Star Force: Ghostblade (SF67)

by Jyr, Aer-ki

  “Oh hell no,” Gary-933 said, knowing exactly what that was going to mean.

  Morgan held up a hand to stall the coming complaints. “The entire Clan system, from Archon down to accountant, is going to be recruitment based. Already the others are developing angles to attract key personnel and gaming their internal standards to either amp up the difficulty or keep it low and spread out to attract higher numbers that they hope to develop over time in exchange for the younglings they no longer have. We’re not playing that game, and are going to continue on the same way we have been.”

  “How?” Falconi asked. “If Davis wants us prepping for a V’kit’no’sat invasion we’ll have to make alterations, and the lack of younglings is going to necessitate a variety of changes.”

  “Not really,” Morgan said dismissively. “We all know that if the V’kit’no’sat come back now we’re toast, and that’s not going to change much going forward. The key to being able to fight them is and always has been the technology difference. Until that catches up we’ve got nothing more than our ingenuity to work with. Others are working that angle now and with luck with come up with a few tricks we can use, but the really effective stuff will have to be built down the road when we’ve got the tech we need, so the Ninja Monkey’s aren’t going to waste time with wishful planning.”

  “What we are going to do is keep advancing, in all areas. Our commando strength is going to diminish in comparison to some of the other Clans based on what they’ve hinted at, and we’re just going to ignore that as best we can and focus on improving our marks rather than getting hung up on the comparisons. We need to be a well-rounded Clan, as we’ve already been working toward, and will continue to press that agenda even if we slip in the ranks in the interim. We won’t go down to the bottom of the barrel, for the specialists will end up there in their off categories, but I’m afraid our stature is going to take a hit going forward. Please feel free to surprise me with the contrary.”

  “Why are you so sure we’re going to get our asses kicked?” Gary asked.

  “Two reasons. First, several of the Clans are going to be instituting heavy training programs to the point of isolation, mimicking the advanced training program we’ve got going on Earth for Archons. They’re going to sink a percentage of their people into those to the exclusion of all else, hoping to make up ground lost and advance their core strength up to levels that will better be suited to fight the Zen’zat. They plan to lose a lot of people in the process, with them washing out and going into Mainline for the non-Archons, and risking Clan transfers for those who don’t like the intensity.”

  “Second reason is they’re also going to be devoting the higher ranking Archons to the new Trials…and we’re not going to do that. Mainline and the other factions may have stepped up their military presence through numbers, especially the Bsidd, but we’re not abandoning the war front in exchange for Trials wins. I’m personally not going to be involved in many of the Trials but the others will be, and they’ll be bringing along scores of mages and padawans with them. We’re going to go heavy at the first trial that is scheduled to occur in two years, but after that we’re pulling our elites down to a handful and using rangers and strikers to fill out the balance.”

  “We’re starting upper level Trials?” another mage asked.

  Morgan nodded. “It’s been pointed out that we’ve been slacking off in that department by going out on field work too much. I disagree. We’ve got the advanced training program that is far more effective at amping up our workouts than Trials alone will do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m practically watering at the mouth as far as what this new system is going to be, because Wilson is designing all of it and I’m diving in along with the rest of the others. But after we get a good taste of it, we’re going back to field work…and that’s what the identity of our Clan is going to shift into.”

  “As well as being our recruitment tool?” Falconi guessed.

  “Exactly. A lot of people don’t like training non-stop. I can do it, and like doing it, but not when there is fighting going on out there. I can’t just sit on the sidelines when I know I could be making a big difference in the never-ending wars we’re plagued with. Some people need to take a break and train, but that’s not true of me or this Clan. We know how to train on the go and not fall behind, so we’re not making the internal alterations that the others are. We’re sticking with the program and adjusting for the lack of younglings and lazy personnel, which will boost the Clan in terms of professionalism. That will advance us enough on its own that we won’t need really hard standards for inclusion.”

  “Where do our current ‘slackers’ go?”

  “Mainline. We’ll give all our people a chance to stick around, but if they’re intent on going on permanent vacation there won’t be an opportunity to do that here anymore. That’s what Mainline is good for, and rather than drastically rebuilding our Clan like a lot of the others we’re just going to streamline it.”

  “And?” Gary asked, picking up on something in her mood. Something that she was holding back.

  Morgan let slip a wry smile. “We’re going to keep a good number of our Archons in Mainline leading it, but our combat operations are not going to be pairing with them anymore, nor the Calavari or Bsidd. Not even the Voku or H’kar. We’re soloing from now on and advancing our Clan towards fighting the V’kit’no’sat through combat experience gained. When the tech rolls around we’ll incorporate it, probably steal a lot of ideas from the others in the process, but our people are going to be the most combat savvy because we're going to be spending our years on the fronts rather than in pure training.”

  “Pure training hasn’t hurt Vermaire,” Gary pointed out almost apologetically.

