Star Force: Mak'to'ran (5) Read online

  “If we only act when the outcome is certain, then we are cowards,” Mak’to’ran pressed. “The bold venture into unknown territory willingly and seek out challenge. Defeating the Hadarak is the greatest challenge within the galaxy, and if we knowingly accept that where the Zak’de’ron did not, then we will be superior to them in that respect. Not out of ignorance, but by simply making the choice to pursue it to our eventual victory or demise, no matter how many millions of years it may take.”

  “There is much he still does not know,” the Primearch said evenly.

  “Yes,” the Didact agreed. “But I find myself with a tiny glimmer of hope once again. The Hadarak are not immortal. We may not be able to defeat them, but they can die. And if they can die, then it is possible to find a way to make it happen. It is so small of a possibility that I cannot bring myself to pursue it, but I am curious. Why are you so determined?”

  “I have spent most of my life in combat, and my loyalty has never failed. You may think it was loyalty to a lie, but it was not. It was loyalty to a cause. If the Zak’de’ron abandoned that cause then good riddance to them. The cause still exists, and we will pursue it to our victory or destruction. That is what the V’kit’no’sat are. That is our identity. It is my identity, and I will not betray it…nor will I betray any other with the same identity. That is our bond, and I will not abandon it.”

  “Heresy has its advantages,” the Primearch said, referring to Mak’to’ran and the Era’tran. “Their boldness has not been diminished.”

  “And that is what we need. Our goal has become containment and preservation of the empire. That must be accomplished in order to pursue the destruction of the Hadarak. We can focus on the latter while he leads the efforts to search for the means to do the impossible. I believe that is a workable balance for us here. Do you concur?” the Didact asked.

  “Problematic, but workable,” the Primearch mostly agreed. “But I wonder if his zeal will fade with further information.”

  “The greater the challenge, the more dominance is required to overcome it,” Mak’to’ran quipped. “And I seek to continually become more dominant.”

  “So be it,” the Primearch said with finality. “This will not be an easy melding, but it is a path forward where we have had none. The Oso’lon will do our part while preparing for your failure. Preservation of the empire and holding the line is our priority.”

  “Not all need to lead,” Mak’to’ran advised. “I will personally accept this responsibility and cause. If there is a way to defeat the Hadarak, I will find it.”

  “And we will strengthen the V’kit’no’sat so that if you find a solution we will be in a position to enact it,” the Didact concluded as the perch on the third point of the triangle disappeared into the floor and a pedestal smaller, but otherwise identical to what the Oso’lon stood on, appeared. “Take your place, Era’tran.”

  Mak’to’ran huffed agreeably, setting his mind and very core to the quest before him, and walked over to the symbolic place of parity, seeing the symbol for the Era’tran emblazed on top of the cushioned pad when he stepped up onto it and spun around, looking out at the other two across the center of the triangular courtyard.

  “Now,” he said, settling into his place. “Tell me what else I need to know about the true V’kit’no’sat.”

  3

  October 5, 3692

  Jari’mot System (Oso’lon territory)

  Kabot

  It took 3 years of negotiations, updates, revelations, and internal wrangling between Mak’to’ran, the J’gar, and the Oso’lon before they announced that the Oso’lon were joining the J’gar in in the reforged V’kit’no’sat. They were not returning to Itaru, for that region was still not obeying anyone, but they publically joined the Conclave in Vviot, instantly giving it a legitimacy that now rivaled Itaru.

  There were still Oso’lon and J’gar in Itaru, some of which were not totally in allegiance with the rest of their race, but they’d never completely severed themselves. More of a ‘agree to disagree’ situation while their combined fleet was busy holding the Hadarak front. The arrogant in their ranks were still there and helping their brethren carve out a larger and larger chunk of the most populous region within the old empire, but now that both the J’gar and Oso’lon civilizations had joined Mak’to’ran’s alliance there was suddenly a split into which everyone else immediately fell.

