by Aer-ki Jyr
Sevn’orr were the strongest V’kit’no’sat race with regards to gravity tolerance, though theirs was a joke compared to the Hadarak that thrived in the intense gravity of black holes. Still, Lexitorac occasionally wondered how they felt traveling through space and then landing on tiny planets after being used to so much gravity elsewhere. Did they weaken as well or were they immune to the transitions?
For the Sevn’orr the gravity difference was both a weakness and an advantage. When in normal V’kit’no’sat gravity they appeared to be super strong and fast…but compared to others they were still incredibly slow. Their strength held up, but Sevn’orr biology was built to resist the heavy gravity and could not take advantage of the lesser worlds without modification.
Due to the fact that there were so few planets of 5g or higher that were not gas giants, the Sevn’orr had to painstakingly search for and acquire worlds where they could exist in their natural habitat, otherwise they were forced to live in artificial enclosed structures or move about on gravity plates set below the surface of otherwise habitable worlds. Sevn’orr didn’t favor enclosed spaces, and it seemed that the galaxy didn’t favor them, holding instead a multitude of smaller worlds that other races desired.
A decision had been made long ago that in order to expand their territory to sufficient levels a split in their race had to be created in the form of a biological variant that could thrive in the lower gravity. Their creation had been extremely controversial, for the conversion was not a procedure done to living and willing subjects, but something imposed upon those yet to be born.
The result had been, unexpectedly, a great success. The altered version of Sevn’orr were half their size, weak, but very fast. They were deemed Sevn’ach, and once fully organized were sent out to colonize numerous valuable worlds that the Sevn’orr weren’t willing to suffer through the construction process for.
The Sevn’ach originally built cities on the smaller worlds and the Sevn’orr would later come in and inhabit them alongside their smaller brethren, but eventually there were Sevn’ach-only worlds added and when that trend began in earnest the size and industrial strength of their combined civilization exploded. They grew so fast and so far they eventually attracted the attention of the J’gar, who made contact and learned the plight of their homeworld, then offered to incorporate them into an alliance whose express purpose was the defeat of the Hadarak…which at the time had seemed impossible.
So many systems had been retaken from the Hadarak that the Sevn’orr now knew that they could be fought…out on their periphery, at least. Go deeper into their territory and their numbers grew, along with their defenses, but to totally wipe them out would mean traveling into black holes where they nested, and to date the V’kit’no’sat had not found a way to effectively fight them there. It was too extreme of an environment, and one in which they were the most fearsome.
The Sevn’orr homeworld was not located deep in their territory and was one of the worlds reclaimed, but the damage done to it by the Hadarak had collapsed a portion of its surface. It was no longer a sphere, and the once fertile surface had been reduced to ruin. When one looked at it you could see the giant chunk eaten out of it, and as a result its rotational spin had been altered along with many other devastating consequences.
The Sevn’orr still claimed that system and the planet, but they didn’t inhabit it. Their homeworld was ruined, but they weren’t going to let the Hadarak feast off it any more for pride sake, though the Hadarak border was close by and they’d tried to return multiple times.
With that system a constant reminder of the power and danger of the Hadarak, the Sevn’orr had kept the largest percent of any V’kit’no’sat race’s fleet on the border constantly hunting down Hadarak expansions and viciously tearing them apart, for they knew that if they allowed them to linger they’d literally grow stronger and be much harder to remove later. The worlds that they already held were extremely hard to reclaim, and for that reason few assaults were launched against anything other than new incursions.
Havat was not close to the border, making it a safe capitol against the Hadarak though not so safe against other threats…but ever since joining the V’kit’no’sat those other threats had ceased to matter, for those large enough to be a problem had been eliminated and the others had simply been outgrown with the influx of technology and knowledge granted to the Sevn’orr. To put it bluntly, they’d ascended beyond most of their competitors, but rather than focus on the peons that were no longer a threat to them, they were interested in doing as much damage as possible to those who had destroyed their homeworld.
A few cities on other worlds had kept their gravity to match that of the homeworld, but most Sevn’orr artificial gravity was set to match Havat and it was a recurring question how much strength that conversion had lost them…and how much natural speed had developed in compensation.
Lexitorac moved slowly but firmly across the pavement that was still getting baked despite the reduction in stellar radiation hitting the surface, but the heat diminished quickly as his feet hit the shallow water on the edge of the Satu. The inclined bank deepened sharply until Lexitorac had most of his weight supported by the water with only his neck and a tiny bit of his back held above the surface as the current tugged him to the right.
He swam out into it and got a huge boost of speed with it carrying him along so fast he didn’t even need to swim down the twists and turns of the otherwise lazy riven that carried him across the landscape between a mix of thick trunked trees and tall buildings. The Sevn’orr floated mid current, only moving enough side to side to stay in the super-accelerated flow as numerous flying craft passed overhead.
