Star Force: Resolution (SF89) (Star Force Origin Series) Read online

  2

  May 2, 3285

  Alamo System

  Warden Station

  Oro-2573 walked off the Star Force personnel ship along with hundreds of other people as it sat docked to the Warden station along with some four other ships. There were no tourists here, nor ambassadors from other empires. All of them were located in other facilities in the system, leaving the titan with high level traveling partners in the form of Archons, Commandos, and a lot of techs that were being added to the station’s complement of secretive staff.

  Beside him were eleven other members of his graduating class, all 2500s, which was very odd. There’d been a recruitment call put out and he’d volunteered, but he didn’t expect to be paired up with so many familiar faces again, let alone three other 7s. Jeen-2572, Hera-2574, and Peter-2576 were only a few meters behind him as they walked across a line on the floor and into zero g, then were grabbed by an IDF field and flown across the stubby umbilical connecting ship to station and landed them gently on the other side. They easily fell back into stride with one another almost as if the millennia they’d spent apart had never happened.

  The sight of 12 titans together drew a lot of curious attention, but most people were polite enough not to inquire and the few that did got the same answer from all of them…they didn’t know why they’d been brought here.

  All of them were wearing their casual Archon uniforms, bone white with a single colored stripe running down either side. Their stripe was gold, but an equally white uniform was waiting for them just inside the station with a pink stripe, and standing next to it was the red/gold/white of a Duke.

  “Welcome,” Pryon said graciously to the arriving titans.

  “Duke,” Oro greeted evenly, then he glanced at the ViLord. “Riley.”

  “Follow me,” the Duke said as he turned and began walking. The Archons fell into line behind him and the fourteen of them made their way through what was obviously a very empty station despite the number of people coming and going. Eventually they came to an armed checkpoint with a ranger and a squad of Commandos visible. They let the group through, then the Duke took them into a dead end hallway where he input a code into a locked door. It opened by sliding into the wall and allowed them all inside through the small opening.

  “A lot of security,” Eaton-2503 commented as mist dropped over them in the long, narrow corridor they were forced to pass through.

  “When several of the civilizations represented in this system have adequate or better stealth technology we have to be careful. Two years ago we stopped a tiny probe from infiltrating this facility because a passing Archon happened to have their Pefbar deployed. Since then we’ve created safe zones where we tightly screen everything passing.”

  “Who’s was it?”

  “The Fajanni. Duke Yetti made them pay for that, but there had been earlier attempts at security breaches and apparently they hadn’t been deterred, so we have to make sure this area remains locked down no matter what.”

  None of the Archons said anything more until they all passed through the misty hallway and got the last of the little robots flushed off them on the far side with a wall of wind that would have made Yasuo proud. When a door slid over the scanning hallway Duke Pryon let out a slow breath.

  “Safe to talk now,” he announced, checking with a nearby tech that gave him a thumbs up indicating that the scan was clear.

  “What’s all the secrecy for?” Oro asked.

  “Up until recently only Nefron was able to give orders to the Uriti. He was our weak link and knowing it the other empires have wanted to get access to him…either to recruit or kill. While this system appears to be tranquil, I can assure you it’s not. Tensions are running high underneath it all and only our leverage is keeping things in order. The Uriti are powerful weapons that we’re not using, but a lot of people don’t like us having that ability and would deny us our controller if they could get access to Nefron, even if it would mean the Uriti would roam free and destroy what they like.”

  “Was?” Hera asked.

  Pryon glanced at Riley.

  “There are now two of us that can control the Uriti. I’m the second, but no one knows that yet. As far as the intergalactic community out there is concerned, Nefron is still our weak link. We’re going to make him redundant, and if they know of our plans they might act to try and stop them, for once many people can control the Uriti they will no longer have the option of mounting a swift strike to take out Nefron if needed. So our work here has to remain secret until we have all of you up and running.”

  “How can you control the Uriti?” Logan-2522 asked with a curious expression on his face.

