Star Force: Rift Read online

  “What’s their long term plan?”

  “Hard to say. I’m not worried about them in the near future.”

  “Think they’re gonna try and steal our control structure?”

  “They would if they could, as would many others. They’re not getting it though.”

  “Are we sure of that?”

  “We’ve got backups just in case, but I’m pretty sure they can’t figure it out on their own.”

  “Backups?”

  Riley pointed out the fake windows at the herd of Uriti. “We don’t control them anymore, though we can if needed. We’ve made friends. And that’s the best backup available.”

  “So…I hear you’re the only Archon to have ever petted one?”

  “True,” he said with a smile. “First and probably the last. If we ever have to sedate one again, then we’ll have royally screwed up.”

  3

  February 19, 4840

  Yavarris System (Totana Region Capitol)

  Nexchi

  Davis leapt from one pedestal-like box to another, firing a shot from his stun pistol against a floating target sphere that clipped the upper right corner, but it was still enough to count as a hit. He landed awkwardly on the edge of the next pedestal but stuck it, redirecting to his right as he ran across a short bridge to a bit of wall that he then slid behind face up as he shot another target high above his head.

  As soon as he did a flurry of stun shots flew over the wall that was now covering him, forcing him to spin around and crawl another 15 meters before he got out of the trap and into a tube-like slide that sent him down through several twirls before ending in a drop-off into freefall.

  Davis sprayed shots as he fell at the nearby target sphere, managing to get a hit that triggered a force field to form beneath him. He hit feet first then collapsed onto his butt, sliding to the side rather than falling into the disqualification pit, and allowing him to continue on the challenge course. He made it another two minutes before getting tagged on a two inch wide bridge he had to cross, cursing himself for stupidly trying to walk across it rather than crawling as his legs gave way and he fell into another disqualification pit.

  The chamber’s lighting changed to red and a bad tone sounded, then it all reverted to normal as he limped his way to the exit with his right leg still too numb to move. The level 34 Striker hopped on his other leg over to a wall that held shelves with destunning serum and grabbed one of the tiny vials. A quick jab into his leg sent a wash of pins and needles through it, then they too disappeared and he regained full use of his limb.

  Standing normally again, Davis swiped the sweat off his forehead and flicked it to the ground in frustration. He’d gotten farther than he ever had before, but he was an Archon and disliked failing as much as the others. The key to passing these challenges was grinding out the attempts and learning from the failures, as he had been doing on this course for nearly 3 months. But unlike the other Archons, he wasn’t full time. He was also a Monarch, and in addition to that he was the creator and head of the entire Star Force civilization. Archon training was a secondary priority for him, and right now he really wished he had all day to work on this challenge course, but that was time he didn’t have.

  He’d spent two hours training this morning, and even with his Inas psionic that allowed him to work longer and sleep less, he couldn’t devote even half a day to his personal training. Too many things had to be done, and now more than ever since the pause in the V’kit’no’sat war.

  Others would have said this was the perfect opportunity for Davis to squeeze another hour in per day, now that the pressure was off, but he knew otherwise. Two hours was, in fact, pushing it, for he had more to do now than during the war. With limited resources flowing directly into drone replacement, that left what he had to work with small and focused…but now that there wasn’t a territory and resource depletion on the coreward front he literally had so many building opportunities and projects and people to rescue that he hated spending any hours on training.

  As Davis left the Archon sanctum on Nexchi his mind flipped from Archon mode to Monarch, the frustration of the challenge now behind him and a focus on the work he needed to get done. His mind began working the problems as soon as he hit the shower, and by the time he got back to his tower-top office with a view of the tropical ocean beyond he was running logistical numbers on the fly before he even had a chance to telepathically activate his clear desk and bring it alive with holographic data screens of the ongoing expansion into what had previously been The Nexus.

  The map looked like a shotgun had been taken to it, with the weak areas now abandoned or lost as the main Nexus races held onto the systems they valued the most. Gone was their widespread territory that they had once held dominion over, now replaced with a spiderweb of trade routes and the systems along them that were worth protecting.

  The core of The Nexus was still intact, but it was no longer the monolithic power beyond Star Force’s rimward border and many opportunistic races and organizations were going crazy in the power gaps. The Nexus didn’t care any longer what happened in those areas they had all but officially forfeited, focusing on their own survival and not losing more of what they still held, and most of those responsible races left unprotected were screaming for Star Force’s help.

  They had been for centuries, and a lot of the closer ones had been loosely annexed, which Davis was now getting firmed up, but there were many, many others, some all the way out in the Cygnus galactic arm, that were requesting membership, assistance, or even just one of the Archons to help them try and survive.

  And therein was a big problem with the former Nexus civilization. Too many of the smaller races relied on the Grid Point system commerce, and when they were cut off from it their collapse was imminent. Some had already been destroyed, both from invasion and others just from infrastructure collapse. Those in the latter category Davis was now sending out advisory staff to try and help stabilize through wisdom in better using what resources they had. For those races under attack it was another matter entirely, and there was less he could do.

