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“What do they look like?”

  “Big and slow quadrupeds with just as many arms. Think elephant and you’ll be close. They can’t match your leg speed, so keep at range and gun them down. They also have two slave races that are much smaller. One isn’t used for combat, the other fights as skirmishers and escorts. They’re quick, but about half your size and biped. It’ll be a different type of combat compared to what you’ve seen on vids of the lizards and Nestafar, but we’ll learn on the go and adapt. You still want in?”

  “If you think I can be of use, then yes.”

  “It won’t be a mission, it’ll be a campaign. I can’t say when you’ll see Star Force space again.”

  “Years?”

  “At minimum.”

  Rio sighed, realizing what this meant. “I’m here to serve the Clan. If you need me, I’m yours.”

  Durango smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Good man. We leave to rendezvous with the jumpship in 10 days. Have you got a custom set of armor yet?”

  “Yes.”

  “Bring it. We’ll have spares, but I hate using generic armor. Never seems to fit just right. I’ll have transfer orders waiting for you by tomorrow at the latest,” Durango said, mixing back into the crowd and off to round up more recruits.

  Rio turned back to the window, but as his eyes fell on the commandos below his mind was elsewhere. This was what he had been wanting all along, he just didn’t think it would come this soon, or in this fashion. The Skarrons were an entirely different enemy, one that Star Force hadn’t fought before…or at least he didn’t think so. He had some database research to do tonight, learn more about the new enemy…and the ally they were going to the aid of.

  It wasn’t until several hours later, when he finally sat down at the computer terminal in his quarters and accessed the restricted files granted to him given his commando status, that he realized just who the Protovic were. He’d known they were part of the Alliance, but he had thought they were a minor player…and they were, compared to the Calavari, Bsidd, Kvash, and Hycre, but he hadn’t even considered the possibility that they were stronger than Star Force.

  They had an estimated population of 5 trillion clustered into a dense set of star systems, slightly less than what Star Force currently inhabited, but so much closer together that they were easier to reinforce. They formed an egg-shaped knot of systems that ran parallel to Star Force territory in Beta Region, with the Hycre and dozens of smaller races’ territories stretched out between.

  Their fleet was estimated to be three times the size of Star Force’s, which explained to Rio why one Clan wasn’t going to be enough. Each of the Clans was now a monstrous empire of its own, but compared to the size of the Protovic they were still tiny. Sending two would provide enough of a force to assist the aliens in defending their territory, but if they were getting hit, and hit hard by the Skarrons, then there wasn’t a lot that Star Force was going to be able to do…unless their presence would tip the scales one way or the other.

  But that didn’t deter Rio. Even if they were smaller, Star Force could give better than they looked numerically. He was both excited and scared to the point his hands were starting to shake…which was when he forced himself to sit back, take a few long breaths, and get his focus. An ally was under attack, and they were going to help them defend their territory. He didn’t need to know the overall tactical situation…they had Archons for that. All he needed was a mission and the means to carry it out, which he would be given at the time.

  Rio didn’t care if it was picking up trash, if it helped his Clan aid the Protovic then it was worth his going. He assumed his training would continue in between missions. Jumpships had training facilities, after all, and there was no way the Archons would be caught dead not able to do their workouts…so they had to have those things covered.

  Durango, whom he’d known about previously, though never having met the Archon, had said there would be plenty of opportunity for ground combat because several planets, or systems, had been attacked by the Skarrons. That meant he’d be fighting on the ground defending Protovic facilities and people? What did they even look like?

  Unfortunately the files didn’t say, for the only pictures were of them in their environment suits. They looked Human, right down to the five digits on their hands, but there was no telling what was underneath that armor…or was it armor? A light version, maybe.

  Rio brought up the analysis of their military strength, seeing several notations for their piloting skill. Their warships were larger and more powerful, though slightly less technologically advanced, with them employing Calavari-designed Valeries both in space and in-atmosphere. Their ground troops were less robust, but what they lacked in vehicular strength they made up for in speed, utilizing a slew of anti-grav tanks that, according to a note in the file, fared poorly against the Nestafar walkers except for when they swarmed them with overwhelming numbers.

  Nothing was mentioned about aquatics, and Rio knew that not all races had them, just as Star Force didn’t have a starfighter division. The Protovic planets, it seemed, were mostly lifeless ones. Barren rocks with breathable atmosphere into which they burrowed underground to build more than half of their infrastructure.

  So would the Clans be fighting underground or on the surface? He wasn’t sure of that, hell, he couldn’t be sure of anything at this point, but if he didn’t start running the data through his head he’d go nuts imagining things.

  Halfway through his research he suddenly remembered that he needed to shoot off a message to Julie, Raven, and Styk, especially if this was the last time he got to talk with them for a few years. Messages could travel via jumpship, he knew, but if they were traveling into another race’s territory, odds were there wasn’t going to be a lot of back and forth comms, meaning any message sent might take months, if not a year to make it from origin to destination.

