Blood on the Stars Read online

  1

  March 19, 154970

  Itaru System (Novunu Region)

  Wendigama

  Director Davis’s dropship landed on one of the upper tiers of the many Star Force pyramids built on the planet as Reclaimer Hamob continued to rework its landscape, but this one, while visually identical to the others, was special.

  He walked out alone, wearing a mostly white uniform with golden embroidery…or at least the appearance of it…on the shoulders and sleeves that were partially covered by a flowing cape that trailed behind him slightly as he walked across the flat surface of the pyramid towards the nearest wall of the next higher tier and the door set within it where a slightly taller man waited for him, and neither were wearing happy expressions.

  “When I sent word, I didn’t mean for you to come here,” Master Trainer Wilson said, his arms crossed over his sculpted chest set beneath a simple black t-shirt.

  Davis stopped walking two steps from him, sending more information with a glance than most people could in hours of talking. “The Neofan Reignor Plausious is gone. The new Reignor is unknown, and has banned all interaction with us. They only communicate through messages and a rare holo.”

  “Killed?”

  “I don’t know, but I led him to this. I felt a change in him, then they eliminated him. It’s happening all over again. The same thing that’s happened for eons across the known universe.”

  “What exactly?” Wilson asked as Davis’s cape swayed in the planet’s light wind as they stood just outside the open doorway with an ample view of the green landscape given their elevated position.

  “The Gahana referenced it before. The pieces are all there, but they never put it together. I didn’t until recently, but it’s what we’ve always known. The lightside are hunted. Not just because of the power we wield. There’s something deeper. An instinct that seeks it out for destruction in many. I haven’t figured out why, but it’s there. It always has been. And the deeper into the lightside you get, the more you are hunted. It’s as if the universe doesn’t want its darkside paradigm disrupted.”

  “Yet it’s accepted in Star Force.”

  “I’m beginning to wonder how much, and how many simply don’t have the power to challenge us. I thought the rejection rate of Varkemma recruits had to do with their culture, but now I think it may be more ubiquitous. If I’m right, we’re going to be destroyed by it.”

  Wilson frowned. “How?”

  “The Reignor said his preborn skill was vision, yet apparently he couldn’t see his betrayal coming. I’ve been rethinking everything, because I seem to have developed the same skill. I’ve been looking for hidden threats, assumptions I’ve made, and it’s been staring me in the face the entire time. I just couldn’t quite process it, because I keep inherently thinking of other people as an altered version of myself. I’ve known of this weakness before, but I can’t operate any other way until I have a pattern of behavior to learn from, because I don’t understand why people are willingly darkside. Confused, twisted, disillusioned…I can imagine someone like be being taken out of alignment in an infinite number of ways, but to choose willingly to be darkside. I can’t comprehend that, and it’s a blind spot for me that I’ve grappled with many times before, and I lose every time. I have to relearn, and right now while it’s fresh in my mind we need to plan.”

  “You keep underestimating how bad people can be?”

  “No. I keep using permutations of me. And I lack something they have. Something sick and twisted inside. Something that is either part of them, or it compels them. I don’t know what. With the lizards it was genetic memory, but this is something more inherent. And it’s because I don’t understand the darkside from within. Only as its enemy.”

  “Why would someone step down from being an Archon?” Wilson noted a previous ongoing conversation they had. “Fear, seduction, cowardice, a lack of will to act? None truly answer why a few with the skillset reject it. It’s almost as if there is something we don’t understand in the universe,” he joked.

  “This pursuit of the lightside is becoming more clear, and we’re in more danger than I thought. We have some time, but the hammer is going to eventually drop and the only way we have a fighting chance is to get out ahead of it.”

  “Does that have something to do with the new uniform?”

  “It does. What’s the latest on the younglings?”

  “Getting worse. Five years old and they’re already my height, and they can’t handle the emotions more than anything. Whatever the trailblazers gave them, it’s a lot to grapple with.”

  “Too much?”

  “Jury’s still out on that. The more I understand it, the more I can help them. But this first class is going to be a rough one all the way through. That’s become quite clear.”

  “What happened?”

  “We’ve had to take a big brother approach. I’ve got some Golden Knights here kicking their ass when needed, and that’s settled them somewhat, but give them someone that’s not stronger than them and they go crazy, as if they’re in a room full of buttons and have to press them all. They are not learning boundaries, and I think it has to do with the aversion to rules in the trailblazers. Show them a line, tell them not to cross it, and it becomes the first thing on their priority list to do. There is no trust, so we’re having to teach them the hard way what not to do. There’s learning going on, but anything new is the same all over again. These kids don’t want to learn, Sean. They’re not Archons, but they have Archon traits. I’m not going to birth the second class unless we get a handle on this.”

  “Some people can’t handle super powers,” Davis said regretfully, for he should have seen this coming. “The V’kit’no’sat knew. They knew all along. That’s why they made the Zen’zat the way they were. It wasn’t hubris. They made them the way they couldn’t make themselves, and now we have all their notes.”

  “Puff?”

