by Aer-ki Jyr
“Whatever it may be, it is not our concern. We perform as best we can, and if it upsets someone’s plans then so be it. V’kit’no’sat are superior. We do not feign superiority, we earn it. If the factions with us cannot…”
“It is not our concern,” Daemon echoed, twisting the sentiment around.
7
July 1, 3600
Teqwa System (Li’vorkrachnika territory)
Scak
Rajamal stood on the command deck of his personal Na’shor monitoring operations on the planet below as had become typical. Zen’zat leaders did not get personally involved in the combat unless they were needed to achieve victory or they got so bored they needed the activity. His purpose here was to oversee and guide the killing rather than to partake in it himself, though it was becoming clear through subsequent intelligence reports that this foe was going to be battled not so much in combat as in strategy, leaving him with the primary responsibility.
More historical records had been recovered from the Li’vorkrachnika along with a host of operations data that led him to believe they were even more slippery than expected. Their leaders were in fact ghosts that did not interact with the vast majority of their civilization…both the hereditary leaders and the strategists, and this left the populace without knowledge of their actions or methods, but Rajamal’s people were beginning to ferret out clues in the captured databases and bits of genetic memory that were allowing him to put together a better picture of who and what these Li’vorkrachnika were.
And they were a weapon, pure and simple. There were no civilians, yet they weren’t a hive mind. They were individuals built to be fiercely loyal to the mission given to them, never accepting of surrender or capture, and instructed to do whatever damage they could to the enemy upon not being able to accomplish their primary mission.
And they were produced in vast numbers. Rajamal hadn’t grasped the full potential of their breeding factories because it wasn’t being employed on the worlds that he had surveillance on, but the reports coming in about their technology and what it was truly capable of massing impressed the Zen’zat.
Guile, deceit, and misdirection. Those were the cornerstones of the Li’vorkrachnika as much as straight up fights where one clawed to the death at any opponent within range. The weapons did the clawing, but it was the genetic memories and those that programmed them that did the planning. Still none of the strategists had been found on the 183 systems that the Zen’zat had taken thus far, nor in any of the other invasion corridors. For as primitive and inferior as the Li’vorkrachnika appeared to be, they were not so feeble that they couldn’t contend with the V’kit’no’sat in some respects.
He understood now why they’d been able to kill a Zen’zat. Their limited technology was a false omen. This race was far more than it appeared to be and the answers he needed lay with the strategists and their leaders…though he expected them to continue to elude his grasp. The only way he was going to get to them was by infiltration, and sending in teams deep to their territory was not advisable given how little they knew of them.
Rajamal would wait until they had gathered more data, then he would dispatch stealth teams to the densest Li’vorkrachnika worlds and hope that one of them could track down these key individuals prior to an invasion…but it would have to be well prior, for he did not think they stayed in one location and most likely moved ahead of any activity that might jeopardize them. To counter that he was going to have to hit worlds almost at random, but until he got his hands on a strategist or leader to interrogate he was going to have to battle them by proxy.
The key to their dominance was in their ability to regenerate, and they had done so numerous times over the course of their history when it appeared they were losing. Whether this was an adaptation after the fact or part of an elaborate ruse he could not be certain, but there had been occasions that losing had put them in a more favorable position after bleeding the enemy of ships and resources, only to rebuild faster than they could and end up achieving the final victory.
And when they hadn’t succeeded they had adapted. Their original homeworld and a great amount of territory had been lost to them out on the rim to an alliance of races opposed to them, which in fact was the assumed reason they had pushed coreward as far and hard as they could. Their current primary worlds were in fact new ones created after their originals had been captured or destroyed. The records weren’t clear on the specifics of that defeat, and even now the Skarrons were tearing apart significantly developed systems on their border and pushing into what would eventually be their primaries, of which many still had not been located.
Rajamal had a good picture of the coreward fringes and was wiping out their exploratory colonies with great success, but the middle gut of their territory was still a question mark to him with little more than dots and the jumplanes connecting them to work off of. That would change in time, but the information security of the Li’vorkrachnika surpassed most races in the galaxy. They kept their own people in the dark so efficiently that even the V’kit’no’sat and all their code breaking power couldn’t find secrets that weren’t in the captured systems to find.
How long would it be until he found a system that did have some answers? He didn’t know but he suspected it would not be soon, and while he didn’t doubt that this campaign could be concluded successfully, the more he learned of the Li’vorkrachnika the more he feared them doing something unexpected. Something that he wouldn’t see coming, or perhaps something he’d never see. If they evacuated their leaders early, expecting an overrunning of their territory, would he be able to detect them? Could they think so far ahead to be evacuating now?
Something about the Li’vorkrachnika didn’t feel right. They were behaving too intelligently while bumbling around the galaxy.
Whatever was going on, he was going to find out. He just hoped it wasn’t too late to achieve a clean sweep of their race.