  All three commandos were current in mainline units. Julie was on Mars, Raven on Ganymede, and Styk on Titan. All were progressing through the trials like Rio was, but so far none of them had seen real combat. They were assigned to defensive/training units that were a mix of veterans and rookies kept here to safeguard Sol along with a few elite units. The rest were out system, either defending Star Force territory or engaging the enemy on one of the two fronts.

  It seemed odd that he was going to see action before them, for their levels were all above his. He was a level 9 commando now, with Julie a 14, Styk a 15, and Raven a 17. If they weren’t ready to fight, then how could he be?

  Different units, different situations, he figured. He was in a Clan, after all, and the Clans had a reputation for being a bit more reckless than the mainline units. But if an Archon had specifically requested him, then that was good enough for Rio. He just wished the others could be out there fighting alongside him.

  But he wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to gloat a little, so he got about the business of recording a vid message for the three of them and sent copies out to each. With luck they might respond before he left the system. If not, then so be it. This was the life of a commando…they went where they were needed and when they were needed, and even though he didn’t fully understand it, Clan Metal Gear needed him out on the frontier fighting an altogether new set of aliens.

  Still grinning from ear to ear, he got the transfer order while he was researching the other races in Zeta Region, confirming what Durango had told him. As of now he was on leave until his designated report date arrived, with instructions on where to go included. Until then, a small side note said, it was best if he transitioned over to a full training routine, for that’s what he would be operating under once onboard the jumpship.

  Rio knew what that meant, and with a few hours still left in the day he exited his quarters and headed for the track to get a couple of extra miles in, for there was going to be a lot of running, sparring, and agility workouts in his future, and he needed to adjust his stamina accordingly away from the ‘easy’ challenge routine that didn’t require
as much of his daily energy.

  A few days of long workouts and some extra ambrosia doses and he would be fine, but he was going to play it safe and take the note’s advice. This was the moment he’d been waiting for, and he was going to make every effort he could to overcome his low ranking and prove himself worthy once again.

  This time, though, the firefights were going to be real…and very unforgiving.

  9

  February 21, 2465

  Krichjan System (Zeta Region)

  Eshwan

  Kip-022 stood onboard his flagship Tassadar as it decelerated against the Protovic planet Eshwan, getting telaris sensor feeds enroute that detailed the position of the ships in orbit before the Warship-class jumpship had a chance to accidentally bump into them. The computer detected several within proximity along their jumpline, but none in direct blockage. Still, it queried the pilot who made a quick change to their approach, using other gravity wells in the system to steer the warship a bit lower than planet center to give them a wider berth.

  Simultaneously that information was transmitted back to the following jumpships via telaris comms, giving them a very brief heads up and allowing them to make the course corrections as well. When the Tassadar finally stopped its massive momentum coming off the system’s central star, it had a good look at the blue/brown planet and all the Protovic ships in orbit on the near side, but nothing from behind…until two other Clan Protoss warships jumped in on different jumplines, forming a rough triangle that, with their current altitude over the planet, allowed them to communicate via line of sight and produce a combined map of the planet’s surface and orbit in a matter of seconds.

  Kip saw that map pop up in front of his command chair, with a scattering of dots coming in behind the Tassadar that made up the rest of his assault fleet. They were making staggered jumps, ensuring that none of the massive jumpships ran into each other upon deceleration, so it was going to take several minutes for them all to arrive.

  Fortunately it looked like the Protovic had reclaimed orbit from the Skarrons, for none of their ships were visible…though he couldn’t say that about the rest of the system. Even with the telaris sensors, which were 3 times as fast as lightspeed, it would take minutes to get feedback from the other planets, and given the range only very large targets would show up, meaning the enemy could still be hiding out there and they might not know it until they dropped in on the newly arrived reinforcements.

  But since the Protovic fleet was here, there was an easy way to find out.

  Kip hit a button on his command chair linked to a preprogrammed comm channel and spoke in the trade language.

  “This is Kip-022, commander of the Star Force fleet arriving in planetary orbit. Per your request we are here to assist with the defensive effort against the Skarron incursion. What is the current status of the system?” he asked as the sensors began mapping out grounded troops on the planetary holo that was becoming more complex by the second as his crews started pulling tighter sensor scans.

  A hologram of a seated Protovic superimposed in front of the planetary diagram, mimicking Kip’s posture, save for the fact that the alien wore his full body suit, making Kip unable to see so much as an inch of skin.

  “Sarnor Tel’nash’gi,” he identified himself, using their fleet commander title. “I am surprised to see you here, but most welcome that you have come. We had thought the Alliance had abandoned us.”

  “I don’t know about the Alliance, but I have a small fleet with ground troops ready to assist,” Kip said as the Star Force warship count passed 30 and continued to rise as more arrived at the planet. “The last report I received said this planet had been overrun?”

  “Not entirely, though we had lost control of orbit. The fleet you see now is mostly comprised of reinforcements we pulled back in from Calavari territory, which we used to drive off the Skarrons, but as far as we can tell they haven’t left the system. We have a few monitoring stations around the star, and they haven’t been seen jumping out.”

