Carnage Read online

  But they didn’t have holo, so as the nearest cameras were blacked out Paul walked over to the wall with one of them and jumped up to it, sticking to the wall with his robe covering his entire body so all anyone could see was the cloth…but he distracted those who noticed, making him essentially invisible to the nearby crowd while being quite obvious about his wall crawl.

  He got a hand onto the camera and triggered his armored gauntlet on that arm to slither up and cover his fingers, from which he extended nanite tethers into the wiring and hacked into the cable connecting the camera to its source, for it wasn’t wireless.

  The programming was pathetically simple, and it didn’t take more than .46 seconds for him to take control of the central hub and deactivate all the cameras within the city. How long it would take for them to unjam their systems was unknown. A good tech could do it quickly if they knew their systems, but almost all people who used computers did not understand how they worked, so Paul was guessing the system would be down until they were forced to do a full restart from factory defaults, and he and Cal-com would be out of here long before that could happen.

  Paul dropped back down to the ground and ran to catch up, his cloak flapping in the wind of his movement as he went, but nobody around noticed as he had all the minds distracted as he passed by them within inches in some cases.

  “Their eyes are gone,” he reported when he caught up to Cal-com. “Let’s deviate off this path in case they have the ability to follow a straight line,” Paul said, half sarcastically.

  “Having fun?”

  “Not today,” the Archon said icily. “But it’s a wake-up call I needed…and if we hadn’t come he’d be dead shortly. So worth on many levels.”

  “Are you ok?”

  “I’m ticked we let this shit happen when we have the power to stop it. Hadarak or no, we can’t let this continue. You were right.”

  “I didn’t know that when I brought you here,” Cal-com admitted. “But I’m not surprised. The galaxy is so large there will always be corners for depravity to exist within. This is the galactic norm. Star Force is the beneficial anomaly.”

  “Then the galaxy needs changed.”

  “I agree. How do you want to go about doing that?”

  Paul stared at the back of Cal-com’s hood as he trailed behind him a half step. “Are you testing me?”

  “Life does the testing far better than I can. Are you taking responsibility on yourself?”

  Paul checked himself. “I have to. I can’t stand by when this stuff is happening.”

  “Then you risk burning yourself out with a load you cannot bear.”

  “What’s my other option?”

  “Take the same actions by choice, not responsibility. Saving people is optional, not required.”

  “I feels required for me.”

  “Not for me,” Cal-com differed. “I will make the same choice as you, and always intervene, but it’s because I answer the call of the lightside. Not because I’m responsible for the darkside happening out here.”

  Paul closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “I see your point.”

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  “What I can do. We get this guy to safety, then I call in an invasion force. This system’s sovereignty just got revoked.”

  “Because that’s what you have to do?”

  “Someone has to. The need is here.”

  “That is the call I spoke of. Warriors respond to the need. And without the need the warriors are lost. In a universe of infinite dark corners, I do not believe we will ever be without that need. We just need to learn where to look for them.”

  “That’s not enough. This…should not exist. It should not be this way. I can’t tolerate it.”

  “Nor should you. It’s the way you don’t tolerate that is at issue. You are inefficient because you lay part of the blame on your inaction.”

  Paul frowned. “Inefficient?”

  “Your targeting sensors are misaligned if you think you are at fault in any way.”

  “If I have the power to stop it and I don’t, then someone is suffering for my inaction.”

  “They are suffering because the universe put them in this situation,” Cal-com said, his voice growing icy. “Not you. If you are going to hate something, hate the random birthing process the universe employs. You did not create it and are not responsible for it. And you are doing much to correct its madness.”

  “I guess a clone would have a different perspective on that.”

  “We are born when there is a need, and only when there is a need. The universe births people in the most horrid and unwinnable of situations. I often think the universe is darkside incarnate, but then Star Force is here, and pure darkside cannot spawn lightside, so some other dynamic must be in play,” Cal-com said as they switched streets again, getting further and further away from the ambush site.

  “I know I need to disconnect from that madness…this field trip has made that abundantly clear. But situations like this reinforce how I can’t do that without consequences to other people.”

  “And that is one trap the darkside uses to wear us down, making us believe we are abandoning the light or burning ourselves out and leaving us vulnerable to our enemies. We must defy that trap.”

  “I’ll work on it,” Paul promised as he remotely signaled for their cloaked ship to rendezvous with them at a park not far from here. Another half hour and they’d have their ward out of harm’s way and they’d drop him off at the embassy…after that, Paul didn’t know if he’d stick around to deal with things here or let the annexation fleet handle it.

  Actually, this was one he was going to handle personally. Not because he thought others couldn’t handle it, because he felt he needed to. Millennia onboard a warship had kept him away from situations like this, and he was in no hurry to get back to that isolation…or to Earth. Cal-com was right. Warriors responded to the call when and where there was need.

