Star Force: Mak'to'ran (5)

by Aer-ki Jyr

  And he was going to milk that for all it was worth until the V’kit’no’sat became what they’d been promised to be long ago...assuming they survived that long.

  Mak’to’ran led the way into the Elder Conclave, walking slowly as the Rit’ko’sor ran to keep pace as they wound their way through the large pedestals on which the Elders rested, separated by races. Mak’to’ran took the Rit’ko’sor to their pedestal, with the 14 of them leaping up on top of it and making themselves at home as they used their reinstated genetic code to interface with the computer systems and bring up a myriad of holographic displays of data that they had been denied for millennia.

  There were several groans of disgust audible in the chamber, but no one made any outward comments of resentment. Mak’to’ran knew those would be bouncing as telepathic communications back and forth between individuals as private communications, but so long as they didn’t interfere with the Rit’ko’sor this would progress smoothly…at least as long as he was here.

  Mak’to’ran left the Rit’ko’sor on their pedestal then walked to the center of the chamber rather than to the other Era’tran. There he mounted an elevating tower that pulled him up above the head height of all the others, allowing them to see him easily from all positions across the 6 mile wide chamber, though when he spoke a hologram of him appeared on all the pedestals, for as large as most of the V’kit’no’sat were, fitting them all in here made it difficult to see in detail over the distances involved.

  For Mak’to’ran’s part he liked his new position, above everyone else and somewhat disconnected. He wasn’t a manager like most of these Elders were. He was a warrior who preferred to be on the front lines, but in the fight to rebuild the V’kit’no’sat this was the front lines, and before they could ever think of defeating the Hadarak they had to destroy the distrust and inequity within the empire, so he had more types of combat ahead of him than ever before in his life…and that suited him just fine.

  “Today a lingering fissure in our empire is resealed,” he said, addressing the entire Conclave as he looked out over the expanse and down at them, with the tiny Zen’zat attending the Elders barely visible. “I, like many others, fought and killed Rit’ko’sor during their rebellion. The memories of those days I will forever carry with me…as I should. We were in a war against our own brothers, which is something that should never occur within the V’kit’no’sat. Returning the surviving Rit’ko’sor to us cannot undo the damage done, but it can right a lingering wrong. They are part of us, and it is a part that we have been missing for some time.”

  “For those of you who say they cannot be trusted, I will ask you this…who sponsored Terraxis?”

  Mak’to’ran let that question hang in silence while seeing the Oso’lon twitch with discomfort at the subject while the J’gar were submerged in their pool and out of sight.

  “That answer I cannot give you. I have searched long and hard, but cannot discover their identity and we no longer have time to look for them. We must unify now, else we could be forever divided while the sponsors hide in anonymity and use that to further harm us. What I can tell you of them is that the deepest poison within the V’kit’no’sat began long ago when we turned our backs on those who created us. The Zak’de’ron…a name most of you are unfamiliar with due to rewrites of our history. They are the forbearers of the Les’i’kron and responsible for creating the V’kit’no’sat to defend the galaxy against the Hadarak.”

  “We turned on them out of greed and vanity, annihilating them and creating the Les’i’kron in their place to fill the void…but the distrust never was replaced. We had destroyed, not culled, one of our own and ever since there has been suspicion amongst us of it happening again. When the Rit’ko’sor rebelled, their fight was not a wholly unjust one. What they did was not right, but what we did to them was also not right. We denied them true brotherhood and they struck out against the poison within the V’kit’no’sat…poison that also spawned Terraxis. So I ask you this. Which of us held to the ideals of the V’kit’no’sat? The empire or the Rit’ko’sor?”

  That did not go over well, with massive telepathic and vocal objections, though Mak’to’ran had expected nothing less.

  “The fighting between us was the result of the first betrayal and the poison it created, gradually eating away at the bonds that are the basis for our empire. Those bonds must be reforged, here and now. The Rit’ko’sor are returning to us at their request, and I am granting them full membership again. Let the past remain as it is while we build into the future. Do not forget it. Do not rewrite it. Learn from it or be doomed to repeat it. We have now fought 3 internal wars…all of which are a disgrace. We are V’kit’no’sat. We are meant to fight the Hadarak, not each other, and while I lead that is exactly what we will do.”

  “We will seek out any further poison amongst us and purge it when we find it, but we will not wait until it is found to reforge our bonds of trust. I am trusting the Rit’ko’sor and they are trusting me to reveal themselves as they have. If anyone betrays them you will be betraying me…and I will deal with you accordingly. I do not expect you to forget the past, nor to forgive, but do not poison future hatchings with a conflict that is now over. They will grow up as equals while those of us who lived through the rebellion remain. We should not forget, but we should not make them reflect us. We are V’kit’no’sat. We are meant to be one. Let the hatchlings be one and know nothing else, and as we grow those of us that fought each other will be in the minority. Then, perhaps, we can reflect the younger ones and perhaps forgive…but we will never forget. That is the price of betrayal and a poison that we must carry, but never act on again.”

  “Three times now we have fought one another, and I will personally assure that it does not happen again. If there is any evidence of treason, bring it directly to me and I will deal with it. You can trust in me while you slowly relearn how to trust one another, and that begins with reintegrating the Rit’ko’sor.”

