Star Force: Mak'to'ran (1) Page 10

  Hamob met him at the inner doorway with a respectful flick of his head, then walked with him down the incline headed for the secret chamber entrance on the other side of the bowl-shaped room as they spoke.

  “Ripples are forming already in your wake,” the elder Era’tran said approvingly. “Your suggestion of a territory swap was most impressive. It will severely weaken Itaru’s strangulation of the Poquot and put us in a position of power…one that will draw their ire, but there is no violation of protocol in it. We are currently in negotiations as to which worlds to swap, but as suggested we’re going to take our time and get as much leverage out of this as we can.”

  “There is another matter that I promised not to transmit involving the I’rar’et.”

  “Oh? I wondered why you’d returned so soon with the logistics we’d provided you.”

  “I met with several I’rar’et onboard my ship so we could talk in private, at their request. It seems there was a disagreement on how to deal with my arrival. Some wished to honor free transit, others wished to capture me per Itaru’s orders. A much smaller group wanted me killed, and when they did not get the response they wanted they instead turned on their fellow I’rar’et, killing some in their sleep. The traitors were eliminated in a short lived fight, but 148 were killed, 39 of which were unrevivable. The brazen violence has shaken them thoroughly.”

  Hamob stopped walking just prior to the entrance as it manifested and looked to his right at Mak’to’ran.

  “Killed?”

  “Yes.”

  “That is bold…and borderline insanity.”

  “I get the feeling that we stand on the verge of triggering a cascade of bloodshed, but cannot see a way to prevent it. Condoning it will only embolden this collective into more affronts.”

  “When I sent you out,” Hamob said, walking into the secret entrance and ahead of Mak’to’ran, “I expected to probe a reaction, but I did not expect anything so volatile. Any violence would be directed at you, and as long as you stayed ahead of it you would draw the honorable out of their shells hearing of your defiance of Itaru. For the I’rar’et to strike each other is disturbing indeed. You wish to confirm your next movements then?”

  “I have not yet looked. I need to know more of this foe we face before I walk into a trap ill-prepared.”

  “I do not know the full extent of it. Among other purposes I intend to use you to draw them out in various races.”

  “I can handle being bait so long as I know enough to avoid getting caught. How close are we to triggering a war? How much can I press in these negotiations without causing an immediate backlash?”

  “You cannot control that, so do not concern yourself with it. You are to be a symbol of how the V’kit’no’sat should be. Do not concern yourself with Itaru or stifling the insanity of others. Remind those who see and hear of you what they are supposed to be…short of becoming a martyr. We need you alive and out of Itaru’s reach to be effective.”

  “So you intend for me to incite?”

  “With the arrogant the truth does that on its own. We cannot stifle it to appease them.”

  “Are we ready to handle what may come?”

  “Look,” Hamob said as they entered and the holographic map appeared, this time with updates. Thousands of stars were highlighted in a brilliant green glow that had not been there previously. “These are systems that have made contact with us since your refusal to return to Itaru, all through back channels. We are engaging with malcontents and in some cases the leadership that wishes to secure their holdings to prevent the arrogant from gaining dominance within their systems, or in a few cases their entire race. More will come as you travel and incite. Do not worry about repercussions. We are set up well to deal with them.”

  “What of the others. If this collective ideology is this insane they may well destroy what they cannot control at debilitating levels.”

  “We cannot stop that, but if we do nothing the arrogant grow stronger as they quietly eliminate their opposition. You are forcing them to move publically, and the backlash from the subdued loyal V’kit’no’sat will not be small.”

  “I fear this coming to a head within a year or two. If I understand you correctly, we are making a longer term play?”

  “We may not have that luxury. The reports of fleets returning from the Hadarak front are escalating. No one is fully pulling out, but they are siphoning off strength. They are fearful of an immediate conflict stemming from Terraxis.”

  “And you are not?”

  “It concerns me greatly, but I do believe we caught them before they were ready. Observe,” Hamob said, bringing up surveillance holograms that showed Mak’to’ran a great number of unidentified ships.

  “Where is this?”

  “The Star Force Uriti Preserve. Our scouts have reported back. They did not have to engage the altered Hadarak and did not cross paths with other V’kit’no’sat, but there was a small fight from the defending ships and we lost one of our own.”

