Star Force: Mak'to'ran (3)

by Aer-ki Jyr

  And come they would, along with additional defense fleets from the Hjar’at, Era’tran, and Sevn’orr that covered the construction of a Barkod-class defense station in null orbit around the pair of stars at system center. The superstructure wasn’t even a tenth complete yet, but as more and more Zen’zat arrived they were assigned to the project and the mining efforts supplying most of the materials while the rebel fleet covered convoys from other loyal systems that were also contributing to the construction of what would be the new Conclave.

  Technically the Elder Conclave was still on Itaru with representatives from all races there, but Mak’to’ran couldn’t let that stand. If he was to reforge the V’kit’no’sat he had to establish a new center to counterbalance Itaru, though this system was a joke in comparison. Knowing that, he didn’t label it the Elder Conclave nor advertise it as such. It was what he called a Yeen Conclave, with the word ‘Yeen’ meaning ‘seed’ in the V’kit’no’sat language, and an admission that this was just a beginning, but one that the loyalists could rally around.

  The Era’tran sent a delegation, as did the Hjar’at and the Sevn’orr, but they were not tasked as ambassadors or representatives. They were sent with the understanding that they would serve Mak’to’ran, for until true unity could be restored it was his leadership they were relying upon to glue them together, so there was no point in pretending that anyone other than him ruled this new alliance.

  At the same time the Era’tran and Hjar’at were pursuing their own courses. They were part of the alliance and yet not, which was odd to some but when one understood the complexities of interstellar civilizations you realized that unity was a matter of allegiance rather than physical bonds. Each star system was in itself a separate empire connected to the others by trade and laggy communications. Knowing that, Mak’to’ran could begin to grow the reborn V’kit’no’sat a piece at a time while everyone else continued doing what they were doing and the two agendas would most likely not be at cross purposes.

  The mass defection of Zen’zat from across the galaxy only increased as word continued to spread, and the factions they were coming from were not happy about it, including Itaru, but Mak’to’ran was assembling so many ships that the defense fleet holding his capitol now contained ships from more than half the races in the V’kit’no’sat and with the augmented planetary defenses to run to, removing the rebels would be a task that would require a sizeable fleet…and even if they succeeded, the Mak’to’ran’s forces would just run and scatter like before. An enemy could take their capitol, but they couldn’t kill them so long as they continued to operate like a rebellion and Mak’to’ran wasn’t about to give up that advantage as a fallback point.

  He didn’t spend much time in Vviot, still roaming around the galaxy with his rebel fleet while those from the major races sat and held the new capitol that was ironically located well outside the galactic core and on the opposite side from Terraxis, putting them about as far from that treachery as possible without being all the way out on the rim border.

  Operating under his direction, the new Conclave formulated basic economic plans to begin linking the list of systems already loyal to Mak’to’ran and including as many factions as were willing, each on their own terms, for most trade had shut down when the empire split, and some races fared worse than others when having to internally supply all they needed to operate.

  No V’kit’no’sat race was dependent on trade to survive, nor was any system. That would have been a sign of inferiority but while basic survival was always covered by local resources, larger projects required external support. The sheer size of V’kit’no’sat ships meant they required enormous amounts of material and work to construct, not to mention the infrastructure projects present in every race that made the warships look small in comparison. Much had been built up in the past, making the scope and magnificence of the empire a wonder to behold, but replacing such things was a slow process when they were destroyed or something new was wished to be created, and often resources were drawn from hundreds of systems simultaneously in order to build the giant constructs in a relatively short amount of time.

  That was essentially dead now, save for what a race or faction could summon within itself, but a greater problem was that over the course of the life of the empire, territory had not been allowed to be conglomerated amongst any race. Everything was spread out, so even the Era’tran didn’t have a chunk of the galaxy to call their own or any real borders to manage. Theirs was a civilization of thousands of systems spread across the great swirl of the galaxy as if a Zen’zat had grasped a handful of sand and threw it far and wide.

  Most economic projects drew from those systems nearby, with one race purchasing or trading with the others in order to reduce the length of the supply lines. If you had to ship material across half the galaxy for a project it would either take an enormous cargo fleet or an incredibly long amount of time, thus the fracturing of the empire had hurt it more than one would otherwise think, especially with certain travel routes being blocked.

  Mak’to’ran’s forces were close enough to the black hole to keep it clear, and once he had enough ships gathered he placed a second defense fleet on station there permanently even though he didn’t possess the Barkod. That belonged to the Oso’lon, but there was no issue with the two being in the same system, for it was huge given a gravity well of that size, and Mak’to’ran’s rebel fleet wasn’t blockading it…they were there to insure just the opposite. He wanted a free flow of ships and acted to intercept anyone trying to poach small fleets passing through.

  In doing that he was aiding the Oso’lon, who had long ago been tasked with doing the same, and most factions wished for the free flow to continue. If not, huge detours would have had to be made and the travel routes would have grown even more painfully long.

