by Aer-ki Jyr
With everyone else already assembled prior to his arrival, Mak’to’ran made his way to the command deck where some 18 other Era’tran were assembled with another 40 or so Zen’zat support that would operate the ship in combat, then beyond a wall that had been removed was another chamber with a scattering of personnel. It would fill up when heavy oversite of the entire fleet was needed, and right now he didn’t even know for sure which ships and personnel he would be getting from the other races.
He gave the order to get underway and the mixed Era’tran/Zen’zat fleet jumped out of the system while Mak’to’ran worked on developing the proper relationships within his new fleet, running combat drills and testing for weaknesses in the team tactics that were required for effective naval combat. Whenever new ships were brought together under a different commander such things were required to optimize efficiency by learning each other’s tendencies. It was something that Mak’to’ran was adamant about drilling his fleet through, but he got no resistance from the Era’tran. When he got the other races’ ships added is when there would be internal wrangling to flush out prior to taking everyone into combat.
He didn’t know what they would face, and while normally the V’kit’no’sat could win with no losses no matter how bad their coordination was, the Era’tran commander wasn’t counting on such superiority here. These Zen’zat had advanced weapons, at least compared to the rest of the galaxy, and they had the advantage of home territory where, if they were smart, they’d been laying down numerous defenses and traps for when or if the V’kit’no’sat ever found them.
The idea that this was all set up as a trap to draw them in prior to a rebellion concerned him, and the J’gar so willingly offering one of their rare Mach’nel had him wondering if they weren’t going to use it against him when an opportune moment came…and that was exactly the kind of trust issues that were so abhorrent to consider.
But the situation was what it was, and there was no postponing it hoping for some revelation prior to arriving at Terraxis.
When Mak’to’ran arrived at the rendezvous system he found about two thirds of the races’ fleets having arrived, including the J’gar’s Mach’nel. It wasn’t the largest ship the V’kit’no’sat had, but it was the largest pure warship and designed to operate in all combat capacities. It measured on average 120 miles in diameter, and the J’gar version was shaped like an egg to maximize internal water volume. Key amongst the many weapon systems onboard was the presence of a small Tar’vem’jic, the most powerful ranged beam weapon the V’kit’no’sat possessed, and surrounding it was Yeg’gor armor.
That was why the Mach’nel were so rare, for manufacturing that armor was a painstaking process that required a lot of valuable materials that could otherwise produce far more technology. They had to be packed into a very dense matrix that, once formed, was virtually indestructible. It made the Mach’nel very hard to destroy, and during the Zak’de’ron culling none of the ships had been lost on either side…rather they had been boarded with the fighting inside determining the victor.
Add in the most dense shield matrix the V’kit’no’sat used in combat models and the Mach’nel was the focal point for his assembling fleet, and had it been reliable he would have been greatly comforted by the sight of it. Now the thought of it turning its weapons on his other ships made his presence near it unsettling, and he knew others must have been feeling the same way.
A communication came through for him on a private channel, so Mak’to’ran stepped onto a silver circle on the floor of the command deck and activated the privacy screen around him before a hologram of a Hjar’at appeared where his fellow Era’tran had been a moment ago, now situated in a sea of simulated darkness.
“Welcome,” the twin-spined quadruped greeted.
“Garrtak. I am pleased it was you they sent.”
“As am I you, old friend. We have a nasty situation before us.”
“Who can we be sure of?”
“Rann’iel is here, so even if the I’rar’et are included in this we know he will not betray us. It is the J’gar that worry me.”
“I too worry about that Mach’nel.”
“It cannot defeat the assembled fleet. Not by a long shot.”
“But it could do considerable damage on its own, though I do not think it would.”
“You fear multiple traitors?”
“I don’t know what to fear. This scenario makes no sense.”
“Someone has been very bold,” the Hjar’at said, with a single tiny arc of blue lightning traveling across a pair of spines denoting the anger boiling over within. “And they either didn’t expect to get caught or we are walking into their trap.”
“How dangerous do you think these rogue Zen’zat are?”
“Not very where orbital bombardment is concerned. If they have Sav, however…”
“A concern, but they will be able to match us at best strategically, not in technology.”
“I would not be so sure of that. Treachery is before us, and it knows no bounds. I would caution you to not engage in any even fights, for that would be the opportune time for a traitor to change their fleet’s allegiance. Investigate and annihilate with an abundance of caution and temerity. They expect us to come charging in and engage headfirst, so don’t do what they expect.”
“That’s almost treason coming from a Hjar’at,” Mak’to’ran said sarcastically.
“We are not on the ground yet, and I have no wish to walk into a trap with a questionable Mach’nel watching our backs.”
“I am going to have the fleet engage in extensive simulations before we leave.”
The Hjar’at looked displeased, but not with the Era’tran.
“Others will object to the timeline, citing Conclave orders.”
“I will not rush into this until we are properly coordinated.”