  “No. Pol’ake knows some of the Zak’de’ron, but he doesn’t have their accumulated knowledge. Now I do. We intercepted their intergalactic convoy, and now I know why they hid it from the Neofan. They’ve been up to a lot, Wilson. We thought they were stagnant fighting the Hadarak to hold a line and going no further. That was cover. Most of their own people didn’t know, I suspect. They’ve been working on an endgame for their stability problem.”

  “What stability problem?”

  “The same one all darksiders have. They turn on one another. The Era’tran brought the Ter’nat to them, and they saw an opportunity to experiment in a way they couldn’t do with the other V’kit’no’sat races, or themselves. Their societies developed a counter mechanism to the internecine, and it’s apathy. Dial down their senses and they are less interested in fighting each other. They’ve documented this happening over and over again in other races, and they wanted to be able to fully utilize their abilities without having to go through life numbed up. They knew they had a problem and were working through it vicariously, and using the Zen’zat to do it. They continued this with the Voku and Boja. But it only starts there. They have been working on many projects, things they never fully succeeded on, but made progress with, hidden within their own society. They knew they would be hunted, because they were superior, and I can see the lightside threads in them. Twisted, disillusioned, and corrupted, but they are there. In many of them, but not all. It’s not their birth race that does it. It’s something else.”

  “I’ve known that from day one.”

  “My point is, they were corrupted and fighting it in their own way. To create a race that was trustworthy. That was their endgame, and once they achieved it they could unleash themselves on the universe before it destroyed them. But they didn’t make it. They were wiped out three times, and h
ad to restart from scratch. And they weren’t full lightside. I haven’t found any that are, but there are plenty a lot closer sealed up in the Maty. All were taken out, and the Gahana saved the last few, not knowing what else to do other than preserving them. The universe hunts the lightside in all forms. I don’t know why, but it’s becoming more potent to me. This is real, and more of a threat than I ever imagined. It’s something woven into the nature of the universe beyond genetic memory.”

  “And how does that apply here?”

  “Sifting. We were stupid to think genetic memory of the trailblazers would be enough.”

  “It should heavily influence them, and is, just not quite in the way I had expected. Stability must have been a learned trait that can’t be passed on, but we can teach them that in time. They’re just being stubborn about not wanting to learn.”

  “Sav,” Davis said simply, with Wilson raising an eyebrow.

  The Director let him ponder that for a moment, then an epiphany hit him.

  “Too much mental power too early,” he said, with Davis nodding.

  “Restricting physical advancements isn’t enough. Too much computer power for newbs ends up with them mashing the keyboard. And you’re telling me they’re nearly full grown already?”

  “They’ve got another foot or two to go, but as far as Humans are concerned, they’re fully adult bodies…but thankfully their sexuality is less expressed. That trait carried over. We don’t have any libido rage monsters. Lack of use by the trailblazers probably downgraded it, but their aggression is through the roof. They are always spoiling for a fight, and I can’t let any weaker personnel around them or they jump them immediately. Their predator response is insane, and misaligned. They want targets. Need targets. They cannot sit still for the life of them, and only sleep a couple hours a day, and that amount is decreasing gradually unless I really wear them out.”

  “We have to help these 100, but we can’t let the trailblazers reproduce any more. All the old stories always had an advanced individual mating with a normal person, and I think this watered down the advancements enough for them to be feasible.”

  “A limit?” Wilson suspected.

  “That’s my current line of thought. A new birth can’t be in a too advanced body and mind, or they end up going insane, or at least getting twisted. They don’t drive, the genetic memory drives them, and only the strongest willed people can work their way out of that. If we want a basic template, we need a non-warrior with suppressed warrior traits that can unlock. Ter’nat, it turns out, are nearly pacifists. And the Zak’de’ron wanted them for this reason. The Era’tran saw their standouts and noticed their potential, but each of them had to rise above their genetic programming. And here we are trying to rely on it for the Furyans.”

  “Seems rather obvious now that you’re stating it. Why didn’t I see that before?”

  “We capped Canderous at how intense their maturia training could be for the same reason. Now we gave these younglings too much genetic memory because we didn’t know what it would contain. The trailblazers are too damn powerful to reproduce. Unless we really scale it back early, and have their powers unlock when earned.”

  “How do we undo their Sav?”

  “I don’t think we can, unless we cross breed with someone who doesn’t have it.”

  “There goes our pure Furyans,” Wilson said, looking at the ground in disgust. “Guess I’m just up for any challenge and bit off more than they could chew.”

  “Had to be done to generate a baseline. And a very valuable one, if what we’ve found is accurate.”

  “Meaning?”

  “They had corpses saved, in order to preserve their genetic material, from standout individuals within the V’kit’no’sat over their history, plus some others from outside their empire, and now we possess them. We have Ironnsey.”

  Wilson’s eyes widened. “How does that help if he’s more or less Furyan in his advancement?”

  “Because he didn’t become that badass very fast.”

  The larger man rolled his eyes then turned and punched the Yeg’gor wall beside him. “I am so stupid. Rate of advancement will alter the genetic memory, and we birthed slower learners into fast learners’ bodies. No wonder they can’t handle it. The driver is developing slower than the vehicle, so the vehicle is always driving the driver.”

