Star Force: Captains Mint (Star Force Universe Book 70) Read online

  1

  March 8, 128852

  Plucar System (Zavrex Kingdom)

  Idolo Wastes

  Han Tyver didn’t know why he was here. He’d served in the Star Force space navy for 826 years, ranging from gunner, to navigator, and all the way up to first officer on Hela’s Fury, a Mk. 349 Warship-class starship that had spent the past 12 years in the far Rim punching down on a lot of little enemies out there causing trouble for people other than Star Force. Word in the galaxy was that the Star Force navy was all in the Core fighting the Hadarak, and a lot of bad guys were trying to take advantage of that. Hela’s Fury and other isolated ships were put on patrol to deal with as many of those situations as they could, but they couldn’t get to all of them.

  Star Force territory hadn’t been touched. But that didn’t mean much, because more than 99% of the galaxy was not Star Force territory. The empire’s domain accounted for about half the Rim and a tiny piece of the Core, so about 26% of the galaxy. The number of systems and planets that contained was mind boggling, coming in at nearly 60 billion systems with an average of 12 planetoids in each, not to count all the asteroids slightly smaller than that where people still built cities and lived.

  Add into that all the nebula and artificial constructs and you were still only accounting for a tiny fraction of the actual space Star Force occupied in the Rim, because the star systems were nothing more than little gravitational islands amongst the greater void. There was no way anyone anywhere could control all of it, nor monitor it. And Star Force didn’t even own most of the planets. They had their own systems sprinkled throughout the Rim and exerted their influence over their domain via the Naval division, for the most part, but also through economy and special forces teams that would pop up on other worlds when the bad guys least expected it.

  But even if the full Star Force fleet was available to patrol the Rim, there weren’t enough ships to be everywhere, and even one ship in one star system was pathetically inadequate. A planet was a world, and a star system was a collection of worlds and the ‘seas’ in between them. Even with the best sensors available on a Mk. 349 warship, there was very little you could actually see that wasn’t out in the void or wasn’t near to you. And if you came into low orbit over a planet you could usually scan the surface pretty well, but Han knew how one could hide just below ground, or in camouflage blinds.

  The point was, if you wanted to hide in the galaxy, you had a pretty good chance of succeeding if you had even rudimentary skill at it. And with Star Force being low on available warships out here, if you didn’t live in a Star Force system you were vulnerable, and nearly everyone out here knew it, while those within the Empire, for the most part, didn’t have a clue anything was wrong.

  Star Force had never set out to conquer the galaxy, and when they came upon a planet or race that wasn’t darkside, they worked with them, traded with them, learned from them and exchanged some of their own knowledge. Han had read in the historical records of many, many, many such instances, but only if they obeyed a few basic rules. Star Force would not turn a blind eye to the suffering of a single person because of ‘sovereignty’ claims of other civilizations. If you claimed you had the right to abuse people because they were your people, Star Force simply smiled, sent an invasion force, and took away that sovereignty, because you didn’t deserve it.

  After doing a lot of that the message got around what independent systems had to do to avoid getting forcibly annexed, and that was why Star Force hadn’t taken over every system. In some ways it would have been better if they had, but Han figured the trailblazers knew they could never monopolize the galaxy. It was simply too damn big, and some people needed their breathing room to learn from making mistakes rather than being taught by Star Force. But the one primary principle in the Star Force edict was that if someone born on a world that was not Star Force property, they had to have the option to leave and follow their own path. Nobody was going to be a slave to another person, an empire, or a culture.

  Everywhere within what Star Force labeled as its ‘domain’ on the starmap were explored systems that had been checked out and were constantly monitored. A good many of them had Star Force embassies in them to facility the flow of people out who wanted to leave, and those embassies were often invited so Star Force would pick up the tab for the transportation costs, as well as taking responsibility for giving the navy the ‘ok’ that this system or that didn’t need a visit from a warfleet.

  Others that had no embassies were constantly watched to make sure they were not violating the rules, and when they did there were actions taken. Not always an invasion straight off, because sometimes the problems could be solved by dealing with certain individuals or bringing light to something going on that the leaders of that planet didn’t even know about.

  That oversight had slipped considerably, but Star Force didn’t advertise that fact. So many resources and personnel were going into the fight in the Core and the evacuation efforts that Star Force’s hold on the Rim was in jeopardy…but not their hold on their own systems. Nobody had the strength to oppose them, but where Star Force was not, there was ample opportunity for misdeeds.

  Misdeeds that Star Force usually cast a very long shadow over, scaring the bad guys into submission, but not so much now. They were growing bolder and pushing to see how much they could get away with, so Han’s previous assignment had been one critical mission after another rather than the boring Rim patrol he had expected going in.

