Spawn of the Lightside Read online

  The Vigorra would play their part in the often odious symphony, and those few living in the tower suffered the unpleasant environment in their artificial suits and living pods, the latter of which had been affixed to a portion of the landing pad, for there were no living quarters inside the facility and a Caretaker facility such as this had to be guarded…for those left unoccupied would be used by other races for illicit activity. Such would create a power imbalance that would threaten the Alliance that had been struck between the races. The Alliance was what bound them together within the framework of what the Caretakers would allow, and it allotted surface territory and Caretaker facilities equally amongst the races based on their Essence rankings…for those where what everyone was here for, and the reason why the Founders had created the Temple, hence it was decided that control would be based upon it and it alone.

  And since the Caretakers were the ones who monitored the levels, there was no cheating possible. But still, there were so many disruptions in their Alliance that the Vigorra could not leave the tower unoccupied, so these few dozen Vigorra had to live up here while supply ships flew in to deliver the very rare cocktail of particles required to create the Carry Orbs that stored Essence in a way that Vargemma technology could not.

  The Carry Orbs did not exist fully in reality, and were somehow blended with the Essence realm. Explanations from the Temple were not complete, or at least the Vargemma did not have a complete understanding of their explanations. What they did know was that each Orb had to be bonded to a physical object, for the Orb itself could not be touched with matter. Only Essence could open it, only Essence could load it. How it was created by machines was an ongoing mystery, and any attempt to break into the inner workings of the Caretaker facilities was met with stiff resistance and quick acting repair teams.

  The Carry Orbs being created here were not full, but rather being taken to the racial wells. The Temple itself had an Essence well that all races were required to donate Essence to, and in turn the Temple used it for a variety of things, including the massive barrier that hid the Temple from the galaxy. But there were other wells, created by a combination of Vargemma and Founder technology located within the newly built cities far away from the prying eyes of both the other races and the Caretakers. None were built within the Temple border cities, only in the wilderness regions where some limited combat was possible before the Caretakers could get involved. If a thief entered and was caught, they could be killed before a response could be triggered, and such limited losses by ‘unofficial’ individuals were not as uncommon as they should be.

  Those racial wells were the most valuable resource in the Temple not guarded by the Caretakers, and it was from those wells that the Carry Orbs were filled. Then they were put onto ships that would take them out to the assault fleets wherever they were stationed so the Olopar could be reloaded. The magical weapons created by the Founders used an immense amount of Essence, which was why population here was such a critical factor. The more people you had that could use Essence, the more you could produce…but also, and perhaps more so, the higher level Essence rating you had, the more Essence you could produce. A single individual level 120 or above could produce more in a single hour than a 800 novices could over a year’s time.

  The Olopar weapons could not be used within the Temple, so sharing them had not been an issue. They were reserved for only when the Vargemma Alliance decided an action elsewhere in the galaxy needed to occur, then the arguing over who could go would begin. This time there was so much work to be done that every race that wanted a chance to launch an attack was getting it, though the Vigorra had opted out. They still had to produce Essence, the same as the others, and deliver it to the Olopar fleets, but they had not felt the urge to engage in combat and lose more of their people.

  The others oddly did not care about the small losses. Their desire to use the Founders’ weapons overrode their wish for more Essence production. They had a need to kill others since they could not do so here. It was a means of handling their frustration and imposed impudence…and for those that still could not control themselves, there were plenty of examples in Vargemma history where the frustration became too much and an internal attack was launched regardless of the Caretaker threat.

  In full honesty, no one had ever defied the Vargemma to the length Star Force was. Their obstinacy was fueling an almost mad desire to do them damage, but even that did not cause them to be so reckless to drain their racial wells. For if one race did strike another here, the wells would power the lesser weapons that the Vargemma had been able to create on their own. Those had no safety locks on them regarding use within the Temple, but they did trigger an automatic lethal response from the Caretakers when used. Killing was forbidden, but using Essence weapon technology to do so was deemed worse.

  Which left them using their own natural skills to kill when it came down to hand to hand combat. That wasn’t quite as bad, but still triggered a lethal response for the worst offenders and any who did not stop once the Caretakers arrived. You could not escape their wrath by simply standing down, for those most responsible would be eliminated for the offense, but the others involved would be spared so long as the killing did not continue.

  But if one race was committed to wiping out another, the racial wells would be the priority target for theft, as well as the primary use in self-defense, so they had to be located away from both the other races and the Caretakers…at least as far as they could get inside the Temple.

  It was a Cold War occurring between the Vargemma, made even colder for the Vigorra up on the tower, for the atmospheric temperature lessened with the higher elevation, requiring the artificial suits. Other races found this temperature and gas content ideal, but not the Vigorra. Even being in the Temple was uncomfortable for them, but being all the way up here was tedious for those few assigned.

