Star Force: Liberation (SF56)

by Jyr, Aer-ki

  Quietly the Protovic began taking on more and more responsibility on the Skarron front as Star Force’s resources, while still building up their fleet, were heavily devoted to the ADZ reorganization. Meanwhile the Hycre kept a close watch on the growing war between the lizards and the Skarrons as more and more systems became battlefields. The Skarrons had eventually won out to claim the Nestafar capitol, but the lizards were winning twice as many smaller systems with both races apparently being evenly matched.

  Even as they battled the lizards probed the ADZ constantly, with skirmishes and full blown battles occurring in the neutral zone around Alpha, Zeta, and Delta Regions that Star Force maintained. The Skarrons were less ambitious, preferring to maintain their holdings rather than continually butt heads with the superior Voku when the bulk of their reinforcements were heading towards the lizard front.

  It was a tense first decade, with the Big 3 gambling that they could pull off the ADZ seizure and maintain the front long enough for Star Force to catch its breath, but as the years passed thereafter the situational tension lessoned and Star Force’s grip on their new holdings increased. The new order had mixed reactions from the other races, some supporting, others condemning, while most were happy that their rivals were now out of the picture…but very unhappy that Star Force’s empire was continually expanding along with their powerbase, with many vocally wondering how long it would be before they were annexed as well.

  When the Bsidd saw the actions the Big 3 were taking they were highly alarmed, not only because they had not been including in the decision making, but because it was being made crystal clear that all those races within the ADZ were answerable to them. The original Alliance had been a group of peers and their subjugates, now it was a restricted zone where individual races no long had sovereignty to conduct their own affairs. The races fighting each other had not attacked the Big 3, but none the less they were punished for their actions. That and the revocation of their independence was a clear sign that the Bsidd could no longer stay in the ADZ, with the queens beginning to look for places to relocate.

  Using the network of contacts within the ADZ and the trade relations with those races outside it, the Bsidd began making inquiries and studying communal star charts outside of Epsilon and Gamma Regions, focusing on the areas opposite from the Cajdital threat and exerting their technological superiority to create relationships with lesser races, ironically offering up some of their tech as Star Force had suggested in exchange for resources and concessions. In a process that took better than 20 years the Bsidd eventually secured a planet in a two system race that needed a powerful benefactor to help protect it from rivals in the area.

  The handful of warships the Bsidd possessed were more than sufficient for the task and the queens established a new colony there, growing it and securing their foothold as they continued to increase their population within the ADZ. Now with a distant second home they began funneling more and more of their people out beyond Epsilon Region and Star Force’s reach. They maintained their single region within the ADZ as a cover and didn’t make their final pullout until they were firmly established on their new homeworld.

  When the time came they made no announcements, nor gave any forewarnings to their neighbors or business associates. One day they were there and the next they were packed up in their ships and gone, leaving a ghost town of structures behind that had been stripped of any sensitive tech.

  Star Force knew where they had gone, giving that they monitored most traffic in the ADZ, but their leaving had been a surprise…and a blessing. They were one more thorn removed from the slowly settling ADZ community, though it was far from stable. The threat of outright war between rivals was now gone, squashed by the lesson the Scionate and Lacvamat had taught the others, so they resorted to other means of conflict that were not so obvious.

  But the spacelanes were more or less secure, and that gave the ADZ another false sense of security. The ongoing war between the lizards and Skarrons was made public with reports going out as to the various changes in ownership of the worlds that had once belonged to many of them, but a lot of the factions saw it as a distant and unimportant backdrop to the inner workings of the ADZ. The Big 3 had proved they could keep the lizards and Skarrons beyond the fronts, leaving the ‘important’ internal power struggle as the main social impetus that drove events.

  Star Force was seen as the ‘sheriff’ of the ADZ and not a major player by most of the races that knew they would only come down on you for violating terms of colonization, with many of them crafting their silent wars around those terms so as not to invoke their wrath. Even with the annexations that Star Force had made in the wake of the civil war they still held a small minority of the overall ADZ population, both in terms of individuals and worlds, so while they were a major overshadowing force, they weren’t seen as ‘competition’ from most of the races.

  The Hycre and Protovic were likewise disconnected, with both having independent systems and their own empires to run. Neither were interested in expanding their powerbase in the ADZ, for if they wanted they could conquer systems on the fronts and expand their borders that way, which was happening occasionally as the fighting to establish and maintain neutral zones was ongoing. Some few ADZ races still had contacts outside the ‘safe’ zone with worlds that hadn’t yet been targeted by either the Skarrons or lizards, but most now kept to the interior and away from the fronts, consumed with the now sheltered community that was growing by leaps and bounds.

  That growth was being fueled in two parts, one being the protection from invasion, whether external or internal, and the available resource base that the Star Force markets offered. As the populations grew and new Alliance regions were made available there was always a contest to gain influence and power, with a big advantage going to those races who were savvy businessmen, prolific industrialists, and had a high reproduction rate.

