Star Force: Paladin (SF94) (Star Force Origin Series) Read online

  When they started moving again John studied the tunnels ahead and made the decision to try and get ahead of them before they got outside the assault ring that was pinning them into this area. To do that they’d have to lose contact with them entirely, but there wasn’t a lot of places for them to go. They’d risk losing them, but aside from trying to fight their way through all these reavers that he was sure would just buy time while the overlord escaped, the best chance they had was to guess where they were going and try to wait on them again.

  It wasn’t a good plan, but it was the best they had and the remaining time before this convoy got out beyond the assault ring and had a lot more tunnel options to choose from meant the Archons had to act now.

  To that end they broke away from their pursuit and headed off through far less packed tunnels, still having to be careful not to be seen by any reavers that they didn’t have an active mental block on, for even a single glimpse would betray them to the hive mind as they raced to get ahead of the overlord and hopefully find a spot where it would come to them.

  They’d guessed wrong again, but this time by only half a mile. Unfortunately it wasn’t a straight shot to get there, and the tunnels around it, including the one they were perched in a side nook on, were full of escorts flowing through and literally blocking any path to the overlord with their bodies as the river of reavers moved onward.

  Well, what do you think? he asked Tia telepathically as she clung to the ceiling of their little cutout as the reavers passed by underneath them a few meters away.

  I’m sick of missing workouts. Let’s bust some heads and get out of here, with or without the overlord.

  Agreed, but we need speed more than anything. Save the head busting until we get closer.

  Following your lead.

  “Let’s go,” he said aloud as he released his hold on the rocky walls and dropped down on top of the reavers, hitting them with a Fornax field that made Tia a bit wobbly too, but she was still able to function as both of them stepped on and jumped over the disabled enemies and headed up the tunnel with the Archons switching off to maintain the Fornax field so they wouldn’t have to fight and be slowed down. They couldn’t do that forever, and only a few minutes later they were both too tired to risk continuing with Fornax so they switched to using other psionics to trick or disable the reavers enough to jump over or squeeze past them.

  They moved parallel to the overlord, who suddenly started moving even faster than before, until they got to a cross tunnel and got over to the route it was taking…but they were now well behind it and there was an army of reavers turning around and blocking the tunnel with their bodies. They formed a wall, linking arms and claws as they stood on each other’s backs so that if they fell they wouldn’t open up any gaps as the reavers behind the Archons caught up and tried to attack them.

  “Get behind me!” John yelled as he send her a battlemeld prompt, summoning up his half of a Jini and charging the mental energy as Tia shot multiple reavers coming from behind them.

  “Switch,” he called out unnecessarily, holding his energy intact as she took a knee and began to charge hers in a tradeoff they’d practiced many times before. John shot several more reavers but there were too many coming to stop, so his attacks only slowed the wave in the tunnel as the leaders went down and the others had to climb over their bodies, but it gained them a few more seconds.

  When Tia was ready he sensed it through their battlemeld and they both pooled their energy together and went through the final linked charging process as the reavers swarmed on top of them…

  A moment later all of them dropped to the ground unconscious with the Ikrid bomb effect traveling down the tunnel in both directions as if it was electricity chaining from one to another. The Archons didn’t know how many they’d rendered unconscious, but the wall ahead of them should have been taken down.

  Both of them pushed the sleeping reavers off them and climbed to the top of the pile only to see the short section of open tunnel ahead and the still standing reaver wall on the other side.

  “Son of a bitch,” Tia complained.

  “It’s soft. Punch through,” John ordered as he sprinted forward and dove headfirst into the reavers as he telekinetically sent a wedge of energy ahead to spilt them. When he hit he squeezed through the first row and into the second, but after that he had to wiggle and shove his way forward while Tia followed inches behind him in the gap he made through the sleeping, living wall that seemed to go on forever.

  More than 20 layers later they came out the other side into a carpet of sleeping reavers with visible active ones further up ahead that began to group together to form another wall as soon as the Archons were spotted.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Tia said as she hopped over a sleeping reaver and shoved a telekinetic wall forward that knocked one of them trying to interlink arms with the others out of position. The much larger telekinetic shove that followed from John knocked several more askew as the Archons ran up and dove through the hole, then punched and kicked a few more aside before John released several directed Fornax blasts, saving energy as opposed to a full field, and took down individual reavers momentarily.

  They weren’t asleep, but their twitching bodies fell to the ground as the pair dove over them and continued running forward and fighting their way through the seemingly endless escorts until the overlord’s mind glowed brightly just ahead, though they couldn’t see it through the reaver walls they kept trying to make to block their progress as the ones preceding the overlord cycled back to intercede.