  Those suspicious of the J’gar and Oso’lon went separate ways. Some trusted Mak’to’ran and accepted his leadership so long as the Oso’lon and J’gar didn’t supersede him, while others saw the joining of those two races as an admission of combined guilt, which drove them towards Itaru. None of the worlds already in Mak’to’ran’s alliance left, but many in the Non-Aligned Confederation abandoned their neutrality and loosely aligned with Itaru out of fear of being overpowered by Mak’to’ran’s now dominant forces.

  The rest of the NAC remained independent while pieces started cautiously talking with Mak’to’ran...while keeping their distance from the Oso’lon and J’gar. They demanded an explanation as to the source of the Terraxis treason and Mak’to’ran answered honestly that he did not know, then cited that the only way to figure out who the traitors were was to draw them out by forcing their hand. If they wanted to destroy the V’kit’no’sat then a reforging of the empire was something they couldn’t let occur, so Mak’to’ran was going to put the pieces back together while waiting for them to strike. If the J’gar or the Oso’lon were at fault, it would be easier to identify the traitors when they took new actions against the V’kit’no’sat rather than trying to investigate a past buried so well many doubted that the continued eradication of Star Force would ever produce the answers they sought.

  A decent portion of the NAC accepted his plan and rejoined what was now considered by many to be the legitimate empire, while the bulk of the NAC held off and negotiated with Mak’to’ran terms for them to stay independent and neutral while Itaru was becoming actively hostile and territorial. Several small worlds in their region that chose to join the V’kit’no’sat were assaulted and Mak’to’ran had to face off against the Itaru faction for the first time…and they weren’t using stun weapons.

  It was the beginning of a very bloody and, he feared, long war…but he could not and would not abandon the loyal systems no matter where they lay within the galaxy. So fight they would.

  As that was ramping up the integration and elevation of the Era’tran continued. Mak’to’ran now had enough senior military commanders that he could trust to follow orders and skilled enough to not require his direct oversight, so as the fight with Itaru began in a handful of systems in or near their claimed territory, Mak’to’ran was bouncing around the former empire’s territory and stitching back together more and more pieces of it while the rest of the Era’tran began to take over the leadership triad duties from him.

  That was why Hamob was now arriving on Kabot along with many other high level Era’tran and a small defense fleet. Normally the Oso’lon defended this system in their entirety, but with so many key Era’tran being gathered together in the same place concessions had been made. The J’gar likewise had a small defense fleet here, but the bulk of the ships and population remained Oso’lon.

  As Hamob walked along with a handful of other Era’tran across the bridge into the Sanctum he marveled at the serenity and quiet importance of a place he had never knew existed prior to Mak’to’ran’s summons and subsequent report. Much had been hidden from the Era’tran that was now being revealed, prompting him and others to come here and deal with it directly while Mak’to’ran continued to be the symbol of the reforging and out doing visible things to further it. Meanwhile Hamob would remain on Kabot indefinitely as he negotiated, conferred, and learned from his Oso’lon and J’gar counterparts.

  The Oso’lon and J’gar had been hiding much from them, and based on what Mak’to’ran had already told him there was a leadership vacuum that had been covered up for a long time. That would
have to be replaced with action, and he honestly didn’t know how the Oso’lon and J’gar were going to respond to him. He’d had extensive contact with both races, but this hidden inner core to the V’kit’no’sat was something else entirely. Hamob wasn’t sure what he’d find, but he was going to discover the nature of it today.

  When he got across the bridge to the artificial island there were already dozens of others present, gathered in clumps at various locations, but Mak’to’ran had told him to go to the center courtyard and report to Min’gar, who was acting as Mak’to’ran’s second and defacto ambassador from the Era’tran. Hamob found him and two others mingling with a pair of Oso’lon when he entered, then spotted a J’gar on the other side when vision allowed, for this entire area was covered in psionic dampening fields that limited his abilities considerably.

