Viewed from the outside Wilson was sitting perfectly still, then blinked his eyes a few times before opening them and craning his head up towards the ceiling and stretching his neck against the pain Jason knew was coursing through his head.

“Got it,” the head trainer said. “Thank you.”

“Well done. I’ve never known of anything to hold onto the instability for that long.”

“That’s because you guys don’t need to. I’m still the learner here.”

“That won’t last long,” Jason said as he stood up. “Ow…watch yourself. Been sitting here too long,” he said, limping off to the door as his legs were sore and half asleep.

Wilson stood up and followed him with less effort, but at a much slower pace. When he got to the doorway he put his hand on the rim and steadied himself.

Jason reached out and touched his forehead, taking another read on his bios. “That long effort really scrambled your head.”

“I believe ‘fragged’ is the right word, though it seems to be insufficient at the moment.”

Jason withdrew his hand. “Can you walk?”

“Barely…but I’ve got a window. I’ll work it out.”

“Come on,” Jason said, grabbing his arm for some added support…by way of hacking into his nervous system and partially taking control of his body to keep him from falling over. “I’ll get you back to your quarters.”

Wilson was in agony for the next two days, with most of the first just staying in bed and trying to be as still as possible. When he wasn’t making much progress there he experimented with various music, eventually finding an active song that his mind seemed to lock onto and fall into sync with rather than randomly going every which way in a chaotic frenzy. He put it on continuous repeat and felt the first slight crack of relief, doing his best to stay in it until his stomach began complaining enough for him to venture out for some food some 19 hours later.

The second day he got three short runs in, staggered out with long naps in between along with brief computer sessions where he got caught up on events and just killed some time. He kept changing up what he did, because stagnation seemed to hurt his head more than light activities, almost as if he had to keep changing what he did in order to keep the painmaker from getting a lock on him.

Come the third day the mental fragging had diminished a detectable amount and Wilson could have no more sitting and lying around so he laid out a light but long training schedule for the day and suffered through it. He did the same for the fourth and fifth days before his head finally relented and the pain began to diminish, having been beaten into submission.

It took more than a week after that before he even attempted to do any psionic training, but when he did the Pren was immediately obvious. His Pefbar and Lachka skills were unbelievably upgraded, with him able to lift 3 times the weight and his Pefbar range reaching out to 2.5 times what it had previously been…and that was without any training, which he imagined would take on a slightly new dynamic with the extra tissue being added. He suspected it wasn’t just more of the same, but wouldn’t get to test that theory until all the pain and clenching in his head was gone.

His ascension made, he left the trailblazers’ training group and went back to his normal routine overseeing the Archon trainees and his subordinate trainers who by now could run things without him. None the less he scrutinized each trainee’s progression and made tweaks where he thought he could help, all the while delving into new forms of training on his own, attempting to probe the Pren ability for all it was worth so he could give the Archons some help as they developed their powers.

They were quick, innovative, and all around insightful…but there were still some things that they never seemed to learn, or at least learn as well as Wilson had concerning training. Not facts or methods, but an innate understanding of the way the body and mind worked. Their approach could be likened to hitting every button in order to find out what they did, while Wilson would look them over and try a few he had deduced the functions of.

That meant he could trailblaze training problems quicker than they could. He had no doubt they’d figure things out eventually, but with so many new and impressive abilities ahead of them, not to mention the gradual increase in their physical training, he knew they could use a hand…and the faster he got them up to snuff the greater the chance of them being able to pull off the impossible and defeat the V’kit’no’sat if/when they came back to Earth.

Jason was sitting in his quarters when suddenly Paul was outside at his door. Jason telekinetically hit the open switch and his fellow Archon walked in without missing a step.

“What is it?” Jason asked, sensing his mood.

“Message from Morgan. The Skarrons are amassing a huge fleet at Achkor.”

“Damn it,” he whisper swore, getting to his feet. “Looks like the hammer is finally going to drop.”

“One of us needs to stay here,” Paul said apologetically.

Jason nodded reluctantly. “You’re right. Go.”

Paul put his right hand up and the two best friends fist bumped, with Paul leaving just like that and Jason knowing he was heading straight to a dropship.

That left Jason with the primary responsibility for sharing Pren with the others coming into or passing through Sol, not to mention with finding the triggers for the other psionics. He really wanted to go fight, knowing that the more trailblazers there were on the front the better chance they had of holding out…but both he and Paul had discussed this earlier, and they agreed that they couldn’t just play defensively or they’d get so distracted that they wouldn’t be making the advancements necessary for the endgame.

That meant his task was here, with as many trailblazers and second gen that would stay…which wouldn’t be many. From now on they’d come in for short visits, he imagined, to pick up the share and be off. That was going to hurt their group training efforts, but there was one that he couldn’t afford to lose.

Following Paul out a few steps behind him and heading a different way, Jason was off on his own mission, and one that could have just as much importance as Paul’s in the long run.

“You want me to stay, don’t you?” Bo asked when Jason found him on the track and fell in beside him while he completed mile 6 of what was going to be 15. He held to the pacing hologram, which made it a little difficult to speak, but what was a tiny challenge like that to an Archon? And he certainly wasn’t going to slow down just for a conversation.

“You have to. I want to go fight just as much as you, but we have to get these triggers dug out. Especially the battlemeld ones and I can’t work on those with some second gen. Hell, we need the psionics discovered first anyway, and there’s no way I can do that with the second gen. You have to stay and we have to find both so we can share them with the others. We can’t let them fighting the enemy hold back their psionic advancement. We have to do this for them and you’re the key to locating the triggers after we find the psionics.”

“I know, I know,” Bo said, frustrated. No more field assignments had been bad enough, but with a major Skarron push coming staying on Earth just felt wrong…but he couldn’t deny the logic in Jason’s plea.

“How many others are staying?”

“I don’t know. Probably not many.”

“We need a few others, even if they’re second gen strikers. And no rotations. If you and I are going to be stuck here we need a team that doesn’t change up. We can add individuals in and out on top of the core group, but we’ve got to have a badass squad that will be used to training together.”

“Agreed.”

“Then we have to take it up a notch. I mean Goku in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber training. I’m not going to feel comfortable doing any less with people fighting and potentially dying out on the front.”

“You read my mind, but you know that’s not going to be easy to do. We’re going to have to cut off all outside connections, including war news.”

“If that’s what has to be done so be it,” Bo said, a fiery determination entering his stride that had him inching ahead of the hologram. “And I want exclusive training facilities. I don’t even want to see someone else working out around us. Food in our quarters…no, shared quarters. We stay together for everything.”

“I like where your head’s at…and I’m wonder why we haven’t done this before.”

“We did back in basic. Since then we’ve had a military to lead.”

“Point. Any suggestions on who to draft?”

“We need Aaron for Ikrid. No one is better than him. And Sara…for sex appeal.”

Jason blew out a laugh between breaths, not expecting Bo to throw in a joke at the moment…but then again he should have known better. Sarcasm was almost as dear to Archons as sugar.

Bo coasted to a stop near the start line and deactivated his hologram, cutting his workout short and drawing a raised eyebrow from Jason. “Let’s get our team set now, before they have a chance to take off.”

“Paul’s already on his way to orbit,” Jason told him. “I’ll find Aaron, you grab whoever else you want…or can.”

“Go,” Bo prompted, restarting his run as he headed for the exit. The pair split and literally ran off through Atlantis, tracking down as many trailblazers and strikers as they could in person or remotely, including those in the pyramid and elsewhere in the system.

Jason was able to convince Aaron to stay, thankfully, but Sara and Greg were already gone and Riona, naturally, had went with Paul. A few others that hadn’t heard yet Jason and Bo got to, but they all declined, knowing how important it was to get to the front ahead of the Skarrons so they weren’t late to the party. Ultimately they were able to find a handful of willing and eager volunteers…though none of them liked sitting back out of combat, but they all understood the importance of what had to be done and committed themselves to it fully.

In the end there were eight of them. Jason, Bo, Aaron, Emily, Kiran, David-441, Rikku-452, and Vermaire…who sought them out after he heard what was going on. With Wilson’s blessing they kicked the trainees out of a small piece of Atlantis and cordoned it off giving only the 8 of them access save for a handful of couriers who would bring in foodstuffs, training gear, and whatever else they needed while they were busy and drop off the crates for them to use later.

The restricted zone included a small number of quarters, with the 8 of them choosing those neighboring each other, literally keeping them within a few meters of each other down the same hallway. They deactivated the terminals in the zone and kept a handful of datapads around so they could send out requisitions and correspond with Wilson, who occasionally stopped by to offer insights or to monitor their progress. Other than that they put themselves into a complete blackout and focused on their workouts and team camaraderie…for they knew well and Wilson emphasized…that in order to really press their abilities, psionic and otherwise, they had to calibrate each person into the team unit which until now had never existed.

They had to form bonds, learn tendencies, and spot weaknesses in order to strengthen the group as a whole, and doing that took time, meaning they would be training both their individual selves as well as each other into a workout and sparring machine…which would need challenges. Lots and lots of challenges.

Wilson volunteered to see to that, ordering a slew of new construction in the surrounding areas of Atlantis to facilitate their needs so the 8 of them could focus on beating the challenges rather than designing them. That was the role Wilson had always taken, and did so now gladly, knowing that an individual had to fight the challenge from a fresh perspective rather than knowing beforehand how to beat it. It was a blind spot that he wasn’t going to let them have…which could very well result in them coming up with new ways to best the challenges that he hadn’t intended.

That kind of unexpected growth is what they needed, so the Archons and Vermaire went from being the masters back to being the trainees…though very advanced trainees at that.

Wilson knew it would be a challenge to stay ahead of them, but like the Archons he reveled in challenges and this was one he was going to go at full bore, suspending most of his duties with the infantile trainees and focusing on the advanced ones in order to give them the tools they needed to go to limits that he wasn’t going to be personally testing for the next few centuries.

He couldn’t help them as a peer, but he could help them as support and as a nemesis, so he set out to design the hardest, damn near impossible training regimens and challenges to the point that he wasn’t even sure that they could handle it. But even if they failed they’d gain from the experience.

And if they did somehow pull a rabbit out of the hat, again, and make it…then they were going to see a whole new level of Archon, and that thought alone was ample incentive for Wilson to sink his teeth into his new and ultimately important assignment.

What was old was new again, and about to be better than ever.

9

August 3, 2546

Solar System

Earth

Bo beat Emily back across the sparring ring, moving his arms slightly faster than she could and being well aware of the precise movements he was making while she was flailing with most of her blows, trying to keep up in the punching/blocking match they had going. Every now and then one of them would throw a kick in, but both Archons were trying to find a way through the other’s arms so they could land a torso hit, with Bo’s Sav giving him a considerable advantage.

But then suddenly Bo went back again, him being the slower as Emily threw in another Yetu burst and her arms threatened to overwhelm him with movements. He could see her blurry arms and mentally track them just fine, but moving his own to intercept was the problem with him backstepping to give himself some more time, forcing her to move forward as her limited Yetu burst came to an end.

Then it was back to him being the faster and her retreating. The two danced around the ring like that for some 30 minutes before Bo finally wore her down and landed a stiffened palm to her chest. That knocked her back and for a split second left her vulnerable. Bo jumped on the opportunity and didn’t let up, punching and kicking her back to the edge of the ring and knocking her down on the boundary line.

“Took you long enough,” Emily said from the floor, looking up at him.

“Those speed bursts are annoying,” he said, telekinetically helping to pull her up to her feet with a firm grip on her waist.

“Your consistency is annoying,” she countered, dropping into a slight combat stance as the two reset to the center of the ring. “But I’m going to find a way in.”

“You will try,” Bo said, taking a step back with his left foot and waving the fingers on his right hand, motioning her to come at him.

She did exactly that, but instead of going back to the punching game she activated another Yetu burst, feeling the small reservoir of strength in her flow out as she darted in to a punch towards his face to get him to block high, then she dropped low and kicked at his knees, catching his right and knocking that leg back.

Already under him she pelted his abdomen with three quick punches before he got an arm in the way and began twisting out of line…then he suddenly spun back the other way and knocked her arm aside, grabbing her wrist at the same time and pinning her long enough to get a kick of his own into her hip.

Emily went back as he released her and Bo came after her, cycling through another round of arm to arm combat before he slipped through and knocked her out of the ring…this time with her staying on her feet.

They both moved back to center again, this time without any comments, and began again. Both trailblazers were a flurry of arms and occasional kicks, with Emily pressing Bo through her Yetu and him pressing her through his consistent ‘semi-Yetu’ that his Sav gave him. Bo won out on most of their head to heads, but Emily got him enough times to give him a feeling of where he was weak, as well as giving him a wealth of practice just moving that fast.

Everyone else was always slower than him and would fatigue with time, mainly from them being punch drunk, but her ability to come back at him and put him on the defensive also allowed her a moment to collect herself, thus extending their sparring to the length that both of them gained considerable experience from.

Sweat soaked to the point of dripping onto the mats and making them slippery with tiny puddles, Emily finally raised a hand and called it quits when Bo motioned for her to come at him again.

“Enough for today,” she said, standing up straight and pulling her hair tie off. Several strands had escaped it and she put them back into place, reforming her telltale short ponytail.

“Slacker,” Bo joked, but his arms were starting to get a little sore anyway from all the blocking. “Where you headed?”

“Pool. My swimming scores are pulling down my levels. Aquatics is my bane right now.”

“I’m headed to the simulator for the next hour. Aerial is pulling me down and I’m sitting on level 99 by a hair. I really want padawan.”

“Same here, but I’m still at 98,” she said, referring to the change they’d made in the Archon ranks. What had been mage was now padawan, with it being required before any sharing of psionics would take place…except for the trailblazers and some of the higher ranking second gens. The idea was that when you hit padawan you’d be paired with a mage or higher, which would be the next level up, but since there weren’t any ‘masters’ to train the padawans they were making exceptions for themselves.

Such was the roll of a trailblazer. You never had anyone to learn from, you were always the ones doing the figuring out and building…with those that came after you reaping the benefits. And in order to make those advancements the trailblazers needed the sharing now, even with only 12 of them having earned the padawan rank and its dark brown armor, with the dark blue being shifted up with the mage rank. That had been Greg’s little wrinkle, which Paul heavily applauded due to it being the color of Jedi robes, all of which had happened before they’d left and the eight of them had sealed themselves away to focus on this exploratory training.

The up side was that they expected to catch up to the existing padawans, and earning that title was the first step towards doing so. Intense training trumped field work training any day, which meant that Emily and Bo were going to be catching up to Paul and Morgan eventually…or at least that was the hope. Right now they were just getting started and still strikers, but the furious pace that they were developing was going to start eating into their lead, and for Bo he was nearing the transitional threshold already…with Aerial being his weakness and the Archon levels being measured strictly by your weakest area, making them a gage of multi-tasking ability rather than strengths.

Bo’s hand to hand scores were already padawan level 23, and some of the other trailblazers had even higher marks…such as Paul’s naval scores. All the Archons wanted to advance their levels, which meant training in all areas, but some of the second gens skewed their efforts towards one area, creating a strength that was on par with some of the trailblazers while neglecting others. Bo respected that approach, but wouldn’t emulate it, for he hated weaknesses.

He also wanted the new armor, which while he wouldn’t have much use for in training he knew he needed to get used to the telepathic interface. The striker armor was remaining the same, save for a few tweaks, while the brand new armor that was still in late prototype stage was coming out to them. That was another wrinkle in the ranking change. Originally they were going to hold off on it and just offer the two options to padawans…which was still the plan, but for the trailblazers they were going to give themselves the new prototype telepathic armor.

Being the tip of the spear did have a few privileges, plus they needed to work it out and troubleshoot the tech in the field before the second gen got to it. The few that had already been working with the techs to develop it, namely Vitor and Olivia, had said it was more or less ready to go and had already used it on a few light missions with no problems.

The trailblazers had decided to give themselves access to it when they hit padawan, adding a little carrot to their own progress for those who weren’t there yet. Bo knew the armor was heavily Ikrid linked, with a setting that had the Archon creating a small, continuous link to the technology that transmitted biotelemetry to the powered function and gave one much more agility and grace despite the thick armor. Olivia had said she could literally dance in it, despite it being the most dense corovon lacing to date and causing the Archon’s weight to more than double when wearing it.

They could have made it even heavier, but how far you sink into the ground when stepping was something that couldn’t be mechanically countered, so there were limits to how heavy they could make them…short of including a permanent anti-grav to compensate, which would never work with the way they moved, at least not to the efficiency levels they wanted.

Bo needed just a few more marks to get there, three of which were in Aerial, so he’d been making sure to get more simulator time in and use it as rest breaks between his physical training. Already he’d adjusted to a 36 hour day, as had the others save for Vermaire, who was already pressing 48 hours. That man was a beast and Bo was very glad that he’d insisted on joining them, for he was definitely competition that was tapping on their egos and driving them on even harder than they normally would be pressing.

When Bo and Emily split he headed over to the small simulator room and locked himself away in an isolation pod that cut out all exterior noise, light, and vibrations…giving him an exact replica of a skeet cockpit that, since it used holograms in lieu of windows anyway, was essentially the same as being in a real craft, allowing him to get whatever practice in he needed without having to be in an actual aircraft.

There were always some differences, but the programs the Archons used to train had been developed to such an extent that they were almost indistinguishable by now, as far as rookies were concerned, but veteran pilots knew that wind was one thing the computers could never get right because of its chaotic nature, though by now it did come close.

The trick with Aerial, Mech, Aquatics, and Naval advancement versus Commando was the lack of an abundance of physical skills. Aquatics had swimming, but the other three were strictly remote control of machines which didn’t allow for training increases the way the body did. Paul’s naval skill was pretty much the same as it had been 100 years ago because he couldn’t advance when his ‘body’ was the machines that he was controlling.

So the Archons had developed experience points, requiring repetition of high scores that focused on making their great, once in a lifetime scoring sims normal affairs…as well as giving them an opportunity to pick up more tricks along the way. What Bo had to do to get to the next level in Aerial was, for this particular piece of his division score, hold out against an unending wave of enemy fighters that never exceeded 9 at a time. When he killed one another would fly in to replace it, meaning he had to last as long as he could.

Now, while that score could go up basically forever the idea was to not just have one lucky day but rather to put in multiple impressive runs. Bo had to last at least 10 minutes and kill 150 fighters for a 1 point score, with higher levels incurring more points. In order to advance from striker 99 to padawan 1 he had to have 1200 points on this one scenario, meaning that any bad runs wouldn’t count as anything. In comparison, an adept level 10 had to kill 2 fighters to score a point, with the same difficulty level being used.

Another challenge scenario that he had been working on had him going head to head against a single fighter, with the computer-controlled craft having an insanely difficult setting. The goal there was simply to kill it…which was nearly impossible. To advance to the next level he had to kill it 141 times, no matter how long it took him. That same scenario would be used to advance from padawan 1 to padawan 2, except he’d have to do it another 144 times.

That was how Archons trained in skill areas, always looking for minor improvements once they became really good at something, but measuring their level advancement by experience…whereas their physical skills required progressively higher and higher performance, given that they were essentially customizing their bodies while they couldn’t do that with their fighters, mechs, and warships.

That said, Bo’s naval scores had jumped 6 levels since he’d attained Sav, for he simply had better mental processing capability now. Those six levels hadn’t even required any training, he just racked up the scores easily enough and would be much higher in the coming weeks as the experience points came in, for he was getting through what had previously been ‘hard’ challenges that would usually end in failure, in bunches per hour.

That wasn’t the case for the skeet training, for he was only flying one craft at a time, whereas with naval a lot of the challenges were in ‘Admiral’ mode and had him controlling a large fleet. Already he was noticing improvements across the board in all five divisions thanks to his Sav, and he’d barely begun to even train the ability, making him wonder just how far he would advance until he plateaued and came back to a normal advancement rate.

He wanted to catch Paul and maybe take the lead, but he knew that was a lot easier said than done. Both Paul and Morgan were beasts, and even while they were fighting on the Skarron front they’d be training their asses off, he was sure. He liked the challenge of the situation regardless, and as long as Bo had an advantage he was going to milk it for all he could get.

But that was almost a secondary concern now. He and the other 7 in his training team were beginning to accomplish some pretty impressive things working together, with David already having triggered another ascension, this one being Hanme, which gave him small nodules throughout his body that stored up oxygen and acted as a backup supply. It was something that only 3 other Archons had achieved to date, with all of them being Aquatics specialists.