  It also helped that Star Force usually had a place for the races’ excess population to go, virtually eliminating the problem of overpopulation because people would flee it through the transit grid before it became overly problematic. That put the burden on Star Force to continue expanding Axius and other branches of its empire and essentially giving the various races a set of ‘training wheels’ and allowing their empires to grow larger and stronger than they could have done on their own.

  But that was all part of the plan, which Davis was continually working no matter whether events occurred in his favor or not. He was always there, behind the scenes or out in front of them guiding the ADZ and working with the Protovic and Hycre to maintain their good relations and firm leadership, which he knew was critical to keeping all the various races in some semblance of order. Should their triad crumble Star Force didn’t have the strength to hold everything together…and the Hycre and Protovic knew that without Star Force backing them with tech and infrastructure, most notably the Sentinels standing watch over most of their systems, they wouldn’t be able to survive either of the insanely large threats on their borders.

  The silent partner in all of this was the Voku, which Davis had little contact with. They preferred to deal with the Archons, warrior to warrior, with Paul being their number one go to contact. He and their commander got along well and Davis didn’t try to impose himself there, but he was keenly interested in studying their newest ally and had asked Paul to dig up whatever he could on them.

  They were maintaining their hold on Achkor but expanding no further, strengthening and growing the system as part of their empire and set well outside the ADZ. They didn’t care to involve themselves with the other races, only Star Force, and Davis knew the real silent partner wasn’t the Voku…it was the Zak’de’ron.

  Davis didn’t have much info to work with, but he got the feeling that the dragons were using Star Force to achieve their own goals, whatever they might be. If not for the Voku involving themselves in the Skarron war it was possible that Star Force might be defending their core worlds with the rest of the ADZ smas
hed beyond repair. Not only had the Voku come to their aid, they’d come to their aid before they were truly needed, which meant the dragons were very aware of the course of events in this part of the galaxy and had tagged Star Force as important enough to be preserved.

  And that fact chilled him to the bone, for it made the true threat resonate even more so. The V’kit’no’sat were still out there, and he knew they were the Zak’de’ron’s focal point. If they were involving themselves with Star Force then they knew something was coming, perhaps far into the future for right now Earth couldn’t stand up to even a small invasion force given their limited tech, but something was coming, he could feel it, and the dragons were like the wind sock turning with the first breeze of an approaching hurricane.

  They wanted Star Force to be a player, and that meant the game was afoot…with the Skarrons and lizards being a mere sideshow.

  And that thought truly scared him.

  9

  May 9, 2631

  Zerus System (Alpha Region)

  Char

  “I still say it’s too soon,” Ben-30118 commented as he was walking with Larissa to the spaceport.

  “It will always be too soon,” she countered, “but they’ve got to learn from practical experience and that means stretching them a bit. We can’t hold their appendages forever. Not enough hands anyway,” she joked, but the sarcasm was laced with a secondary meeting that the other Archon understood.

  “We still need oversight.”

  “And we have it.”

  “Not nearly enough.”

  “You’ll just have to keep a close eye on them, but don’t interfere unless there’s a problem.”

  “I still have a bad feeling about this.”

  “If there’s going to be a catastrophe better it be now than down the road when there are more of them.”

  Ben laughed. “Nice of you to point out the doomsday scenario to make the less than appealing one look beneficial.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said as they entered a sky bridge and began crossing between two of the very high towers in the Star Force Bsidd capitol city, leaving what had been her home for more than 50 years and heading into the adjacent building where they’d hop a lift that would take them down to the surface and to the small spaceport nearby. As they walked out into the clear tunnel the first rays of the morning sunlight were beginning to break over the horizon and filter in between distant spires and other shorter, but wider buildings that held the Bsidd population.

  This city contained some 370+ million, but the entire planet now held a population of 3.4 billion and was growing as fast as the infrastructure would allow, which in turn was growing as more and more Bsidd became available to harvest resources and construct new facilities. The snowball was off and running, with Larissa’s on site control no longer being needed. She’d continue to monitor and adjust the Star Force Bsidd civilization as it grew, but she’d do it from afar and leave others like Ben in charge of the day to day duties on this planet and the second planet they were expanding to.

  That was the source of the discussion, with the Bsidd being given instructions to colonize it and Larissa wanting them to use only local workers to do it. The Archons and others would monitor, but the Bsidd badly needed the experience given that most of them were less than 30 years old. Usually colony construction was reserved for experienced engineers at least 100 years old, but no Bsidd was going to get that experience and they needed them to start fielding their own personnel for the bigger tasks, hence the need to practice.

  But they could only practice by doing the real thing, with this being the first real test for the newbie Bsidd engineers and construction crews. Before long there would be too many of them to monitor with Humans anyway, and Star Force needed trained and vetted Bsidd to build the future growth of their race around. Larissa was convinced her top people could handle it, despite their youth, but there was only one way to find out.