  Yet it was better than the conditions in the rest of the galaxy with a Hadarak purge underway. Neiufur reminded himself of that every day of his 500 cycle duty up here. He had 83 days remaining, then another Vigorra would take his place and he’d be reassigned to something slightly less uncomfortable. Looking after the Caretakers was pointless work, but it had to be done or someone else would use the facility for their objectives, and everyone knew the ‘sanctioned’ list of production activities amongst the Vargemma were a joke. The real inventories were much larger, as each race stocked up resources for what they felt was the inevitable next outburst war.

  The Vigorra wanted to survive it by not being involved, but that didn’t meant they wouldn’t be targeted…and the Temple was so large the Caretakers couldn’t get everywhere very fast, or in sufficient numbers, yet those who actually fired on and destroyed a Caretaker unit would be hunted until they were located and killed, without exception. That threat usually kept most of the trouble at bay, but not all of it, though the Star Force stubbornness was diverting some attention away from problems here.

  Neiufur and the other Vigorra here knew that as long as they occupied this facility it would not come under attack. Not with Caretaker units right here amongst them. So when little wrinkles in the sunlight caused Neiufur to stretch out with his Essence senses looking to probe the odd occurrence, he was shocked to find they were actually people crawling on the exterior of the tower.

  They were all over, now that he was looking, but hidden from view. Neiufur did not recognize the body shape, which could have been several different races, but what they were doing here he could not understand. They were visible to Essence, so what was the point of hiding their image?

  Neiufur alerted the others, and then all the Vigorra on the platform and in their housing pods emerged, seeing for themselves as the highest intruders above them detached from the wall and dropped to the landing pad…with energy bolts emerging from the cloaking fields and hitting the Vigorra in one combined volley.

  Neiufur felt his body go numb, but his suit began to counteract the sedative applied…until he was hit multiple times before he could use his Essence to respond. He had hesitated, as had the others, for the Caretakers were so close that if they struck first they would surely be killed.

  And yet, as the invisible Paladin fired their weapons through brief disruptions in their cloaking fields and downed all the Vigorra atop the tower, the Caretakers did not respond at all. They kept going about their tasks, carrying in cargo canisters that were waiting on the deck and using those resources to feed the machinery inside almost as if the attack had not occurred.

  In truth that was accurate, for no lethal attack had occurred. The sensor capability of the Caretakers might not include Essence skills, but it was far more advanced than what Star Force possessed, and as Samsiv had calculated, it could distinguish between damaging energy and stun energy…and stun energy did not violate the Caretaker protocols.

  But what did that gain the Paladin if they couldn’t kill the Vargemma? The Vigorra would be asking that question and many others once they woke, for they could not contemplate a war without killing, yet that was what Star Force preferred. Defeating your enemy was not always the same as killing them, and for this tower at least, it wouldn’t be sending any more Carry Orbs to be filled with Essence and transported out to the Olopar fleets.

  And with the other Paladin teams striking at thousands of targets all across the Temple, there was about to be a major disruption in the refueling effort…at least from this Temple, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. For these lower level Caretaker facilities that were lightly guarded were just the first targets. The larger ones, such as the shipyards in ‘orbit,’ would be hit later, but those on the surface had Paladin units moving towards them through a variety of means, including subsurface tunnels being drilled at rapid pace towards them.

  Samsiv’s pl
an to conquer the massive sphere was just beginning, and due to the diligence of the Paladin’s secrecy, the Vargemma had no idea who was attacking them, or from where they were coming, and Samsiv wasn’t going to explain it to them via a surrender ultimatum. Since they were using stun weapons only, there was no point, and the more footholds his Paladin could get before the Vargemma could figure out what was going on, the more defensible those positions would be.

  Because he assumed, based on previous behavior, that when the Vargemma did respond it would be to kill, regardless of the Caretakers. And without Essence skills to defend themselves with, the Paladin were going to take casualties. Lots of casualties. And those casualties would trigger the Caretakers to defend the Paladin against the Vargemma.

  At least that was the calculation he was betting the invasion on.

  6

  May 8, 128545

  Dyson Sphere, Krichkraw Nebula (Novatis Kingdom)

  Subsurface Weapon Bunker

  The Caretakers were everywhere in the Temple, but most of them were unseen by the Vargemma. Those that had duties to do interacted with the denizens as needed, but most were laying dormant until needed for a variety of tasks…one of which was combat.

  Over the past 6 days the alien invasion of the Temple had been monitored. The source of it was unknown, but the identity of the invaders had been discovered by monitoring Vargemma transmissions. ‘Star Force’ was the name they used for it, but no combat had been detected on their part, so the Caretakers merely observed while they searched for the entry point. If there was a breach they would seal it off, but if they had entered through normal means their presence here was not an issue, though there was no record of it.

  And if they had come through a breach, then it was up to the Vargemma to handle them up until the invaders became violent. So far they had not, and aside from a few skirmishes with the Vargemma breaking the rules and local units being sent to put down the disruptions, the Vargemma had been obeying protocol as they searched for the source of the ‘infestation,’ as they referred to it.