  Mak’to’ran watched the battle records as they showed familiar Star Force ships chasing and engaging the fleeing Era’tran scout ships. There were six of them, all Domjo-class and outfitted for speed, and Star Force was only able to engage by prepositioning a massive amount of drones, some of which had IDF technology. One of them was caught with his gravity drives disabled and the other five circled back to defend it, forcing a quick fight the Domjos were winning until an unidentified ship appeared out of nowhere and tore into one of the Era’tran vessels with surprising ease.

  The other five fought their way free while managing to damage the larger unidentified vessel, but the crippled Domjo had to be abandoned. Fortunately for any surviving crew they did not have to suffer through capture and interrogation, for the unidentified vessel mercilessly pounded the Domjo until it was completely destroyed as the surviving scouts watched from afar as they fled to the jump point and left the system.

  “Who are they?”

  “We don’t know, but there are many other unidentified vessels within the Preserve. Curiously though, they are only located in a single system. It seems it functions as some sort of embassy and these Uriti are the focal point. How advanced each race is we do not know, but our inability to detect this vessel prior to its revealing is disturbing in and of itself. We also cannot fully categorize the weaponry they used against us, while all Star Force weapons are weaker versions of our own technology.”

  “They are recruiting allies?”

  “I believe so.”

  “To what end? Destroy the V’kit’no’sat and the Hadarak roam free. If they can control the Hadarak then they can use them to destroy us.”

  “Perhaps they can only create controllable Hadarak, not enslave those already in existence.”

  “I sense that is more than a guess.”

  “We have gained a large amount of intelligence from this scouting mission. The loss of the ship is unsettling, but they accomplished their mission. These are not Hadarak as we know them. They have been significantly altered. Without combat to determine the extent of which we cannot know their full power, but observed firing runs and maneuvers indicate larger, single purpose weaponry sometimes unique to a single Uriti.”

  “Prototypes?”

  “It would seem so. There is no visible replication.”

  “How many systems were they able to surveil?”

  “Most. The Uriti are kept together in a traveling group that moves around the Preserve while the embassy remains in a single position that the Uriti return to periodically. Our unknown attacker seems to go beyond that system, and with that advanced of a stealth shield they probably can go where they like without Star Force even knowing about it.”

  “Is it possible that we are not looking at a V’kit’no’sat plot?”

  Hamob inclined his head slightly.

  “That possibility has been discussed, but if Star Force is being led by an outsider then it begs the question of how they got access to our knowledge. Hacking th
e Oso’lon, J’gar, or Zak’de’ron coding would mean they are more advanced than us…and if they can rework Zen’zat genetics they are on the level of the Zak’de’ron or beyond.”

  “I would rather face that threat as a united empire than fight a civil war.”

  “I agree, but the actions of the arrogant suggest otherwise. Recruiting outsiders to tip the scales in lieu of population the sponsor does not have is clever, but I still question the strength of these allies and why we have never heard of them prior to this. The Outer Rim is vast, but word of such strength tends to be hard to contain.”

  “Perhaps Itaru has stopped listening.”

  “I fear you are right.”

  “Have you shared this reconnaissance?”

  “Not yet, but as true V’kit’no’sat we are going to inform our brothers of it. We will not hoard the knowledge of threats to the empire…nor will we allow it to be repressed, and it begs the question of why we have never been informed of any of these races. Combined with the presence of Star Force, has Itaru become blind to exterior threats or simply afraid to confront them?”

  “Suggesting the possibility of the reduced borders,” Mak’to’ran said, revealing his sharp teeth in a coy smile. “You want me to be the one to release the surveillance.”

  “You are being groomed into the visible alternative to Itaru. How much you operate on your own will be in question, but our backing of you could be seen to be reactive. That lingering doubt will shield us for a time and put prime focus on you. With tensions high already regarding Terraxis, this revelation will gain everyone’s attention…and better it be on you than finding an excuse to attack one another. If they see that someone is taking action where others are not, they will be more likely to assist rather than initiate.”

  “And that could buy the empire more time,” Mak’to’ran said, beginning to see the levels of cunning within Hamob’s strategy.

  “But it puts you in the greatest danger of all.”

  “As I prefer. Where do you want me to release this information from?”

  “It will be released to all with no exception, but who you first release it to will also send a message.”

  “To whom we favor?”

  “To whom we respect for their wisdom and battle prowess. You will go to the H’jarat regional capitol of Yat’ri and address their leadership directly, then subsequently release the information to all through the Urrtren. Itaru will find out when everyone else does.”

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