  Riley looked to his left and a device floated through the air over to him and landed in his hand. He slipped it on over his wrist and snugged up the forearm gauntlet that looked decidedly V’kit’no’sat in its chrome surface and jeweled accessories, one of which glowed yellow as it touched Riley’s skin.

  “With this. You can thank Nefron for the brainstorm. Only Chixzon can control the Uriti, and this makes me look telepathically like a Chixzon as far as the Uriti and the transmitter are concerned. Note the yellow light,” he said, pulling the gauntlet off and tossing it to Oro. “Put it on.”

  The Archon caught and slid it onto his own left arm, seeing the light go red.

  “Red means you’re not compatible. Yellow means you’re close. And green means you’re good to go. I have to modify my own telepathy into a certain range to turn it green thanks to the fact that we’re more developed than the Chixzon in that department. I have let go of a lot and think simply, but in a very specific way that took me a long time to learn to do. Bigger ones can accommodate the alterations necessary, but we didn’t want people having to wear a backpack so we skimmed it down to the point where we do part of the adjusting ourselves and the gauntlet does the rest,” he said, signaling for it back.

  When he got it he slipped it on again and closed his eyes. The yellow light, coming from a small jewel on the surface, eventually turned green. He opened his eyes and looked at the others again. “I have to focus to keep in alignment, meaning that if you’re going to talk to a Uriti you need to be in a safe place. I can’t use Pefbar or any other psionics or it’ll knock me off the mark. Remember this, because you have to basically blind yourself in order to make it work. I can’t do much more than talk to you right now, and even that is a bit of an effort,” he said, letting the light go back to yellow.

  “When you’re green you can connect to the Chixzon transmitter remotely and it will work anywhere on the command ship. This station also has a transmitter, which is one reason why people want to sneak in here. While Nefron highly doubts any of them could rig up their own order-giver,” he said, preemptively throwing the Chixzon a look, “considering the lengths it’s taken us to develop these, we’re not going to take the chance. Transmitters and especially these gauntlets don’t go to anyone else, ever. The transmitters are big and stationary, but these are not. Don’t misplace them. Don’t leave them in an unsecured site. Don’t let them out of your sight, even if you’re in the shower. Wear them in with you and just hold them telekinetically in the air while you wash your arm.”

  A few eyebrows raised, but Riley shook his head in the negative. “I’m not overreacting. Give those guys a shot at one and they may take it. We’ve kept this system from seeing any real fighting by keeping security tight and not giving them an opportunity to strike. Show weakness, even one lapse, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone does. And as we noted, they are trying more subtle methods of learning how we control the Uriti.”

  “So we’re all going to learn to give orders to the Uriti?” Matti-2548 asked.

  “Yes you are,” Pryon continued. “Nefron and Riley aren’t going to stay here forever, and keeping Nefron in an anonymous place is preferable to having him on a known ship. If someone could capture him they could conceivably build all of this again on their own. He wouldn’t help them, but they don’t know th
at and we can’t completely rule out someone’s ability to extract information from him. The V’kit’no’sat, for example, could simply rip the memories out of him. We can’t be sure that others don’t have the same or similar ability, so we need Nefron’s location kept a secret, perhaps not even in this Preserve.”

  “And we all know how second gen,” Riley added, “like to think they can do whatever the trailblazers can do.”

  “Damn straight,” Oro agreed.

  “So you’re going to be my relief,” the ViLord said with a smirk. “The twelve of you are going to get a unique gauntlet that Nefron will tailor to make your telepathic fingerprint look like a Chixzon with all the right access codes. Unless you’re nearly identical you won’t be able to share them no matter how much internal focus you have. This is another reason not to lose them. They’re going to be custom made with no blueprints stored in any database for someone to hack and copy. If you need a replacement, Nefron is going to have to make you another one.”