Trouble was when you were swimming underwater, holding your breath, and heavily exerting yourself that wasn’t the best time for an instability surge to hit you. David had almost not made it back to the surface without having to dismiss it, but he held on just long enough that when he got back into the air and pulled himself up onto the side of the training pool he was able to force it up into red level on his own, then when Kiran come over and helped with a metal fixed point he made the full conversion and the upgrade…which had him now able to swim and fight underwater for several minutes without problem or a breath mask, so long as he had full reserves beforehand, which took some 20 minutes or so to replenish.

According to the database that replenishment time would come down with training, and he was eager to press the new ability. The medtechs were also excited, because with every ascension they caught on biomed sensors they got a little closer to finding the triggers…but they kept reminding Bo that he was the key to it all with his supposedly longer ascensions. That theory hadn’t been tested a second time yet, but he’d been making tweaks in his swimming training as a result of what they’d learned from Kiran.

And so the cycle continued, or rather just began. Training with others on, near, or above your ability level truly made a world of difference, especially when they were just as fanatically obsessed with it as you were. All eight of them were constantly driving themselves and helping each other out, barely taking any free time at all aside for meals, naps, and sleep…and reducing the latter down to as little as they could tolerate in order to get more training in, bumping up their advancement rate while adding an extra element to their training that the fatigue induced.

In fact, it induced it so much that only a few weeks later Vermaire ascended to a brand new ability…and fortunately they’d convinced him to wear a headband, which he’d been disinclined to previously, not expecting to be able to match the trailblazers psionically. His insane training regimen, which was both longer and more intense than even Bo was doing, caused him to ascend to Inas after three tries…the last of which had Jason nearby to help.

Inas was, unsurprisingly, an ability that was healing related and allowed one to take and process a lot of stress above and beyond the norm, including fatigue that induced a need to sleep.

After Vermaire achieved that his ego blossomed even more, as did his schedule. The man pushed himself to a level that Bo couldn’t hope to match in 100 years, if not 1000. The infamous Black Knight now only slept for 5 or 6 hours every 4 days.

Inspired by that feat and how much training he was getting in…which would invariably lead to even greater adaptation and advancement…Bo added a bit more to his own schedule, literally falling into bed when his sleep cycle came and dragging himself out when he woke up 9 hours later, but he knew it would be worth it.

And he loved it. They all did. Archons needed and thrived off of challenges, especially physical ones.

Hyperbolic Time Chamber was right…except that this was way more intense, and the gravity was higher. For the variable chamber they used for that type of training had Bo enduring bouts at 12g and Vermaire at 14g.

10

September 27, 2546

Solar System

Earth

Bo woke up, still in a haze but no longer missing his alarms. He rolled himself out of bed and immediately pulled on a shirt, shorts, and his running shoes, then headed over to the nearby track for an easy 3 miles to wake himself up before hitting the weight room for one of Wilson’s callisthenic programs that had, as usual, the Archons active under weight restriction. That was intentional to make sure they built strength rather than bulk, for a slow opponent was an easy one to defeat.

He latched on custom built weights to his shins and forearms before going through a series of prescribed movements over and over again. Halfway through Kiran came in and started doing an identical set off to his left a few meters and both trailblazers fell into sync with each other. As usual Bo’s weakness came from his muscles, for his coordination and awareness of what he was doing was so much higher with Sav. He had to fight to keep himself in alignment, but succeeded in doing so…which also helped keep Kiran in line by matching Bo’s pace and timing.

After that it was time for ‘breakfast’ despite the fact that it was evening. The area the training group was located in had no windows and they never left it, so time of day quickly became irrelevant, especially with each Archon on their own sleep schedule…with Vermaire virtually being awake at all hours.

After about a 10 minute break for food it was off to the simulators, this time a command nexus where Bo worked on his naval skills, or rather two of them…fleet coordination and gunnery, the latter of which had him target shooting. He could have used manual controls but his mind processed so well that he just kept with the Ikrid link and mentally targeted his simulated weapon with slightly better accuracy. The trick of it was to keep your mind focused, for even an erratic thought could have you aiming the completely opposition direction or freezing in place.

The mind was much more loose than the body, which was why mental control was key to using any tech Ikrid related. Bo found that the physical training actually helped calibrate his mind, acting as an anchor, and liked to hit these targeting drills while his muscles were still warm and the impatient part of his mind was still partially satiated with the previous workout.

He spent quite a long time on the gunnery today, racking up experience points on hard scenarios before getting in a few more easy fleet runs when he checked the time. He wore a watch to keep himself aware, otherwise he’d completely lose himself in the training. Wilson had them on a strict schedule as far as what they needed to get in per ‘day,’ and while it was up to them to figure out how to fit it in they knew better than to fall behind. Bo had to section out his days into time blocks and cut himself off when he reached his limit, otherwise some of the challenges he would get so annoyed with that he’d stick with them for hours until he passed or it became obvious that he had to get to other workouts.

That bit of self-analysis had been crucial, with him now moving from one segment to another as if he was staying ahead of an enemy chasing him. He got in what he could, when he could, but always kept moving forward no matter how tired or impatient he was. By now that had just become routine, with him bouncing around the training area from one individual drill to another before meeting up with the others for team activities.

Those were reserved for the second half of today, and at hour 21 he left the pool and headed over to the psionic training areas where he met up with Aaron and the two linked into battlemeld immediately, not even bothering for pleasant conversation. They’d gotten so invested in their training they didn’t want to waste even a few seconds, with both of them searching for tiny switches in the walls and objects in the room that they had to trigger with Ikrid.

It was a V’kit’no’sat tech they’d reverse-engineered a while ago, but these switches required two minds to activate, as well as being on tricky timers and pressure sensitive panels. Bo had to stand on one to activate a certain set of switches, or rather to make them live. Aaron likewise had to stand in certain places and do so in the time allotted, leaving both of them hopping around the room while scanning the various invisible switches and combining their Ikrid skills to ‘flip’ them.

It was training designed to go after another psionic that Kara had told them about, but that no one had gotten yet, as were many of the drills that Wilson was sending them. After completing it both Archons moved to another psionic, and another, and another, staying together for the next 8 hours before splitting up again…with Bo finally heading for food and bed.

He woke up six and a half hours later and began the cycle again, with many of the workouts being the same but some changed. No day was completely identical, but in order to improve you had to have repetition.

Bo took a few minutes and picked up a datapad, scheduling next week’s workouts ahead of time and seeing who was available for what. It took a little juggling to get what Wilson wanted them to do in, but after about 12 minutes of trying he worked out what he was going to do and when, then disconnected his mind from the big picture and focused on what he had to do next, which was another easy morning run.

Five months later Bo was working another Ikrid session with Aaron when the instability hit him. Both knew it instantly, for they were locked in battlemeld, with the other trailblazer withdrawing and making his limited mental presence known as Bo dropped to the floor and sat down crosslegged, chasing the mental storm forming and urging it on within certain pathways. The fixed point formed in his mind from Aaron’s presence and he used it to stabilize himself through what was another extra long ascension.

He got it on the first try, taking him some 43 minutes to do so…all during which his headband recorded the biotelemetry of what was happening inside his head. The tissue growth at the end wasn’t as extreme as before, but it still hurt. Both of them thought they knew what it was, for Aaron had ascended a week previously gaining Neritu…the very specific psionic that Wilson’s training had been aiming for.

It was a battlemeld ability that allowed two individuals to link together and combine their Ikrid and Ensek abilities, with both growing stronger above and beyond the sum of the two. The new tissue acted as a binary and created a powerful transmitter when the pair were within a short distance from one another.

Aaron hadn’t been able to test his because no one else possessed it, but once a quick assessment of Bo’s telemetry by the medtechs confirmed it was Neritu and was communicated to them via datapad, the pair immediately adjusted their schedules to give themselves half an hour per day to work on developing it…with new workouts from Wilson soon to follow.

But the new ability aside, the significance of that ascension was the confirmation that Bo’s Sav was going to make all his ascensions longer. One could be an anomaly, but now two had been extended, essentially confirming their theory…meaning that he was going to be the key to unlocking the triggers, with the medtechs already confirming that they were close to finding this one between his and Aaron’s data.

That discovery would come four days later once they had the chance to really crunch the numbers, and within two more days Aaron was successfully able to share Neritu with Jason through the twin link.

Three triggers down…and many more to come.

Paul was in his quarters onboard the Excalibur when word came that the Skarron fleet had begun to arrive, reading through recent intelligence reports that he quickly threw aside, with the datapad landing on his bed as he rushed out of the room enroute to the bridge.

By the time he got there and linked in with the command nexus a good 129 Skarron warships had already entered high orbit around Urrit, one of the most forward Dvapp worlds on the ADZ border and the one that Paul had guessed the enemy would hit first. He was glad he’d been right and was here to assist in the defense, though he doubted this was the only incursion that was happening. The sheer number of the enemy fleet suggested a widespread campaign…or at least he hoped. If they threw everything against one world then they were going to be in for a world of hurt.

Other fleets were positioned along the inhabited worlds on the Skarron front, with the trailblazers playing a game of chess that hadn’t officially started. They split up their reinforcements as they chose, but to date no word had come through the relay network of any assault, suggesting that Paul was going to get the first one to deal with…which was what he wanted.

The arrival of the Skarrons had already gone out over the comm network, just in case they managed to knock it out…though they had several long range Star Force transmitters scattered across the system to prevent an easy takedown. That said, they weren’t going to take any chances and intended to keep transmitting updates as they had them. That news wouldn’t make it to the nearby systems for days, but the sooner they got word out the better.

Right now that was someone else’s concern, orchestrating the orbital defenses was Paul’s…or rather the Star Force part. The Dvapp were loosely coordinating with him but their fleet outnumbered his 6 to 1, despite him having brought Mainline, Clan, Axius, and Canderous units in to both counter any assault here and give him the ability to reinforce other nearby systems if the call for help came down.

All together he had a massive armada centered on the Excalibur, including a large number of ground troops standing by to be thrown into the mix if and when needed. Those jumpships were holding position elsewhere in the system and safely out of harm’s way as he watched the number of Skarron vessels tick up over a thousand…and continue to climb.

The Dvapp weren’t waiting around to count, already launching their smaller ships ahead to intercept the enemy as they came in staggered. Paul didn’t do the same, instead taking the time to reposition his fleet and get the drones out into play. There were three Sentinels in orbit, which were the strongpoints in the planetary defense, and it seemed the Skarrons were respecting their kill power, for they had come in high enough in orbit to be out of their range.

More and more ships came pouring into the system, and soon the Dvapp were forced to pull back to lower orbit. As Paul had guessed the Skarrons had tightly staggered their jumps in order to avoid getting killed piecemeal on arrival. It was something they’d been hinting at in previous conflicts after the Protovic had done the exact same thing to them, and apparently they’d learned their lesson.

But it wasn’t without consequences. Paul saw at least three collisions that ended in either massive damage or ship kills as the Skarron navigators dropped the ball and didn’t leave sufficient deceleration room. That was sloppy fleet movement and something that Paul would never have tolerated, yet it barely seemed significant in the face of so many ships pouring in behind them.

Like a moving carpet, the first ships to arrive moved further down into orbit while the others kept popping up on sensors behind them. That carpet then slowly began to split up into tendrils, each with several juggernauts leading them out and around the planet…but none were coming down to engage the Sentinels or the Dvapp, who were constantly hitting the enemy’s inner flank and killing ships without provoking a massive furball.

Paul had his ships do the same, except from above. It took some time to get them there, but he had several dozen warships jump out and back in on either side of the jumpline from system’s center, with them spreading out in a funnel cone and shooting into the arriving ships with their cleansing beams from range and daring the Skarrons to come out to engage them…which the enemy was eventually forced to do. Those skirmishes were very one-sided, with the maulers and Ta’lin’yi hitting them hard, but as always the Skarrons accomplished their goal of guarding the jumpline, even if it was at a cost.

Through that cone the rest of their fleet continued to arrive, like a swarm of angry bees that was growing by the second. Eventually there were so many it started to become a fair fight between the two and Paul recalled his ships before they could start taking appreciable damage. Using their binary drives that the Skarrons lacked, they made tiny jumps further out into high orbit, knowing that if the Skarrons did the same they wouldn’t be able to stop.

The Star Force warships could by yanking the planet’s gravity and bringing themselves back in wherever they liked. Paul ordered those ships to do just that and harass the outer flank at will, doing damage but not allowing themselves to get caught up in a slugging match.

Meanwhile the Skarron ships continued to flow in, passing 10,000 and continuing to rise but they didn’t launch any assaults, merely defending themselves as they spread out in a sea of ships…

Which was when Paul finally understood what they were doing. They knew the Sentinels were going to be a problem, not just here but across the ADZ, not so much in destroying them but by costing the Skarrons too many ships to do so in order to make a successfully incursion. There was one solution to that though, and a pretty obvious one that they were now choosing to employ, made all the more evident by the glut of ships staying put at the stellar jumppoint.

The Skarrons were bringing in an overwhelming number of ships, not to fight, but to blockade the planet. If the Dvapp or Star Force wanted to fight them, they’d have to come out away from the Sentinels to do it.

Paul frowned, having hoped they’d be arrogant enough to assault them directly, but apparently they weren’t going to be that nice. They also weren’t trying to run troops down to the surface either, though Paul could see some of their transports within the fleet and a scattering more still coming in along the jumpline…which suggested that the ship count was going to get well in excess of 10,000.

Rather than be bold, the Skarrons were being cagey, which was a new trick for them…or perhaps maybe an old one that they just hadn’t shown them yet. Regardless, this was going to be an altogether different confrontation, with Paul already brainstorming ways to fight it.

Before the Dvapp could do anything stupid he got their commander on the comm and began having a chat about strategy, all the while Paul’s harassment fleet in high orbit was busy sniping ships and picking up a scattering of kills.

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SURVIVOR

1

October 2, 2548

Reesi System (Beta Region)

Metropolis

Rio Jakson walked in full battle gear along with a large group of his fellow commandos onto the Armadillo-class transport that was currently docked with their jumpship. The transport was so large it couldn’t fit inside one of the hangar bays at nearly a mile long, so it was nestled up inside the docking hollow that allowed the jumpship to carry other vessels within it. This transport hadn’t arrived in the system, but was meeting up with the cargo jumpship to transfer the troops onboard. There were some 58,000 commandos and Knights from the 18th army onboard with him, but only a third of that was going down in the armadillo…and they were being packed in tightly.

Rio walked across the docking umbilical casually, along with many other battle-hardened vets. He was still young by commando standards, but his newb days were long behind him. Now at 107 years old he’d spent 9 decades training and fighting, with what eagerness he’d previously had now lost…replaced by a steely calm that knew when the time to act came he’d be ready. His body and mind no longer wasted energy in worry, for he knew the naval division would get them to ground safely. Then it would be time to fight, but not now.

Wearing the dull grey/white armor that commandos were infamous for, Rio carried a small pack on his back, over top of which was his weapon rack, full of rifles and pistols, all but one of which were plasma. The sole exception was a stun pistol, just in case the need arose…and those situations happened, he knew, but they weren’t being shipped here to play nice. Metropolis sat in a system kissing up against Dvapp territory and was one of two Star Force systems that had been hit by the Skarron ‘second wave’ as it’d come to be called by the Regulars. The other had hit Rotunna, which was practically asking to get your ass kicked.

Archon Randy was there, safeguarding that system and its multiple planets, while Reesi had only Metropolis. It was a much smaller colony system, but well developed none the less. There were some 1.2 billion Humans and Kiritas living on Metropolis, which at the moment was surrounded by a Skarron blockade in middle orbit. Low orbit still remained Star Force territory, with now 4 Sentinels patrolling in lazy circles and the navy taking shelter in their destructive auras, baiting the Skarrons in but the numerically superior enemy was having none of it.

All across the ADZ Beta Region border the Skarrons were blockading their chosen targets and not touching a single Sentinel. Any ships trying to get in and out from the planets had to run the blockade, which was doable, but tricky…and the Skarrons were getting good at making intercept runs, despite their inferior gravity drives. They’d had 2 years to practice in some cases, with the assault on Metropolis being only 7 months old and the newest addition to the 14 other worlds that were currently under the enemy’s naval squeeze.

When Rio got to the other side of the docking umbilical the commandos were led via guiding holograms to their waiting area in the transport, with him and several other members of his Phalanx being seated in what looked like banks of theatre seats facing opposite each other with a walkway separating the two. Above that walkway were holographic display screens, updating the troops on the ongoing battles and offering other intel that would be valuable…but it was mostly a way to keep them preoccupied during the long wait.

Rio sat down on one of the bench-like seats…for his equipment rack wouldn’t have fit with a backed chair and the armadillo had been built specifically as a troop transport. Nearly identical commandos sat down on his left and right, with the row behind him already filled and the one in front to soon follow. They all had custom fit armor, with a few inches in height differential and body thickness to tell them apart, but for the casual eye they all looked the same. Rio’s helmet HUD gave him the ID tags of everyone around him when he looked at them, emblazoned in little icons above each person’s helmet.

That mode he could toggle on and off, but with so many people around he wanted to know who was who. His Phalanx was his operational unit, and he knew every one of the 991 commandos in it…along with the 25 Knights assigned to pair with them. Normally there would have been 1000, but they’d taken some losses in their previous campaign and had yet to be sent replacements…if there were any to be had.

Rio was immensely glad that Star Force had had the wisdom to keep him out of the war zone for as long as they did while he got the training he needed…which now looked a lot less thorough from his experienced point of view. And the only reason he’d been sent out when he did was because of the special circumstances and Clan Metal Gear’s individual approach to assignments. After 43 years in the Clan’s service he had been transferred to a Mainline army unit…not a colonial one or other relief/training units, but a frontline army.

The 18th had 1.2 million commandos in total, augmented by Knights, Aerial, Mechs, and Aquatics that put their full roster at 2 million+. His Phalanx existed within a Brigade of 10,000 and a Regiment of 200,000…with his Phalanx identification being 18th Blue Epsilon 4. The 4s and 7s were being dispatched to Metropolis in a fleet of cargo jumpships that were also carrying badly needed supplies along with a new Sentinel, broken down into pieces that was even now beginning to run the blockade to get down to low orbit where it would be assembled and add to the planet’s orbital defenses.

The Skarrons weren’t taking well to that and a major battle was forming along the entry corridor as the navy was screening for the first piece. They’d entered on a seldom used jumpline because the Skarrons had all the main ones guarded. Thanks to the binary drives Star Force could come in anywhere they wanted, but it was the speed of approach that varied. The main jumplines could deposit ships close in or far out from a planet in the blink of an eye, but use a rogue line and your approach had to be much slower…while expending the same engine output, for you didn’t have a direct line to the gravity wells to push/pull off of.

That slower approach had given the Skarrons a little bit of a heads up they were coming, but not much. As it was they were scrambling to get more ships into position to engage the screening drone fleet, but as Rio watched he could already tell they weren’t going to make it. Warships on both sides were getting slagged in the fighting, but the jump cradle carrying the first piece of the Sentinel was getting through and soon would be within the firing range of one of the complete ones…and Rio doubted the Skarrons would dare to go there. For the past 2 years they hadn’t gone within firing range on a Sentinel anywhere, meaning that if this piece got through to that radius then it was probably going to be safe.

There were still three more sections to get in, and Rio guessed they’d be coming in along different jumplines. A notice indicated that the armadillo would be going to ground concurrent with the third section and using the blocking naval fleet to cover for it simultaneously. Rio had expected to go down somewhere else while the Sentinel sections made for a distraction, but apparently not. He waited patiently as the armadillo finished loading, then watched on some of the holos as it detached from the jumpship and began maneuvering away, ready to make its own microjump.

Currently they were sitting in high orbit around a nearby planet, with the data feeding into the holos being delayed by lag but otherwise ‘live.’ The armadillo moved down into a lower orbit and aligned on a jumpline to nowhere, launching off the planet’s gravity well with just a kiss of momentum. It traveled out into null space between the planet and the star, then yanked hard on both distant gravity wells in order to slow them to a stop at the rendezvous point where the Sentinel section and its escort fleet already waited, with the escorts being mostly the same ones that had just been fighting to screen for the first piece.

