Maty Read online

  The Era’tran capitol had also become the V’kit’no’sat capitol once Itaru had been taken from them. It was still in Zak’de’ron possession and was being stripped down at present as they prepared to leave, not wanting Mak’to’ran to have anything to claim when he returned there in the coming days for nostalgia sake, but it would not be the V’kit’no’sat capitol again. The trailblazers had their own plans for it, plus, the V’kit’no’sat had been reborn on the Grand Border, and that was their home now. Jamtren may have been off the border, but it was one of many support worlds with tethers leading to it. Itaru was the past, and it too would be reborn in another useful fashion, but not for the V’kit’no’sat. The trailblazers wouldn’t release their plans for it yet, but Mak’to’ran had spoken with Greg-073 about it in person a number of years ago.

  He’s said simply that the V’kit’no’sat would be expanding their territory…but doing so further into the Core. The Grand Border was to stay intact and act as a launching point, and claiming Itaru as a Capitol would put it on the wrong side of the line. The Grand Border would eventually become the center or center/back of V’kit’no’sat territory as the fight moved further and further into the great swirl of stars they were all fighting for.

  That conversation had rid Mak’to’ran of his desire to reclaim and reestablish Itaru to its former state, but he still needed to be there and feel it return to his claws…then to discard it, along with everything else that was Zak’de’ron. The V’kit’no’sat had grown beyond them and their capitol, and even Jamtren would eventually be reduced to a backwater regional capitol, for the V’kit’no’sat’s future was deeper into the densely populated regions of the galaxy where they had never been able to venture before, continually blocked by the seemingly feeble roaming Hadarak patrols of long ago. How the fate of the galaxy had shifted in so few millennia.

  Right now Mak’to’ran was in between strategy sessions and taking a run along the jungle lakeshore in the southern hemisphere where the air was a bit drier and cooler, but the vegetation remained mostly the same. The air on this planet was thick enough to blanket it in enough insulation that there was little seasonal change regardless of planetary axis tilt. And as always the gravity fought to strengthen or crush you into oblivion, but Mak’to’ran barely noticed it now as he strode slowly with long, huge steps that reverberated the ground with each foot strike on the cobblestone path that had been built to keep from making a muddy mess of the lakeside trail.

  The loop around the lake was some 52 miles long, and Mak’to’ran was in the habit of taking a full loop whenever he needed to think, and today was no exception. The day of Star Force’s invasion of the Hadarak Zone was nearing, but when they launched it there could be no hesitation. It was straight to the Galactic Core or die trying, because the pressure the Hadarak imposed could suffer no lapse, and getting the logistical backing for the fleets that were already more or less built was the greater issue…and the further they pressed in and away from the Grand Border the harder it was going to be to resupply.

  They had to get to the Tethers in the very center of the galaxy where the ultra massive gravity wells were strong enough to allow jumps to and from this galaxy. But there was no way they could go straight there, fight through unknown territory, take all the tethers, and then hold them. Whatever force they sent would be cut off from resupply, which was why the counterattack was going to be very complicated. They couldn’t hit every system and move the border inward slowly and expect to be effective. The intergalactic reinforcements had to be stopped, else the carnage would escalate to far too costly measures.

  The Grand Border’s infrastructure was saving them a great deal of that, but once they started to counterattack it would be fleet only, and that was an entirely different way of fighting than the V’kit’no’sat were used to. And that was why the rest of Star Force was going to take the forefront of that assault.

  Mak’to’ran’s memory had nearly come back to full, but there were still an occasional blank regarding his history that he would encounter time to time. He didn’t miss it, nor the past. They were worthy battles and challenges fought and passed. His future lay ahead of him, not behind, but he knew the V’kit’no’sat were not ready…at least not as ready as they should be, for the counter assault. They were going to have to continue growing through the battles, and while that was possible it was not ideal, yet it was what the trailblazers were calling on him and his people for.

  The galaxy couldn’t wait, and the longer the Grand Border held, the higher the likelihood was of the Hadarak finding a way to breach it. And all it would take was one hole for their forces to move through and begin to hit the mass of underdefended worlds behind it…not to mention all the others that were not part of Star Force that couldn’t hope to defeat even the smallest of the Wardens on their best day.

  Mak’to’ran should have had all the time in the world while the Grand Border was built and held, but he never felt like it. He was always rushed with more to do and never a break. He had become accustomed to it, but the addition of his Essence skills made his time even more crunched as he had to train with it regularly in order to increase his abilities. And the same was true of the rest of the Hakja, which he had reformed and personally crafted into the Era’tran’s Essence-equipped specialists.

  The other V’kit’no’sat races had their own versions, but the Era’tran’s was the most advanced and largest…yet still dwarfed by the Varkemma. The armies of Essence-trained troops that Reclaimer Cal-com was sending to the Grand Border to assist with the on-planet combat were massive and terrifying in their power, and Mak’to’ran knew they could eviscerate the Era’tran easily if they wished.