Back on Oppwu, Zen’zat research teams were studying the emptied Li’vorkrachnika cities as well as sending stealth teams into the containment zone where the living survivors were ‘holding out’ against the V’kit’no’sat. There was still occasional combat on the border as they tried to break out or just do damage, bleeding off some of their population that they simply regrew within a few months, but otherwise there was no activity. They were kept inside and Zen’zat stealth teams were making daily penetrations unknown to the enemy.
They accomplished it via a combination of stealth armor that turned them into pure black shadows most effective at night, and with Ikrid deceptions. Hanniel was on one such mission with a group of six, each of them split up within a particular building and hiding on different levels while they monitored the minds of those inside, delving into their memories…specifically their genetic memories…and compiling a database of the tactics and tendencies that all the Li’vorkrachnika combat troops shared by default.
Such a task took time, so this wasn’t Hanniel’s first run into the confinement zone. She knew where to go and not go, staying away from the vision of most and the security cameras the city had, while using her Ikrid to hide from the others. Right now she was in a small storage chamber alone, peering through the wall into the mind of a Li’vorkrachnika on the other side whom she had frozen in place in order to prolong the analysis. She could do it without interfering, but these deep scans took time and she couldn’t waste the effort on one only to have him walk out on her.
Using special programs within her armor, Hanniel was taking detailed notes of each race that had been programmed into their memory and at the moment she was detailing the profile of one called the Hycre. There was no memories of ground combat with them, but they were known to have a formidable navy and good at running down isolated ships. This one’s memories told him that loose but close formations were the most effective in fighting them, allowing for massed firepower while giving the Hycre the chance to run through the middle of them as they favored. If properly aligned, they could deliver a kil
ling blow during those few seconds and turn the tables on one of the Hycre’s favorite engagement tactics.
Hanniel didn’t care about the Hycre, but how the Li’vorkrachnika adapted to various combat strategies was relevant…even if in only a very small way, but that was what Hanniel was here for. Searching and cataloging anything and everything that might be of military value to this campaign or afterwards. And if there was something useful, better to find it now rather than after they were all exterminated. Otherwise they’d just become another database entry for individuals to rifle through later looking for examples from history to confirm or modify various tactics.
But today something happened that Hanniel didn’t expect. She came across a ground combat opponent in their genetic memory that had the highest danger profile that she’d encountered thus far. They were known as Archons and were bipedal, very strong, fast, and almost impossible to kill. They could even take control of the Li’vorkrachnika’s minds, so they had to keep their distance and…
Hanniel got a creeping sensation up her spine as she made the connection, then dug into those specific memories further. Telekinesis was also confirmed, as was an invisible energy discharge and a disabling mental state that didn’t take control of their bodies but made them twitch and lose control of them momentarily.
Lachka, Jumat, and Fornax.
Hanniel pushed for everything this one had, including visual confirmation of the Archons. They wore armor of various colors that indicated their strength levels and it was very hard for the Li’vorkrachnika to penetrate. Detonation packs were the best method of quickly taking them down, but they could usually sense them coming…
The Zen’zat skipped over that, looking for their natural form and eventually finding it buried deep with their genetic memory. Tan skin, hair, eyes, nose…they were Zen’zat. She would have guessed Ter’nat, but not with those powers.
But that made no sense. How could they have encountered Zen’zat before?
She dug into the location of this race and didn’t find much, but when she linked in remotely with their current database the approximate location of these Zen’zat aligned with a straight border that was well familiar to her and the others on the rimward side of Li’vorkrachnika territory. It was labeled ‘Star Force’ and was an alliance of numerous races that had kicked the Li’vorkrachnika out of their homeworld and a lot more territory…and if they had Zen’zat assistance that would only make sense.
But who had sent them there? This Star Force wasn’t listed in the current database as having any affiliation with the V’kit’no’sat, and prior to this reconnaissance mission it hadn’t even appeared on their maps. Was one of the factions aiding this Star Force in secret? Or was it a sanctioned activity whose knowledge was forbidden to those of her standing?
Whatever the case, she had to do more fact finding. They all did, so she raised the other Zen’zat in the building and across the city on their comms and they all started digging into what should have been identical memories. Then they painstakingly retrieved every bit of it related to Star Force and these Archons.
There wasn’t a lot there, but there was enough to connect the dots when combined with the Li’vorkrachnika database. As was true with much of it, the genetic memories functioned as the key to understanding the data stored, and with them the Zen’zat realized that Star Force was the Li’vorkrachnika’s bane. They’d done more damage to them than anyone else and nearly destroy them all…save they wouldn’t pass beyond the line that was now their coreward border and the Li’vorkrachnika’s rimward one.
That was where the I’rar’et and Sli’nar would be going eventually according to the basic invasion plans made available to all those involved. Did these Zen’zat assisting this Star Force belong to the I’rar’et and this was the reason why they were involved in such a primitive eradication campaign? And if so, why hadn’t she been informed? She served the I’rar’et faithfully, but not to the point of keeping secrets from the rest of the empire.
