Star Force: Galactic Empire Revealed (Star Force Universe Book 63)

by Aer-ki Jyr

  “I think that is evidence enough that he is a rogue. If the other Zak’de’ron had Essence skills, would you or I still be alive?”

  “Probably not, and I am curious to explore the claimed rift between him and the others, but the fact that he is Zak’de’ron bodes ill for us. And where is his Master? Why did he leave him here? Why take an Apprentice from an inferior race? There are too many unanswered questions. I need some measure of the playing field in order to form a strategy to thrive in it.”

  “I don’t have many more answers than you. But if he thinks we’re two halves of the same empire, his information gathering abilities are either limited or not fully engaged.”

  “To the outsider we are. Not all empires have to operate from a single command structure.”

  “My dead brothers and sisters say otherwise.”

  “How many of mine have to die to the Hadarak before we atone for our past mistakes?”

  “Do you see it as a mistake, or a beneficial failure to eradicate us?”

  “I am not sorry for the power you have become, some of which is due to the impossible task we forced upon you. But it was a mistake to attack Terraxis. You are not Zen’zat. You have grown far beyond them. And you have given us a method of dealing with our traitors other than execution.”

  “Was I right in hearing that some choose to kill themselves rather than be turned over to us?”

  “In the past that was true, but not now. Your accomplishments have proven to the masses that you are not heretics. You have earned your place in the galaxy, and have made no attempt to challenge ours. That more than anything says you are part of our empire.”

  “We won’t tell the big guy otherwise,” she said with a wink.

  “Hopefully it will be he telling us a great many things…”

  4

  December 6, 128558

  Itaru System (V’kit’no’sat Capitol)

  Low Stellar Orbit

  The spherical vessel containing the Zak’de’ron ‘Apprentice’ arrived in Itaru at expected penetration distance into the system, with several massive fleets of warships bracketing its jumpline. As instructed, they directed the vessel to follow them out to the capitol planet of Wendigama where a particular orbital slot had been completely cleared of ships and stations alike in preparation for his arrival.

  The Apprentice did as requested and traveled to the spot 430 miles above the planet’s surface, looking down on a world packed with inhabitation, technology, weaponry, and fully raised defense shields, above which he cracked the shell on his ship and flew a short distance outside in full armor where he lazily stretched his wings.

  “Where is Mak’to’ran?” he asked in V’kit’no’sat, transmitting out across all frequencies so the entire system could hear.

  “I am here,” the response came, also broadband, for the V’kit’no’sat leader intended for this to be a very public conversation as well. His hologram was provided, showing the Era’tran standing alone in front of the mask-like emblem that represented the V’kit’no’sat empire. “Speak your recommendations.”

  “I greet you, Mak’to’ran, on behalf of my master. He left me the task of watching over this galaxy and shepherding any race that climbed to the level of effective resistance against the Hadarak. He intended to gather and preserve all who would see this galaxy freed of their menace until the day comes when his race will return to lead the fight. Until then, and without their assistance, your forces and others, no matter how impressive, stand no chance against a fully mobilized Hadarak force.”

  “What is your name and that of your Master and his race?”

  “I am known simply as Eldorat, which in their language means ‘learner.’ My master is called Dogoroth, and his race the Veloqueen.”

  “Did they construct the Temples in this galaxy?” Mak’to’ran asked bluntly.

  “They and others did in a combined effort to provide assistance to the resistance in galaxies beyond their own. Galaxies that are even now sending Hadarak reinforcements to assist in the assault on the unconquered.”

  “What others?”

  “Those that inhabit other galaxies and have no presence here. Even the Veloqueen left nothing behind except me. I was recruited to be the bridge between our races, for they are too advanced for the likes of you to comprehend. Do not take that as a slight, for your empire is impressive, but you have never encountered a Veloqueen. If you did you would not have the words to describe them, nor do I. They are a superior race.”

  “Are they as large as you?”

  “They come in varying sizes, most of which are smaller than me. I was enhanced to more quickly accelerate my power growth.”

  “Physical power or Essence?”

  “Both. What do you know of Essence?”

  “You meant what do we know that you haven’t already ripped from my people’s minds?”

  “It is the fastest way of learning, and you would do the same in my position, would you not? Regardless, the minds in the ships surrounding me are off limits, thus I am asking you what you know of Essence.”

  “Not as much as the Vargemma. Why are they attacking beyond the Temples?”

  “They are inferiors granted a position of sanctuary within the Temples. Part of their responsibility is to search for others who are breaking through to their true power and bring them inside before the Hadarak can find and destroy them. You are different. You have risen to a level to challenge the Hadarak without Essence, and that is why I have sought you out. Only those with great Essence power can defeat the Hadarak’s greatest warriors, but they accomplish most of their destruction with their masses, and the key to fighting them you have already discovered. If this galaxy is to be freed one day, we must amass as much combined power as we can, from all sources.”

  “How long will it be before that day comes?”

  “Far into the future. My master won’t return to inspect this galaxy until at least a portion of the necessary power is attained, and we are far from that level.”