  “How many?”

  “50 or 60 ships remain, with two juggernauts amongst them.”

  Kip frowned. “I’m unfamiliar with that vessel.”

  The Protovic motioned to someone off holo. “I’m sending you all the intel we have on the Skarrons. If you have anything to add please do, our knowledge of them is limited. They’ve never ventured this far out from the core before…at least not that I’m aware of.”

  “Thank you. We have some knowledge of them, but have never come into direct contact. Our most coreward territory has a decent boundary zone, and so far they’ve not come too close.”

  “I would warn you to be wary. They are thirsty for conquest,” the Protovic fleet commander said as the information came through, with the Tassadar’s crew immediately sending it to Kip’s command chair. With the telekinetic touch of a button he brought up a secondary hologram beside the Protovic and glanced at the files, with the warship classes having been tagged by his crew a moment ago.

  “Did you engage the juggernauts?” Kip asked, highlighting the largest ship they had. It looked like an old school Star Force command ship, donut shaped, except that this donut had been stomped on repeatedly, with the hull broken and peeled up in numerous spots with extra pylons added, looking somewhat familiar to the Skarrons themselves with their gangly arms.

  The Protovic nodded. “Yes, and destroyed one. They are slow, but are armed with long range weapons. One has to get in close, where their point defenses are weak, and slug it out with them…which their escort ships prevented the defending fleet from doing. My fleet was better equipped, and once we exploited their weakness the other two retreated.”

  “Have you tried to hunt them down?”

  “My priority has been to safeguard our three inhabited worlds…this planet, its moon, and the fourth planet in the system where I have a fifth of my fleet on patrol. If they engage them there we should be able to reposition in time to intercept them, but I don’t have enough ships to stand guard and hunt them down simultaneously. Also, I have no idea of knowing if or when they might receive reinforcements.”

  “We have some experience with hunting down ships. Do you mind if I have a try at it?”

  The Protovic nodded gratefully. “Please do, but it’s the situation on Eshwan that is our primary concern. The Skarrons had already landed their armies by the time I arrived, and our ground defense has been less than adequate. They’ve taken a third of the planet and are pushing for more. Are you able to assist on the ground as well?”

  “Are they only on Eshwan?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll land my troops then go hunting for their fleet. Can you give me a planetary map with priorities highlighted. If they’re getting close to something they shouldn’t be we’ll hit them there, otherwise I’ll land in their backwater and start causing trouble.”

  “I will provide a map, but our primary problem is with their walkers. They have several varieties of enormous size, greater even than those of the Nestafar, that our troops are having difficulty stopping. They’re quite frankly walking straight through our defense lines. They’re slow and heavily armored, almost to the point of immobility…but they have significant anti-air defenses.”

  “Are your warships capable of atmospheric combat?”

  The Protovic shook his head. “Capable yes, but not designed for it. I already tried that tactic, and nearly lost a corvette. They have grapple technology, anti-grav in nature, I believe, and will yank any large targets out of the sky. My ship hit ground before it was able to flee, but only after our Valeries took out several tethers, allowing it to escape. I’ve never seen anything like this weapon before.”

  “We’ve heard rumors, and we’ve brought along some specialty equipment to deal with their walkers. We also have orbital bombardment capability if we can catch them in the open.”

  “So I’ve heard. My own attempts to do so have failed, though we use guided missiles. You use unguided mass?”

 
“Well aimed mass, yes. And we’ve had a lot of practice with it.”

  “What’s your accuracy range?”

  “I can safely land a slug within a radius of 2 kilometers, and probably within 200 meters,” Kip said, using the trade language conversions.

  “Which is only good if we can catch them out in the open, en mass,” the Protovic said with obvious disappointment. “You can’t pinpoint target troops within cities.”

  “No. It’s designed for large, shielded targets mostly.”

  “The Skarrons are using none. They’ve established no bases, and are continuously on the move.”

  “Supply lines?”

  “Convoys that follow the troops. We’ve tried to get at them, but they’re well-guarded. The Skarrons dropped an enormous amount of troops and supplies on planet. With what they’re also capturing from us, we don’t have much hope of waiting them out.”

  “Have they been resupplied yet?”

  “Twice. The second time only a single ship got through. That was four months ago.”

  “What are their primary targets?”

  “They appear to have none. They’re wiping our population out region by region. We’re evacuating what we can, but we estimate over 2 billion have already been killed.”

  Kip closed his eyes and sighed. This was a full planetary assault, and he didn’t have nearly enough troops to fight it back on their own, so the best he could hope for was to do some damage, maybe take out some key Skarron units that would help the Protovic lines hold, or at least delay their collapse. In orbit was another story, and with the combined Star Force/Protovic fleet they had a good chance of keeping any additional Skarron reinforcements from landing…but there was no way of knowing how many more Skarron ships were enroute.

  That meant this was going to get interesting, and he was going to have to play it by ear.

  “Send me all the planetary data you think relevant. I’ll have troops on the ground within a few hours.”