  Now that the war was on pause, part of the defense fleets that had been on the coreward border were now beyond the rim kicking the crap out of little bad guys that had the run of the place, but The Nexus’s former territory was so huge it was literally too much for Star Force to handle…but every planet saved mattered, and Davis knew this was the time to do the most good, not a time to kick back and relax…even if that relaxation came in the form of more Archon training.

  All his Monarchs ran pieces of Star Force for him, tasked with making each piece self-sufficient and while he kept an eye on what they were doing he didn’t micromanage them. He had too much to do, and if they weren’t capable then he wouldn’t have made them Monarchs in the first place. What he was focusing on now was the exports each of those pieces were giving him access to.

  Some of those were going to the border systems on the edge of the Devastation Zone, to strength them for when the war did resume. The bulk of the exports, however, were being fed into growth programs. The Bsidd, Kiritak, Kiritas, and Paladin were getting most of them, which in turn they would reciprocate with after they expanded their own production efforts. It was an investment that had to be made for the future, but it also meant less that could be sent to those in need beyond Star Force’s borders.

  There was no way to save everyone, and the stream of refugees making their way to Star Force territory had increased tenfold since world of the truce with the V’kit’no’sat had spread rimward. Star Force was now the safest place to go, and both Axius and Beacon were using Kiritak labor to help them colonize new worlds fast enough to accommodate the influx of new population…all of which had to go through indoctrination. If they didn’t, and Davis just allowed them directly into the empire, they would destabilize it, bringing with them all their bad habits, war wounds, corrupt cultures…the refugees had to be contained and isolated until they assimilated, and right now those in
doctrination colonizes were being overtaxed.

  Current work orders would correct that shortly now that he had ample resources to divert to them. The Kiritak population was also exploding, or rather being allowed to explode, in order to meet the demand, but they had to be trained and that took time to get the level of expertise Star Force relied upon. Kiritak learned fast, but the more low level Kiritak there were the more they diluted the skill level of the overall workforce.

  The Paladin, however, were born ready to work or fight, but often lacked the high level skills that the Kiritak developed over time. But right now Star Force was in a rush, with a time limit on their respite even if the V’kit’no’sat did not violate the truce…which they might. Davis expected they wouldn’t, but he couldn’t trust in that, which was why Morgan was building up Sol in order to draw the V’kit’no’sat’s attention away from the rest of Star Force like a lure. He fully expected to lose Earth again, but if forcing a fight there could buy a few more years for the rest of the empire then the expenditure would be worth it.

  As for the Paladin, he was about to send out new orders for a massive expansion. Typically they had to build everything themselves, and were damn good at startup operations. They’d been holding together a lot of far flung regions with few resources and personnel that gradually grew over time, allowing Davis to send missions nearly anywhere he wanted to turn the tide in small situations, but that’s not what he needed now. He needed mass, and he needed it now.

  How much to send them was the question, and he’d been running the numbers for the past 5 days. Resources would be flowing out to their prime territory where they did most of their building, but Davis needed something bold from them that would require their unique expertise and a massive population upgrade that could only be obtained in the necessary time by an influx of supplies. If they had to gather their own and slowly expand it wouldn’t work. He needed a line drawn in the sand yesterday…

  Thrawn was on Csilla, the Paladin capitol, when Davis’s lengthy message arrived. Typically he received orders from one of the trailblazers known as the 2s, who had orchestrated the transition from Li’vorkrachnika to Paladin for his race, and he’d never had any direct link to Davis, but apparently the Director of the entire Star Force empire had something to say to him.

  His red eyes glowed with deeper intensity as he summoned up the hologram of the Director in his unique uniform that only he and the Dukes wore along with a map of The Nexus.

  “I have need of your service, Thrawn,” he said simply, much in the way Paul spoke but with a dryer tone. It wasn’t entirely formal, but it carried with it the gravitas of someone who was in command and knew it, allowing him to communicate in whatever manner he liked because his authority was completely unchallenged.

  “We have limited time before the V’kit’no’sat return, and the key to our survival lies in how much of The Nexus we can successfully assimilate. I do not know how the V’kit’no’sat will counter the Uriti, but I do not expect them to come at us in a similar manner once the Sarma expires. They will have a strategy, let alone a weakness of ours to exploit. They will not surrender nor flee, so I expect we will lose more worlds. We must continue to outgrow their destruction, and the key to that lies in sweeping up those races in dire need now and allowing them time to grow and add to our combined strength.”

  “But we cannot get to all of them in time and our foes know this. I want you to send a message to them by traveling far beyond our current borders and establishing a Paladin region where they think they are safe to misbehave. I need a line,” Davis said, drawing on the map via the Ikrid psionic Thrawn knew the Director possessed, “established on the old Nexus border reaching all the way up into Cygnus. I can send you resources at Csilla for you to use here, but you’ll have to make the journey out there on your own. I do not want this to be a startup operation. I need you in force out there now, which is why I am giving you enough supplies to triple your entire population within 10 years.”

