Star Force: Galactic Empire Revealed (Star Force Universe Book 63) Read online

  “Thorough enough to find the Temples?”

  “The Temples are beyond their sight and will remain that way. The Vargemma will not save you. They will stay hidden and preserve themselves. The Hadarak do not know they exist, which is why they have been able to rise to their current level.”

  “Their current level has them killing each other in constant internecine only thwarted by the machines that terminate all who violate the rules. If not for them, the Vargemma would have been lost long ago to their own destruction.”

  “As I said, the Temples are well designed. They will ensure the Vargemma live and continue to advance, however slowly as necessary, so that they are here when the final endgame occurs.”

  “And you care not for the losses in the here and now?”

  “They are irrelevant to the cause. None will survive the Hadarak if they are allowed to continue to grow larger and larger, consuming even more galaxies and growing a force that none can challenge when assembled together. Sacrifices must be made, for without them all will die, and those that replace them will begin at the most basic of level. Our victory against the Hadarak now is to preserve the advancement that has taken place. That is what we are. Not individuals, but a compendium of civilization. Do not let yours be destroyed while you become consumed with protecting the lessers.”

  “There was a time I would have agreed with you, but fortunately I am wiser now than in my past. The compendium you speak of is only as strong as the bonds between its units. When you say the units have no individual value, then their sum total must be 0. I understand the principle you state, but it is a hollow promise. Advancement does not come through betrayal. Those are short-term gains, and in a war as massive as this one we must have continuity based on trust. We will not abandon our duty, our oaths, and our brotherhood. It has been stressed in the past, broken in places, but it has mended and we are stronger for it. We will either survive together, or die together. And if we die we will die with honor…and that is a concept I think your compendium is considerably lacking.”

  “You think you are superior to the Veloqueen?” the Zak’de’ron asked with a huff of a laugh to follow.

  “I have never met one to know, all I see before me is a Zak’de’ron elevated above his position and gifted with powers he will not use to their potential. Do you really think we are so gullible to take on your word anything about the Veloqueen? All we know of them is their servants, the Vargemma, have launched dishonorable surprise attacks against our Rimward half, then made the demand we abandon the war and let the Hadarak win. And here you are, now, calling upon us to do the same.”

  “Perhaps it is a wisdom too far beyond you to recognize.”

  “Perhaps I see a greater wisdom that focuses on the here and now and not the fiction of the future.”

  Eldorat sighed, a long, low sigh that seemed as patient as everything else he had done since arriving.

  “I do not think you speak for the V’kit’no’sat. I think you are taking them with you to a pointless death. What drives you to do this?”

  “Perhaps I seek a path to greatness, whereas all you offer is fleeing into perpetual servitude.”

  “What greatness do you speak of?”

  “That of the indomitable. We cannot guarantee victory, but we can guarantee some things. One is that we will never betray each other. And two, we can guarantee we will never submit. In an uncertain universe, those are two pillars of greatness that we can control our destinies on. Victory of the Hadarak millions, if not billions of years in the future, is but a feeble promise that cannot even keep the Vargemma focused on the mission, because there is no mission. Waiting is not the way of the warrior. We must fight, or we must prepare to fight. Sitting and doing nothing is an insult to our caliber.”

  “And yet, many far stronger than you have done just that, and they have survived previous purges.”

  “I would rather die a V’kit’no’sat than live a coward.”

  “And that is why you are not fit to lead this empire.”

  Several growls around Mak’to’ran were audible, as the other Era’tran took personal insult to that statement, but he simply stared coldly at the hologram of the giant dragon.

  “Who leads us is not for you to say, wayward apprentice.”

  “My master ordered me to save those who are worthy, and I do not intend to fail him or your empire. You must survive this purge, not only for the sake of your compendium but for the future fate of this galaxy. If you would stand against that, Mak’to’ran, for the sake of the V’kit’no’sat, step aside and let a wiser mind guide your empire forward.”

  “You overstep, Zak’de’ron.”

  “Tell me, then. How do you intend to protect your empire from the Hadarak? Or do you plan on all dying to them in glorious, but wasteful battle?” he asked, paying close attention to the reactions from Wendigama and the rest of the system, though the others were delayed due to comm lag. More than that, he was very near to finding Mak’to’ran, having isolated him down to a particular facility, but he couldn’t tell which Era’tran inside was him. He was too far away, and all of them had technology blocking telepathic input. They might as well all be clones, for all he could make out was rough shapes.

  “We will persist as we have always done so. We defeated the Zak’de’ron when it was thought impossible, and that did not stop our trying. One does not know the outcome of any battle until one fights it. Perhaps the races that you have ‘preserved’ could have won, if not for your interference.”

  “The records I have shared with you state otherwise, and you know it. So do the rest of your people.”

  “Empires grow in combat. If you do not begin, you do not advance. We grew to overcome your race, and Star Force grew to survive Itaru’s mistake. We have experience in doing the impossible, and we are not afraid to attempt it once more. Bravery is not in taking on the sure fights, but the ones you don’t think you can win.”

