Star Force: Mak'to'ran (2) Read online

  “Amongst other things. My primary purpose here was to deliver the reconnaissance information to the Hjar’at.”

  “That could have been accomplished via the Urrtren.”

  “There is doubt as to the accuracy of the information flowing through the Urrtren.”

  Yaquik raised his eye ridges in a gesture of surprise. “I have not heard that either.”

  “Some of the lesser races worry they are being manipulated, and I fear that some of their misgivings may be true regarding current information. I already know historical records have been altered.”

  “Some for good reason,” Yaquik added as he thought. “You think they would try and bury this reconnaissance?”

  “Best to avoid that possibility by bringing it here personally.”

  “And why us? Or did Hamob not tell you that as well?”

  “Of all the races, yours would care the most.”

  “That we do. If Itaru has hidden enemies from us that is a trespass that we will not overlook, and if that concealment has been to raise an army capable of defeating portions of the empire then we are in a precarious position, one no doubt that Hamob would like to strengthen. Sides are being chosen, are they not?”

  “Not by race.”

  “Do the Era’tran have these traitors in your midst?”

  “We have been quietly dealing with them for some time. Our race is now stable and unified.”

  “Until today I would have said the same. The shame brought on us today is something that will rock every Hjar’at world.”

  “What is the significance of the Saroto’kanse’vam?”

  “We were given the greatest biological weaponry the V’kit’no’sat have ever allowed, and we were given them to fight against our enemies, not each other. If we have need to fight internally we do so without the Saroto’kanse’vam.”

  “Even if someone requires killing?”

  “We are not so quick to kill as you, Era’tran. Not with each other. If it becomes necessary we will use other weaponry, not the Saroto’kanse’vam, and we will do so quick enough that they cannot respond or we will use Zen’zat. We do not attack one another with them. These heretics are beyond bold, and I need to know their origin.”

  “Their origin is arrogance.”

  “No. Arrogance would proclaim itself. These have been lurking deliberately.”

  “Arrogance will conceal itself if it believes that doing so makes it superior. Arrogance does not have honor, so striking one from concealment that they cannot take on directly is feasible.”

  “To what end?”

  “Madness needs no end.”

  “These Hjar’at,” Yaquik said, pacing around the small chamber with Mak’to’ran staying put near the center underneath a system holographic map, “are not newborns. They have a wealth of experience, some more than you in length if not in deeds. They will not take action unless they have a goal. They risk far too much for recklessness.”

  “Is it recklessness if Itaru backs them?”

  “Itaru is irrelevant here. They have crossed a Hjar’at line and that supersedes all else.”

  “Perhaps it was intentional then.”

  “No. They view those who defy Itaru as no longer V’kit’no’sat. It is a madness based on limited reason, but what I do not understand is how this came to pass.”

  “Don’t you?” Mak’to’ran challenged.

  “No I do not. Tell me if the Era’tran know.”

  “Hamob believes it to be rooted in history, a gradual accumulation affecting the newer born more than those with your experience. You learned lessons in your time that I did not, and recent generations know not of the Rit’ko’sor as I do. Ignorance is fueling this madness.”

  “You refer to the elimination of the Zak’de’ron.”

  “Which has been rewritten in our history as a culling of the Les’i’kron.”

  “The rewrite was needed. Subsequent generations needed to see a unified empire rather than the fractured tatters that were left in the wake of a miscalculation. The Zak’de’ron were far more powerful than we expected, and had we known I would not have agreed to strike them down.”

  “We should not have struck them down at all. We betrayed them, and that betrayal has poisoned us ever since.”

  Yaquik showed the first real animosity for Mak’to’ran since he’d arrived with a glare that immediately set the Era’tran on the defensive. He didn’t activate his armor, but his body tensed in response and it was an instinctive reaction he couldn’t hide from the Hjar’at.

