Gateways

  1

  March 19, 158397

  Megatron Prime 12 System (Galactic Core)

  Zatria

  Mak’to’ran stood on the surface of the magnificent world of Zatria, feeling his legs mildly crushed under its 5.6g gravity as he sniffed the air of this biome, sensing a mass of plants and a lesser amount of primitive denizens in the humid breath that he released back through his nostrils contently. Not long before this planet had been barren rock and far less massive, then with the Veloqueen’s help they had moved two more nearby planets into collision paths, with the resulting rubble being forced together using Essence techniques that Star Force still had no idea how to reproduce.

  The end result was a far more massive planet in a system that had many, most with holes in them after being fed upon by various Megaloids. This deep into the Core it was unlikely that such a wealth of planets wouldn’t have been touched by various races needing to eat something more palpable than the energetic soup within stars, but for a proper headquarters a real planet was preferred, so the Veloqueen had assisted in building one, or at least the foundation of what would thereafter be terraformed by the Jedein.

  The horrors that had been wrought on them by some ancient force still angered Mak’to’ran, for it had been far worse than what the V’kit’no’sat had done to the Zak’de’ron in the creation of the Les’i’kron. The Hadarak bore no similarity to their progenitors, nor wielded their massive power in even a mild fashion. That god-like power, however, even in small amounts, was formidable, and it was what gave the Hadarak Wardens the power to create minions, as well as fashion new ones, for the Jedein possessed the power of the lifesprings and could fashion new races at will.

  The biome Mak’to’ran now stood in was the result of their work, at Star Force’s direction. There were no predators here, nor lifeforms that were inclined to kill for food. Everything here was in balance and based off the Elarioni Ariel’s work, but the Jedein had far surpassed her groundbreaking accomplishments, including a world brain to direct it all, safely guarded in the bedrock above the magma layer, as well as protected by a V’kit’no’sat city placed directly above its center.

  But it was already growing too big to be covered by it, and while all the V’kit’no’sat cities larger than an outpost built within the Core were required to also be space travel capable should evacuation be required, the world brain could not be moved. It grew into the planet’s crust as if it were a plant, but in truth it was a Borg-like extension of a person, soon to become larger than most Megaloids, but one that could never move. The person could, if detached, but the mass imbedded into the ground could not.

  It was designed that way by the Jedein after considerable argument with Star Force about putting a person in that eternal prison…until the Jedein said that the world brain would eventually extend itself around the planet and the planet would become its vessel as it drifted through the stars…even possibly one day moving itself via Essence if its orbit decayed, but Star Force had demanded an escape be possible, hence the resulting two part design.

  It was far from that now, barely a hatchling learning its way with no one to teach it how to do what it was designed to do, except for the occasional visits by the Jedein to monitor its progress. That rejuvenated race were treated as gods by most of the Megaloids, and they were the reason the monsters in the Galactic Core were now unified into an amicable alliance whereas before they were constantly warring on, and in some cases feeding on, each other.

  The Veloqueen had organized a truce between most of them, and ironically the Veloqueen were more powerful than the Jedein, as far as combat and Essence use was concerned. They could kill the Jedein easily if they wished, but they’d never do that to their gods. Everyone revered the Jedein, and the combination of them with the Socani called Star Force had reshaped the balance of the Galactic Core despite large sections of it still being under Hadarak infestation.

  This system was a result of that new alliance, with the world brain telepathically marking this planet as off limits to the Megaloids. Some of the other ones were marked technologically, with telepathic transponders indicating they were reserved for the Socani, but the rest had no markings, and as such were available for the Megaloids to feed on when desired.

  Who got to eat what and where was something that was mostly ironed out by the Veloqueen, who acted as sheriffs in the Core after sending a significant portion of their population here. They were adamant about protecting the Jedein, though Mak’to’ran knew they were not helpless. Their bodies were hardened against the elements, even against the depths of a small black hole, but not against higher end technological weapons. Whoever had altered them into Hadarak had done so with combat in mind, and the Yeg’gor was a defense that the Jedein did not possess, nor anything like it, but they could use Essence, and had occasionally been required to when they encountered attacks.

  But not from the Hadarak. As soon as Jedein entered a system they were able to override control of the minions and cause them to stand down. Dealing with Wardens was a bit more difficult, and required discussion, but the Lurkers were beyond reaching. They immediately attacked the Jedein in suicidal fashion, and had neared killed a few of them before the Veloqueen escorts had intervened.

  The only reason the Jedein were not killed instantly was because of their own Essence defenses, some of which were indicative of even greater capabilities, but the Jedein were recently converted from Wardens or newborn, and neither had the Essence use experience of the Veloqueen and the power reserves that afforded them.

  The Lurkers were in a similar position, using Essence far more than the Wardens’ single use recharge capability. At Star Force’s urging, one of the few remaining Lurkers in the galaxy was captured during an attack and restrained rather than killed after most of its Essence was depleted. The Veloqueen kept it suppressed and absorbed its continually weaker attacks as the Jedein examined it telepathically, discovering the kill on sight orders it had regarding the Jedein that were encoded into its basic genome rather than being a recent addition.

