Star Force: Galactic Empire Revealed (Star Force Universe Book 63) Read online

  They were biological machines, so losing them was not important. No crews to worry about. He was just worried that he didn’t know how much resistance they were going to encounter, and because of that he had to err on the high side, meaning it was going to be a while before he could grow a large enough fleet to get the job done.

  But while he did that he considered the possibility of having this system permanently invulnerable to Hadarak attack…and what that would mean for his chances of becoming a much peskier thorn in the enemy’s side than he’d ever hoped for.

  Assuming this thing, which he felt like calling ‘Moby,’ didn’t come out of the star and take a nap on one of his planets. That would be very bad if it did. Hopefully it was content to stay in the star for another 17 years, but regardless, he’d either found a new kind of Hadarak or some of their competition. And to date, no one knew of anything that was on the scale of a Hadarak.

  Unless Star Force had found more of these things during Hugh’s time of isolation here. That was possible, for his last update had been about the Lurkers, but he couldn’t count on it. That was why he had to send the couriers no matter what cost it was to this system. But then again, if the Hadarak wouldn’t show up here, he’d have all the time in the world to replace them.

  Yes, this was looking very, very good now. And if Moby came out and started trouble, that’d be no different than a Hadarak arriving. He’d evacuate and move to another system, as expected, so there was no downside here. Only the potential of a major advantage if he played his Trump card correctly.

  2

  May 3, 128558

  System 62291003 (Hadarak Zone)

  Stellar Orbit

  Mak’to’ran’s fleet was hammering the Tier 6 Hadarak hard on its way back towards the safety of the star when the courier arrived. The Era’tran noted its arrival but otherwise ignored it. They had to do as much damage as they could before the Hadarak disappeared beneath the stellar layers and out of weapons range, and right now they had two massive wounds in it that looked like mere bee stings on the 4,129 mile wide exterior.

  But those bee stings ran deep, already drilled 573 miles and 321 miles inside the penetrated Yeg’gor layer. The inner workings of Hadarak physiology were not soft, by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a far cry from the insane strength of the Yeg’gor, which on this behemoth was 10.4 miles thick on average, though it varied from location to location on the surface.

  Mak’to’ran had chosen the weakest points they could find, then had Legion ships attach and explosively drill into them over and over again as the fleet engaged the massive minion hoards this Warden was capable of unleashing…all of which were now destroyed, leaving the Tier 6 defenseless to long range fire. The V’kit’no’sat had clusters of Mach’nel sitting above each of the two wounds, pouring Tar’vem’jic fire down them continuously to dig deeper, only stopping when another Legion ship was in position and ready to dive inside, braving the grapple fields that they could counteract for a short period of time.

  Send regular ships into the breach and they’d be crushed or torn apart shortly after entering the interior of the Hadarak, for the grapple fields there were far more powerful than outside the Yeg’gor, because you had emitters both in front of you, behind you, and all around overlapping. Legion had been designed to handle that, but getting this far inside a Tier 6 was pushing it. They needed to get to the central brain to kill this thing, otherwise they didn’t have a chance. There was too much body mass to kill through beating it up. A surgical strike was the only way.

  Before the V’kit’no’sat could drill down far enough, the Tier 6 successfully finished its trek in from the 18th planet and back to the star. Rather than running to another system it simply ducked down inside the burning orb where the V’kit’no’sat couldn’t go and began the not so slow process of healing its two wounds. The drilled corridors were only a handful of miles wide, and they would shrink and shrink until sealed over again, perhaps simply through swelling. The Yeg’gor covering wouldn’t return for perhaps years, but the interior material would probably patch over before the Tier 6 chose to leave this star again.

  Mak’to’ran wasn’t displeased. They’d engaged a Tier 6, defeated its minions, and were able to threaten its life enough to cause it to retreat. Without Legion that wouldn’t have been remotely possible, but the new weapon was giving the V’kit’no’sat teeth they’d never had before. They weren’t in a position to kill the Tier 6. There just wasn’t enough travel time to work with before it could get to stellar cover. But this was a momentous achievement never before attempted, and it would help to salve the bruised ego of the fleets that had been savaged by repeated Lurker attacks.