  That little bit of stability made many factions grateful, and they redirected other traffic that way in order to avoid other troubled areas even if this was a huge detour, for losing ships was far more problematic. Even the factions that Mak’to’ran was pulling Zen’zat away from and taking their worlds with his continuous ‘help’ to local loyalists were in favor of his actions in what was known as Satuani 192.

  Like the Satu that linked various parts of a city, the black hole routes were the fastest means of getting from one end of the former empire to another and were referred to as ‘Satuani’ rather than having individual system names. All Satuani linked to at least 1 other black hole within jump range, though many could be connected together into a circuit…but unfortunately that circuit did not span the galaxy. There were also missing chunks where ships had to move through conventional jumps at what was a crawl compared to the speeds a ship could manage jumping off a black hole.

  So it was that Satuani 192 became known as the capitol of the rebellion, for Vviot was so nearby that a few normal jumps didn’t matter, and rather than it being seen as a point of conflict it was marked on everyone’s continually readjusting navigational maps as a point of stability…for the rebels were not interested in conquest, but rather protection and everyone knew it. Hated as they were by some, the rebel fleet at Satuani was a welcome sight as fleets of cargo ships from hostile factions passed through without escort and the reliability of Mak’to’ran’s word and the ability for his fleet to follow his orders without fail spread enough good will across the galaxy that the influx of Zen’zat continued nonstop, bringing with them many ships and specialists that he put to good use.

  Within a few more years he was able to spread out to three more Satuani, securing them and even two of their Barkod stations without a fight. The third he negotiated for, offering up a number of Zen’zat ships in trade and stretching out the ‘safe’ network of black hole jumps that then allowed unfettered trade to flow unrestricted within that small region of the galaxy, returning a bit of normalcy in the midst of the galactic chaos.

  Meanwhile elsewhere planets were changing hands, and not always shared ones. Full blown assaults were ha
ppening between factions, but with few deaths. Once ships were disabled or planetary defenses taken down, stun weapons were still being used when appropriate and the defenders lost few people…only equipment, infrastructure, and territory.

  The attackers were willing to sacrifice more than that, especially when going after fully protected worlds. Breaching planetary shields was costly, and the defenders didn’t hold back with anti-orbital fire save for holding off the last few shots that would completely destroy ships. Still, many died in orbit in order to force a breach and establish a foothold in a weird set of battle ethics that had factions, sometimes of the same race, willing to die to take each other’s territory but not that interested in killing one another.

  Mak’to’ran put feelers out to try and get a handle on why, because if people were interested in not weakening the V’kit’no’sat they wouldn’t be throwing themselves against planetary defenses, and the responses he got back from many planets and races was that they were fighting to survive. No one wanted to be the destroyer, but they weren’t going to tolerate misdeeds against them while waiting for the traitors behind Terraxis to work whatever subtle strategy was behind the current chaos.

  So there it was. That phantom threat still driving the division within the V’kit’no’sat. Mak’to’ran needed to get to the bottom of it but the troops attacking Star Force, ironically the most united given the importance of their mission, still couldn’t identify who was responsible…and the Humans were putting up far too much of a fight, though their inevitable demise was already underway. More of their systems were falling, but no insights as to the identity of their sponsor were surfacing.

  It was rumored that the ‘Uriti’ might hold some clues, or at least those overseeing the altered Hadarak. Mak’to’ran was no longer referring to them as Hadarak after seeing addition combat footage. They did not fight the same way, making him realize that whatever had been done to them changed them into something altogether different, and even the severe wounding of one by a rogue J’gar fleet that attacked without Itaru backing was not enough to neutralize, let alone fell it.

  Era’tran biologists were studying what data had been retrieved and were convinced that the armor on the Uriti was harder than Yeg’gor, yet it was also flexing. Hadarak armor could flex in places, but the hardest parts, from which Yeg’gor had been created to match, could not move. These Uriti had no soft spots, for all of their bodies could bend at least slightly, yet were virtually impervious to weaponsfire in a way that made them superior to Hadarak…even if they were still diminutive by comparison.

  Would they grow larger given time? That was an assumption that was almost unanimous amongst the Era’tran scientists, so the longer Star Force and its numerous allies held the Preserve the stronger the Uriti would grow, though it didn’t appear that they were spawning any new ones. That little caveat was a source of major concern, but after four separate attempts to attack and at least gain data from the efforts, the V’kit’no’sat could not hope to destroy them without sacrificing a fleet the size of which could not be assembled given current circumstances…and even if all had been normal in the V’kit’no’sat, an assured fleet loss of that size would have made such an operation almost impossible to launch.

  They needed to separate the Hadarak, and so long as they stayed and fought together it would be a very hard fight, but what would require an insane number of ships was the unknown capabilities of Star Force’s allies, some of which were fielding technology that the V’kit’no’sat scientists still could only guess at.

  Without being able to size them up, sending less than truly overwhelming forces would risk defeat, so Mak’to’ran knew the days of assaulting the Preserve were over. That was a fortress that Star Force was going to keep, all the while their other systems were left vulnerable.

  Mak’to’ran doubted that any information could be recovered from those in the Preserve concerning the identity of the sponsors unless prisoners could be taken, and given the level of security they’d shown thus far he assumed contingencies would be in place to prevent such knowledge from getting out.