The escorts taking the second piece in were already currently engaged while this fleet finished assembly. When they were ready and aligned the armadillo pumped up its gravity drives nearly as high as they could go and pushed off using multiple gravity wells, all of which only gave them a small response. The jump cradle had no trouble, given it was capable of traveling between stars and had huge gravity drives. The armadillo was another story, designed as an insystem transport, and had to boost its output extremely high in order to keep up.

When they came out of the microjump at Metropolis the deceleration was a piece of cake, but a group of Skarron ships was nearby and redirected to intercept them immediately. The jumplines down to the Sentinels were constantly obscured, despite the orbital rotations, by the enemy fleet to keep Star Force from jumping incoming ships directly to them else risk a collision. That meant the armadillo and others had to come down beside it, outside of weapons range, then scurry over to get within its protective umbrella or head down to the surface.

The Sentinel piece went laterally along with most of the escort fleet while a few drones followed several armadillos down to the atmosphere until they were sure the Skarrons weren’t going to cause them trouble. Only a few ships actually tried, for most were desperately trying to break through the escort fleet around the Sentinel piece…making the choice of coming down with the massive payload obviously correct. Rio had expected a diversion, he just didn’t think it would occur in the same place.

Still watching the holos and feeling only a little trickle of adrenaline starting to creep its way into his system, Rio and the other commandos talked little, merely waiting patiently as the armadillos split up heading to different locations on the planet and picking up aerial escorts waiting for them. While the Skarrons weren’t engaging the Sentinels, there was way too much orbital space for the defense platforms to block, with the enemy having run ships down to the surface whenever they could get past Star Force’s low orbit fleet…which wasn’t overly hard given the number of warships they had in orbit to screen with.

Star Force almost always made them pay for it, but they’d succeeded in getting troops to several LZs and were pressing the war to conquer the planet from a ground perspective rather than naval. Rio appreciated that, for it was usually the reverse. The fate of Metropolis and the other 14 systems under assault would be determined by his field of specialty, and both he and the others were more than ready to fight that kind of war.

Recently his Phalanx had been engaging the lizards on multiple worlds with most of those engagements being cleanup efforts when the enemy was outnumbered but still needed killing. They were hard fights…they always were when you went up against the lizards, but the outcome was never in question. The losses they’d suffered were more like freak accidents, with Dan having been killed by an errant tank blast that was never meant for him. A mech had hit the tank just as it was firing, twisting the shot and landing a swath of plasma on his shieldless armor as he took cover behind a Knight’s shield as his emitters reset.

He’d been doing everything right and been caught by the lateral blast. The Knight survived, but Dan had his armor melt right off him in several spots, with what plasma was left getting through and carving several deep gashes into his body that he didn’t survive. Rio hated losing him and how it had happened, but life was messy and sometimes the statistically impossible scenario played itself out. Had his shields even been deployed at 10% he would have survived, but he’d been caught by a tank blast in the maybe 15 seconds needed to get a matrix back up at minimal power.

That was just plain bad luck…and it had ended the life of a good commando that had been training and fighting for more than 150 years. That felt like such a waste to Rio, to die like that, but he couldn’t find fault in anyone that day. It had just happened, like getting sucker punched in the gut and losing your breath. The only thing you can do from that point on is recover and keep moving forward, which is what he and the others had done.

They didn’t like losses, at all, but if there wasn’t a mistake made that they could correct then there literally wasn’t anything to be done, so Rio had put Dan out of mind and same for the other 8 losses in recent years. He didn’t know when they’d get replacements, for sufficiently experienced commandos were in high demand nowadays, but they didn’t really need them. 991 or 1000 made no difference to Rio. They’d get the job done regardless, and he almost preferred going 9 short rather than getting sent newbs that didn’t belong here.

He credited Star Force for that too, given that none had shown up and they were simply floating the reduced Phalanx.

Halfway through their atmospheric flight orders started popping up on the holos and then in Rio’s helmet, indicating that they were going to come down very near a combat zone instead of the preplanned LZ. That got a spike of adrenaline flowing, and Rio clenched and unclenched his leg, back, and arm muscles, loosening him up a bit from what he knew could be a sluggish body after such a long time sitting.

Around him the others did the same, for they’d been through this before and knew how to prep.

He got a comm prompt in his helmet and activated it with an eye blink.

“You ready?” Peter asked.

“Always,” he answered, seeing that he was seated on the opposite half almost all the way up to the back.

“We’re going to have to find each other pretty quick. There’s plenty of elite Skarrons in play, and we can’t get caught isolated.”

“Not that it’d matter,” Rio commented, knowing that by ‘elite’ Peter meant the armored versions of the quadrupeds that more resembled walking tanks than infantry.

“It matters in how quickly we take them down.”

“Point. I’ll make sure I find your beacon.”

“Make it fast, I’ve got skirmish orders and we can’t wait around.”

“Copy that, Pete.”

His squad commander cut the link, cycling around to other members of the 13 commandos that would be working in conjunction with each other. The ‘squad’ was a flexible designator and could have any number of infantry, including Knights or others. Peter had been Rio’s squad commander for about 2/3rds of his time with the 18th and the 308 year old commando certainly knew his stuff…not to mention he was stronger and faster than Rio, so much so that he looked up to the guy like a big brother.

When the armadillo eventually set down Rio and the others exited the seats in a fast, organized flow by rows with none of the craziness that would have resulted had there been civilians here. Commandos moved with each other, never as a random crowd. Rio gave others just enough space to get by while keeping tucked close to maximize available space for others to move through as they debarked via a series of ramps into a thick, moist atmosphere with tuffs of fog that covered the ground in places…but with the sun overhead coming down brightly, making for an eerie feel.

Rio switched to one of his scanning modes, with the fog cover being pierced by an overlay onto his normal vision. He immediately felt better, knowing that no enemy was going to be able to use the ground clouds to get the jump on him…then he groaned as soon as his boots hit the soil and sunk in about two inches.

They had landed in a swamp. That would slow them down, but so too the enemy…and probably more them given the commandos’ agility and overall lightness on their feet.

Rio got the beacon from Peter on his battlemap in the form of a moving waypoint as the other commando moved off and out from the units assembling around the armadillo and safeguarding it from any attempt to board or sabotage by Skarron infantry. Soon Rio broke out and away from the others, running around a scattering of trees and passing through a thick cloud with one other commando on his flank until they both met up with Peter inside a thicker area of trees.

He fell into position with them, focus turned outward as they slowly walked forward as the others gradually caught up. When all 13 were there they took off running, with no words being exchanged. No ‘good lucks’ or ‘be carefuls’ were needed. They were experienced warriors who knew the score and didn’t want to give the enemy so much as one extra second of preparation that needless talk would consume.

Like ghosts moving through the foggy swamp Rio’s squad moved off to an area in between the entrenched Skarron forces inside a captured mining outpost and the armadillo that the bulk of the troops would be coming through. Ahead there was already fighting as a couple of stars of mechs were engaging the trio of Skarron walkers, with a large infantry battle was occurring on the far side.

The armadillo had landed in a position to backdoor them and Rio’s squad was pushing hard ahead to clear the way for their coming, with the commando already spotting a couple of Hobbit scouts nearby. His squad split up, intending to come at them from different angles and get their first kills without slowing their run.

18 seconds later they were down and the commandos moved on, scouting ahead and prepping the way ahead for the heavy hitters with Knight escorts to come through and into the outpost perimeter without any surprises.

2

October 21, 2548

Reesi System

Metropolis

Davi Jameson kept the dropship low to the ground with the Falcon skimming the tall marshy grassland as numerous Skarron walkers were visible on the horizon, some of which were spewing tiny white dots in the dim light of evening, but too few. The perimeter defenses of the city ahead were all but down, leaving a nasty fight on the interior that was slowly becoming a losing effort. Further ahead on the battlemap but out of visual range for the moment, more enemy walkers were approaching as the horde of ground troops they had on planet was slowly making its way across the largest of three flat continents.

Already two cities had fallen, with this one looking like it was about to be the third. Davi’s mission was straightforward but dangerous…get to the city and evac personnel. Trouble was, Skarron walkers dominated the local airspace. The few fighters they had in the air flew about with impunity, for anything that Star Force sent into region would be shot down almost instantly by the heavy anti-air capability that the huge walking machines carried…but he knew there was a window of opportunity low to the ground. Their anti-air had a ceiling limit, and if he could stay under that he could theoretically get into the city and out again.

But being constricted to 50 or so meters off the ground wasn’t fun to fly with and didn’t give him many options to work with when the fighters came after him. Fortunately he wasn’t alone, and in addition to the eight other dropships in formation with him he had a squadron of Starscream-class mechs flying ahead of them clearing the road.

The flying mechs couldn’t rise up above the ceiling height either without drawing fire from the distant walkers, and thankfully none of the big ones were within range, else their missiles could have downed the dropships quite easily. No, Davi had a window and they had to take it now before the big ones did get into range. They were slower than slow but on approach none the less, meaning they didn’t have long to evac and he didn’t know how many trips they were going to get to make.

The starscreams flew several kilometers ahead, drawing the attention of the Skarron fighters their way, some of which headed straight for the dropships, but the mechs landed and transformed into ground fighting mode and lit up the sky with anti-air fire, fighting the fighters safely beneath the ceiling height and giving the dropships a ‘safe’ zone over which to fly into the city.

Davi’s Falcon took a couple of plasma hits to its shields as one of the fighters strafed it on a pass from left to right, but within a few seconds the anti-air batteries on the near side  of the city opened up and drove it away. Fortunately the Skarrons hadn’t circled around to the back side yet, and the dropships made it safely inside the perimeter but not under the city’s shield, which had already gone down.

The Star Force pilot landed the dropship in the one spaceport still under their control and which the ground troops were fiercely hanging onto, opening the boarding ramp and waiting for the first of the evacuees to come onboard. Setting the ship into standby mode he headed to the back of the craft, intent on packing as many people in as physically possible, knowing full well that there could be some left behind to die, and that thought was one that he wasn’t keen on.

“We have to go now!” Chad Erri said, pointing to the door.

“Hold on,” Kevin Pru warned, doing one last head count of the 7 year olds in this orisect. There were supposed to be 100 and he was damned if he was going to leave anyone behind. He’d already made the count once, but he was going through a second time just to be sure.

“No…now!” Chad insisted.

A few more heads…there, they had them all. “Ok, go. I got the back.”

Without needing any further prompting the handler went straight to the door with the younglings following him two by two. Kevin waited at the back of the line to make sure nobody wandered off or stayed behind, following the last pair of girls out and reluctantly saying goodbye to the city that he’d spent the last 12 years in as home. He’d been working in maturias for well over a century, but Metropolis had finally become home to him, and this city in particular…but now it was about to fall to the enemy and he needed to push sentimentality aside. Getting his charges out was what mattered.

He jogged at the back of the formation out into the hallways where other orisects were also evacuating. All the lines were neat and none were strung out, from the 20 year olds down to the hover sleds carrying the infants…which was a relief. The situation was panicked enough, but this was Star Force and not one of the holo vids. People knew their jobs and were professional about it, right down to the younglings. They were worried and upset, but they held to orders and their formations, just as they’d trained to do many times before. Repetition was key, Kevin knew, and he was gratified to see their training being verified in an emergency situation like this, despite the myriad of other things going through his mind at the moment.

The surface streets had been deemed a ‘no-go’ zone, so Chad led their orisect down into the subsurface connective tunnels in the city and the line jogged their way across more than two kilometers before they got to a bottleneck with ground troops holding them and several other groups up. Kevin saw one finally be let through into the spaceport, having to run up a flight of stairs to ground level. Apparently there was danger nearby, else they would have been sent up immediately. That wasn’t a good sign.

The younglings started to stir, having nothing to do but stand in line. They held position, but began talking and filling the hallway with din. That wasn’t preferable, for it hindered people’s ability to hear what was coming, but Kevin knew there was no way to make them be quiet. They were only vocalizing some of the same thoughts running through his head and he couldn’t blame them for that.

It took some ten minutes that felt like hours before the next orisect went through, then two more shortly thereafter before Kevin’s and Chad’s was next up. When the word came he saw Chad hit the stairs at a slow run with the 7 year olds sprinting up after him in order to keep close. Kevin made sure everyone ahead of him made it, then followed the last two up himself, passing a pair of security guards in full combat gear and clapping one on the shoulder in thanks.

They climbed some 18 flights of stairs before they got into the spaceport, with the little ones being forced to walk the last few. The line lagged but held together well enough, then they were up on level ground and moving through hallways, wide expansive courtyards, and promenades with the distant sound of plasma fire sending a chill through everyone. They were so exposed now that even a rookie with a rifle could have hit someone just on accident, and Kevin literally cringed as Chad led them forward and through a chokepoint out onto the loading pad.

When Kevin’s end of the line came up to the archway that led into a short tunnel, he glanced back to make sure no one was following them, seeing an Archon sprint into and out of view far down the promenade. Glad to be getting away now and fearing for the others still waiting behind, Kevin focused his attention ahead and jogged out into the huge open air landing pad that fortunately still had its own shield covering it like a flat dome. He saw one dropship take off and move through that shield as soon as he entered, with many more on the deck loading people coming in from multiple entrances.

The dropship they were destined for was halfway across the deck, making for another decent run with the younglings already fatigued from the stair climb, but true to form they held together all the way up to the dropship and hit the boarding ramp still in their two by two formation, with Chad stalling at the entrance and shooing them on inside.

“Seats,” Davi said, pointing at the far end of the cargo bay to the forward section that was for passengers. The hold was empty, but the first ones were going up there. “Fill them all in,” he told the younglings as he escorted the first ones up and saw that they got seated where they were supposed to go. When all of them were taken he directed the others to stand in a corner of the bay, with their handlers coming up to him at the end of the line.

“We have to pack you all in, like concert pack,” Davi explained. “Nobody sits on the floor, everyone stands as close as possible. We’re not leaving anybody behind if we have room. Keep them in tight.”

Kevin nodded as Davi ran back towards the main boarding ram as another orisect came up, this one made up of 15 year olds which he directed to the left wall. More and more came aboard, with him stacking them in like he was playing Tetris. His route to the cockpit was obscured, but that didn’t matter. He had to get as many in here as possible.

More and more came and he filled the hold with them, then squeezed a handful more people in that were not orisect. Hopefully this was the last of the younglings, at least. Everyone else in the city should be smart enough to survive a bit longer than they would.

From the outside Davi triggered the hatch to close, making sure those inside were standing in the correct positions so they didn’t get arms or legs caught in the diminishing creases. When it finally locked up he found himself on the outside of the dropship and he turned and pointed to the civilians standing behind him.

“I don’t know how many I can take, but come with me,” he told them before running around to a secondary entrance on the dropship that led to the tunnel neck between the passenger compartment and the cockpit. He opened the small ramp and ran up it, pointing those with him to squeeze into the gaps in the walkways between the seats that held the younglings. He jammed as many people in there as he could, then added a few more in the ramp foyer and even in the cockpit before yelling back down the ramp that he could take no more and for them to back away from the dropship.

Knowing that he’d done all he could he squeezed his way between those in the cockpit over to his pilot’s seat and kicked in the anti-grav, confirming that the shield was still in porous mode above him. That meant it would stop energy and light material from coming through, including atmosphere, but large heavy objects could pass, such as the dropships. A kamikaze fighter would get through too, or any missiles, which was why someone in the control room was monitoring and could snap a second shield into place a few inches over the existing one if needed.

Making sure that one wasn’t up was necessary before takeoff, as was making sure their exit corridor was clear. He had to wait some 30 seconds on that, then he got the word and lifted up along with three other dropships, clearing the deck with many people still visible around the edges. There wasn’t anything he could do for them other than get back, offload, and hopefully come back for a second run…if the city and spaceport were still in Star Force hands by then.

When he cleared the shield and returned to open air he saw many lurking white bulges reflecting the city lights in the dark that surrounded the colony, marking them as closer than they had been before, with weaponsfire coming from along the edges of the ‘safe’ side of the city as the Skarrons encroached and slowly eliminated the defense turrets along the outer wall.

Wasting no time Davi shot the dropship off across the low building tops, darting between the taller ones until he passed the city edge and accelerated hard with the grasslands becoming a dark blur below him. Battlemap contacts popped up, showing Skarron fighters angling towards them but some low flying skeets took to them and risked an aerial confrontation, keeping the brawling close to the enemy in the hopes that the walkers wouldn’t risk firing on their own fighters.

Davi silent thanked them for getting him and his passengers out. Enemy fighters scared the hell out of him, and he knew his own shields would offer little protection if they were able to hound the dropships, for his craft was the slower and he had a long way to fly, with every small shot adding up to a takedown kill. Fortunately he and the other three dropships got enough of a head start that the rest of the Skarron fighters didn’t pursue them. Once sufficiently clear of the walkers’ lachar range he elevated to normal cruising height with the atmosphere thinning and his Falcon accelerating in response.

It took some 23 minutes to arrive at the nearest safe city/colony and even more precious minutes to offload his passengers. Once finished he got a warning, indicating that the zone around the target city was becoming too dangerous to return to, with the option being floated at pilot’s discretion given that they couldn’t guarantee air cover.

“To hell with it,” he said, lifting off again. “Might as well take a closer look.”

Davi lifted off and flew back the way he came, eventually stalling out into a hover a few meters over the marshy ground as he studied the battlemap ahead. The perimeter defenses were all but down, but a handful of the anti-air turrets appeared to still be functional. No walkers had closed on a narrow slice of the city, but there were plenty of enemy infantry there fighting some mechs who were guarding an overland evac route, with numerous vehicles pouring out of the city.

“Ok, time to play truck,” he said, daring to be reckless and moving off again, this time towards the convoy route and floating barely 10 meters off the ground. He couldn’t move very fast that low, for there was a bit of elevation change that would have him bumping the ground, but he aligned himself with the evacuation corridor and got in close to the mechs, hoping they’d give him some air cover.

It wasn’t enough, and a pair of Skarron fighters poured plasma into his topside shield, eventually breaching it with three blasts before he got near the intact anti-air turrets in the city and they killed one of them…which almost fell on top of his dropship. The other peeled off, giving him a straight shot into the city.

He got a message indicating that the spaceport had been taken, then revised landing coordinates from an Archon that wanted him to put down on top of one of the lower buildings near the city’s edge. Glad that someone had a plan he could execute, Davi flew to the small four-story building and landed on an auxiliary pad…or rather hovered over it, for it wasn’t really a pad but a parking spot for hover vehicles and too small for his dropship. He lowered the main ramp and parked his dropship on the edge of the building so the ramp set down on the pad while the rest of it hovered over the drop off.

This time he stayed in the cockpit to maintain the precise altitude and keep the ramp steady. He got on the comm and communicated to those ground troops in the building, instructing them of what he needed them to do…then a few seconds later the first of the evacuees ran up onto the roof and into his dropship.

Halfway through loading he got a comm from the Archon indicating that they had gotten everyone onboard, but with a glance from Davi at his hold cams he saw that they had plenty of room to spare. As he raised the ramp he asked if there was another location they could pick up people at and he got a second waypoint…this one on the ground just outside the city walls.

Davi blew out a breath, realizing how reckless this all was, but went for the second group anyway. He flew over the city edge and set down, picking up a host of commandos that were fighting a rear guard action. Before they were even all up the ramp he got the signal to go and didn’t hesitate. He moved the dropship forward, triggering the ramp closure, and took off towards the rear of the convoy that was now making good speed away from the city…with no one else staying behind aside from a pair of chewed up madcats covering for him, and they were now running in retreat as well as the enemy infantry swarms were closing in around them and bathing their armored hulks with tiny plasma blasts.

One of them got hammered by a nearby Type-4 walker, but it didn’t go down and accelerated up into a sprint that threw off the enemy’s targeting enough for it to break free…then it started peppering the sky with anti-air fire as a quartet of fighters came in towards the dropship.

Knowing that he couldn’t just sit there and fly a straight line, Davi pulled up and did a corkscrew to starboard, hopefully putting the fighters between him and the nearest walker. The part of the ship the enemy had been shooting suddenly disappeared from sight as he flipped the ship upside down as he continued to accelerate ahead and into a weave over the convoy as a few more mechs turned around and added to the anti-air.

The underside shields on the dropship held up until a lachar blast from a walker penetrated them and vaporized half the hull armor. Davi completed the corkscrew and dropped back down to the surface, zipping over top the convoy vehicles and seeing two of the fighters go down behind him. That left two more on his tail, which a lone skeet came up from the ground and distracted, giving the dropship a few precious seconds to accelerate ahead and get a gap on them.