  “This is the one I spoke of,” Min’gar said when he saw Hamob approach. “I think you will be surprised by our progress.”

  “That remains to be seen,” one of the Oso’lon said as he looked down at Hamob with his tiny, high head. “What secrets of the Zak’de’ron have you uncovered that you believe we have not?”

  Confrontational already, it seemed. This was not going to be pleasant, but it had to be done. The Era’tran had to come forward with what they’d learned and put the Oso’lon and J’gar in less of a dominant position…but he doubted they were going to take the news well.

  “Much,” Hamob said neutrally as he walked up next to his kin and triggered an arm gauntlet to produce a hologram between them and the Oso’lon detailing the list of secrets he’d kept safely confined to himself and a few select others.

  Two years later…

  The Timrit System was a mess. What has used to be four planets were now two and the pieces of the others scattered in erratic orbits around an average yellow star that had a fleet of J’gar ships guarding it. There was no local population. Not on the planets, not in any space stations, nothing but the warships and a scattering of remote sensors placed in innocuous places around the system that linked in to the Urrtren.

  The two planets were lifeless and cratered, but had once been lush with life and home to a Lir’nen colony before the Zak’de’ron were overthrown. In the aftermath the colony had been lost along with other territory as the Hadarak took advantage of the V’kit’no’sat’s internecine and pushed out against their severely weakened fleets. This system hadn’t been hit by them previously, rather one of those that had been skipped over in the masses of star systems in near the core of the galaxy, but ever since that renewed push Timrit had been a highway for the Hadarak. No one knew why, but it was one of their major jumpline connections to the nearby region that sat on the front of inhabited and heavily fortified systems the V’kit’no’sat owned and operated while keeping their population sparse.

  The fleet here was meant to scare off any Hadarak trying to move beyond, and if necessary fight them here rather than over an inhabited world. Long ago the pair of destroyed planets had been victimized by the Hadarak, but had it not been for cleaning efforts the system would have seen the remains of numerous Hadarak and hundreds of thousands of V’kit’no’sat warships from past skirmishes. It was not believed that the Hadarak could communicate across the stars other than via courier, and it was from monitoring their movements and history that it had been concluded that they operated on probes.

  Every so often combat would be initiated to probe for weaknesses, and to do that a Hadarak would move out into contested territory. If they encountered enough resistance they would retreat. Too little and they’d win, settling down and claiming the system. But if there was no one to fight they would simply move through to other regions, so fleets like this one were put here to stop their progress, either by winning or losing fights, and to plug holes on the front to keep the Hadarak bottled up to predictable jumplines…otherwise, with so many stars in the galaxy, they’d never be able to contain them.

  When the Hadarak came there was plenty of warning, for its jump was at such a slow speed the V’kit’no’sat sensor stations that were sending out constant beams along the popular jumplines could get reflective bounces hours in advance before they thinned out so much to be useless. As soon as Hadarak was detected on approach the J’gar fleet reported it through the Urrtren and moved to the jumpline to wait for it, knowing that they had to hit hard and fast before it had a chance to recover. Slinging its mass from star to star took a great effort, and even though it wouldn’t mind smashing into the star at slow speeds it couldn’t survive a high velocity impact.

  They also needed to provoke it into coming after them rather than submerging into the star, so having their ships at the jumppoint was strategic for multiple reasons. The J’gar commander knew they were in for a nasty fight, even if they’d had twice the number of ships they currently had, but it wasn’t until the Hadarak arrived did they know that this was no normal probe. The Hadarak in question was large…far larger than the small ones that normally did the probing, measuring larger than a Mach’nel and massing so much it was literally a small planet 429 miles in diameter around the center, but this one was elongated an additional third and an easy silhouette to recognize.

