Star Force: Origin Series Box Set (21-24) Page 38

  “Yes, but it will take a few moments to remove the camouflage.”

  “Do so, then I will approach.”

  “Alright,” Mark said, getting to his feet and grabbing his earpiece from atop the console. He slipped it in and ran out of the training chamber, heading down to the lower levels in the pyramid. “He’s here. Open it up.”

  Down in the command deck, on one of the Star Force work platforms they’d constructed in the gaps between the V’kit’no’sat pedestals, Davis frowned deeply when he heard Mark’s message. “Orbital tracking hasn’t shown anything. How do you know?”

  “He just telepathically told me.”

  “Very well. Where are you?”

  “Heading down.”

  “Do you want me to wait until you’re here?”

  “I’ll be there before he is. Where are the others?”

  “Working on the database a few pads away.”

  “Don’t wait on me.”

  Davis turned to one of the many Star Force techs roaming the work area. “Retract the cover.”

  The man’s face blanched. “Is it here?”

  “So I’m told.”

  He nodded nervously and walked off to a station where he began making contacts within the network of installations that they’d set up within the pyramid, one of which was to the security station guarding the topside entrance that had recently been carved out of the foodstuff factory that set overhead.

  “We have incoming,” the Knight in command told the Star Force security team stationed on the rooftop around the entry corridor. “Retract the roof.”

  “Let’s hope nobody’s watching from space,” the woman next to him said, triggering the snow-covered square plate to separate along the mid seam and gradually scoot off to either side, revealing a deep chasm that part of the pyramid was visible through. Down through the gap the hollow angled off to the left and out of sight where the main entrance to the pyramid sat, given that the Zak’de’ron was too big to enter through the Zen’zat levels.

  After several minutes the cover panels locked into place, fully revealing the exposure as the 50 man security team searched the skies for any sign of the dragon, cloudy as it was. A few heartbeats later a giant red mass burst through the grey clouds and fell down towards them like a meteor. The security team reflexively ducked for cover as the dragon’s wings spread wide and braked its decent less than 200 meters overhead, then it tucked them into the hollows on its back and fell down through the open doors, planting its massive feet on the green/black stone of the pyramid and crawling down through the fairly tight pathway Star Force had cut out for it.

  “Holy shit,” one of the security officers swore nearby the Knight, as many others did around the perimeter checkpoints.

  “Focus people,” he reminded them over the comms. “We have a duty to perform. No one gets in, so keep your eyes on the perimeter and not down in the hole.”

  Paul drove his mongoose over to the main doors with Morgan on his back just as the dragon came down outside and pivoted around to face in. Both Archons’ eyes widened at the spectacle, then as it walked through the giant opening on the pyramid’s exterior the red scales covering it suddenly began to disappear, rolling down its body like a sheet of water until they collapsed into a series of rings on its claw/fingers, revealing a deep grey flesh underneath.

  Its giant head swiveled to look down at the pair, then walked on by without further interest, heading through the huge walkways that now seemed aptly sized towards the command deck where Davis and the others were waiting.

  “Wow,” Morgan commented as its whip-like tail disappeared up around a corner as it scaled a ramp and Paul began to motor after it from a safe distance. “He didn’t even say hi.”

  “I hope Mark knows what he’s doing.”

  “Ditto.”

  Davis stood on the observation platform, some three stories up from the floor of the command deck when the dragon entered, yet still he was below its head height. Without so much as a word it walked around several of the platforms that Star Force had built and went straight towards one of the larger pedestals, the ones reserved for the Oso’lon, in fact. It climbed up over the steep edge with a simple step, then Davis saw three mongooses pulling up behind it as the onsite trailblazers followed it over.

  He made the conservative decision to stay put and let them handle the situation, realizing that even a haphazard step by the beast could crush him…but he did open his comm lines to include all six of the Archons so he could listen in on what was happening.

  Mark got off the back of Greg’s mongoose and ran up the side steps to get on top of the pedestal as the dragon stepped onto the large circle imbedded into the pad and stood in place, distractedly twitching its tail.

  It stayed like that for some time, long enough for all six trailblazers to arrive and mount the pedestal, taking up position amongst the Zen’zat control consoles.

  Jason nudged Mark in the ribs, which he returned in kind.

  “It’s your dragon,” Jason whispered.

  “He’s not exactly the talkative sort,” Mark said, grudgingly accepting the roll of ambassador. “Are you into the system?”

  “It will require a considerable amount of time,” the dragon said, eyes closed and concentrating. “Our access has been removed, therefore I must create a new entry path.”

  “You have a mental interface?”

  “Holographic.”

  “Different ambrosia, different access?” Paul suggested.

  “So he’s hacking in?” Jason asked, just to clarify.

  “Beats me,” Mark said, shrugging.

  “Zen’zat…take your place at the controls,” the dragon said, still not looking at the Humans.