A telepathic prompt from behind him alerted Lexitorac to the presence of a school of Zen’zat swimming up on his tail and passing to the left. They were the elite of the elite who had painstakingly trained their bodies to adjust to the higher gravity. Most Zen’zat that served the Sevn’orr were assigned to the Sevn’ach, but it was said that amongst their ranks the Zen’zat greatly honored those that were able to live in the higher gravity, for it gave them such a strength advantage when returning to ‘normal’ levels that they were respected above and beyond their skill ranks.
Lexitorac returned the telepathic prompt, recognizing their presence and making sure not to swing his tail into them as they swam past using their armor rather than their pathetic arms and legs to propel them onward. For some reason they were never content to let the current carry them, and as long as they could survive in this gravity the Sevn’orr didn’t mind accommodating their haste.
The tiny additions to their arms and legs pulled them past the huge dinosaur and onward, returning them to the middle of the current that took them even further took ahead, but Lexitorac was not in a rush today, nor on most days, for his duties were already complete and he was heading towards a commons area when an alert was broadcast across the planet, which was also displayed above the Satu everywhere the computer tracking saw a passenger was floating.
A holographic image appeared that matched the pace of Lexitorac, but it wasn’t of a Sevn’orr…rather it was an Era’tran that bore an identification marker beneath its image that he immediately recognized.
It was Mak’to’ran, the rogue leader that had been defying Itaru and assembling his own multi-race faction ever since the treason of Terraxis had been revealed…and according to the supplemental information around his image, he was here and in orbit along with an escort fleet of Sevn’orr warships.
“I have been asked by your race to take temporary command of your civilization in order to remove the traitors amongst you and to seal the divide between those who still feel obligation towards Itaru and those recognizing that the empire has fallen. The V’kit’no’sat are no more. We have degenerated into competing factions that seem bent on taking us into a full civil war. So far most of the treachery has been at the hands of assassins, but the Stun Wars that you are seeing are the beginning steps towards large scale lethal
combat.”
“When one’s capitol is threatened, do not expect the defenders to restrict themselves to stun weapons, and likewise do not expect any losers to allow themselves to be conquered while not fighting back with their full power. If we do not face this problem head on, the civil war will escalate and destroy the fractured pieces of the empire. I have been gathering many of those pieces in order that we may reforge the V’kit’no’sat and salvage what we can before total destruction.”
“The Sevn’orr are wise enough to recognize that action must be taken now, but due to the lingering divisions they have requested a neutral arbiter. I have agreed to act as such, and have already helped many worlds root out the true traitors and bring both the loyal and misguided together again with a new allegiance…or rather an old one, for I hold to the mandate of the V’kit’no’sat. We were created to fight the Hadarak, and that is what we must return to. Before we can do that in force we must save what we can now, hold the defense lines as much as possible, then rebuild after whatever amount of warfare that comes runs its course.”
“We are going to lose much, so I am here to help you reduce those losses. I have no doubt that assassins lurking amongst you will suddenly reveal themselves to do damage. Confront them, fight them, and remove them from your race whether by their deaths or their capture. The Sevn’orr must be united in order to face what is to come, and I am here to bring you a path forward independent of both Itaru and the Oso’lon.”
“My arrival here will spread across the Urrtren, delivering them a recorded message and activating transitional agents already in place on every Sevn’orr world. I am here because this is your capitol and this is the heart of your civilization. I assure you, I am here by invite. I am not here to conquer and the only non-Sevn’orr ship in this system is my own. I have no influence other than what you give me, and you have given me much. I have experience on many worlds doing this sort of thing, so I ask your cooperation and patience. What is about to happen will happen quickly, but the enemies of loyal V’kit’no’sat are sure to strike. Defend yourselves and your brethren. This poison must be drawn out now, no matter how violently it resists.”
“I can promise you that my orders are that all traitorous elements be captured. We will not kill any Sevn’orr unless they force our hand. If an assassin appears and harms any of you, the promise of taking them alive is rescinded for those individuals. If you do not harm your fellow Sevn’orr, you have nothing to fear from me and my agents. We are here to save the Sevn’orr, and we are beginning now.”
Suddenly the sunlight increased in intensity and the Satu river began steaming lightly, creating a wave of haze that was moving back across Lexitorac as the current propelled him through it. He pulled his long neck back a bit and looked up, confirming that the screening shield was down. Why they would do that he didn’t know, but then his question was answered as drop pods began to emerge from the ships in orbit.
The sunlight screen was configured not to interfere with starships passing through it, but a quick reconfiguration could turn it into a shield or even a weapon if the thermal energy was redirected to specific points. The planetary shields appeared to be down, and it looked like some of Mak’to’ran’s agents were already on Havat and insuring that the landing of whoever was coming down could not be interfered with…which probably meant the orbital defense batteries had also been commandeered in the previous minutes.
“Bold you are my friends,” he said, staring up at the sky through the steam clouds. “Come. Come and make us whole again.”