If this was something they’d arranged then they could explain it to Rajamal himself, and if it was meant to be kept a secret then Hanniel and the others in the research team, thinking in concert, agreed to keep it quiet until they’d finished their investigation of these Archons and Star Force, then they’d inform the I’rar’et and Rajamal privately and at the same time. Beyond that it would be their call how to handle this, but something told Hanniel this was trouble. There was supposed to be no one beyond the frontier. Not even simple scouting missions unless it was sanctioned by Itaru, and even then she’d not heard of anything happening out there for more than 60,000 years.
Everyone knew they were under strict orders to maintain a tight territorial boundary, but they didn’t know why. If these Zen’zat were assigned by the I’rar’et or another faction against the wishes of the others there would be hell to pay, so Hanniel and the other researchers knew to take great care in detail and accuracy of the reports as they compiled them…as well as to insure no one became aware of their findings prior to the reveal, so they kept all the files on their person armor and away from the I’rar’et and the other Zen’zat.
When the time came, Hanniel would deliver the results to Rajamal and the I’rar’et assigned to his Na’shor personally…then duck and cover when the accusations and denials began. She and the others would do their duty to the V’kit’no’sat overall first, even if that meant outing the I’rar’et, but they would take no joy in it. She was loyal to the I’rar’et and hoped that this wasn’t their doing, unless it had been sanctioned, but at this point there was no way of knowing any more than what the Li’vorkrachnika knew.
And the sooner she got this report compiled and to Rajamal the better.
8
October 31, 3600
Taklemah System (Li’vorkrachnika territory)
Unnamed Planet
Rajamal was studying reports coming in from his forces spread across the campaign when the courier ship arrived. It wasn’t scheduled and refused to say anything other than it had a personal message for him to be delivered by a Zen’zat emissary. The ship belonged to the I’rar’et, but was a Zen’zat support vessel more suited to their size, Kaeper-class. Decent engines, overly large fuel capacity, and made specifically for long range scouting/courier missions. Many of these ships were out dropping sensor buoys, and he had no idea why one of them had come here to find him.
When he accepted the transfer request he met the single Zen’zat deposited onto his Na’shor. She wasn’t a warrior, but rather a researcher previously stationed in the Ittick System. Beyond that he knew nothing about her as she walked up to him, her armor retracted down into the intricate forearm-mounted jewelry that showed her station. His own forearm gauntlets were considerably larger and less ornate, with the additional mass needed for the combat grade equipment.
“What is this about?” he asked, suspecting something important due to the unusual security.
“I need to inform you and the I’rar’et simultaneously,” Hanniel said firmly, but politely.
Rajamal frowned. “You serve the I’rar’et. Why would they not already have been informed?”
“I came here on my own volition. They did not send me.”
“Oh?”
“Our research has turned up a delicate matter. Informing one of you before the other seemed inappropriate.”
“Concerning what?”
“I need to tell you both in person.”
“Am I going to like it?”
“I am attempting to do my duty to the V’kit’no’sat as a whole…even if it may implicate the I’rar’et in misbehavior.”
Rajama’s face grew tight. “Follow me.”
Hanniel walked behind him as he led her further into his huge ship, eventually ending in a private chamber with an I’rar’et already waiting for them, apparently signaled telepathically by Rajamal, for he knew of the situation before she could say a word.
“Why did you violate protocol?” he demanded, mildly miffed and
looking down at her over the long, pointed beak that made up the front of his angular head.
“What we discovered will affect the current campaign, thus Rajamal needed to know first.”
“Know what?” the Zen’zat asked, leaning back on a deactivated holo pedestal and crossing his arms over his chest with a slight click from his overlapping gauntlets.
“I discovered, and others helped to fully document, genetic memories within the Li’vorkrachnika detailing the best ways to fight various races they have previously encountered. There is an alliance of races on the northern border of the Li’vorkrachnika known as Star Force. Are you familiar with it?”
“Yes,” Rajamal answered.
“They are where our sensor wall will backline,” the I’rar’et added.
“Which is why I wanted you to hear this simultaneously. Do the I’rar’et have any current assets there?”
“You question us?”
“It is pertinent.”
“We are not released to that corridor until operations here are complete to Rajamal’s satisfaction.”
“So you have nothing there already, perhaps from a previous operation?”
“What are you inferring, Zen’zat?”
Hanniel looked directly at Rajamal.
“There is a race within Star Force known as Humans. Some Humans are different and labeled as Archons. These Archons are the worst opponent that the Li’vorkrachnika have ever faced. I discovered the genetic memory for them and how to fight them, and there is little they can do to overcome their strength and power, for absent our size the profile matches our own.”
It took Rajamal a moment to comprehend what she was saying, then his eyes widened.
“These Archons are Zen’zat?”
“And the Humans are Ter’nat, but the Archons are not of greater size and some of the Ter’nat are. We did not get an answer for why, but amongst the powers listed in the genetic memories are Jumat, though they know it by a different name,” she said, looking at the I’rar’et accusingly.