  Her leaving aided the ‘greater responsibility’ mojo beginning to go down within the Bsidd, but as it happened it was totally unrelated. Her time here had been well spent, but she wasn’t going to remain a permanent part of the Bsidd. She was an Archon and trailblazer, with there being plenty of other things for her to do. She’d gotten the Bsidd civilization up and running, tailored it to Star Force fashion, and done so without putting a drain on offworld resources. Now the Bsidd were producing more than they used and even exporting a bit, with most of the resources going into expanding their infrastructure and accommodating an increased population…one that would continue to grow to insane levels, they hoped, but in a controlled fashion.

  The Bsidd here, now, were going to be the skeleton on which that larger mass was going to align itself, and it was high time the training wheels started to come off. They needed to know what they were doing and confident in their own abilities before the mass of younglings were thrown their way to lead and train. Already the maturias were mostly run by Bsidd, with Human handlers occupying the highest ranks and ensuring everything went smoothly. That would continue, but the more and more maturias that came online would be staffed by other Bsidd, as would most positions within their civilization.

  The Humans would always be there as a safety mechanism to ensure the Bsidd grew properly, and to offer advice, but now was the time to start pulling back and letting them earn their way forward, with her symbolically leaving only reinforcing that times were changing. Larissa looked out to her left at the city that stretched to the edge of her vision. It was typical Star Force but built with the Bsidd physiology in mind. The interiors were larger, but the original convoluted designs had been replaced with the straight grid-like patterns that Humans favored.

  The exterior was also so gridded, making it instantly recognizable as a Star Force city. Half a century ago this planet had been barren, now it was filling up with similar cities spreading across its surface…yet to Larissa it had taken forever to get built, given the intense handling that had been required to goose along the construction as quickly as possible. She’d taken several trips off planet to attend to other matters in the ADZ, never for long and always returning here before things had a chance to go wrong, but now she wasn’t worried. The Bsidd had done well and she was convinced they’d continue to do so as long as they had a little nudge now and then.

  Overhead a few strands of flying traffic crossed between the buildings, with others moving below the sky bridge in a lackadaisical but orderly flow. Most of the transit was subsurface, but there was plenty of activity in the air to make sightseeing a never-ending activity. Up until now she’d never looked at it that way, but now that she was leaving Larissa took a moment to gaze out the skybridge and really see the city for the first time without wondering about one project or another. She’d already mentally disconnected, with this walk allowing her a brief moment of tourism as she returned to ‘normal’ Archon duties.

  “Something wrong?” Ben asked as she slowed.

  “No, just doing a bit of perspective transition. These buildings are a lot taller than they seem.”

  “How so?”

  “I’ve always measured them by floors, but Bsidd floors are larger than Human ones.”

  “And you’re realizing this now?” Ben commented with a chuckle.

  “Guess it just never sunk in. My mind’s always been on other things and I’ve never just looked at the city before.”

  “Getting nostalgic?”

  “No, just disconnecting my mind from the collective.”

  “Back to being a rogue?”

  “Yep,” she said with a smile, increasing her pace back to normal as she carried a duffle over her left shoulder…the only personal belongings she would need, for Archons traveled and lived light. An Archon packrat was truly an oxymoron.

  “You are going to read my reports, I assume?”

  “Rogues keep aware of their surroundings.”

  “Just disconnected from them?”

  “You really shouldn’t have to ask,” she said,
glancing at him.

  “I don’t know. I’m the one stuck with playing administrator now,” he said jokingly. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a good combat mission.”

  “I’m not heading for combat, not yet anyway.”

  “I think that counts.”

  “No,” Larissa said with a smirk, “it’s way harder.”

  “I’d say I could imagine…but I can’t. Having all those psionics alone.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got some catching up to do.”

  “Where do you figure you’ll end up after training?”

  “Not a clue,” she said as they came to the end of the skybridge and entered the neighboring building, heading for the nearest lift. “Rogues go where needed when needed. In the meantime we play videogames and eat donuts.”

  “And manage to run a Clan at the same time?”

  “Archons can multitask,” she reminded him. “If you haven’t learned that by now I need to replace you before I leave.”

  “You do a bit more than the rest of us,” he said, ignoring her jab. “And don’t say it’s because you’re older.”

  “Better?”

  “No, just realizing you have to have a lot of really good help and that I’m going to have to carry for you here.”

  Larissa raised an eyebrow. “More truth in that than you know.”

  Both Archons moved over close to the wall as a group of Bsidd betas crossed paths with them. The ‘soldier’ variants no longer held that role, with them being assigned to many different tasks that they qualified for. The same was true of the other variants, and while some types tended to choose similar assignments there was a hodgepodge nature to the Star Force Bsidd civilization that made it totally unrecognizable from the original one. Individuals chose where they wanted to go and do, rather than being born into a role.