Star Force: Shame (SF59)

by Aer-ki Jyr

  That meant the ship was now dead in the water.

  Greg held the command ship back at range and let his shields recharge, poking the invoker with his cleansing beams and now bloon launchers since the ship had only a handful of energy arcs to stop them. Some would get through, he knew, so he didn’t mind spamming the giant ship with them while the cleansing beams poked the remaining emitters out of existence.

  After that happened, he’d move in and finish off the ship...then have the techs paint a kill marker on the command ship’s hull as they repaired the damage.

  5

  September 29, 2658

  Solar System

  Venus

  Davis’s puddle jumper landed in one of the many starports in orbit around the planet, nestling up against the wall in a hangar bay that contained a mix of dropships and larger transports before releasing him to walk over to a spoke-like concealed tunnel bump that ran across the huge deck floor. Once inside he walked in safety over to the far wall while more ship traffic moved about over his head, visible through the clear bubble that was ringed with bulkhead ridges that he passed through rhythmically. It took a while to cross the huge bay, but eventually he made his way into what was a service starport that was off limits to the general public.

  The station was huge, like most in the Sol System, but the Director found his way around easy enough and eventually ended up in an observation lounge that had false windows relaying realtime camera footage of the outside of the station showing the planet below and the larger than normal sun just above the horizon. Inside the lounge were 10 white clad Archons, each showing a brown stripe running from neckline down to their ankles on the outside of their casual uniforms, denoting the padawan rank that they all held.

  They noticed Davis approaching before he had even come in the doorway, and all turned to look as the Director entered their little get-together.

  “You’re late,” Olli-247 teased.

  “I’m never late,” Davis said deadpan. “I always arrive precisely when I mean to.”

  “Some last minute instructions I assume?” Victoria-243 asked, sitting on the back of one of the two couches in the room.

  Davis shook his head. “More of a pep talk. I know you’re going to have to improvise on the spot, so there’s little point in giving you instructions. Have a seat please,” he said as he walked over and pulled up a loose chair so he could sit in front of the Archons and face them as they piled into the two couches that held four each, with Victoria and Dennis-240 sitting perched on the back corners.

  “I know this is new for you, more or less,” Davis began. “Stephan did some work with the Calavari back in the day, but the rest of you have been focused more on combat and training than dabbling with empire building. You have all had some experience handling Clan matters, so I wouldn’t label you as newbs, but I’m here to tell you that’s basically going to be what you are when you get to the Benoid. I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with alien races and their various cultures, and every time I deal with a new one I have to learn again.”

  “Granted, there are some similarities in the process of annexing a race, but it’s not something that can be preplanned. You’re Archons, you’re the best we have at improvising and Duke Stevenson will bring with him all the experience and administrative procedures we’ve concocted to date, but at the end of the day it will be you ten that will be reshaping the Benoid into a Star Force adjunct and I want to encourage you to take liberties. Lessen disadvantages and reinforce strengths, like you always do, and make the Benoid your own.”

  “I know you’ve had some chats with the trailblazers who have done this sort of thing before, but I can tell you that no matter how much prep work you do you’re still going to have to play it by ear once you arrive. The language difficulties will be a major problem, as will be dissenters. There are almost always some, and we saw that with the Kiritas too, despite their being the most loyal and grateful of all the races we’ve come to include in Star Force. If I were you I wouldn’t expect the same when you arrive.”

  “When you first tested out for basic training you had to pass a video game test, proving that you could understand the fundamentals of working together as a team, and I want this endeavor to be no less. You may be going to different star systems but I want the Benoid acting as a single unit. The details of which I’ll leave up to you. It’ll be decades before I get a strong grid link out to you, so you’re going to have to make do with what you’ve got on site, and even I don’t know what exactly that will be. The data files we’ve gotten from the Benoid are sketchy, as you already know.”

  “Back in the day I played a lot of video games before transitioning over to the corporate side, and it should be no surprise that the ones I favored were civilization building games. I know you guys are far better experienced in the gaming realm than I am, but I want to draw a parallel here. You’ll be doing in real life what was called for in the games, and look on it as such. Right now the Benoid is far enough away from the lizard advance to give you some time to build, but you are under a countdown, one for which we don’t know the exact date.”

  “Canderous will shield for you as long as they can, but the Benoid is going to have to become self-sufficient as soon as possible, and like with some games you only have your handful of ships and personnel to start with. You’re going to have to incorporate the locals, but do so at a reasonable pace and don’t put too much on them. You are transforming them into Star Force, so don’t cut corners and compromise standards for the sake of time. Use transitional teams if needed, but the Benoid cannot become a Star Force hybrid, it must be fully Star Force.”

  “I don’t say this because I doubt you, I just know some of the headaches that you’re going to encounter. These races are joining us out of self-preservation more than anything, so expect resistance when you drastically start to change their culture. It’s going to be similar to what Randy and Tom had to deal with when they saved the Kiritas, but my gut says this is going to include some new challenges. I don’t know what they will be, that’s something you’ll have to figure out on the spot.”