  Thrawn didn’t so much as blink when Davis said that, holding perfectly still and drinking in every detail from the map and the Director’s words, but internally his anxiousness exploded. This was far greater a task than he had ever been assigned, either personally or for the Paladin on the whole, and it even exceeded what he and the other Masterminds had been tasked with when part of the Li’vorkrachnika. In fact, the amount of territory Davis was asking him to take and hold, along such a long border, exceeded what the Li’vorkrachnika possessed prior to making contact with Star Force.

  But these worlds would be fresh, not built up over millennia as the Li’vorkrachnika ones had been. Still, this was a monumental task that the Director was directly assigning him…though with some help.

  “Megan will be going with you, but she will be the only non-Paladin. Between the two of you I expect you will find a way to do the improbable, for there are many threats along this corridor that could defeat you in your infancy. You must survive and spread fast. This is not to be a safe operation and I am taking into account your ability to birth functional individuals. This operation is all about speed. We must claim The Nexus’s original ‘western’ border,” Davis said, using the loose term for the spinward side of center, “and hold it. If we can, all those between you and us will think twice about their actions as we close in from two sides.”

  “We have to functionally begin to fill the power vacuum The Nexus is leaving, but we also need to make a statement to the effect that we are taking over and scare opposition into not acting. We can save many lives through intimidation alone, as you well know, and I need you to build that intimidation force. Only the Paladin can expand this fast, and while you are not our strongest faction, in this regard you are superior and I am calling upon your capability now. Megan is heading towards you at present, but I wanted to explain this personally.”

  Davis continued on for nearly three hours, going over a wealth of information that Thrawn absorbed diligently. By the end there was a fire inside of him burning so bright it would have eclipsed his glowing eyes. This was a task worthy of the Bsidd or Calavari, or even the Humans, but Davis was correct. Only the Paladin could expand faster than them and handle the conquest that the Director was ordering.

  And Thrawn had so much experience in conquest, both from his work with Star Force and his personal experiences with the Li’vorkrachnika, combined with the genetic memory they had granted him from millennia of conquest before his birth, that he knew he was uniquely suited to this task and that Davis had correctly pegged him for it.

  Until now Thrawn had been in Star Force’s debt, for saving him and a good amount of his people that had been left to die by the Templar. Not only had they been saved, but they’d been transformed and given a number of vital tasks, but they’d always been junior members of Star Force. That had been enough for Thrawn, who would do anything of merit that they asked, but this was different. This was peerdom that, honestly, he didn’t think he or the Paladin deserved.

  But it was what he had always craved, and if Davis thought they were capable of it he was going to make sure he proved him correct. Davis needed this operation to exist in order to expand Star Force enough in order to survive the second round of the V’kit’no’sat war…and in that Thrawn held the key. Without the Paladin Star Force would not be able to do this, at least not fast enough, meaning the once former enemy of Star Force now held its fate in his claws.

  He could sink Star Force here and now by failing this mission, either accidentally or intentionally, even with a trailblazer accompanying him…but that would not happen and he only thought of it now to fully accept the situation. He was no longer a servant doing what others could do. He held leverage over the Director and even the trailblazers. He held leverage over all of Star Force, for this mission was key to their long term survival, and in that it was a weakness.

  A weakness that, if he had been an enemy, he could have exploited. Always had the trailblazers held the upper hand. Always had they been one step a
head of him. Now their limits were laid bare, and he could see the edge of Star Force’s dominance. He could see where they were weak, and how to destroy them. Davis had laid it out clearly, but even he didn’t see every crack and contingency. He was a genius, but as a master builder…not a destroyer.

  Thrawn was both, and the unstoppable Star Force, finally, was beatable. Had he still been their enemy he would have finally had a way to beat them. Sabotage them here and the V’kit’no’sat would finish what they started. The Li’vorkrachnika would be avenged, having won out in the long run.

  Thrawn absorbed that with a cruel smile on his scaly face. He controlled Star Force’s fate, and the irony was gratuitous.

  Which was why he now had the chance to pay Star Force back for what they’d done for him and the Paladin. He’d take their weakness and armor over it so much that no one would be able to exploit it. He would turn his full power and skills to shoring up this flank so the Monarchs and Archons could work their magic elsewhere.

  Davis was right in contacting him and explaining the situation in detail, for in making him a peer the Director had just made him more powerful…and his loyalty to Star Force was even stronger than his blind devotion to the Li’vorkrachnika had been. He was no threat to Star Force, he was a threat to Star Force’s enemies, and they were about to learn what that truly meant.

  Bottom line, Thrawn and the Paladin had Star Force’s back, literally, and in their soon to be self-imposed exile would enable the empire to expand enough to survive any level of V’kit’no’sat attack…which the Director expected to be far greater after the Sarma ended than before.

  In fact, he expected them to throw everything they had at Star Force.

  4

  February 26, 4840

  Bugali System (Hov Region)

  Torrent