  And right now, that need was here, not on Earth.

  5

  February 28, 154930

  Ha’ven Nu’meori System (Home Two Kingdom)

  Ha’shavi

  Four months had passed since Paul and Cal-com had gotten their rescuee to safety, and since then four Star Force warships had arrived escorting 34 cargo ships and 4 troop ships, all of which came from the Human Mainline fleet. They’d arrived 15 days ago, and since then they’d been assaulting the planet and quietly capturing the strategic strongpoints with little resistance…mainly because what the native Tri’meori considered ‘strategic’ was more symbolic than anything, such as the Governor’s palace, which held no real value as far as infrastructure went.

  The power stations, comm centers, waterworks, spaceports, etc all held value, and Star Force was taking them under possession without having to kill a single person. The invading troops were equipped with stun weapons, shield walls, telepathic lures, and a lot of other things the natives had no idea even existed, and even those that fought back with lethal weapons were taken down quickly without any real threat to them.

  So now, after getting the real strategic strongpoints under their possession, Paul entered the Governor’s palace along with a phalanx of armored commandos and went straight to the governor’s office, with all the security forces they could muster not even able to slow his steady walk, for they were taken down enroute as his commandos tagged and bagged the unconscious guards while he continued on to the double doored entrance that was barricaded on the other side.

  Paul kicked at it with his shoe, for he wasn’t wearing his armor deployed, and added some Jumat energy to it, busting the doors open and throwing the furniture that had been on the far side across the spacious office and knocking down two of the 28 guards inside that had weapons trained on the doors.

  They all opened fire on Paul as soon as they saw him standing in the doorway, but he simply raised a hand and produced a bioshield in front of him, taking all the shots on it as he passive
ly stood still looking at them in his Archon uniform with an addition of a simple white cape added on top of it that had no hood, just some gold embroidery around the high collared neck.

  He held his shield as they continued to fire, giving them a chance to take the hint, but when they didn’t he walked forward taking the hits on the clear blue barrier and not even needing his technological shields in his armored gauntlets, then he telekinetically crunched each of their weapons, one by one, until they were holding nothing but inoperative junk. Then he calmly lowered his hand and dropped his shield, staring at the governor hiding behind his desk as the commandos followed him into the room with their weapons now trained on the towering guards that were totally helpless against the Archon’s powers.

  “You are not going to be harmed,” Paul said in their native language, having learned enough of it in the past months to not need a translation program. Plus he could see inside their minds as to what they meant to say if he needed any extra help, “but your days running this planet are over.”

  The Governor slowly stood up, looking down at Paul from nearly twice the Human’s height and massing more than 4 times his weight, but it was clear the smaller individuals were in the dominant position here.

  “What right do you have to do this?” the Tri’meori demanded. “We have followed your rules!”

  “We gave you a chance to lead your own people, and what have you done with that chance?” Paul said firmly. “You’ve wasted it. We offered help, resources, guidance…you took none of it. Your people suffer and you do not care. But I care. And we’re going to do better by them than you have ever dreamed of.”

  “You have no right! We are a sovereign system!”

  “Not anymore. Your sovereignty is hereby revoked. This system is now Star Force property, and we’re already starting to clean up your mess, though it will take decades to do it properly.”

  The Governor pounded his fists onto his desk. “You can’t do this! We didn’t break your rules!”

  “Good men don’t need rules,” Paul said flatly. “And we won’t stand by when people are suffering because of them. But while we’re on the subject. When we said no executions, that didn’t just mean officially. Having people assassinated with plausible deniability isn’t something we tolerate.”

  “It’s been done this way for centuries,” the Governor protested. “You never said anything about it before!”

  “It’s a big galaxy, and we don’t see everything. The fact that you were hiding it from the embassy proves you knew it would be a violation.”

  “But you never said we couldn’t!” he protested, looking at his guards as if for validation.

  “Couldn’t do what?” Paul asked angrily. “Torture people to death that you don’t like? Or maybe they said something that embarrassed you, or exposed one of your lies? Do you really think that’s ok? Do you really think that’s what leadership is about?”

  “It’s my choice as leader of this planet to do things the way I want to do them, just as you do on your worlds.”

  “Wrong. I don’t do what I want. I do what is needed. Leadership is about responsibility far more than it is privilege. They don’t take orders from me,” Paul said, gesturing to his commandos, “because they have to. I don’t make them, don’t threaten them, don’t leverage them, don’t control them. They follow my orders by choice, and they make that choice so long as my orders are wise. If I tell them to do something stupid they won’t do it. Because they’re trained not to. They’re taught to think, not blindly obey. I only have leadership as long as I am worthy of it. You are unworthy, but your people are too scared to remove you. That, and they don’t know what to do themselves. They’d probably just end up with another version of you.”

  “How I lead is not your business!” the Governor yelled, almost as if he sensed a possibility to maintain his position if he could win the argument.