  “Star Force? You finally say their name. I was wondering if you would. Do you hope they will be able to save you? Are you betting the future of the V’kit’no’sat on those who you tried to kill and failed to do so, not once, but many times over? If you could not defeat them, how do you hope to defeat the Hadarak?”

  “The two halves of our empire are now one, and stronger for it.”

  “Yet they are not here and you are.”

  “That is your Masters’ fault.”

  “The Vargemma operate on their own, following general orders. I do not think they have erred, young Era’tran. I think you have, and your empire will die for it if they follow you against the Hadarak.”

  “We exist to fight the Hadarak.”

  “To just fight them, or to win? Which is it? Because fighting them now leads to defeat. Running away and surviving to kill them later is the path to victory. So do you pursue victory, or bloody combat?”

  “Coming from a Zak’de’ron, I find that question highly ironic.”

  “The Zak’de’ron are out there. I am here, and I am Eldorat. That title means something far greater than you will ever know. It is a responsibility beyond mere privilege, and a responsibility I take with reverent respect to those who gave it to me, and through me I offer the V’kit’no’sat a piece of that responsibility, and a future beyond the inevitable doom that is befalling the galaxy. If you are going to stand in the way of your empire surviving, you need to be moved aside.”

  “Do you intend to do that?”

  “Do I need to? If you wish to fight, take those that also want to, go to the border and kill yourselves in combat, but leave the rest to survive. Is that not an honorable choice that each V’kit’no’sat can make for themselves?”

  “You seek to divide us,” Mak’to’ran accused. “You seek to pull on old hatreds, old fears, and old rivalries. You are not offering a path forward, but are attempting to return us to the past. The V’kit’no’sat have grown beyond the teachings of the Zak’de’ron, and we will not go back to their bloody, honorless tutelag
e.”

  “The Zak’de’ron will die in this purge, the V’kit’no’sat will survive without them. You need never fear them again. In their inferiority they will die, but in your superiority you will live because I am providing you the path to do so due to your ascending beyond your former masters. I offer the path forward, while you are consumed with the hatred of the past…one which will soon be irrelevant.”

  “Promises all. We have learned not to take the word of a Zak’de’ron, but rather watch for their claws hovering over our throats.”

  “It is clear you intend to lead the V’kit’no’sat into battle here and now. Am I correct?”

  “You are. We will do our duty, to the galaxy and to the meaning for our very existence.”

  “Then I am done talking to you,” Eldorat said, finally able to pry off the head cradle of a lone Era’tran and do a quick memory dive as he held him in stasis in an empty hallway, unable to move or call for help. He now knew which chamber Mak’to’ran was in, and that narrowed his choices down to a few dozen Era’tran.

  “Who shall step forward?” the Apprentice said, addressing the entire system with Mak’to’ran’s hologram now gone. “I have no wish to lead you, only guide you through this purge, as I have the others. Your empire is yours, I make no claim on it, but Mak’to’ran can no longer lead you, so it is time to choose another, whether that be an individual or a council, as you once had leading from Itaru. For I make this simple statement with all due respect. If Mak’to’ran cannot defend himself, how can he defend you against the Hadarak?”

  Mak’to’ran sneered as soon as he heard that, rebooting the comm to make an address to the system now that the shared transmission had been severed. But before he could his body froze in place, though his mind was still free as his armor held a few bands stretching over his head even in retracted mode that protected him from Ikrid invasion.

  But they did nothing against the Lachka that now held him. He pulsed his Rentar to free himself of it, returning to bear on his own weight, but he had to continue to surge the psionic to prevent the grip on him that…

  Suddenly another force grabbed him. One that had no weakness to Rentar. And beside him, on one of the consoles, a flashing icon registered a warning coming in from Archon Anders.

  All Mak’to’ran had was a split second to experience the odd sensation, then his neck twisted so violently to the right that it snapped his spine…then his head was torn clean off and dropped to the deck plates alongside his body, as well as those of all the other Era’tran in the hidden chamber that had also been summarily decapitated.

  9

  “The Hadarak are far more dangerous than I am, and if you tempt fate, the V’kit’no’sat Empire will be washed away from history. Appoint a leader that will keep you alive long enough to join the real war that is coming, and I will do everything in my power, including fighting alongside you when necessary, to keep your people alive and spirit them away to where they can…”

  Telvara was trying to get Mak’to’ran on the comm after he dropped off the system-wide transmission, but it was his Zen’zat that responded with a system-wide alert, including the footage of what had just happened. The Hjar’at’s spines flashed into blue brilliance as he saw every Era’tran around Mak’to’ran suddenly lifted off the ground and held aloft for a moment, then their necks snapped and rotated around so violently they were pulled from their bodies amidst a gushing of purple blood.

  Mak’to’ran was killed so quickly it froze Telvara for a moment, not sure if what he was seeing was real. How could this Zak’de’ron reach him on the planet when he was still in orbit?

  As the comm channels lit up across the planet he checked to see what was the precise location…and sure enough Mak’to’ran’s position, which was now being marked for all to see, was directly below where the filth was rotating by overhead.