That skeet blew apart and crashed nearby the convoy, with one of the enemy fighters surviving and coming back at the dropship. It was out of weapons range but closing distance again, with Davi squeezing every bit of acceleration out of the Falcon that he could…but seeing that it wasn’t going to be enough.

He held out as long as he could, not going evasive and wasting precious seconds of their lead, then the Skarron fighter caught up to them and started hammering his aft shields.

“Shit,” he said, pulling up hard and angling into the sky. The Skarron trailed them easily, continuing to pound the rear of the dropship and broke through the shields just as Davi reached his apex and flipped the aerodynamic nose of the craft down to the ground, with the flat top catching the atmosphere and braking it hard…forcing the dropship back and almost into the fighter, which dodged evasively.

Then Davi used the one advantage he had and pulled on the planet’s gravity well with his craft’s binary drives, putting it into a descent so fast that the Skarron fighter couldn’t match with gravity alone. At the end of the sudden fall he braked hard and angled them back onto a course towards the nearest city pushing his ship for all it was worth and getting abrasion warnings on the hull, given that it didn’t have any shields left to cut the air with…for those had burnt off in the rapid descent.

They reformed a few seconds later at low power and created the needle nose shape that added to the craft’s aerodynamics, allowing Davi to regain a bit of a lead on the Skarron, but it fell in behind him again, gaining rapidly.

Fortunately there were mechs ahead, further up the long ground convoy, that signaled him to come to them. He gladly did so, literally parking the dropship in with their convoy vehicles and baiting the fighter in…with it subsequently blowing up and its shredded hulk impacting like a meteor nearby.

“Thank you,” he commed them before heading back off towards the destination city and accelerating to amicable speed with no further pursuit.

“Davi, you can be so stupid sometimes,” he berated himself.

“I’d call it badass flying,” the Archon said, coming up behind him in the cockpit.

“And a lot of luck,” he added, still not accepting that what he had done had been anything other than reckless. Fortunately it had paid off.

The silver-clad Archon put an armored hand on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Ditto. I only move stuff around, you’re the one killing the Skarrons.”

“And we have a lot more to kill,” she said, letting go and sitting down in the empty copilot’s seat.

“Yes we do,” Davi agreed, glancing at the battlemap full of enemy contacts.

3

January 11, 2549

Reesi System

Metropolis

“Go, go, go!” Victor Anassi yelled over his comm to the rest of his squad as he ran across a fairly firm section of ground. Skarron infantry was trailing them but not very fast on their quadruped feet, nor were their Hobbit skirmishers, meaning that if the commandos and other Knights kept moving they could stay ahead of them. Sticking around to fight, however, would end up being a bloodbath.

They’d just executed a fighting retreat out of the partially constructed city of Topalia, which was now being overrun by enemy infantry with light walker support. There were no mechs or aerial units in the area, so they’d had to abandon their position. The firepower the walkers threw down was just too much, and even with the building cover there was no way to take them down. They could have stayed and tried to find a way, but the enemy infantry had driven them out and now the defense team was executing a running retreat to the northern sea a few kilometers away.

Victor kept up a steady pace, his longer strides eating up the distance as the shorter commandos scurried alongside him. His Knight shield had been so damaged and full of holes that he’d left it behind, making his running considerably easier, though a few of the others still had theirs and were lugging them over their backs as they moved. Altogether there were about 500 Star Force troops fleeing across the ground and out onto a peninsula, effectively boxing themselves in as the Skarrons swarmed over the city and chased after them, cutting off all other land retreat options.

Victor didn’t like that, but they had few choices. Had they gone laterally they would have had to run the gauntlet and most probably wouldn’t have survived to get to the nearest forest…and even then they would have had a very long hike to the next closest outpost. They’d been placed in Topalia to hold it, being backed up by a mech unit roaming the area. That unit had been redeployed in an emergency relief effort to the south two days ago that had not gone well. Stripped of their support the Skarrons had eventually moved on them and forced their hasty retreat.

All across the continent Star Force cities were falling, with the civilians now being evacuated prior to assaults as the Skarron approach was becoming predictable. They were knocking off one city after another and being none too subtle about it. Star Force was kicking the crap out of their units but they were overwhelming them with numbers…the same old story, it seemed. Very rarely had Victor fought a battle where they had the numerical advantage. They were always trying to pull off the upset, and usually did, but today wasn’t one of those days, nor this year, for the Skarrons were getting close to owning the full continent.

There were still a number of cities that were intact, but they were already undergoing evacuation with the writing on the wall being clear. Star Force orders had set down that they weren’t going to hand anything over to the Skarrons, hence Victor’s unit’s assignment here. Hold if you could, but hurt the enemy regardless. That they’d done, in terms of infantry anyway, but they simply didn’t have the ordinance to take down the walkers…nor the Archons. He’d heard rumors of strikers and even some rangers taking them down single handedly. He wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but he really wished they had one of the higher ranking ones with them now.

All they had were two adepts, powerful enough in their own right, but not a match for a walker by any stretch of the imagination. They’d had a third, but she hadn’t made it out of the city, along with a few others that had got caught in an ambush by the Skarron elites. They’d engaged the Archon while sending in a flanking wave of Hobbits. The Archon had mowed down the smaller infantry, as expected, but the larger plasma weapons on the elites wore her down to the point that when she finally broke free and retreated another group of waiting Hobbits got the drop on her.

Victor had gotten to her and pulled her out of the fire, but she didn’t last more than five minutes. They had to leave her body there, for they couldn’t carry anything with them on retreat, save for the three injured commandos. Victor had offered to take one of them, but the remaining Archons wanted him in the rear being unkind to anyone that might catch up to them, leaving him trailing behind the others slightly with a constant eye on his battlemap and peripherals.

The three commandos ahead of him, one of which had a plasma gash on his left hip that had melted through the armor and left a visible burn mark on his skin, splashed through a small creek slowing their process momentarily. Victor jumped and made it across with only one foot hitting water, but it sank in some four inches, nearly tripping him up as he ran on but the light muck was nothing his superior musculature couldn’t handle.

When he caught up to the backs of the commandos he turned sharp right, running perpendicular to their direction and allowing himself to look behind them, as he’d been doing for the past 2 kilometers. No one was close, but he could see glints of Skarron armor in the distance as the sunlight reflected off their shiny plates. There were tufts of trees and grasses, making the visual inspection dicey and leaving plenty of opportunity for ambush. He wished they’d had at least a probe in the air for a visual, let alone a fighter or warship that he could pull telemetry from, but at the moment all he had was his eyes and ears to work with.

Victor turned back on course and slowly made up the distance, catching up to the others then pulling a juke to the left in a similar manner. They were staying ahead of their pursuit, but before long they’d run into the water’s edge and could go no further. They were supposed to receive evac there, but if it didn’t come they’d be in for a tough battle. So far none of the Skarron walkers had left the city, meaning they’d only have infantry to deal with for a while…which was a fight Victor was more than willing to make.

He was still fuming over the lost Archon and commandos and really wanted something to smash.

About 20 minutes later he got his chance as the soldiers bunched up on the water’s edge, their ride now there yet and the enemy slowly catching up. Victor moved out into a small depression, keeping his head high enough to see through the grasses while relying on a spotter further back to keep an eye on enemy positions. He waited there until he got a battlemap ping then took off, springing up and running straight towards an armored Skarron and jumping up onto its back.

It tried to move aside, but Victor was too quick and got up on top…their weak spot. He pulled its two front arms in, which were jutting up from the sides of its flat back, throwing off their aim as it tried to shoot the commandos following Victor out. He held them, weapons up, as the back two tried to knock him off, delaying it long enough for the commandos to pour plasma into its ‘face’ and break through the armor there. A lot of wrestling later and it dropped to the ground, with Victor taking a plasma hit to the left arm as a nearby Hobbit took aim at him.

The Knight jumped off and ran towards the stubby creature, pulling his sword off its armor latch and whipping it around so fast he nearly took the thing’s head off with it. It rolled to the ground, stunned and possibly with a broken neck, and Victor paid no more attention to it as he  moved to the four more nearby and physically beat them down. His sword and one backup pistol were all he had left in the way of ammunition, but his body was also a weapon and he was going to save his last few plasma shots for later when he expected to need them the most.

More and more plasma began to fly through the air as the Skarron troops closed in and both sides went at it. A few minutes of hard fighting and several commandos went down. Victor didn’t know if they were dead or not, but he couldn’t worry about that. There were enemies all around and that meant just one thing…if he couldn’t run, he was going to take as many down as he could.

With his physical shield left behind and his armor’s shields flickering on and off he began to take damage, but that didn’t slow him down one bit. Pulling on decades of experience and training he moved from point to point as fast as the two Archons and punched, kicked, and whacked Hobbits down like they were nothing more than children throwing rocks at him.

When he was about to get to another Skarron, this one unarmored and leading a group of some 50 Hobbits, a loud screech belted out from behind him. To his credit Victor didn’t look back, taking the distraction as an advantage and getting several more Hobbits as they stared up the water behind the Humans as a giant walker rose up from the depths emitting the electronic battle cry.

As the water fell off it two thick forward arms on the crab-like Weapon-class aquatic ‘mech’ opened up with mauler blasts, showering the infantry beyond the Star Force troops with not a single glob of energy but a shower of smaller globules spewing out like a showerhead. They mowed down the hobbits and penetrated the armor on the Skarron elites while kicking up a huge plume of vaporized water and ground, creating a visible wall separating the friendly troops from most of their attackers.

Switching his HUD over to augmented view Victor dove into the edge of that cloud and took down the nearest Skarron as the rain continued to fall 100 meters out. He knew better than to go out there, but also knew that the gunners would be watching the battlemap closely and see his ID tag. He felt safe to venture out a bit and take advantage of the visual mess, which he hoped the enemy wouldn’t be able to see through.

He spent four shots from his plasma pistol and took the unarmored Skarron down quickly, then used his sword to plow through a group of more than 20 Hobbits before finally getting a retreat ping on his battlemap. Victor took down two more then turned and ran, coming back out of the cloud and heading towards the spot where the beacon was located, visible on his HUD as an overlay marking a position near the shore.

Victor sprinted up over a small rise and saw another craft coming up out of the water as the Weapon moved up fully onto shore, walking with its eight pointy legs and waving its four upper tentacles around like a goad to the enemy as it continued firing with its stubby arms. The aquatic mech was designed for underwater combat, but with shoreline applications in mind as well…and right now the ugly thing was a welcome sight…as was the hatch opening up on the transport that had just the upper section of its hull above water and a long bridge reaching out to get all the way to shore.

With the Weapon providing cover fire, and hopefully killing a lot more enemy infantry in the process, the commandos sprinted across the five meter wide bridge and poured down inside the aquatics craft, with Victor and the two surviving Archons running around the battlefield to pick up the wounded, which appeared as special icons on the battlemap. Victor got one of them and slung him over his shoulder, then picked up another and brought both of them to the foot of the bridge, dropping them off for others to carry in while he went back for more.

He did that three times, then moved around the battlefield looking for more despite there being no more ID tags. From experience he knew that armor could be damaged and not transmit their location, so he made a visual scan and ran around the area…and it was a good thing he did, for he saw a dull white suit crawling across the ground with its helmet off and a large blood splotch on the side of his blonde head.

Victor ran over to him and, without a word or gesture, picked up the commando and ran him back over to the bridge as the Archons made similar sweeps to look for others. Three steps before he hit the bridge he got a ‘finished’ ping so he took the man all the way in, running across the firm, rail-less walkway all the way to the top of the transport that was barely two meters above the water line and fairly far out into the water. He felt very exposed running out there, but as soon as he ducked down inside he knew they were safe.

There were several medics in the much larger compartment below, so he set the wounded commando down and let them attend to him as he stepped back up enough to look out as the Archons finally came back. He let them pass him by, then he ducked down as the hatch sealed over and the bridge retracted.

The transport eventually sank back into the water, but the Weapon did not. Instead it walked further up onto land and laid into the infantry at range as far as its maulers would reach. It worked them over good, killing as many that were stupid enough to stick around, then when it had no more within reach walked backwards and disappeared into the water like some monster of legend, with the ripples of its passing eventually dissipating and making the calm water a question mark of what other terrible things lay beneath.

Victor and the others rode the transport for several hours until it docked with an underwater city and they got off into familiar surroundings. With no immediate reassignment the troops were given temporary quarters and Victor was shown to his. He went inside and began stripping off his damaged armor, inspecting each piece and judging whether or not a simple patch job would suffice or whether he’d need a full replacement for the piece.

His chest plate was going to have to go, for it had taken the most damage and was nearly penetrated in three separate spots. His back showed no damage whatsoever…which was typical Knight. They always fought facing forward and did very little running away, though in large skirmishes they often dove into the middle and had enemies all around them. Today hadn’t been one of those days, so his back piece was salvageable.

He disconnected the emergency latches, for the torso usually stayed together as a single piece when he put it on, and pulled the damaged section off. The rest he categorized and organized into piles, then took a shower and got the grime off of him before heading over to the local armory and trading out the damaged pieces for new ones and getting some quick ‘putty’ work on the small holes in the rest.

That sealed them off and hardened into a good armor of its own, slightly weaker but much better than throwing out nearly good pieces in exchange for new ones…and in an long campaign like this you never knew how many new suits were going to be available, so you needed to make do with what you had whenever possible.

With his armor back up to snuff Victor headed to the cafeteria and grabbed a bite to eat before heading off to bed. When he woke up the next morning new orders still hadn’t come through so he hit the training facilities and got in a good few workouts until four days later when an underwater transport finally arrived to take him and the others off to another engagement zone.

The same type of transport deposited them on another shore some 1000+ miles away from where they’d been evaced. There they boarded land vehicles and sped off to a nearby city where they supplemented the defense forces prepping for a Skarron attack that looked to be two days out, judging by the pace their walkers were making heading towards it.

This city did have mech and aerial support, which gave Victor hope that they could hold out this time. There were a lot of walkers headed their way, with ample infantry support, but he didn’t think they were unmanageable numbers…so long as an enemy transport didn’t swoop in and add to them, which was always a possibility. That said, fresh troops were in short supply on both sides, so he hoped the enemy had better places to send them. He wanted a victory to counteract the bad taste in his mouth from so many retreats and maybe, just maybe, this upcoming battle had the look of being one.

With ample motivation, Victor armored up and headed for his combat deployment post, supporting a group of commandos waiting inside the outer wall for when/if the enemy penetrated into the city…with the mechs outside already starting to snipe at Skarron units on approach.

4

January 18, 2549

Reesi System

Metropolis

With the initial attack successfully repulsed, Victor was reassigned to a unit that was headed into what was now Skarron territory. Glad to be going on the offensive, he joined up with a group of 60 commandos and four other Knights and boarded a single Falcon-class dropship that took off from the city several hours into night and flew across the horizon, gaining more minutes of dark as they moved opposite to the spin of the planet.

Their dropship had a full squadron of skeets in escort as it flew an evasive path up and around the main Skarron strongholds, avoiding their walkers and their anti-air, and traveling a very long route up to a captured outpost. They set down in the trees barely a kilometer off as the fighters strafed the small defensive emplacements the Skarrons had set up.

Victor offloaded with the others and ran in formation with four commandos attached to him, his physical shield held at ready in front of him on his left arm and his massive stun sword held in his right hand. The nightvision in his helmet showed them the way through the trees until they eventually came out into a light skirmish, with Victor sprinting ahead and bashing a hobbit with the front of his shield, sending it flying back a couple of meters while he turned and whacked another with his sword as the commandos followed up closely and gunned the others down.

There wasn’t much more to do than that, for the rest of the troops were mowing over the light guard the Skarrons had on the place. It was a relatively minor outpost, barely 20 buildings in total. They had no illusions about retaining possession of it, but what it did possess was an entrance to an underground tunnel network…and that was where they were ultimately going.

With the initial attack a success, Victor saw the dropship lift off and fly away with the skeets in escort, leaving the ground troops on their own.

That was the plan, and the sooner they got underground the better…take the mechs and fighters out of the equation entirely. That left head on head infantry fighting, which Victor highly preferred.

Not wasting any time the commandos found the entrance, still sealed up and apparently undiscovered by the Skarrons. They descended down a lengthy staircase into a small terminal that held a number of parked pod-cars. Victor and the others boarded them and quickly set off through the binary tunnels, all traveling down one side and leaving the other free for passing traffic…if there was any. This network was already shut down for the most part, and the Skarrons hadn’t seen fit to use it given the thousands of miles it spanned and the limited number of troops able to be moved around.

Their actual target was a small city that had been overrun by the Skarrons near the ocean’s edge, and one that was about to come back into Star Force possession given that the enemy had sent most of its walkers off to other targets. They were getting sloppy in their rollover of the continent, assuming that the Humans were simply going to keep pulling back in retreat, and now was the time to make them pay for that arrogance. Victor’s team was going to come up inside the city just as the attack on the exterior mounted. With the defenses down the Skarrons wouldn’t have much to work with other than infantry and a handful of walkers plus whatever fighter support they had in the area.

That meant they’d all be headed for the perimeter to fight the enemy coming in…leaving the backdoor unguarded or maybe even unnoticed for the surprise team to come up out of and do a lot of damage. That was the plan anyway, and Victor was anxious to get to it.

It took hours for the pod-cars to move across the underground of the continent, and it was fortunate that Star Force had taken the time to establish these subsurface links instead of relying on surface traffic and hover trains, for those routes were now shut down by the Skarron invasion. Their air cover was thick, and anything heading out without proper escorts was just begging to get hit. Victor was glad that Star Force prepped its worlds with multiple layers of infrastructure and battle planning, for right now it made all the difference. He didn’t care for tunnels, but having ground over his head meant no big weaponsfire coming down on him...and he was once again the dominant force on the battlefield.

The Skarron elites would argue otherwise, but he could take one hand to hand if he had to. They were easier to take down as a group, but he’d wager on a Knight any day in that confrontation.

When they finally arrived and the exterior assault begin in coordination with their placement on the battlemap, he got his chance coming up from below in the lead and running into a pair of unarmored Skarron guards with Hobbits surrounding them. They weren’t guarding the entrance to the tunnel, but rather running past enroute to somewhere on the perimeter. Victor dashed out from the side and ran directly into one of the Skarrons, knocking it askew but not down, and whacking one of its legs with his stun sword…which immediate collapsed numb.

He blocked a plasma shot from one of the overhead arms on his shield as the commandos followed him out and took aim at the hobbits who were starting to pepper him with smaller plasma blasts. Victor ignored them and focused on the Skarron, numb-hitting its other leg and collapsing the left side of its body. He quickly hit the arms before jumping up on top and pulling out his pistol, then fired down into the top of its back between the arm sockets multiple times until it finally crashed down on its right side as its other arms fell limp.

Victor walked off the top of the headless creature and sprinted into a Hobbit, bouncing him off his shield and rolling him across the ground like a ball before a commando shot and killed him while still on the tumble. After that Victor resumed the lead and pushed on, following the waypoints set down by their commander and heading towards the nearest enemy units tagged on the battlemap.

Sally Hendricks was approaching the outside of the city, just having been dropped off by dropship with the other mechs in her drone star. She was seated in a chair control station half a meter behind Dravis, who was operating their Morpheus-class command mech and appropriately strapped into his control harness. Meanwhile she operated her control board piloting the four other drone mechs like she was playing a videogame…only one that she was in the middle of.

The morpheus was the largest of the five mechs, with two slightly shorter brawlers, a madcat, and a rifleman…all without pilots or even cockpits, having been designed with enhanced weaponry given the extra interior space, as well as armor, making them pound for pound more potent mechs. She had the brawlers situated on either side of the morpheus and slightly ahead while the madcat brought up the rear and the rifleman was slung out to the left, giving its longer range weaponry a clear line of sight on the city.

She triggered it to attack one of the walkers ahead, a Type-5, by placing a reticle on the enemy golf ball. In response the rifleman opened up with continual lachars, making four bright beams of the energy/particle cocktail that connected with and held on contact for some 12 seconds before recycling. That drained away a large chunk of the walker’s shields before the other mechs even got within firing range.

Sally had the madcat hold off on its missiles, saving those for when the shields were down. Meanwhile other mech stars were operating at various points, coming in from the north and west sides of the city, while her group was coming in from the southeast. There was one other star with her, all with pilots, and they were pacing her morpheus about 400 meters to starboard, with their starbright just now beginning to open up with its plasma cannons now that they were coming into range.