  “Bottom line is there is no training for this, and even if I was to go myself I’d have to learn and adapt to the conditions present. So if you find the situation seemingly unworkable don’t fret. Just take it piece by piece and build out from a fortified position. Even though you’re on the clock, building a proper transition is of a higher priority.”

  “Sounds a bit like double talk, and it is…but it’s also the reality you face. If this was going to be easy and straightforward I wouldn’t be sending the 10 of you and a Duke. You’ve got to start from scratch until I can get the transportation grid extended out to you, and when I do I expect something useful to feed.”

  “Normally a trailblazer would be assigned to a mission of this importance, but they’re needed elsewhere and this isn’t the only annexation that we’re undertaking…but it is the largest. It’s also going to be a proof of concept, to some degree, for the region. If you succeed I imagine other races will petition us for inclusion as well. Biggest thing I want to say, in addition to good luck, is that this is the first big stepping stone to our future expansion and I need you to make it work, even though I have no idea what that will take.”

  “Relax,” Zac-241 said confidently. “You were smart to assign our old basic team to this. We’re used to brainstorming as a group. We’ll make this happen.”

  “Agreed,” Victoria echoed.

  Davis smiled. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

  “And?” Olli asked.

  “If it wasn’t for the Ikrid blocks I’d say you were reading my mind,” Davis commented, impressed with the Archons’ deductive abilities, for he was fairly sure he wasn’t giving away anything with his facial gestures. “There’s been a last minute request that I’m stalling until I get your take. In fact I’m leaving it up to you. This is your mission and I want you to go with a team you’re comfortable with, so don’t worry about ha
rd feelings if you don’t want them, but both the Calavari and the Elarioni have offered their assistance.”

  Britt-249 frowned from his position in the middle of the second couch. “Star Force Elarioni or the independent faction?”

  “The independent Elarioni.”

  “What the hell do they want in this?”

  “When they found out that two of the races in the Benoid lived on waterworlds it seemed to have piqued their interest.”

  “I already have a handful of Star Force Elarioni in my team,” Attrick-242 noted, for he was to oversee the annexation of the one fully aquatic race. “And I thought the other Elarioni were only interested in hiding out from the V’kit’no’sat.”

  “I’ve been noticing a shift in their culture that I believe has resulted from their connection to the ADZ. While they’ve taken the hermit role to be sure, they’re linked in with our data grid and are getting a lot more knowledgeable about the region around them. I think it’s bringing them out of their fear-induced shell, on top of the fact that they know Humans are also on the chopping block and we’re not exactly hiding.”

  “What’s their angle here?” Britt asked.

  “I think they want pull with the other aquatics races. They don’t seem to care that much about the land dwellers, but they’ve established significant diplomatic relations with every known aquatics or semi-aquatics race to come into the ADZ.”

  “What type of help are they offering?” Attrick wondered, suspecting more interference than assistance.

  “They want to establish their own colony on Vardeenplis, given that those oceans are uninhabited, and a resource outpost on Bellot to feed you,” Davis said, pointing to Attrick, “resources and to assist as an intermediary learning their language and acting as a bridge between the two. They also want to share 40% of their collected resources on Vardeenplis in exchange for the right to set up that colony.”

  “Sounds like claim jumpers to me,” Garen-248 scoffed.

  “Do you think they’re on the level?” Attrick asked.

  “That thought had occurred to me,” Davis said, addressing Garen first, “and I think they are. Consider that, while they’re not part of Star Force they are operating within our borders as an ally and associate rather than going outside and trying to set up a fully independent colony. I think they see this new annexation as an opportunity to expand and play a role in shaping future events.”

  “How did they even know about this mission?” Victoria wondered.

  “Any new annexation I make public knowledge. And since this isn’t a military operation I’ve let the timetable go public as well.”

  “How long will we have to delay if we want them to tag along?”

  “You won’t. Both have fleets insystem ready to go with.”

  “Sounds presumptuous,” Wrex-245 accused.

  “Not for the Calavari,” Stephan differed. “They probably saw the timetable and wanted to be in a position to help without having to delay us. You told them the mission commanders would make the final call, didn’t you?”

  “I did,” Davis confirmed.

  “Then that’s just them trying to be as efficient as possible. Not leverage.”

  “And the Elarioni?” Wrex asked.

  Stephan shrugged. “You may have a point there.”

  “I’ve made them no promises and they’ve acknowledged that point. Whether that’s just talk or not is anyone’s guess,” Davis said, looking from face to face as he tried to judge their reactions. “It’s totally your call. Do you want a third wheel or not?”

  “The Calavari are already Star Force, so they’re not a third wheel,” Stephan said assuredly. “If no one else wants their help, I’ll be glad to take it.”

  “How many of them are there?” Victoria asked.

  “They’ve assembled a team of 1.6 million, mostly comprised of techs and workers, with enough supply ships to sustain themselves.”

  “Done deal there, I think,” she said, glancing at the others for confirmation, getting a few nods and telepathic equivalents in response.