  “Are the Vargemma insufficient?”

  “They have decent numbers, but not the collective power. They are too young.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Young as well, but well trained. I am 28 million years old, and I would not expect to see my master again in an equal amount of time.”

  Mak’to’ran grimaced. “You wish us to abandon our war with the Hadarak for millions of years? What will be left of the galaxy if we do that?”

  “The galaxy will regrow, as they all do after the Hadarak unleash their destruction. The mission is to keep your empire alive during the transition and beyond the rebirth. You cannot save the others in the galaxy, no matter how hard you fight. If you attempt to do so and all die, what will you have gained?”

  “Defending the galaxy is our duty as V’kit’no’sat. We will not abandon it.”

  “The Hadarak scale to match the threats that oppose them. You have only fought their weaker units. The Neosan, which you refer to as Lurkers, have been sent to surpass you. Do you have a means of effectively fighting them?”

  “We also scale with time, and what we haven’t solved yet we may in the coming days. To turn away from the challenge now would be an act of cowardice, not prudence.”

  “An ignorant statement, so I will not hold it against you. Others have thought the same and perished. Allow me to show you…”

  The V’kit’no’sat comm channels flushed with data being sent out, not in a hacking attempt, but free data in such masses that the receivers had to buffer it before they could process it all.

  “Take some time and see for yourself the fate of others, then tell me you wish to seek the same fate.”

  Mak’to’ran glanced to the side, then his image disappeared with only the V’kit’no’sat symbol remaining on the open transmission.

  “He transmitted more data in that burst than our technology is capable of matching,” another Era’tran in the chamber with him said. “It appears to be history records and b
attle data.”

  “Safe it, then show me.”

  “There is too much to review in hours. This will take weeks.”

  “Pick somewhere to start and show me.”

  “There appear to be highlights. Markers left for us to look at first. I will put one of those before you,” the Era’tran said, raising a massive hologram up all around Mak’to’ran, in which he saw a naval battle not over a planet, but across an entire system. He was standing near the 8th planet, and everywhere around him he saw fleets engaged in combat.

  He mentally took control of the hologram and zoomed in to one cluster of combat, seeing that the fleets were not of minions, but much larger craft escorted by swarms of Warden Hadarak. There were thousands of the massive tier 3s and 4s, but he could see no minions. Every Hadarak vessel in play was a larger variety not yet seen in the galaxy, but Mak’to’ran recognized them from the data Star Force had given him. These were their mainline fleet ships, and the Wardens acted as a combination supply ship/battery for them and the Lurkers…of which he only saw a few scattered around the battlefield.

  They were rare, but effective, swooping in and out to eliminate certain targets but not staying around to engage in the heavy slugging.

  Mak’to’ran had never had nightmares this bad, and his fear of what the Hadarak could do had always plagued his subconscious mind. The creation of Legion had put some of those fears to rest, for now they could effectively fight back, but against a force such as this Legion would be next to useless. They’d be shot down prior to arrival, unless they could get the Wardens alone. And they, ironically, weren’t the ones doing the majority of the damage to a foe that looked remarkably like the Zak’de’ron.

  Not their ship design, which was different, but the technology and tactics were similar. Mak’to’ran had studied them so much, particularly the information Hamob had been gathering over the years, that he could see their fingerprints in the combat.

  Mak’to’ran searched for supplemental data and was able to find a racial description. Another hologram appeared, superimposed over the continuing battle that appeared to be playing out in real time across 183 different locations in the system. The race was not avian, but rather aquatic. They resembled sharks with two tentacles flowing back off their tail stub, and were a race not in the V’kit’no’sat database. His staff had already searched for it and came up empty, but they were supplying him with other tidbits of analysis as they chewed through the new information as fast as it could be cleared by the software scientists to make sure there was no malicious code embedded within it.

  The system in question was also not in their databanks, making Mak’to’ran wonder if this was from another galaxy, but an analysis of the galactic backdrop beyond confirmed it was from Megora, and it came from the Rim.

  “Do you see the hopelessness of it now?” Eldorat interrupted.

  Mak’to’ran reconnected, but didn’t deactivate the historical data before him. Instead the orbiting dragon was superimposed above it as the Era’tran continued to multi-task.

  “How many of these races could use Essence?”

  “Many could, but most never made it to that point, though like you they found other ways to hurt the Hadarak, but they could never truly contend with them. They were not ready and they would not heed our advice, thus they were wiped from existence. That is what the Hadarak do. Any who live in the galaxy that grow strong enough to challenge them are considered weeds that must be plucked from the garden, and they do so on a regular basis.”

  “Why have they not conquered it all and precluded the need to do this continuously?”

  “Because there are powers in the universe greater than even the Hadarak and Veloqueen. They lurk in the dark spaces between galaxies, quiet, unobserved, until a galaxy is filled with life. Every system, every planet, or nearly so, packed with living beings so dense they can grow no further. Then the monsters from the deep emerge to devour all…after which the galaxy is reborn from the rubble. New planets, new stars simply appear in the void to replace what was lost, more or less. It is a cycle of death and rebirth that the Hadarak attempt to prevent, thus they do not leave the Core of the galaxies except to eradicate the vermin beyond when they grow unruly or too populous.”