A little while later they began to take hits from several Skarron mechs’ plasma fire, then the mauler cannons came into play…and from there on it was a slaughter. The morpheus she rode in closed range and put the finishing touches on a Type-4 while she watched from her control board, having to mentally disconnect from the fact that she was in one of her chess pieces and let her pilot handle that part while she played coordinator.

And as coordinator she was the first to see incoming transports on the battlemap…two of them, both of which appeared to be carrying additional walkers from an encampment not too far away.

She keyed open the comm to all the mechs in play. “Heads up. Transports coming in. Let’s see if we can get a few pokes in before they get too close,” she said, suiting action to words as she ordered the drone madcat to get a target lock on one of them and fire off all of its missiles at the distant target.

Both shoulder-mounted missile boxes exploded into a wash of fire and smoke as two darts of exhaust stretched out towards the horizon, traveling at high speed past the range of all the other mechs’ weapons. When they got close to the first transport some of them were taken down by anti-air fire, but enough got through to weaken the shields…then when more missiles hit from the mechs on the outer side of the city the transport started to take hull damage and stopped its advance, moving down to the surface and deploying its four Type-4 walkers immediately.

Well, at least they’d made it put them down further out. The other transport came in closer, fending off some lachar fire from a pair of riflemans and deposited a pair of Type-3s before landing all the way on the ground and disgorging infantry…but not as many as it could have carried, which Sally guessed meant they had rounded up everyone on hand to send them out as quickly as possible without enough prep time to counter this attack.

Problem was they were coming in together. They’d just jumped the defense walkers because they’d been spread out and all Type-4s and 5s. The pair of incoming 3s were going to be a handful, but right now those would have to wait, and not just because they were out of weapons range. Their mission right now was to take down the walkers and get the infantry into the city. The first half of that was complete, but the enemy had barricaded the entrances where they’d blown them apart previously, meaning they now needed to blast back inside.

Dravis took care of that personally on their side, moving the morpheus right up next to an intact city gate and pounding on it with its plasma streamers, literally melting through the metal like a squirt gun into a snowbank. It took a while to carve out an entry hole big enough to get a mech through, but as soon as he did the neo in the star next to theirs went through and started chewing up the infantry on the other side as a wave of commandos and Knights followed it in.

Rio followed the Knight ahead of him as the backside of the neo functioned as their tracking beacon. When he got up to the burnt-out gate he stepped lightly, knowing the metallic rim was still hot and not wanting the softer armor of his boot tread to melt. He took one step onto it and jumped the rest of the way, glad his foot didn’t melt/stick. Most of the color had faded from the metal, but had he been wearing normal shoes he was sure that there would have been enough residual heat to damage them.

Now inside the city and somewhat pinned between buildings, he and two other commandos broke off into the door of a factory and cut through to the other side, finding it uninhabited, and exiting on another street. While the battle was going on they had a side mission. Apparently there were a handful of survivors that somehow had never gotten evacuated during the initial assault. Just less than 10 minutes ago they had made contact via comm and Rio’s trio was tasked with getting to and protecting them.

Their tracking signal, now active and potentially traceable by the Skarrons, though he doubted they would bother noticing with everything else going on up top, was coming from the subsurface section of the city. Rio’s team got to a descending stairwell and headed down multiple levels before finally coming out into what was essentially a maintenance area that allowed access to the major infrastructure from underneath.

It was a network of tunnels, tunnels, and more tunnels…no real rooms or sections, just a forest of machinery that the tracking beacon led Rio through. When they eventually came up on it they found…no one, just a small comm device sitting in the middle of the walkway, with Rio immediately going on guard and raising his plasma rifle just a tad higher, searching for trouble.

“Over here,” a voice said, walking out halfway and raising a hand into view from several meters down. Rio ran up and turned the corner where the man was standing.

“We have wounded,” the very thin man said, leading him through several twists and turns to some place well away from the beacon…which Rio realized had been done in case the Skarrons came looking for it. Smart move, especially if you had people that couldn’t easily be moved around.

“Why didn’t you evacuate with the others?” one of the commandos with Rio asked.

“We tried, but got cut off in an explosion. The comm device I had I lost, and the other one was damaged. I had to search the city for that one, and by then everyone was already gone,” he said as he pointed to a crate set up next to a wall. “Push this aside.”

Rio stepped in and moved it aside, revealing a nook in the wall where six other people were sitting…four of which were covered in bloody healing patches and the other two were younglings.

“Are they mobile?” the other commando asked, who outranked Rio by 18 levels.

“If we have somewhere to go, yes.”

“We have a dropship standing by on the perimeter. We can call it in once we get topside…assuming the air cover doesn’t change. Come on, we need to get moving,” he said, glancing at Rio.

He nodded and headed back out, becoming point man/skirmisher, and knowing that it was up to him to find and head off threats before they could get anywhere close to the wounded…for they would make for easy targets.

As he moved ahead he began plotting out an evac route on the battlemap…which was when he saw the infiltration team coming up from within and saw them near the underground lines. He quickly put two and two together and reassessed their evac plan, knowing it would be slower but infinitely more safe if they could take their wards underground rather than flying them through the air…not to mention avoiding the fighting up top.

Using his battlemap he got an open comm line to one of the commandos in that group, thankful that the relay nodes in the city still worked for they were a ways off, and inquired as to the status of the rail cars. Once he got the availability confirmed he commed the other two commandos with him and got the green light from them, then began working their route over there, seeing a small pocket of subsurface combat ongoing with a section of the infiltration team.

Knowing that they’d soon have that handled he set the route directly there, then held up and kept within a reasonable distance of his wards as they slowly walked out of their concealment, all of which were malnourished and surviving off a handful of rations and med kits they’d been able to scrounge. Rio knew not to expect anything out of them, so he began making search patterns ahead of them, running back and forth through the machinery and visually scouting out a wide area, hoping to draw out any potential ambushes against himself rather than let them get the jump on the others.

Nothing occurred on the way over, though he did come across several bodies…mostly Human but a few Kiritas and Hobbits as well. This area was too constricted for Skarrons to enter, given their size, which made it a good place to hide…just not good enough for these few, and Rio wondered how many others had gotten left behind and how. Star Force wasn’t sloppy, so something must have gone seriously wrong here.

5

January 20, 2549

Reesi System

Metropolis

Sally and Dravis ran up into the hold of the Eagle-class dropship with spurts of plasma fire missing behind them. A few moments later an Archon in silver armor joined them, with the boarding ramp rising immediately and the ship taking off before it had even closed halfway. The two dispossessed mechwarriors had just gotten back into the city after their morpheus had gotten toasted and nearly left them stranded in the kill zone that the outskirts had become. A nearby madcat had covered for them and they’d run unarmored across the open ground to a checkpoint on the wall that had allowed them inside.

After that they’d been sent directly to the improvised spaceport that had numerous dropships coming in and evacing personnel. The Star Force counterattack had hurt the Skarrons badly, but apparently they were committed to retaking the city and had been pouring reinforcements in nonstop. Sally and the other mechwarriors had been chewing them up to no end, but eventually the attrition wore down their mech and a Type-5 had ended their three day campaign. There were still a handful of mechs in deployment, but they were covering the pullback and would be the last ones out via dropship.

Since Sally and Dravis no longer had a mech they were sent with the various troops and civilians that were being pulled out…and as she looked around she was having a hard time figuring out why there would be any civilians here at all.

Not content to wonder she walked over to one of them and sat down next to where he was leaning back against the wall, with a look that said he wasn’t in very good condition.

“Hi there,” she said, getting him to open his eyes and look at her. “I’m Sally, and I was wondering what you were doing here. I thought all the civilians had been pulled out long ago.”

The man sighed. “We were supposed to be…name’s Chad, by the way. I’m a maturia handler and this is the second time I’ve had to evac. First was with my younglings, then I was supposed to move out with them again and got caught up in an explosion and blacked out. By the time I came to and dug myself out of the debris everyone had gone and the Skarrons were coming in.”

Sally’s eyes widened. “You got left behind?”

Chad nodded. “I lost my commlink, so I guess they had no way of finding me.”

“What kind of explosion?”

“Something big…inside the city. It knocked out a huge crater several levels deep but with no shaft to the sky. It made a mess of things. I don’t know how many people died, but I hid out from the Skarrons in a restroom until you guys came back. Big thanks to that, by the way. I wouldn’t have made it much longer.”

“You’re welcome, but nobody should have been left behind. The counts…”

“I don’t know either, but it happened.”

Sally put a hand on his very thin shoulder. “Are you going to be alright?”

“Now that I’ve got some foodstuffs in me, yeah. I think so.”

The mechwarrior nodded. “Kudos for staying alive as long as you did,” she said, standing back up and working her way through the crowd over to where Dravis was standing. When she got to him she was slowly shaking her head.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“There were people left behind in the first evac. He’s one that survived the Skarron occupation.”

Dravis whistled. “That is not supposed to happen.”

“I know,” she said, at a loss to explain it. “He said there was an internal explosion and he blacked out. Nobody came from him.”

Dravis frowned. “That might partially explain it.”

“What?”

“If the explosion took down some of the internal relays then their comm signatures wouldn’t register at range…and if they were assumed to be dead from the explosion.”

“Still there should have been a visual inspection,” she said in an angry whisper.

“During an attack? If the Skarrons were already in the city blowing things up then they probably didn’t have time for more than a light recon of the area. If you want to hide from that you can, fairly easily, and if he was knocked out that’s pretty much the same as hiding, in so much that you’re not up, looking around, and waving your hands to get people’s attention.”

“He wasn’t the only one.”

“We always check,” Dravis said firmly. “That doesn’t guarantee we always find everyone.”

“I’ve never heard of this happening before.”

“Nor have I, but we’re getting our asses handed to us here for a second time. Messy fights don’t leave a lot of time to double check.”

“I still don’t like it. At all.”

Dravis sighed. “Nor do I, but I doubt we dropped the ball. Sometimes bad things just happen.”

“Tell that to him.”

“We’re spoiled in that when a mech goes down people immediately notice. A few people in a city of millions don’t show up when something goes boom and they’re probably dead. You can’t wait around and count corpses when the enemy is on your throat.”

Sally dipped her head. “You’re right…I. I just hate that we left people behind, even on accident.”

“Anyone that felt otherwise would have to turn in their good guy card,” Dravis pointed out.

Sally halfheartedly smirked. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Iden-202747 walked into the cockpit of the dropship and stood just behind Davi who was intently watching the control board as he flew the eagle in formation with two others, both Falcon-class, with him lagging a bit behind.

“What’s wrong?” the acolyte asked.

“This bird took some damage on the way in. A couple of plasma hits to the hull, nothing major, but they hit on a patch from previous hull damage and I’m not getting full speed out of the gravity drives. I’m not showing any warning lights, but something is off.”

“What kind of damage was done?”

“I’m not sure, this is my 4th dropship in 2 days. Everything was fixed, but I’m guessing those hits found a crevice and seeped through. I don’t know, maybe just my imagination, but I’ve flown enough eagles to know this one is a touch slow.”

“Don’t suppose there’s anything we can do about it in flight?”

“Not unless you’ve got a tech back there?”

“I can check…” Iden said, half turning as a beep from the pilot’s battlemap pinged. The Archon immediately brought up his own in helmet and saw the cause for alarm…Skarron fighters heading their way that had broken through the skeet formations covering their tail.

“Oh shit, not again,” Davi said, having a quick conversation with the other dropship pilots.

Iden checked the battlemap at further range, seeing that there were no other friendly units nearby…then suddenly the three dropships split up, each going a separate way. There were only two fighters coming up on them, so this way, he knew, at best they could only shoot down two, assuming the third got far enough away.

He watched the pair of enemy fighters continue forward for a while, then they split up, one each coming at the middle and starboard dropships…with theirs being the starboard.

“Don’t suppose you have any special powers that can take down fighters?” Davi asked sarcastically.

“I don’t have the range, no,” he said, thinking hard. “If we’re going to go down, find us some terrain.”

“I’d prefer not to go down at all,” Davi countered, trying to milk a little more speed out of the smaller dropship. It was faster than a falcon, but this stupid drive wasn’t cooperating.

“I’d shoot out the back, but our rifles aren’t going to scratch their armor with its shields up,” Iden said, stating the obvious.

“Well, we’ve got about 2 minutes to figure something out,” Davi said, seeing a thick section of forest slightly further to starboard. It would take them further away from their destination, but it looked like they weren’t going to get there anyway so he took the Archon’s suggestion and altered course, guessing they’d make it there in about 45 seconds.

“Do what you can,” Iden said, abandoning the cockpit and heading aft where everyone else was. There were 36 people onboard, not counting himself and the pilot, and only about half of them had armor.

“Listen up!” he yelled through his helmet’s external mic. “We’re about to get shot down. Ready yourself, and grab whatever supplies you can find. One way or another we’re going to be on the ground shortly.”

As soon as he heard the Archon Rio’s attention immediately turned to the light cargo onboard the dropship, then his eyes crossed over to the emergency kits imbedded into the walls. He ran over to one and began to pull the panel off when a Knight came up on his left and detached another. Inside Rio’s was foodstuff packets, highly concentrated, with a carry satchel rolled up and stuffed in next to them.

He pulled it out and filled the bag up, then attached it to the back of his armor. Inside the Knight’s were weapons, several pistols of both plasma and stun variety. The taller man pointed to his bag and Rio turned around, giving him his back while he stuffed them inside. They could be passed out later if needed, but right now they needed to be secured and Victor preferred not to have anything else to carry aside from his partially damaged shield.

Elsewhere other commandos were tearing apart emergency supplies and rifling through the crates onboard and salvaging what they could. The Archon had all the unarmored individuals cluster together in the center of the bay, then layered the commandos around them. If the IDF held up they shouldn’t feel the crash/landing, but that wouldn’t stop shrapnel from coming through. If it did hopefully it would hit an armored person first, which was the basic idea, though in Rio’s mind it was probably just a last ditch effort to do something when they really had no good options. Dropships were maximized for speed and cargo carrying capacity rather than multied out to carry weapons.

Doing so would reduce their efficiency, and in truth they were never meant to go anywhere dangerous unescorted…though right now he really wished they’d installed at least one gun turret so they’d have some way of defending themselves.

When he’d finished filling his satchel he joined the ring around the unarmored, putting his back to them so to also shield his supplies, then he activated his armor’s shields and took a knee, waiting for the inevitable to come.

When it did it came in the form of a hole punching through the ceiling. One moment there was solid metal, the next there was a shower of superheated fragments as a piece blew apart from weaponsfire. The outside air sucked out the smoke and left the hole visible, then more impacts could be heard, or more accurately more explosions as the Skarron plasma hit and blew apart pieces of the hull. He looked up, then sucked in a quick breath as the blue sky twisted to the side and the ground became visible, with the gnarly trees growing closer at an alarming rate…then the ground rotated out of sight and the sky returned, with him realizing that they were falling in a death spiral.

The crash was noisy, but he didn’t feel any vibration thanks to the IDF…until it was knocked out as the dropship rolled through the trees. Suddenly he and the others were floating around inside the bay, then slammed up against a wall as it came to a stop. Bodies and crates fell on top of him, but fortunately he had his armor to protect him…not all of the others were so lucky.

He let the Knight work his way off him, then the man pulled up one of the crates and moved it aside, freeing Rio’s legs and allowing him to get up. As he did he looked to the left and saw one of the mechwarriors with a bloody gash in the side of her head where a crate had hit. He moved over to her and pulled the crate off, only to see that her head was caved in some two inches where the corner had hit and punctured her skull.

The commando checked for vital signs anyway, but as expected found none. He pulled Sally’s body up and off the man below and laid it aside as everyone worked their way through the mess. Fortunately the bay had been mostly empty and no large crates had been in play. That said, when the pilot finally came out from the cockpit with blood streaming down the right side of his face from a gash on his head, he realized just how important his armor was…and how that he, one of the uninjured ones, had just become more important to their survival.

“See to them,” the Archon said, passing Rio and trying to open the rear hatch, which was now on its side according to the gravity. When he couldn’t get it to open he tore open an emergency panel and hit a manual release. That cracked it a few inches, but otherwise it didn’t move.

“Secondary exit?” Rio asked, walking up beside him as he began to wedge himself into the breach to widen it.

“No go,” Iden answered, with Rio adding his own leverage and the both of them moving the big door more than a foot when several blasts were heard overhead.

“My battlemap is down,” Rio noted.

“The front of the dropship is pancaked, including the relay and emergency beacon. I’d guess that’s the fighter trying to finish us off.”

“Stay or run?”

“Depends on how many trees,” Iden said, continuing to push and getting significant resistance from the door.

“I think I can slide through,” one of the other commandos said, standing next to them.

“Try,” the Archon insisted, still applying pressure.

The slightly shorter commando passed by Rio and went through feet first. He got caught at the waist but managed to wiggle his way through, then a moment after he was out of view they all got a battlemap update as his armor began to map out the surrounding area with low level sensor pings. He also sent them a visual as he scanned the area, catching sight of the Skarron fighter making a looping turn to come back for another pass.

“Back or go,” Iden told him on the comm, with the commando taking off into the woods.

“Allow me,” the Knight said, stepping in between Rio and Iden, inserting a leg into the gap then pushing off with his other and shoulder to form a bigger wedge that moved the stubborn panel further out on its hinge and enough to easily get the other commandos through.

A waypoint flashed on Rio’s HUD and he dove through the gap as the explosions peppered the upper hull and dissipated. Behind him a cherry red spot appeared and disappeared on the port side…which was now the roof given how the dropship lay. Knowing that wouldn’t hold long, Iden ducked out after three of the commandos went through and got himself into open air.

He looked around at the trees…tall, thick, crooked, and not much in the way of leaves but there were enough branches to take some of the plasma.

“Perimeter at 100 meters,” he ordered. “I need a hideaway for the wounded.”

As he said that he moved around and got a view on the Skarron fighter, wondering why it wasn’t just hovering over top and blasting into them. Almost as soon as he made the thought the thing decelerated at range and began creeping up on them…with him knowing that was exactly what it intended to do next.

He opened a comm to the Knight. “I’m going for the fighter. I think I can at least slow it down with my psionics if I get close. Get everyone out and moving. I’ll catch up if and when I can. Don’t wait on me.”

“Understood,” Victor said, keying his own comm and coordinating with the commandos still inside the dropship to get everyone out ASAP. As he did he saw the silver armor run off through the trees in the direction the fighter was coming from, then eventually disappear as too many trunks and branches got in the way of his vision.

He could still read him on battlemap, but he trusted the Archon knew what he was doing…and as he said, would buy them a little time.

Victor came back under the opening where the ramp was wedged against several trees and helped to pull out a very bloody woman and two men, Chad included, and sent them along the line of unarmored people heading off through the trees following a pair of commandos he’d just assigned to the task. He poked his head back in for one last look, then seeing nothing but the 2 corpses he mentally abandoned the dropship and followed the perimeter commandos out as they collapsed around the vulnerable personal in a flanking escort, leaving the dropship and the Archon behind.

Everyone was running as best they could, but it was much slower than Victor was capable of so he took a few moments to look back, finally getting a good view of the damage to the dropship, who’s front section looked to be completely missing. He was surprised the pilot had survived at all…then he suddenly saw and heard the Skarron fighter dip down from the sky and into the trees, breaking through several of them before pulling up and racing back into the sky.

Their momentary diversion a success, Victor did as ordered and left the Archon behind, goosing his charges along as quickly as he thought they were capable of moving.

6

January 21, 2549

Reesi System

Metropolis

“What have we got?” Nevi asked, leaning against the trunk of an ugly tree as Rio took a look ahead from several branches above him.

“Trouble,” the other commando answered, using his helmet’s magnification to scout out the plain ahead. They’d been traveling for more than a day and had lost six people to Skarron fighters strafing them, but eventually they’d either eluded them or the Skarrons had bigger things to shoot, for they hadn’t seen any for the past 11 hours. It was just coming up on the night cycle, with a little daylight left in the very long rotation that the planet had, but ahead of them the forest ended and a grassy, muddy plain lay…which would leave them exposed out in the open with nothing to hide from the enemy in.

“Fighters?” Nevi asked.