  Morgan responded instantly, stepping up in front of one of the control boards. “What do you need?”

  Suddenly a plethora of images flashed into her mind, then they repeated more slowly, allowing her to work through the operations step by step.

  “Ok,” she said, turning on the console and having a hologram activate in front of her. She used various keystrokes on the luminous creation as well as on the control boards to dig into parts of the database she had never seen before, ultimately coming to a code prompt…at which point a very long and odd code entered her mind. It took her more than five minutes to put it into the system, but when she did suddenly the area around the circles on the pedestal where the dragon was standing filled with holograms, several of which were moving in unusual ways as if…

  “He’s telekinetic,” Paul said in a whisper.

  “Why?” Jason asked.

  “Those are control keys,” he said, pointing up at the holograms forming an arc around the dragon’s head and front torso. “He’s pressing them to interface with the computer systems.”

  “Why are we seeing them?” Taryn asked.

  “Something I did,” Morgan answered as she also continued to enter commands the dragon was mentally feeding her.

  “Do they all have Jedi powers?” Greg asked.

  “Kara said it said we did too,” Mark pointed out. “So my guess would be yes…which explains how they interact with most of their technology.”

  “And here we thought we did everything for them,” Greg said, shaking his head as he watched the dragon whip through command sequences on the holograms far faster than any set of hands could have. “Morgan, is he talking to you?”

  “Quite a bit. I’m having to focus to keep up.”

  “Shutting up,” Greg acquiesced, turning to face Mark. “He can’t understand English, right?”

  “Kara didn’t think so, and he doesn’t appear to be able to pull information from our memories…but he did ransack our computer systems, so I wouldn’t put it past him entirely.”

  “And you said he kicked the crap out of a Nestafar army?”

  “Not looking like this. He was wearing some sort of armor.”

  “He has it on now,” Paul interjected. “Those rings on its feet are the armor. It flew
in wearing it, then took it off at the door.”

  “That’d be cool,” Taryn added. “And I like jewelry anyway.”

  “Is that what he gave Kara?” Jason asked.

  Mark shook his head. “I don’t know. Last she said was it was a lump of crystal giving her weird dreams. They’re doing a thorough analysis on Corneria, but short of cutting off her hand and regrowing it they haven’t found a way to take it off.”

  “I hope she’s not stupid enough to try that?” Taryn asked, eyeing Mark.

  “Don’t look at me, ask him,” he said, deferring to Paul.

  “She won’t,” he said confidently. “She’s thinking about it, but in the end she isn’t going to hack off her own hand.”

  “Saber taboo?” Greg asked.

  “Unless it’s harming her in some way,” Paul added, ignoring the Star Wars jibe.

  “He is here to help, right?” Jason asked, returning the subject to the dragon. “I mean, he’s not going to activate the internal defenses, kill us all, and reclaim the planet for himself?”

  Paul glanced over at the trailblazer. “Do we have internal defenses?”

  “Not that I know of, but who knows what’s in here that we haven’t found. Mark?”

  “I think he just wants the information then will be on his way…besides, he’d already discovered where Earth was from our computer records. Better to invite him here than have him force his way in.”

  “Good point,” Paul said, trying to figure out some pattern to the morphing holograms surrounding the front side of the dragon. “Does he have a name?”

  “Not that Kara knew, no. And he wasn’t talking to anyone else.”

  “Why isn’t she here?” Taryn asked.

  “Because she’s pissed off with him for sticking that jewel on her wrist without permission,” Mark explained. “And the fact that he won’t take it off.”

  “He said it contained genetic knowledge?” Greg asked.

  “Something about that. Kara didn’t completely fill me in on that part.”

  “You could just ask him,” Jason pointed out.

  “Woo,” Morgan exclaimed happily, “yeah baby! We now have core access.”

  “That was fast,” Taryn said, stepping over to Morgan’s console and seeing the familiar holographic structure of the database…along with several new tendrils added.

  “As agreed,” the dragon said, finally turning to face the tiny Zen’zat, “you now have full access. This one will show you how to use it. I require more time for my own purposes, and I do not seek further questions. Take what I have given you and learn from it.”

  With that the dragon’s head twisted back up towards the holograms and a series of new display nodes appeared as it began researching the Les’i’kron and other matters pertaining to the history it had missed out on while sleeping.

  It stayed there for several hours, investigating much more than it had planned. There was a wealth of data stored within the database that post-dated his slumber, including some subsequent reports on the Rit’ko’sor rebellion that continued to be logged up until the communications net had been taken down. Included were several reports of massive Rit’ko’sor fleets that the V’kit’no’sat had not been aware existed, and as such the little vermin had succeeded in catching the other races off guard along the periphery. Wisely they had not tried to claim star systems, but rather simply destroy all that they came across, wiping the V’kit’no’sat from several regions before a counteroffensive could be organized.