  “I have heard this story before.”

  “Have you? Then why ask me? Do you doubt my origins?”

  “I know nothing of your origins except for your vile race.”

  “They are no longer my race. I forsook them long ago when my Master selected me out of all those in this galaxy.”

  “These records you have provided. Are they from your time here, or from before?”

  “They are from my time.”

  “How many purges have you seen?”

  “None such as this. The others were selective, targeting a specific enemy or alliance. You have provoked them in a way I have not seen before, or perhaps it was simply time to cull the galaxy. They have done so many times before in others. It is a preventative measure to ensure no enemies can rise to challenge them, and sometimes they are very good at keeping their presence hidden, only to rise up and attack the Hadarak later. A preventative purge gives them nowhere to hide.”

  “And what would you have us do? Enter the Temples?”

  “I could give you access, but your strength does not lie in Essence and you would be wasted inside, for they are meant to confine those within for endless training. No, there is another way. The Hadarak cannot fully conquer all the systems in the galaxy without triggering the monsters from the deep. Their population would become the very thing they are attempting to avoid. So when the Hadarak have fully purged a section of the galaxy they will abandon it. If one is able to relocate there without their knowing, they can escape the cycle of destruction and lay in wait, growing more powerful over the eons. But fighting the Hadarak draws them out. Evasion is the key to ultimate victory, and it is a skill the V’kit’no’sat have not chosen to develop, though your Rimward realm appears to have in order to avoid your own internal purge of the past.”

  5

  “Odd you should say so,” Mak’to’ran replied half sarcastically. “Our Rimward half wants to fight as much as the Core, and they would be here now if not for the Vargemma having attacked them. Your Temple-dwellers are aiding the Hadarak by diminishing our strength and providing a diversion that pulls our empire away from the real fight.”

  “You should have heeded their warnings,” Eldorat said dismissively. “It would have saved you a great deal of damage. Now, at least, you can see the power that Essence weaponry imbues.”

  “Those who attack our empire will suffer the consequences of such a foolhardy act.”

  “If you seek to engage the Vargemma, you do so going to your destruction. The Hadarak press you in the Core with their first and second waves, and you face an even more powerful fight if you choose to take on the Vargemma.”

  “Our Rimward half already is.”

  “And the losses you have suffered don’t discourage you? Or do they challenge your ego and make you go back for more until you are destroyed or victorious? Many in the past have fought in a similar manner, and it has given them great power against lesser civilizations, but when the time comes that they face a superior they crumble. Wisdom is required to fight a superior enemy, and confronting the Vargemma is something that you must walk away from. Do so and they will stop their attacks, as they promised.”

  “Will you fight alongside them against us?”

  “The Vargemma have their tasks, I have mine. They do not cross one another. My place is not in the Temples, it is near the Hadarak where I can observe them and those that rise to oppose them. So that I may warn those who rise to the level of strength you have, and in doing so preserve the enemies of the Hadarak for the larger war to come.”

  “Do you not know?” Mak’to’ran asked, suppressing a grin.

  “I know much, but not all. To what do you refer?”

  “Our Rimward half is in the process of conquering th
e Vargemma and taking control of the Temples.”

  The hologram of the floating dragon flinched, ever so slightly.

  “In order to do so they would have to travel inside the Temples.”

  “And they have done so.”

  “How?” he demanded.

  “Irrelevant now that they are inside and spreading from one Temple to another. Our technology and knowledge of warfare is superior to the Vargemma’s. Now, do you intend to side with them against us, or tell them to submit before any more unnecessary bloodshed occurs?”

  “I will do neither. The Temples are programmed to deal with such incursions on their own, regardless of what the Vargemma have or have not done. They will weed out the traitors and return operations to normal.”

  “Not this time. We will conquer the Temples and end the threat the Vargemma pose to our Rimward half, then our full might will return to the Core and face the Hadarak. If your Master is of the race that built the Temples, then you must be able to command the Vargemma to halt, can you not?”

  “If you seek a fight with them you are welcome to waste resources and lives. I will not interfere with such stupidity, nor can I give you the Temples which I do not possess. I have been enlightened by my Master, but I am not one of those who own them. My task is here, with you and the others that can fight the Hadarak. For your sake, please listen to my counsel. You cannot survive this fight unless you take advantage of the null areas behind the Hadarak lines of expansion, and you can only do so if you refrain from fighting them and hide. It is against your nature to do so, but it is the required strategy.”

  “Where are the other races that you have helped?”

  “Hiding.”

  “So instead of fighting against the galactic purge, they turn and flee while others die? Why are they not even conducting a defensive campaign?”

  “If the Hadarak do not know they exist, they will not search for them.”

  “You counsel cowardice,” Mak’to’ran accused.