Mak’to’ran watched from the command deck of his Kafcha as his trained Sevn’orr troops, many of which had already been on operations with him on worlds held by other races, led a large number of hunters down to the surface of the capitol and the other two major planets in the system through the planetary defenses that had been successfully disabled…though incidents were already being reported as at least two assassin groups had tried to forcibly take control of defense guns and shoot down the descending craft.
They had failed, but blood had already been spilt and this operation had barely begun. He needed speed and surprise, but there was no way to determine if he had achieved the latter. Assassins being so close to those two facilities was a bad sign, for it was unlikely that they had all been stationed there. Some word must have gotten out when the ground teams made their moves, and the drop pods needed to make their first landing prior to any of the weapon systems being retaken, for even one would be able to kill many and shut down the landing over a large region on the planet.
But as he watched no such seizures occurred that were not of his own making. His troops landed and reinforced the ground teams, permanently claiming the weapons, shield generators, power stations, comms and every other piece of major infrastructure on the planet.
That was the most critical part and Mak’to’ran breathed a sigh of relief, but the resistance he had expected did come as fights began to break out in many locations and in a wide variety of circumstances. Not all were assassins, with some reluctant Sevn’orr locking doors and holding down a variety of locations in defiance of the takeover, but with Mak’to’ran’s troops using stun weapons only there was no backlash from the majority of the planet and within 30 hours the coup here was done and over with…with a huge number of prisoners that now had to be sorted through, for not all of them were assassins or the arrogant.
Some were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that was a mere inconvenience. The rest of the planet, while vocal about what was happening with varying degrees of support and condemnation, did not devolve into fighting. Mak’to’ran had his chance to make this work, even if a large part of the Sevn’orr on the planet were not happy about it.
Plans made in previous years were now unfolding with Mak’to’ran troubleshooting where needed as massive changes in the Sevn’orr planet were being enacted, most of which were personnel related, but also data and comm protocols. At first he used them to block out knowledge of strikes being made against additional assassin and arrogant cells that were subsequently discovered, but simultaneously he was using them to spread information about what was happening across the empire and within the Sevn’orr, making it clear where the truth lay and cutting to pieces the lies that had been coming out of Itaru and the Oso’lon in particular.
5 days after arriving, and with only a few other systems already following suit in the domino effect that was planned to follow as the comm lag spread throughout the Urrten, the Sevn’orr officially declared their independence from Itaru’s authority and graciously pulled back their allegiance to the Oso’lon in the power struggle between them and the J’gar. That move cemented the support of most Sevn’orr behind Mak’to’ran, for they historically had close ties to both and picking sides had not felt right. Being neutral put the population in a much more honorable state of mind, now only having to worry about defending themselves against dishonorable attacks on their territory rather than being complicit in moves against the J’gar whether they actively participated in them or not.
Sevn’orr territory was huge and spread across the galaxy, with the coup yet to happen on most of those worlds, but the center of their civilization was now loosely under Mak’to’ran’s leadership and it was fortifying with each day that passed.
Now he had to get them squared away and able to operate without his direct oversight before Itaru’s hunter fleets learned of his presence here and came to claim him. He needed the Sevn’orr neutral and apart from the chaos plaguing the empire, and if his presence here forced a fight that would hurt his efforts…meaning he had to leave soon to start bouncing around Sevn’orr territory and out to other locations for more missions that Hamob sent his way or that Mak’to’ran chose of his own volition, but going forward his distant leadership of the Sevn’orr was going to be his utmost priority.
And he doubted Itaru or the Oso’lon would just shrug off the loss without some form of payback.
5
That payback cam
e swiftly. Less than 2 years after Mak’to’ran instigated the successful coup on the Sevn’orr capitol an Itaru-organized fleet of multiple races hit the Era’tran. They couldn’t find Mak’to’ran’s rebel fleet so they went for their obvious backer, attacking 18 different weak to moderate Era’tran-shared systems with overwhelming numbers.
They didn’t have enough in terms of fleet strength to get through the planetary shields over the Era’tran territories, but the other races sharing those worlds let their ground troops down, then they moved around the planet to assault the Era’tran underneath the shield generators…which were augmented and had their edges push so far down they actually dug into the bedrock, blocking the approaching armies.
It was a stalling tactic, and a dangerous one, for the Itaru armies got physical access to the shields when they came up on them. Once they brought down additional equipment, they were able to start destabilizing the shields at those contact points. The Era’tran could have counterattacked them then, but the numbers were so disadvantageous they didn’t try, rather taking what time they had and preparing the battlefield on the inside with all manner of traps and secondary shields.
Before the shield was fully destabilized the Era’tran lifted it, for fear of it collapsing entirely and allowing the orbiting fleets to fire on them directly…which they tried anyway, hoping that it had been weakened enough by the ground troops for them to get through, but most of the ships backed off when the planetary defense guns started shooting them. Apparently they weren’t interested in dying in order to poke a hole through, so the overhead shields held and began to restabilize as the Itaru ground troops were able to pass the threshold and get inside Era’tran territory while their neighbors remained conspicuously absent from the attack.