“No,” Rio said, shaking his head in dismay. “There’s a grounded transport several klicks to the southwest and it’s got a good flood of infantry around it.”

“What they hell are they doing all the way out here? Wait, are they setting up a new LZ?”

“I doubt it. It’s just a single transport and there are no walkers. I’m pretty sure they’re here to hunt us. There are no other Star Force signals in the area.”

“Shit…why are they going to so much trouble?”

“I guess they don’t like us very much,” Rio commented, searching the limited view he had. There were several branches up and around him, for he didn’t want to climb high enough to make himself visible and give away their position. The survivors had hunkered down for a few hours of rest a ways back, with Rio and Nevi scouting out the area ahead while some of the other commandos who weren’t tired did likewise in other directions.

But they had to go across that plain to get to their destination, which was a small Star Force city still some 50+ kilometers away. They’d tried to get a signal out to alert the others to their position, but in order to do so they had to use the ‘open’ method of communication. Upgrades to the armor had included a transmitter capable of reaching orbit, but the signal wouldn’t be stealthed like their normal battlemap transmissions. Those signals had a much shorter range, and when they’d reported in their position they’d immediately drawn an enemy fighter response…basically waving their hands and saying ‘come shoot me.’

They’d lost two people to that, and weren’t about to do so again. Fortunately they’d gotten a response from an orbital relay that was one-way, informing them of the current status of the surrounding units and cities, so they knew the one they were headed toward was still intact, but the area they were located in was deemed ‘hazardous’ and there was no way an extraction team could get to them at the moment. Normally that wasn’t something that Star Force ever said, but with the level of Skarron units deployed Rio didn’t doubt it was the truth.

Their only chance was to stay off the radar, and Victor, the lone Knight in the group, had assumed command in the Archon’s absence and ordered no further comm attempts. The battlemap transmissions continued, along with a reduced local comm range, helmet to helmet, but nothing that would go more than a few miles and potentially alert the enemy to their location.

But they had to go across the plain, or else stay put and try to wait the enemy out with the limited emergency supplies they had. Fortunately one case had ambrosia doses, so Rio wasn’t feeling that loss just yet, but they didn’t have a lot of time to burn and still had a good day’s run ahead of them…with a lot of people who couldn’t run, meaning they were several days away from getting to their destination.

Part of him almost wanted to try and hijack the Skarron transport, but the hundreds of Hobbits spilling out around it squelched that idea immediately. He could spot a few elites as well with their shiny armor reflecting the last of the daylight. Night would help, but not as much as you’d think, given that the Hobbits could see well in the dark.

That meant they were stuck, and Rio wasn’t sure what they were going to do. He made a recording of the transport and panned his head around to get a good view of the area, then climbed down the tree and headed back into camp with Nevi, where he shared his visuals and sentiments with Victor and the others.

“They can’t be here for us. That’s way too much effort,” the Knight immediately said, not liking their luck. “There must be some other objective in play.”

“Well we can’t get through there either way,” Nevi added.

“No, we can’t,” Victor agreed. “And we can’t stay put. We’ll have to head north and get more distance between us and them before we try to cross.”

“That’s at least a 3 kilometer gap to cross,” Rio pointed out. “The civies will be sitting ducks.”

“Not just them,” Dravis added from the second row of what had becoming a growing circle of troops mingling together to discuss the matter. “I can run, but without armor I can’t take any hits either.”

“It’s the running part that worries me,” Rio answered him. “We have to make the crossing as quickly as possible and hope that their air cover doesn’t find us. And even if we get across I bet someone will notice and send those troops after us. We’ll be running for our lives and not everyone can keep up.”

“Perhaps one of you should go on ahead and try to bring back help,” Davi said, being one of the slower ones and very out of his element without a ship to pilot, having to rely on his secondary training and overall fitness to sustain him.

“They’ve got no help to send,” Victor reminded him. “If there was it would already be on its way. Based on their last transmission the city we’re heading towards might not stay in Star Force hands for long. They’re already beginning to evacuate the civilians, so they expect to get hit. This transport may be the first part of that assault. Even if it’s not, we can’t wait and miss our opportunity…otherwise our trek gets impossibly longer and our supplies are not increasing. We have to cross the gap and soon. The question is where.”

“We can’t risk the unarmored personnel,” another commando, one of the eldest in the group, said with finality. “We need a test to see how the Skarrons will respond. A two or three man team crossing at speed. If they make it across undetected then we can plan out how to get the slow ones across. If they don’t, at least they can run and gun.”

Victor nodded. “I agree, save for that we might be squandering our only attempt at surprise.”

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Rio added. “There are too many unknowns. We can’t run people out there without armor without some certainty. All our options are bad, but a little test seems to be the best bet. I’ll volunteer.”

“No, I will,” the other commando said. “And I’ll take Greg and Christi. We’re the fastest here, so if we do get spotted we’ll have the best chance. More than 3 will be a greater detection risk, and if we have to fight I don’t want to go with less than that.”

“It’s risky either way,” Victor said, uncertainty in his voice. “If you want to try, then you’d best do it now and hope darkness offers you some cover.”

“We’ll need a spotter on the edge to monitor,” he said, glancing at Rio.

“Done.”

“Then let’s get moving,” he said, tapping two others via battlemap ping. Rio saw them fall out with him and jog off into the woods. He hesitated a moment, nodded at the Knight, then trailed behind the three all the way to the forest edge several kilometers away where they held up, hunkering down behind the thickest trees and looking out through the thin ones on the edge.

“If we make it we’ll have to stay silent,” the elder commando said to Rio, “but we’ll be watching this area if possible.”

On Rio’s battlemap a section of forest a kilometer and a half long was highlighted on the far side.

“If you come under fire we’ll be skirmishing that area. Expect us there even if you don’t hear from us.”

“That could be enemy central,” Rio pointed out, given that the transport was only a few kilometers to the south.

“All the more reason to have friendlies there when the slowpokes come across.”

“I don’t like this, but I like sitting and waiting even less,” Rio said candidly. “Good luck.”

The elder commando fist bumped him then nodded…with the trio silently taking off through the trees and running out into the grasses, half disappearing from view even with Rio’s nightvision activated.

Knowing he needed a better vantage point, he backtracked a few meters and started climbing a tree that he thought would go high enough. Once he got halfway up he realized he was wrong and had to transfer from one to the other via walking out on a branch and hopping over to an adjacent one, then climbing a bit higher in it.

When he finally got a semi-clear view he could see the battlemap signal trackers from the trio making their way across the muddy terrain at fairly high speed, all running single file with a few meters of gap in between each of them. He glanced in the direction of the Skarrons, then searched what he could of the dark skies, looking for fighters but seeing no activity in either.

His gaze was drawn back to the three commandos, tearing across the terrain and sticking to what looked to be a combination of drier and lower regions…which was difficult to find, given that there were many puddles out there. Running cross country was something that commandos had a lot of training experience in, and even though this was an entirely new planet, mud was still mud.

Rio zoomed in with his helmet and watched the tiny silhouettes move out towards a kilometer, where he began to lose sight of them. The grasses were hiding their legs, with only their upper torsos and helmets visible…and those were bouncing about, coming in and out of view as they ran through trenches and up crests where they couldn’t avoid going elsewhere. Their tracking IDs were still marking their position, and given the clean line of sight he expected those to hold up most of the way across.

Rio found he was unconsciously holding his breath and forced himself to blow out and resume a normal rhythm. So far so good, but he still had a sinking feeling in his gut as they made it to the halfway point…then a bit of motion to his left made that feeling collapse into complete dread as a Skarron fighter zipped in and flashed past, firing plasma down on the trio.

They immediately split up, all heading in the same direction as the fighter looped around then came in slow and started bathing the area around one of them in plasma. Rio couldn’t see much more than a dot, and the flashes of plasma were trying to overload his nightvision. Eventually the tracking beacon for that commando winked out, with the fighter moving up a bit and chasing the next one.

Rio watched in horror as that one, then finally the third disappeared from his battlemap. The enemy fighter hovered in place, looking around for more soldiers. Finding none, it started to backtrack their route with it headed directly for Rio.

He jumped/fell out of the tree, hitting hard enough to drive his boots halfway into the soft ground on landing. Pulling them out he took off running back into the thicker forest and found a place a few hundred meters in to hunker down, backing up into a small hollow were an exposed root made a bit of an overhang that had dirt piled up on one side.

Rio waited there, hearing the faint whisper of the fighter’s gravity drive as it passed nearby without stopping. He froze in place for nearly five minutes afterwards before even thinking about moving, then gingerly pulled himself up into a standing position and looked around, listening intently.

Finding nothing he moved off, headed back to the main group to report on the three dead and there being no way in hell they could cross here.

With no other choice but to move further north, the group spent the next day trying to get further away from the Skarrons, limited in their movements by the civilians and wounded. They moved up another 11 kilometers before Rio volunteered for a single scouting mission…one with spotters deployed high up in the trees so they could scan the skies for fighters.

He went in the daylight and didn’t run, but rather jogged from point to point, taking breaks and hunkering down playing an imaginary game of Frogger with enemies that he hoped were not watching. The gap that he was attempting to move across was more than 5 kilometers wide…hardly a choke point, but that was also by design. If the Skarrons expected them to cross they’d be watching those and not the larger areas, or so he hoped.

When Rio made it halfway across he took a long break, looking around and just happy to be alive. He chanced using his comm on a slightly longer range and had a brief conversation with the commando on the forest’s edge as he sank himself halfway down into a tiny pond, with the water coming up to his chest as his feet got sucked into the muck below.

There he waited for another 10 minutes, seeing if anything was coming in after him delayed. When it appeared there wasn’t another commando retraced his path…exactly. Rio had recorded his movements, putting waypoints on the battlemap everywhere he had stopped and with his movements being plotted. On the other commando’s HUD there was a holographic marker that let him see exactly how Rio had moved and he followed it step for step all the way out to him…then sunk into the water beside Rio.

They waited again for several minutes, seeing if there would be a response. When there wasn’t another came, then another. When the fifth one arrived, this one being an unarmored civilian, they waited it out again, with one of the commandos using a small distiller cylinder they’d got from the emergency supplies to purify a bit of water, offering Rio a quick drink before he took off. Trailblazing another half kilometer, he set down more waypoints then hunkered down again in another oversized puddle, with people shifting more rapidly through both sections.

Three and a half hours after he’d started his trek across he slowly moved out of the plain and into the forest, scouting out the area and finding it clear. He held position there as the first few others came through, one at a time, and joined him in establishing a defensive perimeter…with one going up a tree to act as an aerial spotter.

Six minutes later that spotter threw up a warning signal, telling everyone to hunker down as a Skarron fighter flew up the length of the plain…and passed directly over them. Everyone stayed down for many minutes to come, but the fighter didn’t come back.

Slowly people started moving again, and over the next half hour some 16 made it across…then out of nowhere Rio spotted a Hobbit in the forest. A split second later it noticed him, with Rio knowing that he had to act quickly. He took off sprinting towards it, firing his rifle and mowing it down before it had a chance to report in. He took two plasma hits to his armor’s shields, but they held up…then he noticed another Hobbit nearby.

It took off running in retreat and Rio went after it. It took more than two minutes for him to catch up to it and make the kill, but by then it was already too late.

A few minutes later the fighter returned, and despite everyone on the plain taking cover and not moving a muscle it found them and started blasting away as they jumped up and ran for their lives…with only two making it to the forest edge, both commandos with plasma damage to their armor.

Rio waited on the others until the last of their battlemap tracking signals cut out, including the Knight’s. He’d almost made it across, but was gunned down within 150 meters of the forest edge. Biting down so hard his jaw hurt, Rio forced himself to keep going with the others, four of which were unarmored, including their pilot.

Prodding the civy along as fast as he could manage, the survivors kept moving on…with what would be a constant trail of Skarron infantry following them, making it a footrace to get to friendly territory that the commandos couldn’t excel on, given that they could only move as fast as the slowest person…and damn their luck that they had to have an untrained civilian with them.

7

Chad ducked behind one of the commandos who half swung him around with a firm grip on his upper right arm as a salvo of white plasma dots flashed past with a few impacting the dull white armor’s shields, with the commando taking the hit for him. The man fired back but stayed put as more commandos moved around them, falling back and intercepting the Hobbits that had flanked them. The stupid little things were fast and there were many of them, with this being the third time since the plain that they’d been attacked.

Like before the commandos chewed them up, focusing on the weak point around Chad and the other unarmored personnel and moving outward like an exploding nova killing everything they came across. Soon the commando shielding him stood up and released his grip on his arm…then they were off running again, with Chad’s legs protesting heavily. He’d thought he was in good shape, having attained self-sufficiency long ago, but the aliens were just as fast and he knew the commandos were itching to run faster, but they wouldn’t leave him and the others behind, which Chad was immensely thankful for.

Pumping as much speed out of his fatigued body as he could manage he followed the commando through the trees, not worrying about where he was going but just with keeping up. Nearby was their pilot and a couple of other civilians, both techs. The pilot seemed to be holding pace fine, but the other two were just as worse off as Chad, each of which had a commando with them to keep them on pace and to shield them should the enemy close in. Fortunately none of the Skarron monsters were pursuing them through the forest, just the little ones, but they were deadly enough and didn’t seem concerned about their own losses…just in killing the Humans.

And what was worse was that the Humans couldn’t stop running. Chad was getting slower and slower, but if they stopped they’d be overwhelmed. He thought the commandos realized that they’d have to eventually, because every now and then he’d see some of them dropping back and hear weaponsfire behind them and he guessed they were going back to kill some of the enemy before catching back up to the slow moving group.

Chad didn’t know how much longer he could keep going without walking, but he had to at least try to keep moving. The others might not make it much longer either, but he didn’t want to be the one to cause them to stop. If the others did, then there’s nothing he could do about it, but if it was just a matter of his being able to stretch himself further then damn him if he wasn’t going to find a way to do it.

Thoughts like these were running through the back of his mind as he focused on his steps and keeping pace…then all of a sudden the commando he was following hit the brakes and grabbed him again, slamming him against the trunk of a nearby tree and holding him there as the forest erupted with a barrage of white plasma from ahead.

“Stay here, stay down,” he said, then the commando disappeared ahead as well. Chad did as told but knew that was bad. So far the aliens had been coming up at them from the rear, but now it seemed that they had gotten ahead of them somehow…maybe even cut them off.

He pulled out the stun pistol from the holster he wore, the first time he’d touched the weapon since he’d been given it. It couldn’t kill the enemy, but it could knock them down long enough for him to run and he clung to it now with a fierce grip as he kept his body melded up next to the tree trunk. He didn’t dare look around, so he watched what he could from his position, especially the area behind him where he’d expected the enemy to come from, and waited while the commandos did what they did best.

After what felt like an eternity of adrenaline-laced torment, the plasma fired died down but did not entirely quit. Frozen in place Chad jerked when the commando came back and yanked him onto his feet.

“Run!” he yelled, pointing ahead as the armored suit headed the other way.

Chad didn’t know what else to do so he turned and ran forward, not having anyone to follow. He spotted the pilot to his left and ran towards him, unable to keep up pace but visually following him and dropping onto his path as much as he could. Ahead and to his right there were explosions as plasma hit wood in a variety of places, none right nearby but still loud enough to send shivers up and down his spine.

Chad just kept running, not thinking, just running. His muscles had stopped complaining, for somehow they knew how close to dying they were so they shut up and seemed to work with him, but still failed to give the necessary speed. Another suit of commando armor shot past him, this one coming from the left and cutting across diagonally in front of him about 2 meters away. Chad hesitated, then forced himself back into a full run as plasma fire broke out behind him. A few steps later and his shoulder exploded in pain and he lost his coordination, with his own legs tripping him up and sending him crashing into the soft ground.

He turned right side up and started to get back to his feet, smelling the charred flesh of his own body but refusing to look at the wound just as a pair of aliens came into view. Chad grabbed the stun gun in his left hand and fired twice, missing the first and hitting the second time as plasma flashed by his head. One of the Hobbits went down, then the other one sent a shot directly into the man’s forehead, killing him before he even hit the ground.

When the commando told him to run, Davi didn’t hesitate. He knew how bad the situation was and he didn’t want to be in the firing line any more than he had to be. He took off sprinting in the direction he was told and didn’t look back, relying on years of training to deal with the fatigue creeping through his body. His legs, arms, and lungs were burning but that didn’t matter. He’d been through tough workouts in order to get his fitness level up and he knew he could take it and more…the problem was he was running a race against plasma, and unless the enemy was simply bad shots he was going to lose out.

His only hope was putting as many tree trunks between him and them as possible. He wore a pistol on his hip but didn’t bother to pull it out, needing every arm swing to carry him further away from the Hobbits. They were slow as far as foot soldiers went, but he wasn’t all that much faster and this terrain suited them well. Lots of trees, mostly flat, soft and moist with wisps of fog. He wished he had armor with a sensor helmet, but at the moment he was just going to have to rely on the commandos’ guidance.

Not long after he took off running one of them came up on him and flanked him for a few seconds, redirecting him slightly more to the left, then she tore off and headed for some unseen enemy. There was weaponsfire everywhere, mostly heard, but some flashes were visible through the trees. Davi desperately hoped he wasn’t running right into the enemy, but for the most part the sounds of battle were behind and to his right, which made sense with the leftward angle he’d been told to run.

Down! a voice yelled at him so loud he almost jumped, but trusting in it he crashed to the ground just as a couple of plasma blasts shot across over top of him, one of which hit a tree and blew pieces of bark out like a fragmentation grenade. Two of them stuck in his forearm, imbedding a good half inch. Ignoring them the pilot rolled over and looked back just in time to see a ghost of silver armor pop out of a cloud of fog and hit a Hobbit so hard it literally flew three meters through the air before it hit a tree and slumped to the ground.

Nearby three others fell to the ground without being touched. The Archon reached down, grabbed one of their rifles and shot them with it in quick, accurate blasts…then shot the one unconscious by the tree before running over to Davi, who saw the man’s armor punctured in multiple places.

“You’re alive?” he asked, but the Archon didn’t have time to answer and just picked Davi up by the arm and began dragging him forward. The pilot got his feet under him and started running, with Iden finally releasing him and running off into the lead.

They ran for some thirty seconds before the Archon spoke into his mind again.

Stay on this heading, he said, then turned to the right and disappeared through the trees, accelerating to a speed Davi could never have hoped to match.

The pilot ran…and ran…and ran. He didn’t talk, think, or use a single muscle impulse to do anything but run as fast as he could until the sounds of combat finally disappeared. No one was around him and he wondered what he should do, but at the moment he just kept running, hard and fast, on the line the Archon had assigned him.

When he was finally considering stopping he eventually met up with a commando that waved him over. Glad to finally have some direction he followed the man forward until he met up with many others who jogged alongside him. None of them stopped, but the pace slackened a bit and Davi was able to ease off slightly, but he figured if he stopped and walked now he’d have a hard time getting his body going again at this speed.

He did notice that the pace was faster than it had been previously. Not hearing anyone nearby he ventured a hushed question between breaths.

“Where are…the others?”

“They didn’t make it,” the commando said.

“And the…Archon?”

“Covering our exit. Keep moving as fast as you can.”

“I’m the slow one now?” Davi asked.

“Yes,” the commando said with no animosity, only regret.

“I can manage…a little more. But I don’t know…for how long.”

“Give us what you can.”

Davi took in and let out a deep breath, then accelerated up another gear with the commando matching pace. Those ahead did so as well when he started to catch them. He didn’t know if this was everyone, but by his count they were down to 13, not counting the Archon which was nowhere in sight. The slow and wounded were no longer with them.

Davi ran and ran until finally the group stopped and he was told to grab some quick sleep while he could, as well as some rations. Water had to wait a few minutes until one of the commandos came back with a container full, which Davi sucked down gratefully. It was literally the best water he had ever tasted…then he laid down on the ground and passed out, trusting the commandos and giving in to the urge his body had been hammering him with forever.

He was woken in what felt like 5 minutes and dragged to his feet. His body didn’t want to comply and his mind was foggy, but the commando pulling him up and on eventually got him woken up and they were back on the run again…though this time it was more of a jog. The food he’d gotten in him had done some good, but it wasn’t enough and his legs felt like shredded lead. Still, he knew the importance of keeping moving and while he wasn’t wearing any armor nor as strong or fast as the commandos, he was military and he understood their predicament. He desperately wanted to get back into the air, but right now their failure or success was largely dependent on how fast he was able to move, so for the sake of himself and the others he focused on that to the exclusion of all else.