  “Their population is small, but what they’ve accomplished against the Hadarak is greater than what all of us combined have done. They bring with them knowledge and technology that we lack, and we have already begun refitting ships with the enhanced weaponry. Likewise I am designating new worlds for the Rit’ko’sor to colonize and begin rebuilding their massive population…as well as new worlds for the rest of the races to expand into. Our empire has to grow in order to one day defeat the Hadarak…and make no mistake, that is still and always will be our top priority, no matter how impossible it may appear.”

  “We must grow, we must learn, we must adapt. We cannot simply maintain. I will guide you forward, as will others who have the foresight to move the empire into the future while others seek to keep it rooted in the past. All of you must learn, self-analyze, and jettison the stagnation within you. We are at war and have no time for games…and those inclined to play them will removed from this Conclave. It is not a privilege to be here, but a great responsibility. You will acquit that responsibility or you will be removed…not through death, but through disgrace or your own resignation. If you cannot handle the responsibilities then step down and allow one who can to replace you. Do not wait and force me to do it.”

  “As for building the equity that we have been lacking, the psionic restrictions of races is being altered as of now. A few of you will get additional psionics best befitting your biology, but the greatest change is that the elite troops in each race will be able to earn psionics they were not born with. The requirements will be difficult, but a pathway will be established for those that are worthy to gain greater power…and the more powerful we become the more we can press into the Hadarak.”

  “But there is no time for that now. The pathways are being established but it will take time for individuals to make their way through them. Many things are building towards the future, but we have a present threat that we must face head on. There will be no fighting amongst us that I do not personally sanction. All races will send their entire fleets m
inus a minimum amount for defensive measures against other threats in this galaxy to rendezvous points along the front where I and other commanders more skilled than me will unite them into V’kit’no’sat fleets and do what the empire was created to do…fight and kill Hadarak.”

  “We will lose many ships. We will lose many planets before the Hadarak are driven back. But we will lose far more if we do not send our full force against them here and now. Those who have been in combat against the Hadarak know this, for only with overwhelming force can we effectively fight them.”

  “So I command you now. Send forth your fleets while you repair your territory and increase your numbers. We will take losses that must be replaced, so I am issuing an immediate cessation of population limits until this invasion is blunted. After which we will detail an acceptable growth plan for all races to guard against overpopulation…but right now such concerns are foolish. We are at war, and it is time to fight,” Mak’to’ran said, igniting his Saroto’kanse’vam with the red glow visible across the Conclave even without the holographic relays.

  “I am V’kit’no’sat, and I expect all of you to behave as such going forward. If I have to return from the front to deal with those who are not…I will not be forgiving. Defeating the Hadarak now will be difficult. Destroying them once and for all will require an empire that does not make mistakes. An empire that is fully unified and willing to die alongside each other without hesitation. An empire that is focused on our purpose and one that is far superior to what we are today. We cannot match their power now, for we are pathetic by comparison. If they threw their full strength at us we would be wiped out, but they do not. They hide in the galactic core…and that is where we must ultimately go.”

  “To do that we must become better, and I will not tolerate anyone who accepts the status quo. Our destiny lies in combat with the Hadarak…today and into the infinite future…and it is time we accepted and embraced that fact.”

  “The term V’kit’no’sat means ‘hunter of Hadarak’ and that is what we are going to become again. The Zak’de’ron are gone, but we will become the V’kit’no’sat we were meant to be…and I will kill anyone who stands in the way of that. I will suffer fools no longer. Stand up to the challenges we face or stand aside, for we are going forward into the maw of an uncertain and dangerous future, and we will not be flinching. We may fail and die, but we will not surrender. The Hadarak must be destroyed and only true V’kit’no’sat have a chance of accomplishing that impossible feat…therefore true V’kit’no’sat we must become.”

  “And that rebirth will occur in battle. The Hadarak are upon us and I will waste no more words here. The Elder Conclave will do its duty and I will do mine, therefore I am heading to the front immediately. Act wisely, act quickly, act bravely. Doom or glory is upon us, and our actions today will determine what tomorrow will wrought,” he said, triggering the tower to lower.

  Before he got to the bottom a telepathic chant broke out, one he hadn’t heard for a long time. It was like a song, but one without words, only a pulse.

  And that pulse increased as he got to the chamber floor and walked off towards the distance exit, then on impulse he began running and the pulse increased even more into a cascade that had his blood boiling with rage and pride, for it was a call to war and the bloody deeds that must come to push back the Hadarak, but now it contained something new. A hope of ultimate victory someday in the distant future, and Mak’to’ran was going to pursue it to the end of his days, however they came about.

  Halfway across the Conclave Mak’to’ran roared and pulse his Jumat, throwing ripples of air across the delegations closest to him with the already deafening telepathic pulsing ratcheting up another notch as the larger land races added a physical stomp to the rhythm that matched every fourth step of Mak’to’ran’s as the sole leader of the V’kit’no’sat raced out of the Conclave and straight to a waiting drop pod that took him up to orbit where his Kafcha was ready to speed him back to the front where fellow V’kit’no’sat were already fighting and dying to try and turn this Hadarak invasion back.

  And soon, Mak’to’ran and the might of the unified V’kit’no’sat empire would be joining them.

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