  Shortly after that point the net had been severed and the defense station had no further records, but the last few entries pointed to a massive war with nearly even casualties on either side, which truly surprised the Zak’de’ron. His estimates for the V’kit’no’sat reclaiming this region of the galaxy had been overly optimistic, and now he saw that the Rit’ko’sor rebellion might have even caused a forfeiture of the central band.

  If that was the case he had a significant opportunity before him…a pity he hadn’t awoke sooner, but he hadn’t anticipated a rebellion from within weakening the V’kit’no’sat. Frustration at lost time aside, he needed to get the catalyst into position and begin their regrowth. Vengeance was on the distant horizon and the time for slumber was gratefully over.

  Using his rings the dragon downloaded and transmitted a wealth of data off into space where the catalyst lay, then it closed down the system and retreated off the pedestal, ignoring the few questions the Zen’zat asked of it. He walked back to the ramp, gracious enough not to step on their crude structures along the way, and headed back to the exterior entrance.

  With a thought he activated his rings, which spread back out over the dragon’s body in a sea of red plates, fully obscuring his skin and giving him the anti-grav boost he needed to easily climb up the crude tunnel the Zen’zat had dug. When the opening appeared above him he leapt up, wings tucked, and tore through the hole and into the sky, not bothering to look back at the forgotten colony. He headed straight up into space, lingering only long enough to hack into and jam the sensors of the ships and stations in orbit so that his passage would go unnoticed.

  He flew out to high orbit around the planet where he rendezvoused with his exoskeleton. The blue material formed around the red armor and obscured it from sight, then in a flash its gravity drives shot him off to the edge of the star system where the catalyst lay waiting. He merged with it and made a short jump back in to the system’s star, then from there he launched himself and his precious cargo out towards the edge of the galaxy and far away from both the V’kit’no’sat and the rogue Zen’zat.

  A month later Kara was still on Corneria, taking the opportunity to undergo some heavy training while she waited for transit back to Daka along with a host of other pilots. Star Force and the Alliance had decided to heavily reinforce the system rather than abandoning it in light of the new war they were having to fight against the Nestafar. Sales of the Valerie to the enemy had stopped, of course, which meant that the more of the fighter craft they were able to kill the weaker the Nestafar starfighter corps would become…and given that that was their greatest weakness, it was deemed an even greater priority for the Alliance to increase its starfighter acumen, which it would need to counter the formidable Nestafar armies.

  The Calavari had all but elevated the Humans to peer rank in the Alliance to replace the Nestafar, so far as Daka was concerned anyway, and Star Force was ready and willing to step up into the position of co-leadership on the starfighter front…even though they only used aerofighters, but even that was no longer a concern, given the defensive effort they’d mounted against the Nestafar to secure the Alliance base.

  In their allies’ minds the Nestafar had seen they were outmatched and capitulated, leaving the system in favor of a much larger assault later or never to return again. Either way it was a significant victory, despite the betrayal and the losses suffered. No mention of the dragon or the subterranean caverns was ever made, for he had indeed removed it from their memories. Star Force didn’t fill their allies in on the truth, but chose to keep it to themselves. If word did somehow leak back to the V’kit’no’sat that a dragon had been spotted it could hasten their return, and that was something they could not afford to have happen.

  As such, the aerial theatre of this growing war was becoming more and more Star Force’s turf, and Mark had asked for much more in the way of resources and personnel be sent to Daka to spearhead the effort. Kara had chosen to return because of this, knowing that on Daka she could probably do more to help the war effort than anywhere else…at least until Star Force decided to start pushing back against either of their enemies, in which case she’d be among the first to transfer to the front lines.

  While she waited for transit she focused little on flying, taking the opportunity to train with the commando and mech experts in the system and use them to really push her to the limits, as well as to get their critiques and advice on how to advance her skills to the next level. It was during one of her commando
training exercises that involved her dodging tiny bouncy balls that really stung when they hit that she got a glimpse of the ‘gift’ that the dragon had stuck her with.

  Not able to dodge all of the balls and seriously regretting the ones that she let get through, Kara began twisting evasively while trying to catch or deflect the ones she couldn’t miss with her hands rather than let them hit her head or chest. When one came in on her left, headed for about neck level and her body was already moving the wrong way from dodging another, she brought her arm up to block it but didn’t feel the impact sting. Thrown a bit by what must have been a near miss she continued dodging the next few that came in until her eyes went wide with shock as she noticed the large piece of red covering the back of her hand.

  She got hit several times by balls she didn’t block, one of which was particularly painful that caught her on the right cheek, before she deactivated the training scenario with a voice code. No longer having to worry about the tiny little pain inducers, she stared down at her arm, getting a two second examination of the scale-like armor segment before it retracted back into the jewel.

  She held up her arm and stared at the thing, mentally trying to make it come back out but failing.

  “Ok, you just got a lot cooler,” she said as her mind raced through various training methods she could employ to prod the thing. “Now let’s see if I can get you to do that again.”

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