  “But remember,” Pryon insisted, “without a transmitter these gauntlets will do no good. It’s a two part system. Think of these as the access keys. And once you’re into the system, giving orders to the Uriti is far more complicated than it sounds,” he said, letting Riley explain what only he and Nefron had experienced.

  “It works like a telepathic handshake, not a text message. There’s a bouncing back and forth that is required, so even if you’re on the other side of the star system you’re going to have some lag before an order can be given. The handshake is an extra security precaution the Chixzon made so that if someone monitored the signals and was able to reproduce them they still wouldn’t be able to have a password conversation that the Uriti would accept. There are a lot of layers of security involved so this isn’t something you can learn to do in a day, and fashioning the gauntlet to your personal telepathic signature takes weeks.”

  “What will we be ordering them to do?” Ryan-2547 asked.

  “The twelve of you are going to hold the power to control the Uriti, first and foremost,” the Duke explained. “Who you are will not be advertised, but within Star Force word will get around. You can hide the gauntlets under your sleeves to some extent, but don’t be bashful about them. We assume that eventually your identities might be discovered, but we’re going to make the competition earn that knowledge rather than by trotting you out and introducing you…though Duke Yetti has suggested we do exactly that.”

  Riley shook his head. “We have to let them know there are multiple controllers, but we’ll do it through demonstrations rather than introductions. Two of you will be getting command ships of your own while one of you will be doubling up with me on the Zeus. Eventually, when we have the available resources, there will be twelve command ships with transmitters. We’re going to let them think that only the command ships can send the control signals, but we already have several warships that have been outfitted with a redundant transmitter. Four of you will be going to those and laying low as backups while the rest of you will bounce around from place to place in the Preserve. As we build more facilities there will be more opportunities to hide out and do your thing…which is something else we need to go over,” he said, deferring back to the Duke.

  “There won’t be a lot of work as far as giving actual orders to the Uriti, even when we get the Sety one next year, so what I need from all of you is to assist me and the other two Dukes with running the Preserve. I need you to be ghosts roaming about looking for trouble, designing improvements, and doing your usual Archon thing. You all know each other given that you went through basic training in the same class, so cooperation should come naturally. Right now there are 37 locations within the Preserve that have a public presence, spread over 3 systems. That will eventually rise up to more than 1000 and cover all the Preserve systems aside from the neutral zone.”

  Kacie-2512 whistled. “What exactly are you driving at? Tourism?”

  “That’s a minor benefit, but from what we’ve learned thus far the Uriti minions have a great deal of potential. We’re going to be exploring that in depth on a pair of planets. Weapons demonstrations and other Uriti activities give the observing civilizations something to analyze and study. Embassy facilities allow the various and widely spread races to interact on matters that are not restricted to the Uriti. It may not look like it at first glance but this Preserve is a magnet for attention, and with that attention comes all kinds of leverage and power…power that others want, or want to deny to us. We are doing this for the sake of the Uriti and to protect them as much as to protect people from them, but with their presence comes those who are attracted to the power and danger they represent, so we’re going to channel as much of that into constructive means as we can. And to maintain it all I need your quiet assistance.”

  “What are we planning to use the Uriti for?” Hera asked, suspecting there was more to it than that.

  “Defensive leverage. If we’re the ones keeping them contained to the Preserve, people will think twice before trying to strike against us.”

  “That all?”

  Riley cringed. “We have been discussing other options.”

  “Like blowing stuff up?”

  “Both Nami and Bahamut are too crude to be used in our style of warfare, but it is somewhat possible that we could train them to the point where we could retreat a fleet back to them and dare the enemy to follow. Right now we kind of expect that the Uriti would kill both fleets if we told them to attack, but if we could arrange to have a fallback position of that magnitude it would be worthwhile.”

  “Against the V’kit’no’sat?” Oro wondered.

  “And others, but yeah, that was our thought. We’re not going to put the Uriti into harm’s way in an offensive, but we suspect that if the V’kit’no’sat ever find the Uriti they’re going to mark them for destruction anyway, and if we could fight together it would be a huge advantage.”