  “The Zak’de’ron were a disruptive influence. They refused to fully integrate into the V’kit’no’sat when the rest of us gave up all that we were previously. We dedicated ourselves to the cause while they did not. The agreement was all would, but they held out continuously. We waited long for their eventual acquiescence, but it never came and we were forced to act for the good of the V’kit’no’sat. Our miscalculation harmed the empire, and for that we bear shame, but not for the culling. It was well deserved.”

  “It wasn’t a culling, it was an eradication.”

  “Their race lives on in altered form. One that is fully committed to the V’kit’no’sat.”

  “Why change their name?” Mak’to’ran asked out of curiosity.

  “‘Zak’de’ron’ was the name of disrupters. Les’i’kron bespeaks loyalty.”

  “Loyalty born out of betrayal is not loyalty.”

  “And what do you know of it? Did you even taste battle then, or were you a mere hatchling?”

  “I was born during the conflict and saw mop up action, but respectfully, you have just admitted to being blind to the current treason. Perhaps that is because you were blind to the first.”

  Yaquik’s Saroto’kanse’vam glowed with no energy arcs, but as the Hjar’at slowly turned and walked towards the Era’tran, Mak’to’ran realized the full implications of the limitations of using Saroto’kanse’vam. It was abhorrent for the Hjar’at to use them against one another, but he was Era’tran and that was a completely different matter.

  Mak’to’ran held his ground, though he didn’t feel confident in his position. Yaquik could kill him if he wanted, though he didn’t think that would happen. But still, the possibility of it and the intense glow of those spines made his immediate future considerably uncertain, and he had no wish to suffer an injury as a ‘lesson.’

  “You are bold.”

  “Am I wrong?” Mak’to’ran challenged as he stared down into the Hjar’at’s eyes from only a few meters away.

  “I hear Hamob’s words. Speak them all now, then I will answer that question.”

  “The poison in the V’kit’no’sat is arrogance. Those who claim to be more than they are. We are meant to be dominant, and the dominant realize when they are at a disadvantage. We killed the Zak’de’ron because they were greater than us, rather than learning from them. It has come to my recent attention that much of our current technology is still copies of what they provided to us. Even now we do not fully understand it, but we use it and claim that it is our own. We are pretenders, not the dominant. And pretenders must kill those that would expose them. There is your answer as to why your Hjar’at are striking against you and me. To silence the truth that would expose their lie.”

  “And what is the extent of that lie?”

  “If we are truly dominant we do not fear information. We do not conceal it. We do not alter it. We stand and be judged, for any accurate assessment will confirm our dominance. The Zak’de’ron were better than us, and rather than try to attain their level we destroyed them with a strength they had helped us create. They trusted us and we betrayed them, and that betrayal has lingered on in misinformation and suppression that has only gotten worse in the wake of the Rit’ko’sor rebellion. They knew they could not beat us, but they struck us and struck us in such a way that we were more damaged than expected. Another miscalculation by those claiming to be dominant.”

  “Your words are those of treason.”


  “Then do your duty to suppress them and attack me now. I’d rather die a true V’kit’no’sat than live a fraud,” Mak’to’ran said, flashing his own Saroto’kanse’vam but not yet activating his armor.

  “You and I need to come to an understanding,” Yaquik said, the glow of his spines fading away. “Let’s test your dominance,” he said, jumping forward and ramming his smaller head into Mak’to’ran’s chest right between his glowing claws.

  To his credit the Era’tran didn’t use them, instead pushing down on his head as their glow went out, then grabbing the first of his neck spines and yanking the Hjar’at to the side, but he didn’t let go. His arms might have been short, but they were thick with muscle and when he got both of them locked onto Yaquik’s spines he had the leverage he needed. If the Hjar’at activated them he’d lose his hands, but that would be an admission of inferiority. Yaquik had inferred this was a fight without Saroto’kanse’vam and Mak’to’ran was going to take him at his word and make use of the reckless leverage while he had it.