  So either there were more Jedein out there, or the people who had subjugated them and turned them into Hadarak feared their return in some fashion.

  That knowledge had led the Veloqueen to begin a search and question expedition amongst the other Megaloids…but none had ever seen the Jedein before, nor anything like them, leaving such questions for other galaxies that none in the alliance could afford now. Reshaping this galaxy and removing the remaining Hadarak still occupied almost all their efforts, for the Jedein were few in number and the ongoing battles were not going to pause until they could travel around to all systems and remake the Hadarak.

  And when they did, it took a great deal of time. Not just in the conversations with the Wardens and their eventually conversion into cocoons that then had to be guarded by Star Force, but the transformation of all the minions into either completely new forms or reformed brains with their instincts rewritten, or in many cases a hybrid of those two options, took years to accomplish for a single system, and Star Force was doing far more Warden catching and transport to the Jedein than they were bringing the Jedein into enemy systems.

  Director Davis had made it clear that the war was not going to stop, nor were they going to contain the Hadarak until all could be converted, but they were also going to save as many as they could as they secured this galaxy…along with the warning that more enemies were coming, and they didn’t have time to corral the Hadarak.

  Not that they could be corralled. They were still launching attacks against the portions of the Grand Border that butted up against their dwindling territory, and Star Force had deliberately not annexed the surrounding regions for that reason. Better to have them assaulting the strongholds than the weaker expansions, with most of the
captured territory being further in towards the core and spreading out along the transit corridors that were long ago solidified with infrastructure and reliable communications lines to the Deep Core where Mak’to’ran and the elite V’kit’no’sat were now stationed.

  Zatria was one of some 713 worlds they possessed here, with many more to be added in the future. Not all had world brains, and not all were created by the Veloqueen, but several were that had to be in specific locations, and Zatria was one of them, for an obvious reason.

  As Mak’to’ran looked up into the sky he saw two stars, one white and one blue, that provided light and heat to this system, knowing that there were three more obscured by the planet. All five stars, however, were in orbit around the supermassive black hole at the system’s center that appeared as a perfectly dark circle in the heavily starry sky that was common in the galactic Core. It appeared that they were suffocating in stars, some close enough and bright enough to be seen as dull pinpricks of light even during daytime here, which lasted 29 hours out of a 34 hour day. And the brief night was never dark, with very little blackness visible between the stars…except where the black hole was.

  There was no matter around it in turmoil to be seen, nor any geysers emitting from the magnetic poles like others. This black hole was simply sitting there quietly as distant stars and planets orbited it, making it the biggest system gravitationally and geographically that Star Force possessed…or rather existed within, for there was so much space here that they could not lock it down. The gravity well was so wide that jumplines could not be blockaded, nor predicted, given the numerous surrounding stars. Anyone could be coming in from anywhere, but the certain section of sky that was slightly less crowded was the direction the intergalactic travelers would come from.

  Fortunately the crowded sky was not nearly as close together as it appeared, with enough void in between the stars for ships to move through, even if they had to weave and bob on approach towards the black hole that was called by some a ‘tether,’ ‘gateway,’ or ‘galactic port.’ Regardless of the names for it, the gravity signature was so massive it could be seen from travelers on approach, and then veered towards as they sought enough gravity to stop their insane momentum that had carried them across the intergalactic void.

  If they tried to brake on one of the smaller stars they would ram into it, for their engines were not strong enough. Only a black hole of sufficient mass could stop them safely, and there was no way to aim for a specific point from another galaxy. Other stars would get in the way, but they could be dodged on approach, making the final jumplines unpredictable…which also meant the threat of collisions.

  The planet Mak’to’ran was on was not safe, and could see an incoming ship hit it if they didn’t detect the gravity silhouette…which was the primary reason the planet needed to be bigger. But a ship floating out there had no such warning, and already since being here there had been 6 cases of Megaloids colliding with incoming travelers, though thankfully no Star Force ships as yet.

  That had to change, and Star Force was already setting up a beacon system that denizens of this galaxy could use to navigate off of, establishing safe zones, but incoming intergalactic travelers often had to spiral around the black hole to slow down enough if they didn’t have sufficient engine power to brake directly against it, and that spiral could plow them into anything that didn’t have a gravity signature for the incoming traveler to pull on or push off of on approach.

  And there were many such travelers. Far more than Mak’to’ran had ever expected. Some were Hadarak continuing to enter this galaxy and not knowing that this Gateway was held by their enemy. They had to be fought and killed unless a Jedein could get to them first, but the randomness of their arrival meant the Jedein could not stay here forever when other Hadarak could be saved in nearby systems. It was the V’kit’no’sat’s job to defend this Gateway against incoming hostiles, along with the help of the Veloqueen who acted as the primary diplomats, for almost all of the travelers were other Megaloids. Those few Socani that came through Star Force would usually intercept and attempt communication with, and most were talkative rather than combative once they saw how many ships the V’kit’no’sat had stationed here.