  Legion was ineffective against the Lurkers. They could vaporize the ships before they got a chance to drill inside, and even with large fleets distracting them it wasn’t working. No V’kit’no’sat fleets were hunting the Lurkers, on Mak’to’ran’s order, but when they were attacked they fought…and died. They couldn’t do enough damage with conventional weapons, much as was the story throughout the history of the V’kit’no’sat, and without being able to get Legion to the target, the best they could hope for was to run away.

  There were always survivors, for the V’kit’no’sat under Mak’to’ran’s rule were not as honorably suicidal as they once were. They were interested in the long term victory, and if that meant leaving to come back and win later, then so be it. But the losses the Lurkers were incurring were hurting badly, though not so much in numbers. It was the fact that there was no defense against them, and the Lurkers could strike at will, making it difficult to plan assaults on Wardens when the Lurkers could pop out of nowhere and ambush them.

  Right now Mak’to’ran had 9 different Lurkers being tailed by V’kit’no’sat ships, not to engage, but to monitor and transmit the location of them so they could not surprise another fleet. Yet there were more and more Lurkers coming out of the core, and those that were not yet tagged with a scout ship shadow were doing a lot of damage and allowing the Wardens to break through to key areas…including several that were getting dangerously close to the V’kit’no’sat border.

  This Tier 6 had been on its way there, only 38 jumps away, and Mak’to’ran had just been able to turn it back. How long it would be delayed here was unknown, but had it gotten inside a V’kit’no’sat system it would have smashed any and all planetary defenses by simply running into them. The Tier 6 was twice the size of Terrax’s moon, and simply colliding with a planet, even with slow momentum, would crack that planet apart, given the fact that the Hadarak interior, let alone the Yeg’gor, was much harder than bedrock.

  The fact that Mak’to’ran’s fleet had just turned the thing back was a moment of pride for him and the other V’kit’no’sat here…despite the debris field left behind that was the destroyed or damaged ships from the combat. Most had managed to stay clear of the Tier 6’s grapple fields and tentacles, often with the help of other ships pushing or pulling them away from danger, but the insanely large minion swarms had done the damage. A third of Mak’to’ran’s fleet was lost, with another chunk salvageable but not combat worthy at the moment.

  Still, this was a momentous day, and one that would be remembered in V’kit’no’sat history. They hadn’t killed it, but they’d just turned back the indomitable. Something so large and powerful that no V’kit’no’sat in previous history had even seen, let alone fought, a Tier 6 Hadarak. But Mak’to’ran’s V’kit’no’sat had, and it was the Legion Ysalamir that had made this possible…on the back of the standard fleet that had to fight its way through the minions to deliver Legion to the Hadarak’s surface.

  The method they were using to fight the Tier 6 was tedious, but tenable. Mak’to’ran felt it was a galactic breakthrough until he finally got around to reading the message and data packet the courier had brought. The great swell of pride he had at their hard fought victory evaporated in a sense of awe and dread at the sight of a Zak’de’ron single handedly killing two Had
arak using invisible weaponry that he assumed had to be Essence.

  Legion had seemed to be the power in the galaxy, granted to the V’kit’no’sat by fate after such a long and hard never ending war to protect the galaxy against their random excursions throughout the Core. Now the weapon seemed obsolete, and the reason the Hadarak feared Essence users so much now became clear.

  There were powers in this galaxy beyond the Hadarak, and this one had been hiding unnoticed all this time. The fact that it was a Zak’de’ron was infuriating, but curious. It claimed to have nothing to do with the Zak’de’ron, having been recruited out of them long ago, and it had nothing good to say of its former race. Its size had been enhanced by its master, who was described but not named. It said their race was from beyond this galaxy and they were engaged in a war against the Hadarak there and in many others galactic swirls.