  A Fornax blast nearly broke his grip, then a quick neck flex finished the effort, prying one hand off but Mak’to’ran kept his left in place, fighting through the neural disruption and maintaining some coordination. Era’tran didn’t possess Fornax, but they did possess a psionic that even the Zen’zat did not. Only they and four others possessed Tavit, and Mak’to’ran used it now to send a surge of strength through his body that he used to push down with, slamming Yaquik’s head into the ground just before the additional strength left him.

  The Hjar’at was in a disadvantageous position so long as he didn’t use his Saroto’kanse’vam, but this was a warrior who intended to prove his superiority so he endured the beatdown as he got his rear legs into position, then he pushed forward arching his back and using the lowered head position to his advantage. His back came up and faced his non-glowing spines towards Mak’to’ran’s face, but the Era’tran quickly grabbed them as the Fornax effect faded.

  That freed Yaquik’s head, so he flipped his tail and reversed his momentum, pulling the Era’tran’s arms forward as he tried to hang on and step on the Hjar’at’s head, but Yaquik was quick enough to dart to the side and miss the big foot, then he tucked his neck alongside the thick leg and pushed…

  Mak’to’ran suddenly found himself completely aloft as his legs were taken out from under him and an additional Lachka field helped to secure him in place as the Hjar’at spun him to the side and jerked violently in an upward/forward movement that half pried him loose, but his arms held tight to the spines even as they dug into the palms of his hands.

  A second thrust by Yaquik came with a Fornax field that did manage to pry the Era’tran free, but Mak’to’ran didn’t consider it a defeat, rather a repositioning as he dropped low to the ground and ran forward tucking his head down into a ramming position. Yaquik jumped to the side and the thrust missed, but it Mak’to’ran swung his tail around and slapped the Hjar’at along the flank, knocking him off balance a small bit, but his mass was so high it would take a hard hit to knock him completely over.

  Mak’to’ran followed the tail slap with a dive towards the bulk of the quadruped, but the spiked tail whipped around and hit him in the side of the head, spikes up and not digging in, but it slapped the Era’tran’s head to the side violently and he stumbled for a moment as Yaquik brought his tail into line with his face, giving him a straight on view up the middle of the spine rows.

  But he didn’t stay there, rather stepping forward and starting a spin in place that took his tail away from Mak’to’ran. The Era’tran, now with his footing again, used the momentary opening as the tail rotated away to charge again, but to his surprise the rotation accelerated beyond anything he thought a Hjar’at could do. His tail actually kept moving away from Mak’to’ran and traveled all the way around his body as he spun in place, then just before Mak’to’ran’s head touched Yaquik’s thick body it came around and hit him full on.

  Mak’to’ran was knocked off his feet and thrown across a console, breaking it as he tumbled onto his back as the Hjar’at held position with a mocking telepathic glow emanating from him as his escorts outside inquired if he needed help. He shook them off with a ‘stay out of it’ thought, then took a few slow steps back in the direction of Yaquik as the biped’s body began to shimmer with distortion.

  The Hjar’at saw it as well and snarled, dropping down into a low stance and turning face towards him with his spines covering him defensively in case Mak’to’ran intended to jump on top of him, but that wasn’t the plan. The Era’tran jumped forward, running into the Fornax field that he expected and weathering it well enough to feign moving left, then he twitched and went right, diving alongside Yaquik as he began to spin again, but before the tail could even begin to whip forward he nudged up against the Hjar’at’s side without enough momentum to dislodge him, yet managing to get the shimmering distortion of light around him in a pointblank position…

  The next thing Yaquik knew he was the one rolling across the room and demolishing equipment in the process. When he came up he took a headbutt from Mak’to’ran to the front leg, buckling it, but then the Era’tran withdrew as pieces of broken equipment started flying towards him through the air. Mak’to’ran took a few hits, then began using his own Lachka to block some of them. Most he couldn’t, so he focused on turning the momentum into deflections as Yaquik picked up every loose console they’d broken and hurled them at his opponent.