  A ship had been sent to take him off Hela’s Fury and carry him to Neopolkitrix, a Star Force world where they quietly conducted the Captains Mint. Han didn’t even know it existed prior to being called there, but he had spent the last 2 years training to become a Captain, for it wasn’t just a rank increase. The Star Force navy viewed the Captain’s position to be something far, far more important than just sitting in the command chair, and over the past 2 years Han had been pressed to absorb the knowledge they’d been throwing at him, but he’d just passed his trials and was now on his way to command his own ship…then he had been diverted on last minute orders here. A system not owned by Star Force, but one with a tiny outpost on it.

  And ‘it’ was not a planet, but a ring of planetary fragments large enough to produce more gravity than many moons, but they hadn’t rounded out yet from it. They looked like jagged pieces of a necklace stretching around a section of stellar orbit in what had become known as the Idolo Wastes.

  What little atmosphere there was left wasn’t enough to breathe except on one fragment, and that was where Han had just been dropped along with 5 others with no orders other than to go inside the outpost cut inside the glaciers on which they now stood staring up at.

  The ice was partly blue, and the air frigid. Han knew if they stayed out here too long they’d start to freeze, and unlike an Archon he didn’t have any heat-producing psionics, nor did he have armor. He and the others were just standing here in their naval uniforms, most of which were bluer than the ice, though one was wearing the green of Canderous. Different factions had different uniforms, but all were similar to what the Archons wore, except these were cut a bit different. They were a little more rigid, and had shoulder boards containing comm gear that the Archon uniforms didn’t have, because they wanted the flexibility in the shoulders for hand to hand combat if needed.

  Naval officers were trained for it, mildly, but onboard a starship you weren’t going to be fighting anyone except your own crew or boarders, so the uniforms had been designed for the most likely duties…which was operating the ship in combat, and what keyboards there were onboard, in addition to mental interfaces, wer
e always lower than your torso, never above your head, so the naval uniforms were a little stiff if you reached that high, while remaining very fluid as long as you kept your arms low.

  They were not built for cold, and Han ran forward with the others the moment the iced-over base doors cracked open to let them inside. 28 seconds later he passed through the gap and the invisible energy shield keeping the thermal bleed from sucking the heat out of the base, which meant he hit what felt like a wall of hot air the moment he stepped through, but in truth it was just room temperature and the short wait outside had frozen him more than he realized.

  “Damn that’s cold,” soon to be Captain Biolom said, knocking some frost off his pant legs before it melted.

  “This is summertime,” the attendant that was waiting for them noted, then paused long enough for their shocked reactions to sink in before she continued. “You’re wondering why you were summoned here. The answer is this is the final part of the Captains Mint, and it is ultra secret. You are never to talk about this or make any notes concerning it. It is something only Captains know of, and it is meant to stay that way. Follow me.”

  Han exchanged a glance with Biolom then fell into step with the others behind the slightly taller attendant who led them further inside past a row of parked mechs sitting like statues ready to be called into action…but on an uninhabited piece of a world that wasn’t likely to occur, regardless of the fact they were currently not in a Star Force system.

  The five soon to be Captains walked into a side hallway and eventually came to a small auditorium that was filling with others coming from inside the base. Han noticed they also wore naval uniforms without rank insignia, and he guessed they were also part of the Captains Mint. Perhaps his group was the last to arrive?

  He went inside second to last and found a seat, sitting down and rubbing his hands together to wipe the last of the chill off them as another Captain walked up to the dais, and this one did have his rank insignia on, which was nothing more than a single thick horizontal bar placed on either side of his collar. Han’s former rank as first officer wasn’t really a rank, but a position. In order to hold that position he had to become proficient in the various duties onboard the ship. Gunner, navigator, helmsman, comms, sensors, tech’s assistant, medtech’s assistant, logistics, machine shop, etc. He had to know how to do everyone’s jobs, or at least be familiar enough with them in the case of the medtech, to be able to lead them. It was a similar principle to how the Archons had to master all 5 divisions of the military in order to lead it, and Han had greater respect for them now than before. Because the Captains Mint was damn hard to pass.

  He’d only been given the chance to try because someone had thought him worthy, and he didn’t know what would have happened if he had failed, but he hadn’t and he was here now, with apparently one more secret part of the training program that he had thought was already over.

  “I am Captain Nuomo,” the Protovic said with his bioluminescent skin making his purple uniform change color in spots along his neck and hands where it cast light upon it. “I have served as a Captain in the Protovic navy for 7,920 years, and this is my 98th Captains Mint as a Guide. You don’t know what’s going on, and you’re not supposed to any more than I did when I sat in your position, but I can tell you this. Every single Captain since before the end of the V’kit’no’sat War has gone through this very same process to learn one final lesson before being entrusted with command. It is a rite of passage, and something that binds all of us together no matter what race or faction we serve in. With that said, let us begin.”

  A holographic map of the Zavrex Kingdom appeared in front of Nuomo so that those assembled had to look through it to see him.

  “Zavrex is one Kingdom away from the galactic edge, and it has more uninhabited systems than most. It also has fewer Star Force systems than nearly all the others, making this part of Star Force’s domain wilder than you’re probably use to.”