  Star Force’s power in the Rim had far surpassed the V’kit’no’sat, and in the past that would have burdened Mak’to’ran greatly, but now it did not. The V’kit’no’sat had their designated role to play and Mak’to’ran was proud to bear the weight of the Hadarak surge on their shoulders while the rest of the galaxy used the peace they provided to grow and build. The Rim would be the end of the Hadarak, while the V’kit’no’sat would be moving in behind them and securing strategic locations to make sure ground taken would not be lost again.

  And through it all the V’kit’no’sat had their own independent path to follow. A path to greatness if attained, far more than they had currently managed. Essence was such a powerful tool, and the V’kit’no’sat were so new to it that sometimes Mak’to’ran felt like they were children playing in the shadow of the Temple gods, but Greg-073 had let him in on a secret. One that he could not record in any fashion, and it had to do with the trailblazers themselves, most of whom had finally chosen to increase their size to proper Zen’zat standards.

  He never understood why they limited the growth of their psionic tissues while refusing to increase their body size, for Zen’zat were designed to be larger than Ter’nat. The errant Human races spawned by the illicit reproduction did not retain the enhanced size, but did retain the psionics. That error had been carried by the Archons through their history until recently, but Mak’to’ran now knew it had come about not through their choosing.

  Greg had explained the advancement they had undergone, by what methods they did not know, but there was rumor and myth of it happening elsewhere throughout history. The fact that they were now similar to the Zak’de’ron in some biological respects was immensely curious, as was the assumption that the Neofan knew how to force it using some Essence technique before it would happen naturally, thus speeding up their adaption and advancement to dizzying levels.

  That should have made Mak’to’ran feel even more inferior, but Greg explained that the greatest superiority came in the form of the individual of merit, and that everything else was merely equipment, whether it be technological or biological. Star Force was going to exceed the Neofan, if they hadn’t already, and not by forcing upgrades to their race through some mysterious Essence technique. They were better because the people inside their bodies, their Cores, wer
e better. And the better individuals would find a way to win if given a chance.

  And that’s what the V’kit’no’sat’s mandate truly was. To give Star Force the time and chance to grow stronger. And in doing so the V’kit’no’sat had the opportunity to grow from the pressure and challenges before them, in Essence and other fashions, but Mak’to’ran could see now more than before how far they had to go. And it was not going to be an easy journey to get there. Yet unlike the past, they had allies and brothers stronger than them that could shield them in their weakness until they had time to catch up, just as the V’kit’no’sat were doing now by holding the Grand Border for them.

  Teamwork rather than dominance and suppression of rivals. The V’kit’no’sat had already upgraded greatly from their absorption into the Star Force empire, and Mak’to’ran was a living example of irony, for it was his failure to destroy them in their early years that had opened up this future for his people. And that fact he still found humorous to this day.

  The universe did not behave as predicted, and in his recent years he’d drawn a great deal of comfort from that fact. His current situation was better than anything he’d ever dreamed of in Itaru’s days, and when he returned there he would be saying goodbye and good riddance all at once.

  Mak’to’ran continued to run, bypassing another pair of Era’tran going the opposite way on the trail who moved to single file to allow him to pass, for the path wasn’t as wide as a Satu, and if you did not time your steps appropriately you would be hit by the tail swing of the other passing you and be knocked into the lake.

  But that was a challenge for hatchlings, not experienced Era’tran, and the passby occurred without incident, after which Mak’to’ran felt the need to speed up as he was nearing the halfway point in his circuit around the lake.

  He held the increased effort for the better part of half an hour until a flying barge came across the lake in his direction and he received a telepathic contact…for he was wearing no armor or comm gear while he ran, intentionally, to give his mind a chance to disconnect and free think as he did his running.

  Mak’to’ran slid to a stop, peeling up several of the small cobblestones with his heels as he sensed the urgency in the other Era’tran. They were not to disturb him unless it was immediately important, and the mental state of the female they had sent to fetch him…one he did not personally know…indicated as such.

  The barge slid in a hover near the lake shore but did not cross onto it as the female telekinetically passed a small item to him, then she took the barge back across the lake without another word or thought.

  Mak’to’ran held the small box aloft in front of him, mentally accessing it and activating the transformation of the data device into a claw-like skull cap that he put on his head. Included in the device was comms gear, which was why the courier wasn’t staying around to offer her services, but the important part was the data contained in the device.

  On it was the record of a Sevn’orr encounter with a passing PanNari fleet traveling through their Grand Border slot enroute to the Hadarak Zone. Such things were normal, for the PanNari were one of many advanced non-Star Force races assisting with pruning the enemy forces on the other side to diminish some of the strain on the Border worlds, but this occurrence wasn’t a normal assault fleet. It was multiple Elloquim all in one convoy, with a huge amount of support ships behind them.

  In fact, it appeared to be all the known Elloquim in existence, plus a few more that Star Force didn’t know about, along with most of their warfleet.

  When the Sevn’orr inquired as to where the PanNari were going and what were they doing with such a large force, they had received only a simple reply.