  “Will an apprenticeship help them?”

  “Yes and no. You don’t want to apprentice slow learners to fast ones, so bringing in a trailblazer would be a bad idea for that…but if you want them to learn their bodies and minds, bringing in someone who has mastered them would be a help. I’ve been holding off on that because we are making progress.”

  “Are any of them fast learners?”

  “Nothing near Archon level.”

  “Then we need one of them. They’re the only ones who understand Furyan mechanics, whatever they are now.”

  “And you think melding their genetics with Ironnsey’s will tone down the rate advancement requirements?”

  “No. I’ve been in discussions with the Mastertechs on this already. We think Ironssey is one piece of the puzzle to our desired Clone Army. One tilted to the lightside from the beginning, but not too advanced that it ruins anyone who isn’t Archon material.”

  “How many more pieces do we need?”

  “I don’t know, but thanks to what you’ve done here we have the top piece. However, our top priority has to be these 100 and saving them from their too advanced bodies.”

  “I’m not going to lose them, Sean.”

  “But we need to give them a less impossible path. Or at least a guide. You and I can help, but this is one task that I think only the trailblazers can tackle. No offense.”

  “I don’t agree, except that we need to offer them every advantage we can.”

  “I’d be happy to be proven wrong, but we put them in this situation, and it’s our responsibility to help them find themselves through their genetic memory. Are they getting better or worse?”

  “Mixed bag.”

  “Who do you want to call in?”

  “Oni. They’re all nearly identical, but she has the most grace…and that’s what they badly need. Where she is right now?”

  “In the Deep Core attempting to make contact with the Megaloids…or will be soon. Last update was several were close to breaking through the wall. Once in, we’re going ally hunting.”

  “Are any of them not deep into Hadarak territory?” Wilson asked.

  “Two. Jax and Kent. Both are working as Reclaimers for a group of Bond of Resistance contacts fleeing here. All is not well out there, and they’re seeking refuge here beyond the embassies we’ve allowed for part of their people if the rest are lost. The only way we’re allowing that is if they join Star Force. I didn’t think we’d have any real takers, but they jumped on it. We’ve got 19 advanced races of refuges to integrate into either a combined faction or separate ones.”

  “So they’re busy.”

  “When are they not? By the time we get word to them, they’ll probably have a handle on it. Which do you want?”

  “Kent.”

  “Alright. You handle them until he gets here, then let him figure this out. I need you to help me with the Clones.”

  “Is that just a reference, or are you suggesting a single genetic template?”

  “I don’t know. But now more than ever, I feel that if we don’t get a lightside tilt encoded into the genome of one race that can glue the rest of us together, when we get hit cracks are going to form that we can’t see now. Our lightside aura is carrying others from the outside. When they have to choose in a neutral state, or with a darkside influence, how many will choose the light?”

  “We always knew many would not. You’re saying it’s worse than we thought?”

  “I’m saying those who are among us could turn into the hunters in a monumental backstab when this galaxy is invaded and we’re in a similar situation to where we were after the V’kit’no’sat to
ok Earth. We’ve taken on so many races that can’t stand on their own, and are carrying them. What happens when that carry is temporarily gone?”

  “I can understand new younglings born in that time, but the current members should be more or less stable.”

  “That’s what I thought. The Zak’de’ron datafiles hold a lot of history, and combined with the tidbits I’ve gotten out of the Maty, it appears that if our light doesn’t shine constantly on our neighbors, they will twist and spawn hunters that will come after us. It’s happened so many times it cannot be a coincidence. It appears to be a compulsion, though I cannot locate a source. I can’t even image one, but it’s there. If we don’t develop a backbone to Star Force, all those we are carrying will not be advanced enough in the limited time we have. We have to cheat and skip ahead to the end product, and Ironssey plus the Furyans get us close to it…I think. We need to swap notes, which is why I’m here. There’s too much to discuss with comm lag.”

  “I can tell you right now we’re not in a position to do what you suggest. We need a lot more intermediate experiments first, and if you want their genetics toned down, Ironssey probably isn’t the best place to look. You’re probably trying to include too much into one profile. Opposites don’t meld.”

  “The Mastertechs are suggesting a layered genome, something we only discovered existed in the Maty database, and now we have a lot more data from the Zak’de’ron. We think we can utilize it to create different forms, with transformations between each when unlocked. They start out peons in a very stable, basic genetic memory with several wisps of greatness. If they follow them, they unlock a new higher state, then another and another until we get up to Furyan or whatever the highest level is.”

  “And we can do this?”

  “Not yet. And we have to be careful not to hurt the new births in the process, but we’ve got at least 3 other templates from the Zak’de’ron’s corpse collection that will be useful as intermediaries when blended with Golden Knights, Pages, Commandos, etc. We need to take all of our various assets and blend them into one basic package. And we need to do it yesterday, because the hunters are coming. My vision skill is screaming this now, and I sense it’s always been there just beneath the surface. Now I can feel it. The universe is going to erase us from existence and reset the natural darkside balance. The Neofan are a microcosm of this, but it was enough to open my eyes. And when Paul finishes his work with the Hadarak, we’re going to piss off a lot of them.”