Iden wasn’t with the group, nor did he intend to be. He was trailing behind them at the very edge of battlemap range so he could know where they were but keep enough of a buffer between them and him so he could keep the Hobbits off their tail. He’d grabbed a handful of foodstuffs from one of the commandos on the run and had ate them in the past few minutes, the first food he’d had since the crash, then he was back into Venator mode, hunting the enemy in order to play aggressive defense.

His own ammunition had run dry by now, and he was left with using the Hobbits’ own weapons against them. He had three armor punctures, not large but the burns on his chest, back, and left leg were hurting quite bad, not to mention seeping blood occasionally. He’d stopped some 14 hours prior for some quick Sesspik work to stop the bleeding, but more than that he couldn’t manage. He was on the clock as far as supplies went, with very little body fat to operate off of and his ambrosia already depleted.

He hadn’t been able to get any of it from the commandos, for there had been no time during the firefight. Iden knew he could still fight with the low energy, but sooner or later attrition would wear him down. Before that happened or he got a lethal puncture to his armor he had to get back into friendly territory. Linger and he was as good as dead, even if it came from simple starvation.

Even in his weakened state he was faster than the others, who were now moving at a decent clip since the slowest members were no longer around. That was a small, bittersweet blessing and Iden was committed to making the most of it by causing the Hobbits so much trouble that they wouldn’t have a chance of catching up.

He’d already killed over 200 of them, not that he was counting, or cared, for they had so many in play that it almost seemed not to have mattered. How they were keeping up with them was a mystery to him until he caught sight of a transport flying further to the south, barely a small object on the tree choked horizon, but it was then that he realized that the Skarrons were dropping Hobbit groups off nearby and ahead of them…fresh Hobbits, in order to run them down and potentially cut them off.

If the enemy had known exactly where they were they would have landed right over them or sent in fighters to blast into the trees, but it seemed they didn’t and just had an approximate location and heading. That was one more reason why Iden was pressing his attack on the trailing Hobbits, in order to draw the attention to him and away from the others, but if/when they set down a group of infantry ahead of the others there was nothing he was going to be able to do to distract them there.

He kept in range of the battle map link as he ran in and out of the enemy lines, which were constantly trudging through the forest and giving him plenty of ambush opportunities when the alert came through from one of the commandos, giving him a heads up that there were enemies ahead…

When he saw that Iden turned and ran back to the group, moving far faster than the Hobbits behind could match and worked hard to catch up, knowing they’d need his help to break through or divert…which the latter was what occurred. They’d been headed in a mostly eastern direction, but the group suddenly turned and headed north, with Iden catching up to them just as the Hobbits were chewing away at their back positions.

One of the commandos went down just before he got there. He didn’t know if he was alive or not but telepathically told one of the others to check while he went into berserker mode and didn’t concern himself with anything other than engaging the enemy and killing as many of them as he could. He moved from one to the other, with his partial shields protecting him from a scattering of plasma hits until they eventually went down. He risked a few more kills, grabbing a fresh Hobbit rifle, then turned and followed in the direction the others had went, darting from tree to tree and trying to give his shields time to reform, though he took another hit to the left leg, fortunately in a spot that didn’t have exposed flesh.

The armor there melted slightly, but remained mostly intact. A few steps later and he was momentarily in the clear and gaining ground on the others when he noticed another group of Hobbits ahead and coming at the others from the flank. Apparently they’d set down further to the north and were coming down on them from multiple angles.

Resigning himself to another scrappy, fatigue-laced fight he veered off to the right, heading for the nearest of them and jumped the enemy as they keyed in on the others, shooting many of them at pointblank range as he ran up on them. He didn’t bother to wait around and make sure they were dead, for even wounding them at this point was a victory with the ever moving battlefield.

Slipping back into berserker mode he went to work, buying the others time and thinning their opponents while drawing as much attention to himself as possible without getting overwhelmed by enemies.

8

January 23, 2549

Reesi System

Metropolis

Davi was beyond tired, operating completely on biological emergency backups. If he stopped he knew he’d collapse so he kept moving…always moving, always with the enemy on their heels or trying to ambush them from ahead. The commandos kept guiding him on, with the Archon having gone missing again. Yesterday he had went back to divert their trackers then hadn’t been seen since. At least Davi hadn’t seen him, but without a helmet or headset he couldn’t tap into the battlemap, so it was possible he was still around and just out of sight.

That said, he could barely see two meters in front of his face. It was night and all he could do was stay with the commando ahead of him and pace in his footsteps. They had nightvision, he didn’t. And even if he had he wouldn’t have trusted his eyes. His head was so groggy he was surprised he could even keep his eyelids open, but somehow he managed and they moved on, getting closer and closer to the Star Force city.

Rio was in a much better position, though his own ambrosia levels were teetering off. He did have nightvision and battlemap access through his armor, and they’d just crossed into transmission range from the city, picking up their telemetry through relays that were constantly transmitting out. They weren’t within their own transmission range yet, so the city didn’t know where they were, but Rio could see their status…and it wasn’t good.

The Skarrons were already assaulting the city, with half of it having been fully evacuated and the rest in the process of fleeing while a pitched battle was taking place outside and on portions of the interior. The defense shield was still up, but there were breach points on the barrier wall with troops coming through. At the moment they were being held off and the evacuees were being covered, but if they didn’t get there soon there wouldn’t be anyone left to evac them.

After a long night of continuous running/walking the commando ahead of Davi stopped short and put a hand on the pilot’s chest to get him to halt. His body didn’t want to, so locked into movement that the man had to forcibly stop his progress as he looked back at him through his helmet.

“Wait here…and get down.”

Davi didn’t have the energy left to swear or he would have. Dropping to a knee and nearly collapsing down onto his face he ducked behind the nearest tree and waited as told. The commando stayed with him, looking up every now and then until a section of forest blew up not far away as a hail of plasma came down, blasting away the trees.

Davi jerked, his nerves fried on adrenaline, but the commando didn’t move so neither did he. After about 20 seconds of heated destruction the plasma stopped falling and the commando yanked Davi up onto his feet and literally dragged him forward by the arm as he fought to get his legs working again.

They headed directly to the blast sight, and as they got close a fighter sank down into the gap…but with no sound of anti-grav. Skarron fighters had a tell-tale hum/whine due to their inefficiency, but the skeet that was coming down was whisper silent.

“Your ride,” the commando said as he pulled him forward. “Hurry. We only have a small window.”

Seeing a way out Davi somehow found more energy within him and pushed on, but the commando was still providing most of his momentum all the way up to the cockpit that cracked open. When they got to the side the commando grabbed Davi around the waist and literally threw him up to the opening where another pilot grabbed him and pulled him inside.

“Slide in,” she said, scooting over as much as she could in her armor. She was a pilot, not an Archon, but she still wore light armor in case she had to ditch her craft. That made the fit even tighter, but she moved over to the far side of the cockpit on the pommel seat and pulled him in almost onto her back.

The cockpit canopy came down and almost fit, but not quite. A little more wiggling and the two got their bodies aligned enough for it to seal, clicking shut with a reassuring sound as Davi almost lost consciousness.

“Thank you,” he mouthed, his face in her armored shoulder.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she said, raising the skeet back up through the hole in the trees and flying as best she could at the odd angle her body was at. “Had to take down 21 fighters just to get here, and there are more on the way. We got about 15 more seconds before they’re all over us.”

Davi didn’t say anything further, realizing what she was up against and just glad to be inside a ship again, even if he wasn’t piloting it.

Rio watched the anti-air skeet lift off and move away from the city and the enemy fighters he could see on battlemap, glad that they’d gotten the pilot away. That left 11 armored commandos and 1 Archon, who was current outside their range somewhere delaying the enemy infantry. The commandos knew what they had to do now and even as Rio watched the skeet move up and off the 11 of them came together on the run and formed a single file line as they accelerated up to true commando speed and took off through the forest at a rate that the Hobbits shouldn’t be able to catch up to from behind.

But there were plenty ahead, hunting them and those simply assaulting the city. It took several more hours and three more skirmishes until they got to the forest edge, with two of them injured but still moving. Now with no one to protect they could fight as a unit and had kept themselves alive despite several hundred Hobbits worth of kills. It was mind blowing how many the enemy had in play, but that seemed to be their MO in this invasion. They weren’t better on the ground than Star Force, certainly not in terms of infantry, but they were making up for it and then some with sheer numbers…and orbit was no exception. If not for the Sentinels holding them at bay this planet would long ago have been theirs.

That said, this piece of it looked to already be theirs, or at least in the transition stage. Waiting just inside the tree line the commandos spread out and scouted out the view ahead. The forest ran right up to the city, but the engineers had cut it back for a radius of nearly a kilometer to accommodate new growth and to give the perimeter defenses decent firing lines.

That was good for the city, but not for them. As they looked out with their own eyes in addition to the battlemap they saw several Skarron walkers in that gap, none too close but nearly within firing range…but at the moment one of them was getting picked to death by a trio of mechs making an ambush run, coming out from inside the city…with a fourth heading out into an infantry pool entering through a breach in the city wall and laying waste to them by the dozens per second.

Another walker to their left began to crawl its way towards that mech, trying to get within firing range.

Suddenly a waypoint materialized on Rio’s HUD with a ping, ping, ping sound indicating that they had to go now. Trusting in it he and the other commandos ran out from cover and sprinted towards a point some 100 meters out from the mech and in the gap between it and the walker heading their way…and now he could see a second behind it coming around the curve of the city wall as well.

“Wedge up!” one of the commandos said, prompting them to adjust their formation into an arrow that would give each of them a clear firing line straight ahead. The wounded two fell in behind that arrow and kept up as best they could but they were lagging behind. One of the others went back with them, keeping some cohesion in their formation as it stretched out into a much longer line.

Rio and the first few kept pressing hard, heading for a group of Hobbits that finally noticed them coming that were running away from the mech. It took a couple of minutes for them to get to each other, but when they did the commandos were faced with a shower of white plasma orbs, which they returned fire on with their own more accurate blue streaks…and a few white orbs of their own from captured enemy weapons.

The commando arrow cut through them, with the flanking edges downing more Hobbits as they passed through and wounded several Skarrons, clearing a narrow tunnel through them that the wounded pair and their escort slipped through, adding weaponsfire of their own. In front of Rio the mech suddenly abandoned its slaughter on the right and cut hard left, coming across the commandos and helping to clear a path as it took the first hits from the Type-4 now coming into range.

The neo didn’t bother shooting back at it, saving its weaponry for the infantry and playing big brother to the commandos as they sprinted towards a specific point on the wall. When they got close a small anti-infantry battery opened up and shot down a few hobbits with plasma fire as a car-sized portal opened up on the city exterior and allowed them access.

Rio ran up to that point but didn’t go in, turning around and circling back to make sure the others got in…just in time to see one of them get cut in half by a plasma blast from the Skarron walker. The white glare was so bright and intense that it seared through the commando’s midsection, with his legs and head toppling to the ground as separate pieces in the steam-laced explosion from where the rest of the plasma hit the wet surface.

Recklessly ignoring it he stepped out a few strides and fired at the nearest Hobbits as the wounded pair finally caught up. When they were within a few meters he finally retreated, seeing the mech doing the same and running across the now smoldering grass, kicking and stepping on several Hobbits and even a Skarron that didn’t move out of the way fast enough. It roasted a few with its maulers then Rio lost sight of it as he dashed inside and out of the firing line.

When the last of them came through the blast doors shut on their own accord, but there was no one on the other side.

His helmet came alive with a transmission that was going out to all of the now 10 commandos. The Archon wasn’t with them, but another’s ID tag popped up with the comm, and this was one a ranger.

“Welcome back, but unfortunately your day is just starting. I’m in the city’s command nexus and remotely controlling as many functions as I can. The section of the city you’re standing in has been evacuated and is currently under Skarron control. You’re going to have to fight your way through and I’ll guide you as much as I can, but several areas have already gone dark. I think the enemy is learning how to cut our feeds. Head here,” he said, with a waypoint popping up on the city map, “and I’ll get back to you. Not many dropships left, so hurry.”

“You hear that?” one of the other commandos asked.

“Yeah,” Rio responded. “Let’s go.”

By the time they got to the waypoint Rio had a hole in his armor, right chest under his armpit that was spitting fire through his body with every move. Between the cauterizing nature of the plasma and the medical gel laced into the armor’s inner layer his blood loss was kept to a minimum, but every time he twisted while running the crunchy layer of burnt skin and scabby clotted blood would crack and seep even more, enough that the right side of his white armor down to about his knee now had dark red streaks.

The Skarrons knew they were in their backfield now and were cycling troops back from pushing further through the city to get at them. They’d had two big firefights, the second of which they’d been pinned down for more than 15 minutes before they broke free…but they hadn’t lost anyone else, though several more were chewed up like Rio was, one with a shin wound that caused him to run with a limp that couldn’t keep him with the others.

Fortunately they didn’t have the luxury of moving very fast. They had to be methodical, covering every corner they came to as if it might contain an ambush and that allowed him to keep up without slowing the others down. When they got to the waypoint the door to the armory opened up remotely and they filed inside, with Rio about to hit the close button to shut them in but the door did so on its own as the ranger’s voice popped up on the comm again.

“Armor up. I can give you maybe 40 minutes to get to the LZ. I don’t think we can hold out longer than that. I’m going to have to abandon this position in the next 5 minutes or so. I’m transmitting the best route I know, then you’re going to be on your own. Be warned, they’re massing ahead of you. You’re going to have to run and gun and not get pinned down. I wish I had better news for you but this is where we’re at. We’ll hold the LZ as long as possible, but I’ve already ordered the mechs to start pulling back and our air cover isn’t going to hold out much longer. Run fast, shoot straight, and be the badasses I know you are. We’ll be waiting.”

Rio didn’t waste time listening to the message standing still. As soon as he heard ‘armor up’ he began pulling off his damaged armor and grabbing a generic version out of storage. He had to make several adjustments to the pieces in order to get a decent fit but that didn’t matter. It was fresh armor with fully intact shield emitters. He also grabbed several weapons and ammo containers, including some Kiritas style grenades and trigger.

There was no food with them in the chamber, nor had they any left to bring with them, but at the moment that didn’t matter much. Ambrosia would have helped almost immediately, but by the time they’d digested much of anything their window of opportunity would have been lost. They had to fight their way through to the LZ on what energy reserves they had left.

Fatigued, injured, and in constant pain…Rio was good to go. Being back inside their own territory and out of the firing line of walkers and fighters alike was enough to make him hopeful. He could handle the Skarrons, and if he guessed right the route the Archon had given them would take them through areas too small for the big ones to go…leaving them with Hobbits, Hobbits, and more Hobbits to block their path, and those he could eat for breakfast fully armored up, which he now was.

“We good?” he asked, looking at everyone else.

“I was born for this,” the injured one said, his wound also obscured beneath a fresh set of armor.

Rio pointed and the nearest commando to the door hit the release and they began filing out, ten commandos strong, and dropping back into a well-practiced mobile formation designed for hunting rather than running. With no hope of a clear route ahead, they were going to have to fight their way through, and to do that they were going to have to play offense rather than defense.

Which was fine for Rio. He’d had enough falling back. Now they had an objective and a way out clearly marked on his battlemap. It was like thousands of challenges before, only this one was a single try, do or die. All the others, with so many opportunities to repeat, had taught him well how to handle the moment and the nerves, and he was pleasantly surprised that now, in the moment when it mattered most, his mind was completely calm. He knew what he had to do and that he could do it…with a resolution that if he failed it wouldn’t matter.

The path ahead was the only way to survive, so he committed himself to each step he took forward, not looking or thinking back, and focused on shooting every flat headed little Skarron minion he came across before they could kill him.

9

Rio ducked down behind a potted tree, with the bark on the trunk exploding above his head with plasma hits. He and the others were stuck in an interior park that was only a few sections away from their LZ, but it was their only way through and the Skarrons had turned it into a temporary base of operations…with three of them and a horde of Hobbits in play. The bigger Skarron plasma rifles/cannons had already killed one of the commandos when he got ambushed by a group of Hobbits and forced out of his cover. Rio thought the hit was more blind luck than skill on the Skarron’s part, but the plasma orb hit him square in the helmet.

He fell to the ground, the plasma burning through an already damaged section and penetrating his skull. After that the fighting had grown into more or less of a standstill, with every Hobbit the commandos took down being replaced by others coming in, getting them nowhere and the clock still ticking. They all knew it, and knew if they played by the usual rules the enemy would win by default.

That meant it was time to get reckless…but in a smart way. The 9 of them had a lengthy, yet choppy conversation as they continued to fight in and around cover, then Rio finally got the signal and popped up, taking a few hits to his shields immediately as he sprayed suppression fire in a particular area.

His armor took several more hits then he ducked back down, glad that none had gotten through as two more commandos popped up and continued to bathe that particular area with blue streaks…then another came around a blind in the park, essentially a small booth with a V-shaped wall, and jumped into the mess of the now ducking Hobbits, firing as he landed amongst them.

A second tone signaled throughout all their helmets and Rio popped back up, his shields not having enough time to reform, and fired at whatever Hobbits were shooting back at the others as four of them converged on the same point and slaughtered the enemy there. The incoming plasma hit them hard, and Rio did his best to down their shooters or make them duck for cover…then he was on the move, transitioning to another preplanned spot as he saw one of his fellow soldiers go down.

Soon he was behind a bench and doing his best not to get mauled by the Skarron closest to him. His barricade didn’t last long, being blasted apart by the plasma, but it did draw off those shots from the others before Rio leapt up and targeted the unarmored Skarron, trying to be as evasive as possible in his movements. It worked at first, allowing him to land several hits to its midsection as the enemy’s shots missed to the sides…then one of the other commandos got the jump on it and literally stepped up onto its back and fired down into the top of the creature.

Rio added a few more shots until the thing went down, then both of the commandos ducked for cover as more Hobbit-sized plasma flew their way. Rio felt a burn cut into his left leg then he was in a side alcove, temporarily out of the firing line but also pinned down. Several pings on the battlemap later and he took off, running out into the open again and shooting a few Hobbits on the go as the rest of them continually took the offensive and hoped that the enemy would blink.

They did, for the most part, but another commando went down by the time they got the second Skarron. The eight of them finished off the third then had an easier time with the Hobbits, though more were still coming in. Rio managed to get to one of the fallen commandos and found that he was still alive. Coordinating with the others via comm and battlemap, Rio pulled the pain riddled commando over his shoulders and carried him across the park as he got confirmation that the other was dead.

With the commandos screening for him, Rio made it across and into an exiting hallway, now not able to fight aside from one handed. He held a pistol at the ready, with his rifle now tucked underneath the commando’s body on his back, and hoped he wasn’t going to need it. He followed the others, monitoring the battlemap closely as they scouted out ahead and kept the area behind him clear, essentially giving him a bubble of protection as he carried the wounded one…up until one section over where they hit another bottleneck.

The commandos poured directly into it, with Rio falling to the back and those behind him rushing ahead. He was told to keep moving no matter what and did so, coming out into a long hallway with plenty of weaponsfire ahead but several dull white armored suits in between him and it. Rio ran as fast as he could with the other man overtop of him, then finally ducked inside a side hall that had a waypoint on it. Down some 50 meters was a stairwell with one commando already there, clearing the way and a few Hobbit bodies in between them.

Rio stepped over them as he heavily jogged forward, then took to the stairs for three flights before meeting up with the others after they took another route up, with both groups arriving at a skywalk that connected two of the buildings within the city.

The skywalk was simply a clear tube walkway across the open road below, but it made for a perfect defensive point and the Skarrons had already set up there…hastily it seemed, for the others got the drop on them and downed many before Rio had to set his man down behind an ornamental wall barely a foot high and get into the fight himself.

There wasn’t a lot of cover, which meant it was whoever shot first that was going to win. That’s why Rio had to join in, for their armor and shields would only offer them a bit of an advantage. Pulling out another pistol he dual wielded and ran forward, pumping lances into Hobbits as three of the others took on the Skarron with them. A bloodbath quickly ensued, with one of the commandos going down and the others all showing burn injuries save for one, though his armor was so melted in places it looked like it was all but breached.