  And the arrogant bastard was still talking as if nothing had happened. Telvara mentally linked in with the Hjar’at on the planet, but before he could give the order Wendigama’s anti-orbital defenses that were manned by Era’tran crews lit up the sky in fireworks all converging on the mile long dragon floating above them.

  “Kill the Zak’de’ron,” he ordered to all Hjar’at units on the planet and elsewhere in the system.

  And with that, no other explanation was needed. Everyone was getting the feeds now, and one thing was clear. No matter how powerful this Eldorat was, he was a Zak’de’ron, and he had just snuck into Itaru and assassinated the V’kit’no’sat leader.

  The first Tar’vem’jic hit to arrive with the other beam weapons dead-ended on impressive shields, as if the Zak’de’ron was just going to sit there and absorb it all, but before the other heavy batteries on that side of the planet could join in, Eldorat flew down towards the planetary shields and disappeared from view for a moment. Weaponry continued to fire on his trajectory, expecting some sort of cloaking device, but none of the weapons hit anything.

  A moment later he reappeared inside the shield perimeter and unleashed a disintegration attack against one of the Tar’vem’jic batteries…and with so little effort it went offline amidst a billowing mushroom cloud of debris, as did all the smaller weaponry in the area around him.

  “I do this for your own good,” he continued to pronounce as the fleet overhead was rapidly reforming. “If a few have to be foolishly sacrificed to prove the point, then so be it. The V’kit’no’sat Empire must survive. Many of you know this. Those who do simply wait. I will not harm you unless you attack me. Let those who wish for death have it now. After we are finished, only the wise will remain, and I can use the exercise after such a long wait.”

  The defense shield overhead shut down, upon V’kit’no’sat order, and the fleet began to bombard his position as the shield reformed below him…but Eldorat did the same thing again, disappearing and getting below it, then he flew all the way down to the surface and perched on one of the highest buildings after wicking away the tiny defense weaponry on it and the surrounding area in puffs of vaporized material.

  “Make your choice quickly, for those above who continue to fire on me will soon be no more. If you are onboard them and wish to leave, divert now. If your leadership is intent on suicide, overthrow them. There are hard choices to be made, but they are minor compared to the doom that awaits you if you continue to follow Mak’to’ran’s path. He could not save himself, nor could this planet’s defenses protect him. The same is true of you and the higher level Hadarak that can use Essence. You cannot defend against them. If you need a further example, then sadly you are about to have it.”

  A vortex appeared over Eldorat, black as night and swirling as if atop a drain, then it exploded upwards, separating as if rain, with each drop heading to one of the thousands of ships directly overhead. Those drops passed through their shields and impacted the warships…but no explosions occurred. Rather the hulls around those points began to flake away as if turning to dust from an infection that slowly began to spread, but gaining speed as it consumed more and more material.

  One of the orbital defense platforms that was beyond the range of the attack blasted a Tar’vem’jic down onto the planet and vaporized the building Eldorat was standing on in a single hit, along with damaging several of the surrounding buildings, killing thousands of V’kit’no’sat in the process.

  When the dust settled, Eldorat was still there, and he blew the dust away from his position faster than it was drifting, in order for all to see.

  “You cannot kill me. I have no wish to kill you, but you must be made to see reason or the Hadarak will kill all of you. Fight me no longer.”

  As if in spite, one of the decaying ships in orbit made a microjump down to the planet and rammed his location, doing more damage than the Tar’vem’jic had and leveling several buildings while sending out an impact debris wave that peppered the surrounding area for dozens of miles. More weaponsfire followed, bombarding their own city, and finally Eldorat fled it, coming back up into orbit and torchi
ng a passing ship that was already half destroyed from decay with his flame breath.

  Except it wasn’t just plasma, but enhanced in a way that literally burned through the ship and caught it on fire, with the remaining parts now competing with each other on how they would die first…in dust or flame.

  Eldorat took out the Tar’vem’jic platform by ramming it and punching a hole straight through, but otherwise leaving the rest intact and inoperable as he was lit up with fire from both the surface and the ships that inexplicably kept arriving from afar to get in line to be destroyed next.

  Several Tar’vem’jic blasts hit him square on, and for the first time a piece of one got through and visibly singed his armor. That didn’t seem to anger him, but when the nearby Tar’vem’jic and ships switched to target his spherical ship and destroyed it within a matter of seconds, he went on a rampage.

  “Then you must be taught a harsher lesson!” he demanded, flying into the midst of an intact fleet as he weathered more and more hits. Once he was in and amongst the ships it lessened, for they couldn’t shoot through each other, and in that moment he stopped and formed a glowing white orb around him that held steady for a moment, then shot outward like an expanding bubble.

  It accelerated and passed through the nearby ships, rendering them inoperable but undamaged, and continued outward as a greedy sphere looking for more targets to swallow. Some ships saw it coming and fled, while others held position and kept firing. Those that did were left adrift, thousands of them, with the Zak’de’ron sitting quietly in the center taking very little return fire other than a single Tar’vem’jic from range, which he sidestepped to hide from behind a floating Kafcha.