  The Temple had been built for all who could use Essence, so the Caretakers were not concerned with Star Force being here. However, the Vargemma were not so understanding, and after 6 days of patience they finally lost their cool and began an all-out assault on the invading armies in 28 different Regions. They used both their technology and their Essence skills, the former of which did not prove effective. The invaders had superior technology tailored to rendering the Vargemma unconscious as well as disabling their vehicles and ships without destroying them.

  That too did not violate protocols, because the Caretakers had been programmed to allow disciplinary action that did not kill. But when the Vargemma began razing the invading troops and killing them, a large scale reaction from the Caretakers was triggered.

  One of many subsurface hidden bunkers opened up, with the top of a hillside peeling off the dirt covering it and flowering apart, releasing a beehive of flying anti-grav drones each about 2 meters long with various arms and weapons sticking off, giving the devices an insect-like look to them. They all had shields, giving them resiliency beyond their small size as they flew out towards the nearest battlefield that saw the invaders coming up from subsurface tunnels and assaulting the outskirts of a Markoo city.

  The bat-like race was fighting both on foot and in the air, with the Caretaker drones moving to intercept both as they ignored the invaders and their stun weaponry. The drones identified who was firing the lethal handheld weapons and marked them as targets. Many fled as soon as they saw the Caretaker swarm approach, and those that didn’t soon regretted the decision, for they were shot multiple times with small white orbs of energy that killed them with remarkable efficiency. They penetrated the armored suits and limited shields the Markoo wore as if they weren’t even there, and those few that took multiple shots in the same area actually had the weapon residue exit the other side of their bodies.

  Then other drones that followed, who were not combat models, swooped down and picked up the lethal weaponry dropped by the dead. Those that ran away were pursued and killed until a set of protocols were met, then those who had successfully evaded that long were let go…aside from the few Markoo stupid enough to fire on the drones.

  Those individuals were tagged with a non-expiring death order. Those drones that went after them would not relent, and soon the city defenses were forced to shoot and down the drones to protect their own. Other races would have let them die, but the Markoo’s natural instinct was to defend their kin…and that only made the situation worse.

  More bunkers around the area opened up, releasing more small drones and some larger ones. All flew, with the larger ones heading for the city defense turrets that had shot and killed the smaller drones.

  At that point the Markoo had to think quickly, and someone made the decision to evacuate the outer edge of the city and shut down the defenses so the Caretakers could kill the technology and be satisfied…but the smaller drones would not let the tagged individuals escape and they pursued them throughout the city until they either caught up with and killed their target, or others fired on the drones and the kill list got extended to include them as well.

  All the while the nearly silent invaders moved along the ground and into the city past the destroyed defenses. The Caretakers knew they were clearing the way for them, but other than recording and analyzing what was happening, they were not programmed to care. They had no cause to ally themselves with the Vargemma over the invaders, for the Caretakers were neutral up until someone violated protocols…and not one of the invaders had killed a single Vargemma, nor fired a weapon capable of doing so. None of them were even carrying lethal weapons, though the claws on their body could be used for that in close combat.

  But biological assets were not a class of banned weapons. If they were many of the races here would have been in trouble every time they sparred with each other. No, as far as biological attributes, the Caretakers judged the actions in terms of results…whereas with technology, if you fired a lethal weapon at someone and missed, they still classified the threat as unacceptable. If you didn’t fire lethal weapons you were still permitted to possess them with the intent of using them outside the Temple. You could even produce them here in mass…you just couldn’t use them here for more than target shooting, and even then that would draw Caretaker attention if anyone was in the vicinity to the weaponsfire.

  Eventually the Markoo got the hint that they should stop firing on the Caretakers, and while they tried to hide those tagged, they didn’t defend them further as they were pursued and killed as punishment for violating protocol…but not all the other races were so prudent. The invaders were able to penetrate deep enough that they were enraged to the point of fighting back at the Caretakers when the Caretakers would not fire on the invaders. That provoked a warship response from the Temple, with it releasing some buried ships along with opening the docks of space-based facilities to release drones that were up to 0.8 miles long and smooth like stones at the bottom of a river that had been polished by the friction of the water.

  Small weapon ports opened up, breaking the motif, as they moved down to the defiant cities and once a few dozen miles above them, they began bombarding the locations where there was heavy resistance. This might catch non-combatants in the attack, but the level of defiance had risen to such levels that efficiency dictated area of effect attacks that were acceptable in order to diminish the number of deaths elsewhere.

  Minimizing deaths was the sole protocol, and eliminating killers was deemed as the means to protect lives in the future…and by protecting lives they protected the Essence capability of those inside the Temple and their growing experience levels. If the elders were killed off and replaced by younger versions, then they would never rise to the levels needed. Thus some sacrifices had to be made in order to put down rebellions quickly, and those emergency protocols would not rescind until overall combat against the Caretakers had ended.