  The map began to expand, with dots popping up to mark the scattering of inhabited systems, and then those that were actually Star Force owned. There wasn’t much detail that could be seen, just swaths of color covering areas, but when the Kingdom map continued to zoom in so much that the edges disappeared from view as the hologram got too wide, the individual systems started to become visible as if tiny grains of sand.

  Most of that sand was white, meaning it was uninhabited. Very few specs were green, and far fewer blue, which separated them from the other inhabitation. Han got a very good feel for how ‘wild’ this Kingdom was as the map continued to zoom in to the Plucar system, which was also marked white despite the Star Force outpost here, which was due to the fact Star Force wasn’t claiming responsibility, oversight, or ownership. They simply had a little outpost set up here, which most ships passing through this system enroute to elsewhere couldn’t even see, for there were no comm satellites in the system marking Star Force’s presence.

  That also meant no link to the Comm Network and the rest of Star Force, which Han found odd. Why was this place so secret that it would deliberately cut off news from the rest of the empire?

  “As you can see, we are isolated here. Other than this outpost, we are in the middle of nowhere. The only communication we have with our empire is via courier, meaning if we come under attack here we are on our own. The warship that dropped off the last batch of you is already on its way out of the system, meaning we will have zero naval protection shortly. Let that sink in for a moment.”

  Han did. He was Naval, as was everyone else in this room. Yet there was no naval presence here, and without those guns in orbit to protect the base, he suddenly felt very naked…unless.

  He politely raised a hand, not sure if he was expected to stay silent or not.

  “An observation, Captain Tyver? And I use that title because you are now officially a Captain, as are the rest of you. This last mission is not a test, but a lesson,” he said with a tilt of his chin giving the floor to Han.

  “This outpost doesn’t have anti-orbital weaponry, does it?” he guessed.

  “No, it does not. It is a ground defense outpost only with defensive shields able to resist a decent attack from the locals, but not enough to survive a coordinated assault by two of our warships or their equivalents. Is that a concern?”

  “As Paul-024 is famous for saying, naval beats everything. So why have an outpost that can’t at least fight back against a naval attack?”

  “A question that gets to the point of why you are here. You have been brought out here to get you away from the backing of the Empire. To get you out in the open, where you are vulnerable. As Captains you will do your fighting from the bridge of your ships, which are protected behind shields and multiple layers of armor. Yet here you feel far more exposed, because you are. The warship you served on offered far more protection than this outpost does.”

  “Is this a lesson in vulnerability?” another Human asked.

  “Of a sort, Captain Neelso. But more to the point, it is to strip away the normal so you can better see the galaxy as it is. To that end, we are not staying here. This planet’s atmosphere is breathable, though inhospitable to those without sufficient equipment. And we have sufficient equipment, so we’re going on a camping trip. Just us Captains. And we’re leaving now,” Nuomo said, abruptly leaving the dais while the hologram remained active. “Follow me, single file.”

  Han frowned, as did many others, but they did as ordered without any further questions as the Protovic led them out of the amphitheater and back to the hangar, walking past the mechs he’d seen on entry.

  “One for each of you,” he said, pointing at the giant walking machines. “Pick one, get in, and wait for further instructions.”

  “If you say so,” Han said under his breath as he smiled. He’d had limited cross training in the mechs, but he’d always liked how badass they were. They didn’t operate on drone methodology, meaning the mechwarriors usually had to go into the combat themselves with far less protection th
an a warship, but they were far superior to infantry no matter what armor they had.

  He walked over to the leg of a Madcat and touched a small symbol on the pseudometal, holding his fingers there for several seconds, which activated the ladder. Small rungs emerged from the side of the leg as if they were water that quickly solidified into ice, but it was just the same nanite material that Star Force used in many applications across its massive technology catalog.

  Han climbed up the leg and around to the back of the central body, holding on by one hand so he wouldn’t fall off the rungs as he placed the other on another small symbol that triggered a door to melt open where none had appeared before.

  The freshly minted Captain swung up and in, with the door resealing the moment he cleared the aperture. Inside was the spherical forward pod where he would be suspended in the air while his mind linked with the machine if he wanted an in-depth connection, but if not he could drive the thing like a ground vehicle if he wanted using a variety of different control options.

  But inside there were also several canisters of equipment stacked up along the short entry corridor, making it a bit more cramped than normal, but with plenty of arm and leg room in the command pod so he wouldn’t accidentally hit anything if he used an intermediate body motion control system.

  He didn’t know why he was here, but something told him he was both going to like and not like it as he walked into the sunken floor of the pod and activated the comm system so he could receive his next orders.

  2

  “Alright guys, status check,” a female Human voice said, which was odd, because none of the Captains in the 28 person group qualified. Four were female, but not Human.

  Han’s mech was number 9, so he waited for the first 8 to check in then did the same.

  “Nine is green. Who’s asking?”

  “Your mom. 10?”

  “Ten ready.”