  The claim of being intergalactic would have been absurd to most, but Mak’to’ran believed it. He hadn’t been told everything about the Founders’ secret Temples by Star Force, for they always held information back, but what they’d generously shared told him enough. They were engaged in a massive conflict bigger than both their empires, and while the Hadarak appeared to be fightable, it was clear that their enemies were not. This Essence power, which he knew was partially due to physical size, was radically undefendable. Even the Hadarak’s massive size couldn’t save them from it, and he wondered if this ‘apprentice’ could kill the Tier 6 as quickly…or was there a range limit?

  Mak’to’ran studied the attack records closely, noting that there was a visible destruction of Yeg’gor before the final blow came. Star Force had noted that with range Essence became more costly, which was why the Lurkers could only be engaged from afar. Legion was not built for that, but other Ysalamiri were. Mak’to’ran was waiting for Star Force to finish their war with the Vargemma before going after the Lurkers, because he needed their ranged Ysalamir to do it at the minimum, but their Essence-powered machines intrigued him much more.

  Very little on them had been shared, but the attack on a single Lurker had eventually made its way to him. He cursed whoever these Vargemma were for drawing Star Force away from the real threat, but now he surmised the Vargemma were little more than peons for this inter-galactic race to use as cannon fodder when the time came for the fight to expel the Hadarak from this galaxy, but according to the Apprentice they were far from it. He also claimed the V’kit’no’sat would be destroyed unless they followed his instructions on how to hide and evade, and he wanted to meet with Mak’to’ran to discuss how he would help keep the V’kit’no’sat alive now that they’d proved themselves worthy with Legion and their numerous Hadarak kills.

  But there was also the threat that this mile-long Zak’de’ron would come and find Mak’to’ran if he didn’t make his location known. That was the typical arrogance of their race, and even if this one had broken away to chart another path, it had been born into their culture with their genetic proclivities. And given the power it now yielded, he feared those proclivities would only be enhanced, especially considering what he’d been told of the automated defenses in the Temples and their lethal programming for rule breakers.

  Mak’to’ran didn’t fear Star Force’s superior power, partly because he understood it and knew how to fight it. Even their Essence skills and machines were quantifiable and would fall to the mass fleet combat the V’kit’no’sat were capable of fielding, but a war against Star Force was their past history and he had no wish to fight them again…yet he didn’t fear that fight, or even the possibility that they might lose.

  This Apprentice had such immense power that it could single handedly destroy Hadarak. Mak’to’ran couldn’t tell how much of its Essence charge was used, perhaps most of it, but the end results were clear.

  It was beyond both the V’kit’no’sat and Star Force, and it was intent on speaking to him personally…whether or not it got an invitation.

  Mak’to’ran wasn’t going to run away, but he also wasn’t going to meet it face to face. If it wanted to talk, it could come to him in a place of power so great even it would not be able to survive if it tried to exert its will.

  Mak’to’ran sent the courier back out along with several others with an invitation to the nameless Apprentice to come to Itaru, the V’kit’no’sat capitol, and make his counsel available to Mak’to’ran there…under the gun sights of a system defense fleet greater than any other in this galaxy.

  Simultaneously he sent a courier to Star Force, informing them of the meeting and asking that an Essence-capable representative be sent with all available speed. And if one was not available, someone with Essence and Temple knowledge be sent, for Mak’to’ran feared the co-dominance of the two empires was soon to come to an end as the inter-galactic players began to step forward.

  43 days later and 23,923 lightyears away…

  Grand Admiral Neofenn received Mak’to’ran’s message through the Urrtren link that the V’kit’no’sat had sent out to the main Star Force bases around the perimeter of the Hadarak warzone, and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He’d just gotten the report of the giant being inside a star system the Hadarak curiously would not enter, and now there was this oversized Zak’de’ron that had just killed two Wardens with apparently very little effort. It was claiming to be an Apprentice to an intergalactic race, and Neofenn believed Mak’to’ran was correct when he linked this master to the Founders of the Temple network.