  Sad to say, this constant mystery as to who the sponsors were was something he and the V’kit’no’sat had to live with, making it a lingering poison that could not be denied.

  His own forces were mostly above suspect, but there was always lingering doubt. The Hjar’at were seen as safe now, for no one expected them to be smart enough to have engineered this…unless they were working with another, at which point the mental invasions would make no sense. Going to that depth of personal invasion was abhorrent, but the fact that the Hjar’at had deemed it necessary to absolve themselves was a welcome reassurance. Nearly everyone assumed with confidence that they were not the traitors, but there were still 192 other races that were suspect, though Mak’to’ran knew the Era’tran were not involved.

  Or did he? Could he have been played this entire time by Hamob or others?

  It was something a master strategist had to at least think through in order to avoid a potential blind spot, but his gut instinct told him no…though it also told him that no other race was responsible either, for there was no advantage that he could see. Whatever Star Force was intended to be was still a mystery, and without knowing the particulars of it he couldn’t trust his reasoning when it was based off assumptions rather than facts.

  But if the Era’tran were somehow involved, they’d given him the perfect opportunity to counter them. The one mind in the galaxy that he could be assured was not corrupt was his own, and he unilaterally commanded this rebellion. He would not take orders from traitors, and he was sure Hamob knew that.

  So no, the Era’tran would not be involved unless there was some master play here far beyond his reasoning. He wasn’t the eldest Era’tran but he wasn’t young enough to be so outclassed. Something else was happening and he needed to figure it out to heal the V’kit’no’sat…but he couldn’t. So how was one to build an empire without concrete bonds of trust?

  Then again, maybe the entire point of Star Force was to create that perpetual seed of doubt, and to be honest, it had done more damage than all the warships the Humans had created. It had succeeded in destroying the V’kit’no’sat empire, or rather pushing it over the cliff it had been edging towards for some time.

  So if this was what the traitors wanted, when would they take the next step?

  Not now. Not anytime soon. They’d let the carnage continue to escalate, for the Stun Wars, while doing damage, were sparing a lot worse from happening. If someone wanted the military might of the V’kit’no’sat neutralized before they made whatever move they were planning, this was the slow way to get around to it.

  And right now, with the little bit of stable empire that Mak’to’ran was building, the best way he could fight the traitors wasn’t to identify enemies to destroy, but in creating new strength to replace what was being lost. That meant economic and masterbuilding skills that were not his specialty. Fortunately that’s what the Conclave was for, and within it would be specialists of every variety and they would be tackling the non-military challenges that Mak’to’ran tasked them with.

  And going forward, he expected them to be very busy…even before their Barkod was fully constructed.

  7

  March 22, 3642

  Teeq System (Bez capitol)

  Innoxmakthra

  Mak’to’ran’s drop pod set down in a desert on the equatorial continent amidst many others that contained his personal guard. The local Bez were keeping a respectful distance with the tips of some of their cities visible on the flat horizon, but this was as neutral of a meeting place as one could find on the planet. They needed to talk face to face, but the Bez did not want to come onboard his ships for fear of security concerns. What exactly they wouldn’t say, but they wanted a neutral location and this desert had checked out by Mak’to’ran’s advance teams, clearing it of any potential sabotage.

  So Mak’to’ran and one of his three Hak’mar, which was the equiva
lent of an apprentice/regional governor, walked out away from the drop pods as three Bez approached from their distant position. Several miles had to be crossed before they met up, so the Era’tran ran easily across the hard packed and sun bleached ground as what looked like their mirror images approached. The Bez were bipedal with approximately the same skeleton as the Era’tran, but soon the differences became noticeable as they closed in.

  Their skulls were elongated into a narrow snout and their bodies were a bit thinner with longer arms, but the biggest difference didn’t show up in the wavering heat shimmers until they got close, because Mak’to’ran was viewing it straight on. Along their backs was a huge, narrow fin that contained the biological mechanisms for multiple psionics, and it rested on a frame that was slightly larger than the Era’tran, so when the spinosauruses came to a stop a few steps away they looked down on Mak’to’ran slightly.

  All three wore armor, as did the two Era’tran, but all had it retracted into ‘jewelry mode’ so that most of their bodies were visible. The Era’tran’s deep red skin clashed with the yellow of the Bez that also had decorative streaks of white that were natural, unlike the bioluminescent tattoos Mak’to’ran bore.

  “What is this about, Renni?” Mak’to’ran asked the Bez he’d known since his time on the Hadarak front.

  “Thank you for coming. Inform your people that we are going comm silent.”

  “As you wish,” he said, telepathically contacting his escorts and warning them, then he nodded and his armor comm and data feeds suddenly cut out as the Venkof psionic in the Bez’s fins put out enough interference to isolate the 5 from any potential eavesdropping. “Who are you afraid is listening?”

  “Someone on your side. We’ve gone to painful lengths to assure security on our end. Who is this?”

  “Tu’vo. He is one of my Hak’mar.”