  “Pure training doesn’t hurt anybody,” Morgan clarified, “but you don’t get the same edge you get from fighting in live situations. Those with extensive Trials experience might be more polished, but those with combat experience will be more savvy. Trials are explosive and intense, frontline combat is often grinding and one-sided with moments of intenseness the Trials will never match because of what is on the line. Losing is bad, but losing people is unacceptable. The Trials are meant to build skill sets and do so extremely well, but applying them in the field is a whole other trick that we are going to set the benchmarks for.”

  “Define soloing?” Gary asked skeptically.

  “A little arrangement I worked out with Davis privately. The others will know soon enough, but we’re not going to expand any more within the Core Region. We’re going to hold on to what we’ve got, no way we’re making the mistake the Snowstorms did, but any territory that we win in the upcoming Trials we’ll trade off. We need to focus what population we have at our new home.”

  “New home?” Gary asked when Morgan didn’t say any more.

  “Our borders are constantly in flux, with us beating back the lizards on most fronts and colonial expansions, even if in piecemeal, on the others…save for one. Our coreward border is fixed by the no-go line, and even though the Voku have a presence there that is keeping the area somewhat subdued, the more the lizards eat up the Skarrons and spread out through their back territory we’re going to have to counter them all along the line and hold it…without taking the worlds from them.”

  “That’s a situation we’ve not faced yet,” she said with all sincerity, “and it defies our very drive to smash the enemy. We can’t chase them coreward. They have a safe haven to operate out of now, against us anyway. The Voku can go after them if they wish, but right now they’re busy with other matters, and even if they weren’t they don’t have the numbers to purge the galaxy of these bastards. As much as I hate to say it, we’ve got to put up with them being there on our coreward border, and how to do that effectively hasn’t been established yet, for they haven’t had a chance to truly strengthen those areas.”

  “Even if we don’t colonize beyond the line,” Gary differed, “we can still mow the grass a bit.”

  “Yes, and we
will,” Morgan assured him, “but it’s just a matter of distance going back far enough to where we won’t visit that they can build up massive armies and have them sitting and waiting to hit us where we’re weak. Even if we turtle up well there’s always going to be a lot of tension there, especially if they develop another new toy and are willing to throw trillions of disposable troops at us testing it.”

  “What are we going to do about it?” Falconi asked.

  “Davis has granted Clan Ninja Monkey permission to take possession of as much of that border as we want and to hold it indefinitely, shielding the Achkor Region and everything else beyond. He’s not giving us any worlds or resources, but is letting us keep every lizard world we can take.”

  “Damn,” Gary said with a laugh as he glanced at the others in the room. “That’ll one up the other Clans and then some.”

  “Each of us is finding a way to contribute to Star Force’s future,” Morgan explained, only slightly suppressing a smile. “We can’t do it all ourselves, but we’re going to do more than the others. They’ll experiment and train, teaching us new tricks as we go along no doubt, but we’ll be the one fielding a well-rounded empire out of necessity. We’ll be picking a fight with the lizards on our own and holding the line on our own, learning and growing as we go. Whether you are an Archon or a tech, if you want to find the heaviest fighting to contribute to, Clan Ninja Monkey is where you go. That’s our recruitment incentive,” she said, looking at Falconi. “Use it to get me as much civilian support as you can. I’ll handle the recruitment of the troops…from multiple races. We’re not just sticking to an all-Human Clan. Anyway who wants in on the fighting is going to be welcome to join our ranks and help carve out our border territory.”

  9

  August 8, 2812

  Retari System

  Atlantica

  Erin-016 literally ran through the Star Force colony city of Manaan coming off the dropship that had landed her here, having taken a jumpship directly from Earth as soon as the trailblazers’ brainstorming session with Davis was completed. She knew as well as the others that there would be a mad rush for recruits going forward and there was one in particular she wanted to get to before the others, having sent a message on ahead to forestall any remote grabs. Being the first to get to her in person, she hoped, would give Erin an advantage.

  When Erin came to one of the air/water transition sections she grabbed a breath mask off a nearby rack, checked its functionality, then pulled her shoes off and stripped down to her underwear, leaving her clothes in a pile on the floor and diving into the aquatics section of the city. She swam through a myriad of tunnels, passing by a number of Elarioni and a handful of individuals from other aquatics races until she eventually came to where the city’s computer had logged Ariel’s present location.

  The pale Human swam into one of the many workrooms that had several dozen Elarioni going about various tasks. They all looked similar, save for their hair which was a myriad of colors. She found only three emeralds in the room and pulled a quick mental search to identify which one she wanted, then swam across the chamber and up behind Ariel.

  The Elarioni turned around before she got to her, hearing the crude swimming strokes of a Human, but she grinned widely when she saw who it was.

  “Hello, Erin. I didn’t expect you here this soon.”

  “Am I too late?” she asked, with her mask also handling the computer translation as she floated in near neutral buoyancy making small hand motions to steady herself about a meter off the floor as she slowly sank down, for all Archons were sinkers due to their muscle density and trim bodies.

  “For what? I haven’t heard from any of the others.”