Two of them headed across the skywalk while Rio went back for his man, picked him up, then headed across while one of the others held back as a skirmisher to protect their rear. As they ran out into the open Rio looked to the side through the glass walls and saw the streets below, mostly empty but with a few visible Skarron units moving about, including some of their elites with the shiny battle armor that almost made them look like tiny mechs.

A flash on the left resulted in the glass melting into a puddle, then several more blasts hit and eventually shattered it as some of the Skarrons on the ground noticed them and opened fire upwards. Rio tried to ignore it and just kept going, with waves of the plasma coming through and him moving to the far side to keep as much of the floor between him and their firing lines as possible.

A short gauntlet run later and he was on the other side and headed down another stairwell. A bit of clear running later and they were back into the undercity and fighting through a scattering of unorganized resistance that barely slowed their run…with the others getting far enough ahead of Rio and the other commando carrying a man that they didn’t even see the fighting, only the bodies as they ran past them.

Eventually they came to their LZ area, another building with a small pad on the roof. They hit the stairs and clawed their way up some 42 flights with Rio ignoring his dead muscles and focusing on the way out. It was so close ahead that he could literally taste it.

Just then, he rounded another turn in the stairwell and saw a group of some six Hobbits in the hallway adjacent to the stairwell take aim at him. Not knowing what to do he just kept climbing stairs and mentally flinched, expecting a shower of pain. Several plasma blasts hit him in the chest and even his faceplate, then a flash of silver entered his vision and only a few more white orbs came at him.

One burnt through and he felt his left lung deflate, nearly toppling him over as he stepped out of view of the enemy. He caught himself on his upright knee, then forced himself up the next step with the other commando still on his back…and the next, and the next. He had a small window, for they could be coming right up after him, and he had to make use of it.

He climbed, willing all other thoughts aside, and somehow made it up the three more flights to the roof. When he came out he saw a dropship waiting with its rear hatch open and he dragged his legs across the short tarmac and up into the craft, dumping his fellow commando onto the floor as he collapsed himself. Knowing there was still danger he twisted himself around and held up his pistol, ready to shoot out the entrance if anything came into view but the only things that did were his fellow commandos popping out of the stairwell and running across to the dropship.

He counted, seeing that all of them had made it, then as the last of them came up and hit the ramp retract button he let himself fall down and curl up into a pain ridden ball that could barely breathe.

The commando that hit the button stared back out the gap to make sure no one got a cheap shot in on them as they closed up, but then the ramp locked into place only a foot off the ground. Frowning, the commando hit the button again, getting it to rise another six inches or so before it stopped again, this time with the pilot coming through on his comm.

“Hold up, there’s one more coming.”

“We’re all in,” he said, checking his battlemap and seeing no other signals.

“I’m told there is and we’re giving him another 30 seconds.”

“Copy that,” the commando said, looking around and up into the sky. He could see distant enemy fighters, hoping that they could get away without getting shot down again. A skeet flew past at a closer distance, meaning they had some air cover left which was a small comfort, but they weren’t out of the woods yet.

After 23 seconds he finally saw an image appear in the stairwell, staggering out and momentarily dropping to a knee before clawing its way back up onto its feet.

“Damn…” he said, running and jumping off the ramp towards Iden. He wasn’t showing up on the battlemap and the damage to his armor clearly showed why. He was a mess of melted and charred bits, with so many wounds to his body that he should have been dead…and looked close to it, barely able to stagger his way across to the dropship.

A Hobbit came up the stairwell behind him and the commando shot it dead before it could get a cheap shot off. He put himself in between the Archon and the opening, covering him with his own body as more came up. He shot them all down quickly, not giving them a chance to group up, but still took a couple of hits, the first of which his shields caught. The last one hit him in the leg on a portion of intact armor, keeping him in the fight without injury.

When the Archon got to the ramp he rolled onto it with his chest, then one of the other commandos yanked him up and hauled him inside as the skirmisher hopped up and triggered the ramp closure…this time with it proceeding normally and the dropship taking off before it even got halfway up.

The air seemed to get sucked out of the hold as the turbulence outside increase drastically, indicating a rapid acceleration until the ramp sealed up and left the commandos inside unable to see what was going on.

The one uninjured one sat down and pulled up his battlemap to a larger view, tracking their progress and hoping beyond hope that they made it out. He didn’t have another fight left in him, and if they went down again…he would do what he could, as always, but he was nearly clocked out with fatigue. He glanced at the others, seeing several on the ground and not moving. Without anyone else doing anything he walked over to one of the emergency slots on the walls and began pulling out rations and medical supplies, tossing the former to the ones still on their feet and attending to those on the ground as best he could.

Two more commandos came over to help, getting healing patches on and pain meds in those that were blacked out…and finding one that hadn’t made it.

The Archon was the worst off, with them getting his helmet off and finding him likewise passed out with so much damage to his body that the commando hoped he didn’t wake back up to feel it all. He injected him with a pain numbing cocktail and put patches on the worst spots, but didn’t dare try to remove the armor. Its inner layer had oozed gel out onto many of the injuries and he was afraid the Archon was going to need every bit of help he could get right now just to stay alive.

He wanted to get some ambrosia in him, but so long as he was unconscious he couldn’t feed him. Eventually sitting down beside the torn up silver armor that he was wearing, the commando waited perilously, counting every second that went by and hoping beyond hope that they were finally out of it. On the battlemap he could see them leave the city and shoot off across the surface, with multiple enemy fighters in the area and only a handful of Star Force ones…but those few were eating up the Skarrons and providing them the diversion they needed to get away.

Still not convinced, he didn’t relax until they were so far away that the Skarrons dropped off the map. When they did and they were essentially out in the middle of nowhere alone, he finally removed his helmet and sucked in a fresh breath of air, feeling several drops of sweat fall off his hair and onto his neck as he did so.

They’d made it…the few of them that had survived, anyway. Still shocked to actually have made it out, he stared at the ground for a long time lost in thought until the ramp suddenly began to open and the movement jerked him back to reality.

When it came down medics came in, attending to the wounded and making him realize they’d arrived at a safe haven. He checked his battlemap again to see where they were, finding them in a large city on the neighboring continent, having flown some 800+ miles across a narrow ocean that bisected the two.

He picked up his helmet and followed the wounded out, being the last man off the dropship. He glanced back at the small blood spots on the floor, cringing as the toll of the wounded and dead they’d taken to get this far fell heavily on him. Resolving himself to get back into the fight and make the Skarrons pay, he turned away from their rescue craft and headed into the city enroute to an information terminal to secure temporary quarters and get in a badly needed shower and rest. There was nothing he could do for his wounded brothers and sisters at the moment, so he needed to attend to himself.

Getting an electronic allotment within seconds, he hauled himself on one last walk through the city and to his quarters, then came inside them and began stripping off his trashed armor, having to twist and pop his way free, for the melted material had reformed over some of the connection points. When he eventually got out of it all he left it in a heap on the floor and undressed, dragging himself into the vertical shower tube and turning the overhead rain jets on as he leaned up against the wall and let his mind wander off into a very tired and stressed void.

With the warm water coming down on him, he began to feel a bit of relief and kept himself awake just enough to stay upright and soak in the water, with a few silent tears flowing down with it as he finally released his emotional lock and let the stress and pain of the past few days bleed out.

10

January 24, 2549

Reesi System

Metropolis

Rio woke up on a medical bed wearing nothing but medical patches and a thin blanket. He sat up, painfully, and the silver fabric flowed down over his chest and puddled at his waist revealing three separate patches covering burn spots. He had more on his arms and legs, and could feel a dull soothing in each of them that was fighting against the pain of movement…but at least when he held still he wasn’t hurting.

“How long have I been out?” he asked as a medtech walked over to him.

“Several hours. How are you doing?”

“I’m alive…and naked.”

“If that’s the worst of it then I’d say you’re past the danger stage,” the medic joked, tapping on the display panel nearby. “You vitals were…not good when they brought you in.”

“I can imagine,” Rio said, glancing under the blanket to confirm that he had no pants on. “Where did my clothes go?”

“You mean those tattered and blood-soaked rags? We had to get rid of them to get you cleaned up.”

“Cleaned up?”

“Yes, one of the girls volunteered,” he said with a smile. “Don’t worry, they’re all professionals. She didn’t enjoy it too much.”

“Ambrosia?” Rio asked.

“Already in your system, but we guessed low to keep you from overdosing. What are you currently at?”

“4.2 doses.”

The medic nodded. “You’ve got 2.5 in you now, along with a lot of nutrients we added through injection. We kept you under during the process.”

“Thank you,” Rio said, grasping the blanket to keep himself covered as he swung his very sore legs off the bed and sat on the edge, glancing at the few other medical staff in the room, two of which were girls.

“I hear you came a long way over land. Had to fight your way through the enemy?”

“Our dropship got shot down behind enemy lines. It wasn’t pretty and we lost a lot of people.”

“But you survived?”

“And I’m very grateful for that, but in addition to these injuries I’m still really pissed. Nothing to do with you,” he added as his tone turned harsh.

“Can’t say I fully understand, but I can sympathize. Other than clothes what do you need?”

“How secure are these patches?”

“You want to move around?”

“I need to clear my head with some light training.”

The medic frowned. “I don’t think you’re strong enough yet. Try standing,” he suggested as a test.

Rio pulled the blanket around himself like a towel and slid off…with his right leg buckling and him falling to his knee, but that was as far as he went.

“Easy,” he said as the medic reached to grab him. “I’ve got this. Let go and I’ll get my balance.”

“If you say so,” the man relented.

Rio focused his mind and willed strength into his leg, pulling himself up inch by inch until he got on his feet and stood up, wobbily, but under his own power.

“Well done.”

“I’ll improve with time and movement,” Rio said from past experience. “Not the first time I’ve been shot with plasma.”

“No,” the medic half agreed, having read his file, “but nothing this traumatic.”

“Clothes?” Rio asked.

The medic motioned to one of the others and she grabbed a stack of garments from a nearby shelf and brought them over, shoes included, which Rio saw were his size.

“Thanks,” he said, thinking about how to get dressed under the blanket then deciding just to screw it. They’d already seen him naked.

He dropped the blanket and pulled on his pants with a hand on the bed for support so he didn’t tip over. “Thanks for the shower. I must have really been a mess.”

“Not a problem,” she said with a wink, then went back to her other duties and the few patients in the room, none of which had come from his team.

“Where are the others I came in with?”

“We treated and released them, though one, the Archon, was transferred outside the city.”

“He made it?”

“I haven’t heard. He was worse off than you were.”

“I mean he came back with us?”

“As far as I know, yes.”

“Must have been after I passed out. That’s a relief. He saved our asses more than once out there.”

“Archons do have that tendency.”

“No, this was…beyond that. You wouldn’t understand unless you’ve had the combat training.”

“I guess not then.”

Rio pulled on his shirt and shoes, then cautiously looked at the door. “Thanks for everything. I’ll take it from here.”

“Don’t make me pick you up off the floor.”

Rio smiled at him. “No promises,” he said, adding a small two fingered salute before he took his first step. It was wobbly, but he had control and turned it into a few more heading for the door. By the time he got there his training kicked in and the gritty determination that had saved his life found the simple footsteps easy by comparison…even though his head was swirling in what he recognized was ambrosia depletion. Apparently he’d already burned through what the medics had given him.

He turned the corner and walked into the hallway outside, gaining rhythm with each step. A minute later he realized he was going to be ok and increased his pace a bit up to normal levels and wandered off through the city, intent on getting himself back into fighting shape and then heading back out again. There was a war to be fought and he’d be damned if he was going to sit it out while they lost more and more cities to the Skarrons.

Iden woke suddenly, jumping up out of reflex but finding a strong hand on his chest holding him down. As he opened his eyes and realized where he was he forced himself to relax. He was in a med bay with a regenerator on his chest and now that he got his head clear he could feel the tendrils inside his body doing work…or rather the numbness that accompanied them. He could never feel the actual workings of the mysterious devices, but had learned to identify their sensory cloaking.

He also realized that no one was holding him down, which didn’t make any sense until he saw another Archon standing beside him…who had a firm telekinetic hold on his chest and was pressing him back down onto the table.

“Hold still,” Megan said monotone. “It isn’t finished yet.”

Iden blew out a breath and leaned back, feeling the tightness on his chest disappear as Megan slid over into view and sat on the bed next to his right hip. “Welcome back, badass.”

Iden whisper laughed. “We’ve got to put more armor on those dropships.”

“Then they’d be slower and you would have got shot down even sooner,” she differed. “You were dead when they got you here.”

Iden’s eyes widened and he raised his head, still with several visible tendrils of the regenerator passing up the right side of his face and sinking into his forehead. “How long?”

“About 20 minutes. They said you were bad when you got back to civilization, so I had you moved here. You didn’t make the trip and I wasn’t sure it was going to work…we don’t know how long the window of opportunity is, but the fact that it’s been working on you for more than 45 minutes attests to how messed up you were. You held out far longer than your body should have been able to.”

“Definition of an Archon,” the acolyte said, taking considerable pride from the trailblazer’s words.

“True.”

“I’m glad there was one of these here to bring me back,” he said, looking down at the metallic lump on his chest that had sprouted out numerous tendrils like a chrome spider web that were sunk into his skin at numerous points…though the numb areas were getting smaller and smaller, so he guessed it was near to finishing up. Plus he was awake.

“We don’t have many, but I always travel with one. For special cases like you.”

“And in case you need it?”

“Yes,” Megan said, not ignoring the fact that the trailblazers were the most important assets that Star Force had.

“Where are we?” Iden asked.

“Seafloor city. The Skarrons are beginning to mount an aquatic front, but I’m told they’re not so skilled in it. We’re safe here.”

“And elsewhere?” he asked as the tendrils retracted from his head and slid back down his neck, but others remained sunk into his chest.

“The western continent is nearly lost. We still hold a few positions but we’re in the process of evacuating them. We’ve got missile emplacements being built up on the others so we can hopefully knock down some of their transports when they come across, but bottom line is we’re losing. I’m managing the loss and buying us time, and I don’t think it’s game over so long as we can keep their fleet in orbit. We’ve got a tough opponent to face, and though I’m not quite sure how to do it yet, I think we have a winnable challenge.”

“Without reinforcements?” Iden asked.

Megan chewed her lower lip for a moment. “Never count an Archon out, but we need more ground troops. Mechs especially. We’re building what we can here, but the rate of Skarron advancement is considerable…and they’re starting to build their own infrastructure in the captured areas. First priority is to fortify and hold a position on planet, then work on pushing back. The first, as difficult as it is now, may end up being the easy fight in retrospect.”

“How are the others doing?”

“Others?”

“The other worlds…I assume we still have a relay link?”

“Yes, we’re still on the grid. All stalemates on the ground, but the more time the Skarrons have to reinforce the harder its getting for them to hold…and the enemy just opened up another front on a Protovic world.”

“Has Paul worked his magic yet?” Iden asked as the regenerator finally retracted back into the normal short stick that its dormant form took. Megan reached out and pulled it off his chest as he sat up looking at her, with both of them ignoring the fact that he was naked. For Archons that had never mattered. Fighting the war did.

“He’s got his hands full. Every fleet he manages to destroy the Skarrons replace. He thinks we spooked them and they’re playing a conservative game to feel us out. We know they’ve got the numbers to overwhelm us if they choose to pull them from other areas of their empire, but it looks like they’re not willing to do that just yet on the naval front. They’re keeping enough to maintain a blockade and making this a ground war.”

“Thanks to the Sentinels,” Iden said.

“We think so. In order to take control of orbit they have to knock them out, and it’s going to be very expensive on their part to do so. So long as they’re in play we can use them as a safe zone to work out fleets out of and own the bastards. If they go down it’s over, and the Skarrons seem to be testing Paul’s fleet more than others. They’re learning what we can and can’t do, and he’s taking them to school, buying us all time.”

“If they’re toying with us…”

“I know, but we’ve worked our way out of worse situations.”

“Name one.”

“Ever win a training challenge against the Black Knight?”

Iden frowned. “Actually, no.”

“Well we have. If there’s one thing he teaches you it’s how to turn what looks like an impossible situation into a workable one. Which you just got through doing.”

“Not quite the same thing, but thanks.”

“I had the techs pull your helmet recorder. Looks like you had more than 1000 kills over your little cross country trek.”

“That few?” Iden asked, literally feeling like he’d been up against an infinite number of Hobbits.

“You didn’t give up, and we’re not buckling under here either. We’ll find a way to beat these bastards, we just have to survive long enough to do it.”

“You said something about an aquatic front?”

Megan nodded. “They’ve begun landing special equipment and are building a base along the shoreline. They’ve got submersibles in play and are feeling out our resistance. We’ve slapped that base down twice now, but they keep rebuilding and spamming the area with mines. I think they know we’re down here and that in order to take the planet they have to get to us.”

“What’s the rush with more continents to overrun?”

“That thought occurred to me as well…and I think they see us bringing in more Sentinels as a time constraint. They need to take the planet so we have nothing more to reinforce, and to do it before the inevitable orbital battle doesn’t scale out of proportion to what they’re willing to devote.”

“Just because we lose the surface doesn’t mean we’ll abandon orbit,” Iden pointed out.

Megan raised an eyebrow. “Maybe we wouldn’t, but would you say the same of other races?”

“Good point,” Iden conceded, flexing his left hand and wiggling out some of the lingering numbness. “Do you have another mission for me?”

“I need you to run through calibration drills and see how much strength you’ve lost. When the regenerator rebuilds you it does it with new tissue that’s weaker than what you previously had.”

“After that?”

“There’s plenty to do. What would you prefer?”

“Sabotage.”

Megan smirked. “Tired of being on the run?”

“We’ve got to keep them on the defensive, otherwise they could turn into a juggernaut with an exposed flanked that we’re not exploiting.”

“I’ve got several teams doing just that. When you check out I’ll reassign you to one.”

“Thank you,” Iden said, gesturing to one of the medtechs to bring him a new set of clothes that he was holding while giving the Archons a respectful bit of space as they discussed things far above his understanding.

“When you get finished shoot me the results,” Megan said, lightly punching him in the shoulder as she left him to get dressed. She carried the regenerator with her, not trusting anyone with it. To date it was one of the holy grail pieces of V’kit’no’sat tech that Star Force wasn’t even close to duplicating. The pyramid had some industry of its own, so if they absolutely needed to they could build some tech even if they didn’t understand it, but the regenerators were something that had to be built in specialized facilities that the pyramid didn’t possess.

Those facilities had been destroyed during the Rit’ko’sor rebellion, along with the rest of the V’kit’no’sat infrastructure on Earth, making these few remaining pieces invaluable. Most remained on Earth, with a few scattered elsewhere on ‘safe’ worlds. The trailblazers all took one with them whenever they venture out to field assignments, and it wasn’t something that Megan ever let out of her sight.

She took it back to her temporary quarters within the aquatic city and hid it away in a drawer before returning to the command center and linking into the nexus there, getting status reports on the planetary battlemap that had signals being transmitted between various relays to link in the short range signals to the overall grid.

Megan could see everything from individual commandos in the field to the warships in orbit, along with the enemy blockade fleet and the maneuvers both were continually making as their chess game continued. Right now Admiral Xander was picking away at the Skarron fleet with another hit and fade run, which would probably damage two Skarron cruisers by the time it was finished, with the Star Force drones pulling out on their superior binary drives before their shields could be taken down.

But any ships destroyed would be replaced by a continual flow of reinforcements that always seemed to know what was needed. Megan figured the Skarrons had a courier fleet running requests back to Achkor or some other staging system. That delay was possibly something she could use in a large scale counterattack, but right now she was forced into playing the ground game as well…so long as they could manage a stalemate in orbit.

It wasn’t an ideal situation by far, but had anyone else been on the border they would have been overrun by now. The Dvapp had fared well in their matchup, but without the Sentinels deployed there they’d have fallen to the same large scale blockading fleets. As it was they were fighting an identical stalemate, with Paul leading the ADZ forces and using the Dvapp’s strengths against the Skarrons well, now that they’d gotten used to following his lead.

If someone was going to find a weakness in the Skarron fleet it would be him. Until then Megan had to play for time and find a way to start eating up more of the enemy ground troops…otherwise they’d blossom to such large numbers that they’d overrun the other two continents no matter how many short term upgrades she made.

If she could buy enough time for some of the bigger defense pieces to be built, then that would be an altogether different story.

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Table of Contents

- Star Force: Penance
- Star Force: Evacuation
- Star Force: Sav
- Star Force: Survivor