  “I should probably say that the Elarioni are offering a much larger fleet to the mission and some 22 million personnel.”

  Attrick whistled. “That’s one hell of a colonization effort.”

  “And potentially useful if they cooperate,” Stephan added, “but not to me.”

  Attrick looked at Draven-246. “What do you think?”

  “Depends on how willing they are to take orders. They’ll heavily outnumber us and may think that gives them the right to play loose with the rules we set down.”

  “It is a risk,” Davis agreed, “but I’ve discussed this with some of the Star Force Elarioni that transferred over and they seem to think the offer is legitimate and would be very useful.”

  “What does Ariel think?” Attrick asked.

  “If she hadn’t okayed it I wouldn’t be bringing it to you guys.”

  “That’s good enough for me,” Attrick said satisfied.

  “Same here,” Draven agreed.

  “Alright then,” Davis said, clapping his hands together once, “that’s done. So now to the big question.”

  The ten Archons looked at him for a moment, getting some weird looks on their faces when he didn’t say anything…then Davis laughed once, breaking his straight face.

  “Nah, there’s nothing. Just messing with you. Get going,” he said, motioning towards the door, “do your thing.”

  Victoria blew out a breath in a half laugh as she swung herself off the couch top, standing up. “Punked by Davis. That’s a first.”

  “See you in 50,” Britt said to the Director with a two fingered salute as they got up off the couches and headed out, with Attrick lagging behind a bit and giving Davis a curious stare.

  “Problem?”

  “You did that to check and see if we’d found a way around the Ikrid blocks.”

  The air in Davis seemed to go out, with his facial features sagging a bit. “And I thought I had an answer.”

  The Archon smirked as he casually headed towards the doorway. “Learn to live with doubt.”

  Davis stayed on his chair, back to the wall ‘window’ and watched him leave, then slowly shook his head in dismay. Somehow the Archons could always read him, and it’d become his private little war to find a way to hide whatever cues he was giving away and from time to time to test the limits of their awareness.

  It certainly seemed like they were reading his mind, but at times he was able to conceal things from them…or ‘punk them’ as Victoria had put it. Today was just another datapoint in his ongoing quest to try and figure out the riddle of the way their minds worked, and he had a feeling it was going to take him another hundred years or so before he made any real progress.

  Davis returned the chair to its original position and headed back to the landing bay and his waiting ship, his task here done. He’d be returning to Atlantis directly while the 10 Archons would each be heading to their own MCV-class jumpship escorted by a flotilla of cargo ships and a handful of warships. They’d be leaving the system within the next 6 hours, with the Calavari and Elarioni ships meeting up with them at Venus and then transitioning over to the star in a long convoy that would begin making the numerous jumps required to travel across Epsilon Region and beyond the ADZ to the mostly uncharted wilds of the neighboring galaxy where they’d start to hack out some new Star Force territory ahead of the brushfire that was the oncoming lizard advance.

  6

  January 3, 2659

  Banner System (Core Region)

  Smash

  “Ship arrival without IFF,” one of the Star Force traffic coordinators told the deck chief over his shoulder, his eyes still on the contact near the smaller of the two stars in the system that the detection grid had just registered and transmitted over the gap in the system to the heavily populated Human world where the transit headquarters were located.

  “What make?” the Chief asked, leaning forward microscopically in his
chair as he pushed aside whatever it was he was working on at the time. The coordinators handled all the traffic within the system, each with a particular zone that was micromanaged by other controllers on site, but in this case there was no station near the stellar pair so the anomaly had been routed directly to the control center.

  The coordinator waited for a few seconds so the sensors could chew on the readings they were getting, but with no luck he merely shook his head and raised an eyebrow. “Unknown.”

  “Alert the defense fleet to stand by for intercept and get a comm to the H’kar. This may be one of theirs.”

  “It doesn’t match any H’kar ship in the database.”

  “It could be another Nexus craft that we’re unfamiliar with. Where’s it heading?”

  “Staying put for the moment…defense fleet says drones are being dispatched.”

  “Reroute traffic patterns around it until we know what we’re dealing with. If it is hostile we don’t want anyone getting caught up in the crossfire. Backtrack its trajectory.”

  “Jumpline indicates Mortica System.”

  “Incoming comm from the unidentified ship,” another control room staffer interrupted. “It’s a copied Star Force transmission granting them pass-through rights.”

  “It’s what?”

  “It’s a green card.”

  “Those don’t come from ships, they come though the grid.”

  “I know, but this one is coming from the ship.”

  The Chief rubbed his forehead in confusion. “Who does it say it is?”

  “It’s labeled as a H’kar associate.”

  “Inform the defense fleet that we have a probable legit transport, but that we request a military escort anyway. I don’t like this.”

  “Actually, the green card is for a convoy fleet of 259 vessels.”

  “What the hell,” the Chief said, getting up out of his seat and walking forward. He stepped down two levels and came up behind the coordinator, double checking what he was seeing. “Amend that comm to the defense fleet to ‘convoy escort.’ Still just the one ship?”