“You will have our support, but it will be said that you are covering for the traitors in order to give them more time to evacuate.”
“They have already had an abundance of time, and if this Star Force empire is as large as suggested they will not be able to remove all traces from it. But if we should face a much more powerful opponent, either from within or without, those loyal must not be tripping over each other during battle. Simulations will begin within the hour.”
“I will prepare my people.”
With that the Hjar’at disappeared and the privacy field lifted, revealing that the Ranto’non fleet had begun repositioning and coming towards them, signaling through the proper channels that they were ready to drop into whatever configuration the campaign commander wished.
Mak’to’ran huffed his approval. The Ranto’non were not one of the primary races within the V’kit’no’sat, but they were as loyal to the Era’tran as their hides were thick. The quadrupeds had served in many combat arenas alongside the larger Era’tran and the subtle show of solidarity told him that there was already discord within the combined fleet.
Hopefully the simulations would settle that a bit, but there was no denying the creeping sensation of betrayal lurking in their midst.
Two weeks later…
The remainder of the fleet had finally arrived, after which Mak’to’ran kept them sitting in the Sector Capitol for an additional 10 days before being satisfied with their cohesion rating. Taking his position as campaign commander, he integrated all units into his command and control system and sent orders out through his deck crew to the various ships directly rather than passing through their command vessels.
With decent response times all the ships moved through the complicated orbital extraction that was both a test and a display of superior navigational ability with them hitting 5 points around the primary jumpline to the star and all making their jumps askew of it, requiring additional navigational tugs but making for a very chilling display to anyone that might be watching the mass of ships leave within minutes of one another.
From the star they jumped out, heading across Li’vorkrachnika territ
ory and not bothering to even shoot their ships when they came into contact with them. They merely sped past at speeds the Li’vorkrachnika could not match and made jumps between far flung stars that the primitive race could not follow through. One stellar link after another they bounced between, heading in the general direction of the Star Force border.
When they finally arrived there Mak’to’ran got his first look at their technology, for there was a small fleet in stellar orbit and a scattering of facilities elsewhere in the system, including two sparsely inhabited planets. Several requests came in for detachment orders so they could hunt the vessels down, but he did not release them. Now that they had been seen word would undoubtedly be sent out through whatever communications system they possessed, so any delay here or in the systems forthcoming would give their enemies more time to prepare.
No one disobeyed the order and went chasing them, for as much division as there was between the races they were not undisciplined, and put loyalty to the V’kit’no’sat over individual disputes…it was when there was no harm to the V’kit’no’sat that they pressed their issues with one another, and given the importance of the situation here there was no disobedience.
As they made their short transition around the star Mak’to’ran watched the Star Force ships. They didn’t engage them or try to chase, but they did pull back into what he saw was strategic positions so they could cover for what was probably civilian traffic within the system that was rapidly withdrawing to the planets and several large orbital stations.
Vermin fleeing the penance that was about to come, but these would have a bit more time than the rest to live, for this fleet was going straight to the heart of the infestation to reclaim their former colony and base out of it while they dealt with the eradication to come…assuming some further treachery didn’t unfold. Mak’to’ran was sure it would at some point, or perhaps whoever was responsible was going to play their part and help destroy the Zen’zat and hope their treachery was erased in the forthcoming destruction.
For that reason he was going to take extra care in issuing combat orders. The planets must be preserved in order to investigate, and given the size of the Star Force empire there were going to be many to choose from. Then again, the most vital secrets were probably in Terraxis, and unless tampered with, the surviving planetary defense station there would have record of all ships coming and going.
If he were them that was the first database that would be wiped out, but there were redundancies that were hard to get at. Still, this campaign had been long enough in planning that if a leak occurred and these Zen’zat had been warned, he doubted there would be any obvious evidence left remaining. That said, there was no way they could cover everything up across an entire empire in such little time. Add in to that if they took prisoners and deprived them of their protective armor they could make flesh contact and rip the answers from their minds.
Which was why as many of them had to be preserved as was possible in the capitol. Once they had the answers they sought he could unleash the loyal to complete the grim task ahead of them. For whether they be illegitimate or not, killing Zen’zat is not something that any Era’tran liked to do, though occasionally it was necessary on an individual basis.
And if these Zen’zat were merely following orders of the race sponsoring them…
Mak’to’ran would explore that possibility if an opportunity arose, but if they were Zen’zat then they would follow their orders and fight, and he’d be forced to kill them at some point or another. And even if some surrendered under those circumstances they’d have to be physically altered to remove their tier 2 and above psionics, for they could not be allowed to keep them under any circumstances.
That was wishful thinking on Mak’to’ran’s part, and he knew the others would not be so kind. Fortunately he was in command and could make the decision if it came to it, but he didn’t realistically see how this campaign would end aside from some form of massive bloodshed.
And he hoped that bloodshed would not result in the ships under his command turning on each other…but as any responsible commander would, he’d been simming his own Era’tran and Zen’zat crews for that situation should it arise.
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