  “Really?” Erin said, surprised. But then again maybe she’d just caught a break while they were pursuing other ends. Aquatics wasn’t high on most people’s wish lists, but she was really surprised Lens or Kyler hadn’t said anything to her yet. “Guess I’m just faster than them. I want your help.”

  “Gladly. What is it that you need?”

  “I want you to join Clan Alterra.”

  Ariel blinked her glowing gold eyes curiously. “Join?”

  “The Clans are changing drastically and we’re all scrambling to grab up whatever advantages that we can get. I want to grab you before anyone else does and have you help me add Elarioni to my Clan. We need to go above and beyond what Star Force has already done with aquatics, with an eye geared towards the larger threat…in the core.”

  “Are they coming?” Ariel asked, knowing better than to use their name amongst others who probably didn’t have security clearance high enough to know about the Humans’ relationship to the V’kit’no’sat.

  “Not that we know of, but while the rest of Star Force lives in the present, the Clans are going to work towards the future and I want your help.”

  “I’m not sure how much further help I can be. I’ve already shared all I know with you.”

  “I don’t know either. We’re going to be looking for ways of doing things that we haven’t tried before and I want you on my team. And now that we’re not limited to just Humans, I also want you to help me kick the crap out of the other Clans in the Trials.”

  Ariel smiled. “And that’s why you thought the others would ask me as well?”

  “I think it’s only a matter of time before they do, and I wanted to get to you first. Especially before Paul or Jason did. Their Clans are too dominant as it is.”

  “Not in aquatics.”

  “No, which is why I’m sure they’ll be after you eventually to join them, as will many others I’m sure. I’m hoping that me getting here first gives me at least a little edge in your decision?”

  Ariel reached out a thin blue arm and gripped the Human’s shoulder with her three fingers as she smiled soothingly. “You can relax, sister. I’d be honored to join your Clan.”

  “Sweet!” Erin exclaimed, jumping off the floor with an excited twitch of her ankles.

  “When do we leave? Or are you expanding your Clan to this world?”

  “I wish. Kyler’s been keeping us out, but Clan Alterra has some water of its own to play in on Demacia. Currently we’re ranked 38th in overall Aquatics, and any Clan that adds Elarioni is going to shoot up their skill scores. Some of the Clans are staying all Human for various tactical reasons and I really want to stick it to them in aquatics, as well as getting our Humans less slow in the water.”

  “Less slow…good word choice.”

  “Just being honest.”

  “As always, but you have a funny way of putting things. Where are your clothes?”

  “I didn’t take time to change and I didn’t want my air clothes slowing me down.”

  “Am I really that big of a prize?”

  “Yes,” Erin said flatly. “And you already agreed. No second thoughts allowed.”

  Ariel laughed, which amounted to a melodic screech that the computer didn’t try to translate. “I am yours, Erin. When will we leave?”

  “As soon as I can snag an aquatic starship. Give me three hours?”

  “I will be ready, and rebuff any further requests that may come in in the interim.”

  “Even if it’s Paul…and he’s begging?”

  “Even if.”

  Erin pointed a finger at her. “I owe you big time. Be back,” she said, pushing off the floor and awkwardly swimming away at decent speed from the Elarioni’s point of view.

  “Are you sure about this?”

  “Having doubts?” Randy asked as their dropship was flying down to the surface of Kirit.

  “This is a huge alteration based on a whim,” Mara-677 argued. “Shouldn’t you think it through first?”

  “You think I haven’t?”

  “Not enough.”

  “What am I missing?”

  “If I knew that I would have said something by now. I just have a funny feeling.”

  “I know the Kiritas better than anyone,” Randy reminded her.

  “I’d feel b
etter with a gradual shift.”

  The Clan Star Fox leader shook his head. “No need. I’m sure about this.”

  “Still think you’re jumping the gun.”

  “The others are rushing to make changes too.”

  “That doesn’t make it any smarter.”

  “What’s the downside?”

  “It won’t be our Clan anymore,” she said without hesitation. “Too many new faces…we’ll lose the essence of who we are practically overnight.”

  “Like hell we will. What exactly do you think I’m doing?”

  “The Kiritas don’t think like we do. We’re a Human Clan, who knows what we’re going to end up after this little experiment.”

  “Badmouth it all you want, but don’t call it little.”

  “Ah…you’re incorrigible.”

  “Careful, your British is showing.”

  “No such thing anymore.”

  “A complaint?”

  “No, just a statement of fact,” she said as they began to heavily decelerate against the thickest part of the atmosphere while simultaneously braking against the planet’s gravity.

  “Bedazzle me with another.”

  “You’re dragging me along just to gloat.”

  “Half fact,” the trailblazer corrected her. “I also want you here to learn.”

  “I already know you’re reckless.”

  “You were never involved in our Beta Region colonies, so you don’t know the Kiritas any better than the other Clans.”

  “I know the Kiritak well enough.”

  “Same thing, yet not the same thing.”

  “Thank you, that clears up so much.”