  The V’kit’no’sat computers tagged it as one they had encountered before, cataloged as #729, and one not seen since the Rit’ko’sor rebellion. It was a tier 3 Hadarak and more than a match for the J’gar fleet, but they were going to have to hit it hard enough to make it stop here. Retreating would only allow it to move on to another system, so a bloody deed was going to have to be done this day, and the J’gar commander was cursing the current state of the empire for leaving them with so few ships, most of which were going to have to go to their deaths just to buy time.

  When the Hadarak slowed it came under immediate fire by the combined fleet, but it did not stop. It moved straight through them down into the outer layer of the star as if they were inconsequential. That was odd, but the J’gar commander soon realized the truth of the matter as the jumpline sensors, now clear of the mass of the Hadarak, were detecting another mass approaching a few minutes out.

  That meant there were two Hadarak entering the system, meaning this was not a probe or a search for resources. They only traveled in pairs with a purpose, so the J’gar commander immediately ordered his fleet to back off. They couldn’t put up enough resistance on their own to force the Hadarak to plant themselves here, so any meaningful fight would require reinforcements…and many of them. He ordered a strafing barrage on the second Hadarak as it passed them by, intent on putting a few scratches into it while they could before it could unfurl and come after them, but he soon reversed that order and initiated an immediate retreat from the system.

  For there was yet another mass on the jumpline behind the second, meaning there were now three Hadarak entering the system…at least.

  This wasn’t a probe or a colonization attempt. This was a full blown invasion, and when the remote sensors finally reported in the final numbers it was not three, nor four Hadarak, but five. They all dipped into the star for a quick recharge, then encountering no resistance they moved on, jumping out again in sequence and braking the front the V’kit’no’sat had held for millennia without having to fire a single shot.

  4

  January 21, 3695

  Artos System (Brat’mar Regional Capitol)

  Stellar Orbit

  Mak’to’ran had just entered the system enroute to meet with the largest chunk of independent Brat’mar in the NAC for discussions involving their eventual return to the V’kit’no’sat when the warning came through the Urrtren.

  The Hadarak front had been breached, and not one, but five were past the monitoring line heading who knew where. Four tier 1s and a tier 3…with the tier 3 being one he had personally fought against and driven off in the past.

  And drive them off was about all they could do, for killing a Hadarak was almost impossible. They would take heavy damage before retreating down into a star or making a slow jump to another system, de
nying the V’kit’no’sat the kill in almost all situations. Then they’d heal up and come back years later, as this one was now, though it was measuring an additional 42 miles in diameter since the last time Mak’to’ran had fought it.

  Reading through the information his anger snapped, as did his tail, with it crushing the console behind and to his left on the command deck with a Zen’zat scurrying out of the way just in time to miss being hit. The Era’tran tipped his head back and bellowed a long high-pitched reverberation of a roar that had the Zen’zat covering their ears as Mak’to’ran let loose the emotions surging forth within.

  This was the cost of the arrogant. They had weakened the V’kit’no’sat with their internecine to the point that the Hadarak had sensed a change. 5 in one group was no accident. They were here to push and push hard, and Mak’to’ran doubted they would be the only ones. When word spread amongst them more would come and hit different locations, starting a wave of attacks that even the unified V’kit’no’sat would not be able to hold at the line of containment. Breaches would occur and planets would be lost before they could damage them enough to turn them back…but in their weakened state it was possible that the Hadarak might permanently claim territory.

  If that happened, their boldness would grow beyond measure and they’d start coming out of the core by the thousands. This could be the beginning of the end, and all due to the incompetent fools that didn’t deserve the name of V’kit’no’sat.

  Mak’to’ran had no more time. They had to push back and push back hard now, and that meant stripping fleets from strongholds across his territory. If the arrogant attacked them once that happened…

  But Mak’to’ran had no choice. He had to bring the full might of his reforged V’kit’no’sat to bear…but he wasn’t going to abandon the loyal worlds currently under assault by Itaru. Those fleets he’d sent to defend/rescue them would not be pulled off their mission, but every other major fleet was going to be called in to the front immediately.