  Most of those ships were stationed around planets and stars so they wouldn’t be rammed, at least until a contact arrived that needed a personal touch. Eventually Star Force was going to get a beacon system set up on the edge of the Galactic Core that would guide travelers in on specific jumplines, but that was still theoretical as all three races tried to figure out how to build such a thing, for even Azoro did not know how to do it for strangers that would not know their technology.

  The best way was to get to the other galaxy and control that Gateway, but there were many in this galaxy alone that could be used to jump off of and travel to another galaxy…and there they would have many landing options, but a fixed amount. Right now the Hadarak controlled many in this galaxy, and until Star Force gained control of them all they would continue to get reinforcements in from the outside. That was one job Mak’to’ran did not have to deal with. The trailblazers were in charge of taking new ones. The V’kit’no’sat were then charged with holding them.

  And as promised to him long ago, the Deep Core was where the V’kit’no’sat would make their new home…but a home without hatcheries, for it was far too dangerous here. Director Davis had once shown him an old map, one made with ink on paper that showed Terrax from a primitive perspective. And on that map, in the oceans, some areas were labeled ‘There be Monsters here.’

  Davis had told him he wondered if a few V’kit’no’sat hadn’t been left behind to reproduce those monsters in the ocean, though he thought it unlikely. The real reason he had showed Mak’to’ran that old map was because the Deep Core could also be so labeled. And now that he was living here, amongst the Monsters, he could not disagree. Star Force would never own the Deep Core. They would never annex the races here, for they could not. They were too large and too alien, and with the giant black hole in the sky above him now, he knew that within it was an entirely different world he could never enter.

  The best he could do was take his ship down to the surface, but inside it they could not go. Unlike other smaller black holes, the material in this one was so compressed it was described as ‘mud’ rather than ‘water’ by the few Uriti that had traveled here. Some were now in the servitude of the Jedein, by their own choice, but those were amongst the younger ones. The originals had greatly desired to meet the Jedein and learn from them, and the reason the Uriti had not wanted to attack their fellow Hadarak had been made crystal clear. It was their Jedein heritage showing through, for it was the Jedein nature to not war against anyone…which ironically also made them vulnerable to the very powerful predators out there, while they could usually defend themselves against the lesser ones.

  But the Uriti were not Jedein, and they were built for war. Most did not want to give that up, so they had refused alteration by the Jedein in most ways. One that all the Megaloids accepted was a communications alteration, imbedding in them all the telepathic ability and common language that was sorely lacking in this galaxy. One that Star Force could also use through technological means, which meant the Wranglers were pretty much out of a job with the Uriti in the translation department, but the Uriti did not want to lose that connection and requested they remain with them as they worked to assist Star Force in combat where needed, which was mostly the freezing of Hadarak minions and the capture of Warden to be delivered to the Jedein for transformation.

  Whether that was voluntary or not Mak’to’ran had never got a straight answer out of the Jedein, but the alternative was to kill the Wardens, so he wasn’t going to argue the point. Checks had been made to ensure the Jedein were not being controlled, nor were the Uriti or any other Megaloids, though the Uriti still retained their overrides…at least those that served Star Force. The others were confined to the Galactic Core, as were all Megaloids, to avoid inadvertently killing
Socani…and likewise Socani were banned from the Galactic Core except with special permission.

  It was a safety protocol more than anything, just the same as the Axius colonies being segregated by body size so the larger races wouldn’t step on and kill the tiny ones. But the Uriti elected to keep their overrides in exchange for free movement across the entire galaxy, with their Wranglers being with them to stop them if they accidentally put any Socani at risk.

  It was an amicable solution to a very old problem, and the portions of the galaxy that were not Hadarak controlled were seeing peace and order on a magnitude that none living could ever remember existing.

  That said, if you looked close enough, you could always find problems, and Mak’to’ran didn’t expect that would ever change, but here, amongst the Monsters, the V’kit’no’sat were finally arriving at their rightful place in the galaxy. Most Socani were too small to interact with them, and the Megaloids too big. They were caught in the middle, and now the middle is where they would thrive. The Grand Border was the new dividing line where the free Megaloids could not pass, and large chunks of the territory taken from the Hadarak were also becoming no go zones, but those Megaloids confined to the Deep Core were now free to roam vast tracks of the galaxy they had never seen before…and they were no longer hunted by the Socani out of fear of them landing on their planet and exterminating them in a matter of moments.

  Mak’to’ran could see the framework for the future, if it was allowed to take place. Davis’s warnings of attracting threats from other galaxies around this so-called ‘Endgame’ worried him, primarily because no one knew what it was, or more specifically what would trigger it or what mechanism would draw others here. But if they came, then most likely it would be through the Gateways, and this one in particularly saw the most activity from four neighboring galaxies, making it more critical than the other smaller supermassive black holes on this side of the spherical Deep Core.