  The Archons noticed this as well, meaning they had to punch through now or face truly endless opposition with limited psionic energy to combat them with. To that end they fought to a standstill and huddled up beneath bioshields as the reavers piled onto them, hacking away with their razor-sharp claws as the pair charged another Jini. When they released it they dug themselves back out of the pile and raced ahead as fast as they could to try and catch up with the overlord.

  This time they saw it, but there were still reavers awake between them and it with more spilling back from ahead to increase the number of blockers. Through their battlemeld John sensed what Tia wanted him to do, so he made a telekinetic wall and shoved it ahead of them a few meters, making a brief clear area into which Tia jumped, then John shoved her forward with all his available Lachka power while also forming a Bataf conduit between them that both of them put full power into as Tia tucked her knees to her chest midair.

  The result was the padawan being thrown down the tunnel like a cannon ball and knocking aside everything between her and the overload. Her body ping ponged around the tunnel with the impacts, eventually bumping into the tank-sized overload and bouncing back a couple meters. The dizzy Archon unfurled and released the largest Fornax field she could manage in her weakened state and the dozens of skittering legs underneath the huge grub-like reaver stopped moving and it fell to the ground along with the escorts around it.

  Tia turned around and planted her feet, connecting another Bataf back to John and causing it to pull rather than push, bringing him up to her where they both started playing King of the Hill and assembling a wall of dead reaver bodies on either side of their captive, not wanting to kill it just yet but keeping that as a backup plan in case they couldn’t hold this position.

  8

  July 18, 3534

  Tekin System (Rim Region)

  Plataro

  “We’ve been discovered.”

  The head Ionvan turned and looked at his subordinate. “Explain.”

  “One of the superwarriors is progressing through the tunnel network and appears to be on a direct line here. This entire project has been a waste.”

  “How many are with him?”

  “He is coming alone.”

  “Then collapse the tunnels, you fool. And do not lecture me again.”

  The walrus-like alien huffed in disgust but said nothing more, turning around on its two thick legs and waddling off to carry out the ord
er.

  The project leader watched him go then turned and walked himself over to a control panel where he put on an interface collar that allowed him to see into and through the bioweapon’s hive mind. There was so much of it that it was difficult to navigate, but starting at their own concealed position and moving outward he was able to identify the nearest area of combat.

  The thoughts, sounds, smells, and vision of the bioweapon there all came through to him, leaving him to sort out what he wanted to see and disregard. He flinched when the sight of the golden clad superwarrior came into view and shot him in the face, but another perspective replaced it, and another and another as the interloper pushed through their defenses.

  His subordinate had been correct. Somehow they had discovered the Ionvan presence. He did not know what could have given them away, but this attack was coming directly for them while the other combat areas were thousands of miles away.

  When this operation had begun there wasn’t any outside interference expected. The arrival of some looters was of no consequence, but this fast growing army of superiorly armored and armed soldiers was the very pinnacle of what the Ionvan had sent them here to develop the native race into. Upgrading them into a proper bioweapon and using them to destroy every inhabitant on this planet as a test run had been the goal, but what this ally of the natives possessed was far greater. As impressive as the bioweapon had performed against them, it was nothing compared to these troops. They had landed a single ship on the surface and out of it they had spawned a massive army that only continued to expand in count.

  And it wasn’t just numbers. They were building formidable technology and adding to it as time went on. The planet’s surface had been lost to the interlopers, due in no small part to their naval bombardment. That was a necessary weakness, for the bioweapon had never been intended to fight in such a way. What little aerial power the natives had was supposed to be a challenge to overcome using the ground-only forces and the Ionvan had succeeded in that, but there was no stopping low flying warships from blasting everything visible into oblivion.

  But their ability to core down deep into the planetary crust with those weapons and reach the cradles was something that had not been anticipated, nor was this fast growing race’s ability to fight so well in the tunnels where the bioweapon should have an advantage. This entire mission was in jeopardy, but on the flip side it was also far more successful than could be imagined as far as the data collected, not just on the bioweapon’s effectiveness but on this new enemy. They had what the Ionvan sought, and even simple observations of their methods, tactics, and equipment were important.

  But the greatest prize was the genetic sample they’d been able to claim from a single corpse…or actually not even that. These interlopers recovered their dead quickly, and only a single severed arm had been recovered along with bits and pieces of their unfathomable technology. The genetic coding for this enemy was now in their grasp and the insights already gained from the study of it had advanced their research by decades.

  But there was no way to get it off the planet with their ships in orbit. The Ionvan ship that had brought them here was still intact and hidden on the surface, but to avoid leading the interlopers to it they had concealed themselves far from it, repositioning their command and control center deep below sensor level, yet somehow they’d still been discovered.

  If it was due to the loss of a control unit then their ability to backtrack the telepathic signals was in question. Already it had been noted that the superwarriors had some sort of powers that could interfere with the bioweapon, though not on a permanent basis. They always recovered, if they were left alive, and right now the local units were all being shifted to counter this superwarrior’s approach and at least delay him getting here.