  The Grand Admiral didn’t know that for a fact, and there could be many intergalactic races involved in the greater Hadarak war, but regardless this was a game changer, for good or bad, and the Rammus knew he had to be there when the meeting happened, despite the distance to Itaru. It was a good quarter turn around the galactic swirl, but the location they’d encountered the ‘Apprentice’ was not nearby the Capitol either, so he figured he had a chance to make it there if he left immediately.

  His Mach’nel would take him, but he couldn’t go without a Neo-level Archon. Fortunately he had a few with him, particularly to operate the Materia weapons left behind to defend against any Lurker that tried to interfere with the evacuation efforts. His own Mach’nel did not have such a weapon system onboard, nor did most of them. The Mach’nel couldn’t fit into the Temples, so a large number of them were still here covering the evacuation efforts while the rest were guarding the larger systems against the ongoing Vargemma sneak attacks…but thankfully the trailblazers had kept a few here with Materia weapons for Neofenn to use if needed, otherwise he would have no defense against Lurkers.

  His Mach’nel were not out hunting them, even though the V’kit’no’sat had requested such many times. But with this new super Zak’de’ron in play with Essence skills far beyond anything seen in the Vargemma, having a ship that could at least fire one shot from a Materia with him was prudent, so Neofenn sent word out through the Urrtren to the nearest Star Force outpost to the region where Anders-299311 was heading up the defensive combat operations covering the evacuation ships.

  She could have been given command over the entire Star Force effort, but her naval scores were lower than Neofenn’s and she hadn’t claimed priority when assigned here. Nor had any other Archon, all of which were choosing to operate under the Grand Admiral’s mantle. Her Mach’nel did have a single Materia weapon onboard it, with enough Magicite canisters for 5 shots, thanks to the Uriti. Before their refill capability a single charge was all that a ship could be blessed to carry. Now they had nearly limitless recharges available, for the Uriti were drastically larger than this Apprentice…though his Essence levels had probably risen higher given time and training. Plus the Uriti could only use Essence for donations, as far as Neofenn knew, though now he was wishing they could also use them offensively.

  If they couldn’t, then Star Force was going to be as helpless as the Hadarak to this new player. Neofenn just hoped he was here to help, though the Founders’ idea of ‘help’ involved stepping on those who got in the way, and the Gr
and Admiral didn’t think even a fleet of Avengers could stop this dragon if he could produce Essence shields enough to weather a first strike scenario.

  And the Grand Admiral was heading right for this new potential threat, but Mak’to’ran was right. If they were going to confront this new paradigm shift, it was best if they did so with the backdrop of Itaru’s might, and it was best they did it together, as a united Empire, even if that moniker was more for V’kit’no’sat propaganda efforts than functionally true. Though an outside looking in would see the same races spread out through each, so maybe there was a bit more truth there than Neofenn wanted to admit.

  Regardless, they were allies against the Hadarak, and Mak’to’ran had no one who could even touch Essence, so he badly needed Anders there. And there was no way the Grand Admiral would be sitting on the sidelines for this. The suggested ‘retreat’ would leave the evacuation efforts in question, with the inference being to let the galaxy burn while the V’kit’no’sat hid and survived…and there was no way Star Force was going to do that. He really doubted Mak’to’ran would either. His Era’tran blood ran too deep for such an act of cowardice.

  Still, they needed to hear this over-sized Zak’de’ron out…and hope he didn’t take it badly when they made it clear they intended to fight this war, not run from it, regardless of the outcome.

  Neofenn huffed in self-reflection as his Mach’nel made the interstellar jump out of the Outreach 118 system. Perhaps the two empires were alike, when it came to a fight at least. And both were battle hardened against the Hadarak, and each other. If this Zak’de’ron thought he was going to relocate either empire inside the Temples to hide while the Hadarak killed everyone else, then he was going to be sorely disappointed.