  Hera smiled coyly. “Damn you. Always thinking of the good ideas before us.”

  “We need more good ideas,” Pryon added. “Brainstorming improvements is going to be one of your primary tasks. The Uriti control is something you’re primarily going to sit on until a situation calls for action. When we get the Sety Uriti we will have to split up, and Riley is going to stay here while Nefron is going to help insure that it stays sedate during transport. One or more of you will go with him to observe and help if needed while the others stay and, quite frankly, just start learning. We’re all building this Preserve from scratch and having to adapt as challenges present themselves.”

  “Who’s all we?” Eaton asked.

  “Myself, Dukes Yetti and Ander, who handle the diplomatic and tourism side of the Preserve, Riley, and Nefron. Davis chimes in from afar as do some other trailblazers, but this is primarily our show and I’d really appreciate your guys’ help.”

  “I’m in,” Oro said, with the others nodding or offering pithy agreements.

  “Good,” a voice from behind a wall said that was lacking a mental position. A moment later Nefron walked into view, chilling the 12 titans for a moment on reflex. The Chixzon were intimidating to behold, even for those who knew his true origins. “Am I really that ugly?”

  Riley pointed to the halo on his head and Nefron reflexively pulled it off. “Oh…guess there’s no better way to freak out an Archon than to block your mind from view,” he commented. “It’s a mobile relay that allows me to stay in contact with the transmitter on this station or onboard a ship much like your gauntlets will do, except there is no mimicry needed. It also doubles as a telepathic shield in case an infiltrator with powers like our own makes it to me.”

  “How many of those are there here?” Matti asked.

  “We don’t know for sure,” Pryon answered. “At least 17 are telepathic, based on our guestimates, and we truly don’t know what the Knights of Quenar are capable of.”

  “Those we have to be extra careful with,” Riley warned. “Right now they’re working with us as limited a
llies, but their minds don’t register to our telepathy, so don’t ever trust them and always watch your back.”

  3

  December 1, 3286

  Prenthor System (Sety Capitol)

  Qitor

  Nefron stood inside the Uriti chamber looking up at Nedrasil’s mass of red lobes. This one was older than the rest, having been 19th in the production line, and thus was going to probably be harder to control than the others…though to date they hadn’t had any trouble with the pair in the preserve. Right now it was doing good, slumbering while a mass of robotic workers from The Nexus literally tore apart the shell surrounding it and rebuilt it into a mobile pod without ever touching the Uriti.

  The sedative feeds had to be rerouted, but so far the trickle going to it had been enough to sustain its sleep and the work hadn’t aroused it. Right now they were a few days away from completion, so technically Nefron was standing inside the pod as he watched the little machines crawling all over the inside of it to deliver the last parts needed to create a shell within a shell. They were built by The Nexus but operating under his orders, for the last thing the Sety wanted was this Uriti to wake up and threaten the impressively dense infrastructure covering the planet.

  It had been evacuated just in case. A major expense on their part but Star Force was glad for their caution even though Nefron assumed it would be unnecessary. So long as the Uriti wasn’t provoked in some way it shouldn’t wake up, and thus far the machines’ activity hadn’t been sufficient to even elicit a peep in the monitoring statistics that Nefron was getting through his ‘crown’ that also doubled as protection against the telepathic aura that otherwise would have been overwhelming him.

  Due to its age, Nedrasil was also larger than the other two Uriti. It measured only 32 miles in width, but unlike the others it had no legs, wings, or other body parts. It was more or less a roundish mass with dot-like lobes sprouting from it. The Archons had already named it ‘Toad,’ citing it looked like an ugly mushroom, but Nefron wasn’t going to indulge in their names. These Uriti had been around for so long with the same names there was no point in changing them, as well as the fact that it was somewhat disrespectful. He didn’t fault the Archons for it, for they didn’t have the memories he had and could never understand the full significance of what the Uriti were…and had been to the galaxy.