  To that end he saw the bioweapon digging around the tunnels that were endangered and weakening their structure. The individual units didn’t care about their own safety, only obeying the will of the hive mind, and they either died or were trapped when the rock began to shift. Many were crushed, but the five entrances to the section of tunnels where the superwarrior was were sealed off, hopefully trapping it there as well.

  He could still see through the eyes of those bioweapons inside the area, though their connective signals were weaker. He immediately dispatched others to the area to strengthen the connection and watched as they were quickly destroyed by the superwarrior. When the last one died he still didn’t know what it would try to do, for there had been no sign of its reaction to the cave-ins. In preparation for the worst, he had bioweapon hordes assembled at all five entry points and other digging teams coring in parallel to those tunnels in order to try and cause a collapse on top of the superwarrior. That would take time, but he didn’t want to leave it alive in there given its unknown depth of abilities.

  For the moment they were secure and if they truly had neutralized this superwarrior it would be a great achievement, for there were only a handful known to be on the planet and this one was the most deadly of them all. The fact that it had come after them alone concerned him, and the fact that it had known where they were meant others might as well. He needed eyes on the surface, for if there was a warship incoming to blast down to this depth he needed as much advance warning as possible.

  But how were they going to get this information back to the others? This entire mission would be wasted if they didn’t.

  Running wasn’t possible, for the naval forces of the interlopers were superior. There would only be a tiny chance of evasion if they could arrange distractions. Multiple surface attacks to draw orbital bombardment to certain areas? Yes, that cold work, but the math involved to get to orbit and then to the star was not favorable. There was a chance of success, but it was far too much a gamble, especially when they didn’t know the full engine power of the interlopers. They might catch them before they even made it away from the planet.

  Bury themselves away somewhere while they let the bioweapon fight to its death then leave when it was over? That assumed that these interlopers were actually going to leave, and from the signs of construction on the surface it looked like they had not only come here to help the natives but to upgrade them as well. Did he dare risk waiting that long in the hopes of getting a window for escape?

  Was there any other choice? They couldn’t fight their way out and the bioweapon was almost useless against this enemy. Underground was their only chance and they were still losing territory. There was a lot of delaying actions that could be undertaken, but there was no way to conquer this planet or even fight effectively on the surface.

  But one thing that was certain above all else was the need to make sure this information did not fall into the interlopers’ hands, and more importantly, they had to get what they’d learned of their superior army back to the other Ionvan. Even if it took a century to accomplish, they must make it out.

  No. The information had to make it out, not them. Could he seal it away in a capsule to be recovered later while they allowed themselves to be killed as a distraction? But how would the Ionvan know to come get it? There was no way to communicate with them, so if he buried the data away somewhere it’d stay lost and useless…but at least it’d still exist.

  No, no…one of them had to get it back, so they either chanced a doomed orbital run or played dead and waited these interlopers out, for he only had one ship to use.

  This information had to survive, which meant there was only one reasonable course of action.

  They had to disappear and wait until this storm blew over, then hope the interlopers would leave when there was no one left to fight.

  To that end he began giving orders to create a new command center far away on the planet and accessible via surface caves so the subterranean ones wouldn’t lead the interlopers to them. Actually, they needed to build inside the taken territory where the enemy wouldn’t look, for if they could track their tunnels now they could track the new ones as well.

  Or should they try and hide on the sur
face in plain sight?

  No. If their guesses were right, the interlopers couldn’t detect their smallest tunnels, for they had missed many of them. If they only expanded via those they could hopefully escape and bury themselves away somewhere deep. Very deep. And hope to ride this out.

  But building tunnels barely the width of two bioweapons over the course of thousands of miles was extremely difficult. They’d have to pass the ore back slowly…

  “The superwarrior is not dead,” his subordinate said upon returning in a flush of indignation. “He is digging out!”

  “How?”

  “Who cares how? He is coming here and the bioweapon will not be able to stop him.”

  “Then delay him by collapsing more tunnels.”

  “We are doomed and you know it.”

  “So be it,” the leader said, pulling out a small sidearm and shooting his subordinate three times in his thick head.

  He looked around at the other Ionvans who had frozen stiff with fear that they’d be next.

  “Do your duty and this will not happen to you. We are not defeat yet, but we must delay the superwarrior’s approach. Collapse all tunnels between him and us and get all the necessary data replicated into redundant storage devices. We’re leaving to protect the data and destroying this facility. The superwarrior hasn’t seen us yet. Make sure that he doesn’t.”

  When the leader stopped talking the other subordinates took that as the cue to get to work. Orders were sent out through the hive mind overriding those coming from the control units, one of which was nearby. With any luck the superwarrior would be heading towards it, so he ordered it to move off a different direction as bait while they packed up shop.