by Aer-ki Jyr
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 be
gun 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 pi
loting 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.