  It took a few moments until Mak’to’ran regained enough Jumat energy, then he theatrically blew it outward and knocked down all the incoming objects, after which Yaquik didn’t hurl anymore and the two V’kit’no’sat stared at each other across a short distance.

  Then the Hjar’at laughed, a hissing sound that was rarely ever heard from their race but one that he’d heard used a handful of times.

  “You have much to learn, Era’tran, but I do like you. Now I understand why Hamob sent you, and why Garrtak spoke so highly of your friendship. It’s a pity you wasted his life at Terraxis.”

  “I gave him an assignment and he failed to survive. I do not fault him given the circumstances, but he was a warrior and would not lay blame on others when the defeat was his own.”

  “Then you admit to defeat for the overall mission?”

  “Partial defeat, yes. But we recovered valuable information. That part was not a failure.”

  “The Oso’lon and the J’gar.”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, Era’tran. You do not banter. Nor does your ego blind you. Garrtak did fail, and that was not your doing. You assigned him a fair task. If you had taken responsibility for that it would speak poorly of your judgement, but you did not. I think there is hope for you after all.”

  “Does that mean there will not be a second round of combat?”

  “I hardly see the point. Your Jumat is nearly depleted.”

  “Is that deduction or is it visible?”

  “A bit of both. I have studied our Zen’zat that possess it in order to better assess the Oso’lon and their ilk. Your tissue is showing depletion.”

  “How?”

  “Your nodules wrinkle slightly when depleted. It takes a keen Pefbar to notice, but I have had considerable practice with Zen’zat and theirs are much smaller than yours. The psionic is new to you, but you understand how to use it in combat. So you think I am blind to the nature of the V’kit’no’sat?”

  “I do. By gradual alteration so slight that it has escaped you.”

  “I have not fought an Era’tran for some time. The Jumat suits you and eliminates many vulnerabilities, but it will not save you from our Saroto’kanse’vam.”

  “That’s why I have this,” Mak’to’ran said, throwing up a bioshield and making it translucent with a tell-tale red tint.

  “You didn’t use that before.”

  “I didn’t need to.”

  Yaquik laughed again, then sent a lightning cascade across his non-glowing spines, bouncing it back
and forth up the length of his body before finally discharging it off his tail and disintegrating one of the loose pieces of equipment. It blew into fragments that bounced off Mak’to’ran’s bioshield as well as the rest of the chamber, but the Hjar’at didn’t seem to mind the impacts on his skin, most of which just bounced off the psionically hardened hide.

  “I have been blind to these traitors. You do not know the Zak’de’ron as I did, but then again there are few still living that do. Perhaps their and your ignorance is clouding your judgement. Tell me how you and they think and I will try to ascertain where they have gone awry.”

  5

  August 4, 3604

  Yat’ri System (Hjar’at Regional Capitol)

  Hattoman

  Mak’to’ran flew down from his Kafcha again, with his drop pod landing in a different part of the planet that had its defensive escorts keeping at a distance while maintaining a perimeter, including the Zen’zat Paklo, leaving only a pair of Hjar’at waiting for the Era’tran when he walked off with his own escorts. They were led inside a facility that was a single building that stretched for over 120 miles, but was still narrow enough to fit into the ridge-like design of most of the rest of the Hjar’at structures.

  Yaquik had requested that he meet him here, but it wasn’t until Mak’to’ran got inside that he realized it was a hatchery…a place non Hjar’at were never allowed. Had this been an Era’tran world the same would have been true, and out of respect he stopped just within the entrance.

  “Why have I been brought here?” he demanded of his two guides.

  “You have been given permission. Yaquik is waiting for you within.”

  “This is inappropriate.”

  “So others have thought, but his orders stand. Will you follow or will we tell him you refused?”

  Mak’to’ran growled slowly, a sound that didn’t phase the Hjar’at in the least. “Very well, but only me. My troops will remain here.”