  WE ARE GOING TO WAR

  That was far premature, and Mak’to’ran’s eye ridges furrowed as he reviewed the data, for it was not just about the passing. The Sevn’orr had held onto the information as they sent scouts to follow the fleet to see what it was doing. When those scouts returned they brought with them the destination point and records of massive battles going on in a Hadarak-occupied system of no apparent value far from the Grand Border.

  The PanNari were everywhere inside it, and what was even more perplexing were the amount of Hadarak there battling them…and continuing to come in through multiple jumplines with near constant reinforcements.

  The carnage occurring in this one system was greater than any of the Grand Border worlds had ever seen by a large margin. No, that comparison didn’t even do it justice. This was total warfare at a level that should have reduced all the planets in the system to rubble, but it hadn’t. Instead everything was focused on one world that the PanNari had tentative control over, and the Hadarak were not trying to ram it.

  Speculation followed, with snippets of the highly encrypted PanNari communications referencing the location and far more of the Hadarak telepathic conversations revealing an object of great value on the planet. One that must not be destroyed, but one that could not be relinquished to the PanNari at any cost.

  Mak’to’ran stopped moving, stopped breathing, and stopped thinking. The sound of the wind moving through the tree leaves and the lapping of the water on the shoreline became deafeningly loud. Something in him stirred in a way that it had not before. Something of terrifying consequence that he recognized but had no knowledge of. Hamob had referenced evidence of powers greater than the Zak’de’ron leaving behind clues of their existence from the distant past, but Mak’to’ran had never found any. Yet now he had one before him, even though the information didn’t say what it was.

  Something the Hadarak valued so much they would not destroy, and something the entire PanNari civilization was trying to take away from them single handedly.

  Mak’to’ran had no logical reasoning for his next decision, but in his Core he knew it was vitally important that he get there, even if there were closer fleets that may have already been dispatched to help…or perhaps not, for the PanNari had not requested assistance.

  Mak’to’ran immediately ordered his pickup via drop pod and began rallying various V’kit’no’sat ships from multiple systems to rendezvous with him at a select location on the Grand Border. Getting to the system was going to be difficult in anything larger than a scout ship, and it would take more than a year to get there, but he knew this wasn’t a conflict that was going to conclude soon…and if it did, it meant the PanNari had failed to hold the planet.

  And if that was the case, he intended to take from the Hadarak whatever it was they were so desperate to possess.

  5

  July 21, 154959

  System 9923011 (Hadarak-Occupied Territory)

  Medium Stellar Orbit

  Mak’to’ran’s convoy came out of their interstellar jump early, so to avoid low stellar orbit. They’d been having to do this the last few jumps due to increasing amounts of Hadarak activity around the destination system. Their current location was one jump away from it, and the contacts popping up on passive sensors showed a swarm of Mainline units and Wardens partially ringing the central star in the system as they trickled out on the jumpline to the PanNari system, feeding reinforcements to it constantly as spurts of other lines were coming in from 18 other jumplines to coalesce here.

  That told Mak’to’ran that units were not being diverted from the Coreward reinforcements and sent, which was probably also happening, but the Hadarak were also pulling from other areas in order to get enough pressure to apply on the PanNari. The fact that the reinforcement flow was this strong indicated that the PanNari were probably still holding out, but if this had been the case since they arrived, Mak’to’ran had no idea what kind of carnage had been ensuing, but he was soon to figure out how just how formidable the Elloquim were depending on how many had survived and what condition the system was in.

  However, if they were to assist the PanNari, they were going to have to get through that crowded jumpline…and there was no way to do that with the size of a fleet he had without giving the Hadarak free shots at them
and maybe picking off some of his ships. He wasn’t going to leave anyone behind, and his hunters’ instincts were salivating at the chance to strike so many Hadarak gathered in the same space and having only one navigational point to flow through.

  “Battle formations,” he ordered calmly as the second half of his fleet was still in transition and not yet braked behind his leading units and flagship, christened by the trailblazer Roger-009 himself. The DinoThunder was one of a kind at present, with two more identical versions under construction in different shipyards. It was more than a thousand miles long, but thin and flat like a knife, which made it smaller in mass than a Borg vessel, but not by much.

  Over a quarter million Era’tran served onboard along with many more Star Force Zen’zat, which was in stark contrast to the trainblazers’ Borg vessels that were built for minimal crews. The DinoThunder was a warship, and any other description of it would have been inaccurate, but it was designed for a long term war rather than a single battle, making it a mobile city/command center at the same time, and along with it came attack drone carriers that would have their cargo flown by remote pilots onboard the massive vessel in addition to the more traditional V’kit’no’sat warships that had undergone some significant upgrades since joining Star Force.

  But more than that, the V’kit’no’sat’s purpose was now clear. They were not building a warfleet to fight off all of the empire’s threats. Like Clan Kai’sa, their focus was solely the Hadarak, and the V’kit’no’sat warships were built to handle the massive swarms of minions, the Mainline units, the Wardens, and even the Lurkers and other special nastiness that was being thrown at the galaxy. And despite the greater than 5 million ship count ahead of Mak’to’ran, he was not worried. His 7,391 warships, if working in concert, could not be stopped by the Hadarak unless they ran out of Essence.