  “I’ve made it my business. And you want to know why? Because of all the little people out there that you don’t care about. They need help. They need rescued. They need hope…and not false hope. They need a future, they need guidance, they need a hero to save them. Nobody else was stepping up to take the job, so I am. That’s the way the lightside works. There are no ranks, no hierarchies, no appointments, no orders, no committees, no voting, no public consensus. When there is a need, we who are lightside step up and claim the mission, and make it our own. So it becomes our business, and whether we succeed or fail, we will fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. And there’s no way in hell I’m going to stand by and let you keep assassinating people when I have the power to stop it.”

  “Why didn’t you do so before?”

  “I was never on this world before. I came for a visit and found things a mess. So I’m taking it upon myself to clean it up. This system is going to be upgraded heavily, and become part of Star Force with all the benefits that entails. It’ll take us time to build new infrastructure, so we’ll have to use what you have in the meantime, but we can run it better than you have. It’s sad that we offered you technical assistance to upgrade the waterworks and power grid, but you turned it down. I’m curious why you did that. We asked no price in return. It was knowledge freely offered.”

  “We don’t need your help, Star Force,” he said with so much venom that every word was as if a curse.

  “Arrogant pride then. That’s a betrayal of the leadership position. You cast aside improvements that could help your people because you were not the one to create them. I would say that’s a newb mistake, but you don’t even qualify as a newb. You’re not a leader at all. You’re an imposter, and using your position to hurt others rather than help them. Maybe you just don’t know what you’re doing, and have not had an example to follow from the past, but still…I expect a good intentioned individual, no matter how naïve, to leave what he found in slightly better condition afterward. You have not. In fact, you have made things worse. You are unfit to lead.”

  The Governor flew into a rage, picking up a desktop item of significant weight and threw it at the Human…only to have it stop midair as the Human simply raised a hand again.

  “You are under arrest, and will be transported to one of the new prison facilities we are constructing. It is unlikely you will ever leave, but we always have a rehab program that, if completed, will lead to your eventual freedom. But to gain it, you have to lose all the bad habits you’ve accumulated and forsake the darkside. I doubt you will, but you’ll have the chance,” Paul said, glancing around at the other towering figures. “You all will. But right now you’re not going to be let loose to cause more harm. You can go with my troops willingly, or you can be stunned unconscious and carried out. Your choice.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, you little piece of…” the Governor said, about to go into a long string of curses when Paul fired his left gauntlet and landed three quick stun blasts into his torso.

  The Tri’meori fell forward unconscious, but Paul caught him telekinetically as he simultaneously put the desk ornament back in its place, then he theatrically raised his hand and floated the Governor’s body over the desk and into the waiting hands of four commandos who carried him back out the doors as four more Commandos came in to take their place behind Paul.

  “What about the rest of you?” he asked. “Are you walking out, or being carried out?”

  Several of them dropped the wreckage of their weapons and raised their hands up to their chest, which was how their race indicated submission as it took their hands away from their utility belts that held many items that Paul telekinetically pulled off and started to pile up on the Governor’s desk.

  The volunteers were marched out, with the others defiantly holding their ground but not fighting. Paul gave them a little time to think it over, but when they would not move he ordered his troops telepathically and all of them were stunned and dropped to the ground…then were carried out one by one leaving Paul alone in the very large office.

  He deactivated the tiny
drone camera that was floating behind him and broadcasting to the planet what had happened without the Governor or his guards knowing it. Them getting to see his true colors would help in the coming days, as well as the display of ‘magic’ he’d just put on. Rumors could be useful or hurtful, and it was best if the populace had some solid information to work with, which meant letting them see it for themselves.

  That’s why he’d left the Governor’s palace for last rather than going there first thing. Better to let the populace freak out over the invasion while the Governor was still there to tell them what was going on…or make shit up about what was going on…then they could see him and Paul face to face and get a firsthand look at what was going down, and how he was not in control in any way, shape, or form.

  But also to show them that he wasn’t killed, nor were any of his guards. That was key, but it wouldn’t stop attacks from happening against Star Force personnel in the coming months. Hopefully it would reduce it during the transition period, but like many other planets before Ha’shavi, once Star Force started to actually upgrade the planet and people were personally benefited by it…that was when the real change happened. Star Force had to deliver, and they would, for promises were not enough. It had to be real for each person, and unlike so many other civilizations, Star Force wasn’t fake. They were the real deal, so they didn’t have to worry about running a propaganda machine.

  The lightside never had to.

  “Are you done here?” Cal-com asked, walking into the abandoned office behind Paul as the Archon was still looking out the windows behind the large desk that rose up just above Paul’s eyeline, so he couldn’t see the surface through the windows, just the top half of the buildings that were visibly swaying in the wind…attesting to how poorly constructed they were.