Star Force: Retribution (SF60) Page 8

  “This common foe you speak of. Is it the power in the galactic core that you will not approach?” he asked, referencing the Star Force no-go line that had come up in their previous discussions.

  “It is.”

  “I find it hard to imagine any foe capable of matching, let alone exceeding the Elders…and it scares me,” Cal-com admitted, knowing that Paul could sense the emotion anyway.

  “It would scare you even more to know the details.”

  “Your race…why is it so primitive technologically? Given your rapid advancement I would guess you are in the process of reclaiming a familiar level rather than researching into the unknown.”

  Paul smiled. “Good guess.”

  “Deduction.”

  “Same thing.”

  “It is not…and it seems I don’t need to explain why.”

  “Don’t let my abilities be an excuse for your laziness.”

  Cal-com breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. “This will take some getting used to.”

  “Only Archons acolyte level and above possess this ability, along with a scattering of other specialized individuals,” Paul offered.

  “It is artificial then?”

  “No, just dormant until we wake it up. More reclamation.”

  “I feel that…”

  “Yes,” Paul said, answering his question regarding other secrets that he wasn’t going to reveal.

  “Do I even need to speak your language?”

  “Yes you do. I can barely understand yours.”

  “So most of my knowledge you can’t translate?”

  “It makes it difficult, but there are a few cheats I can use.”

  “So, my mind is not a complete status report for you.”

  “As I said, it takes some effort…and skill. When I first got this ability I could barely use it until I learned how, and then I had to develop it the same way one does their physical skills. Digging out memories is very difficult, and few of my people are capable of doing it to the degree that I can.”

  That admission seemed to settle the Voku considerably, knowing that it had to be trained for rather than just a default biological function.

  “You then know of my mission? Or do you need me to add missed details?”

  “I know what the Elder commanded you, but I do not know what you have planned…and I’d prefer if you told me rather than forcing me to try and find it in that huge head of yours.”

  “I sense you are being polite.”

  “The more different the mind from mine the more difficult it is. Humans are far easier to read.”

  “You know of the upgrades then?”

  “I know what the Elder said, but nothing beyond that.”

  “The fleet that has arrived here is the first of many current vessels coming to us. More will come when they are replaced with new ones, giving me a much larger force to work with before any of the new upgrades become available. I am told it will take some time to adjust our infrastructure, so I will not be able to produce any here on Achkor for some time, but give me 20 years and that will change. I have to protect our current territory and the bulk of the new tech will go to that priority first, but once it is secured there will be a flow of vessels coming here above and beyond what we can produce locally.”

  “What you have in orbit already is impressive enough.”

  “According to the reports I’ve been receiving, they are mere toys in comparison.”

  “Ooh…now you’ve got me being envious.”

  “Yet I get the feeling that your own advancement won’t be far behind?”

  “It will continue, but I get the feeling you’re going to maintain your advantage for a while.”

  “So…you do expect to exceed us over time.”

  “Yep.”

  Cal-com laughed. “It is good we had this sharing. I prefer a strong ally, and your strength has been well hidden for some time. I will need it if I am to accomplish my mission.”

  “What’s that new title of yours?”

  “Dafchor…and it is not a Voku title. I now supersede my race.”

  “I caught that. You have full command of them and the others?”

  “I do, but as of now I do not believe the others know it, though it is possible the Elder has foretold of my coming.”

  “Makes you rather popular.”

  “I worry about getting to them in time. They are weaker than the Voku, and smaller. The lizards will destroy them in time if I cannot reach them.”

  “Where exactly is this target system?”

  Cal-com pulled up the map he’d been fiddling with and highlighted the location the Elder had provided him…along with the other hidden data that he hadn’t been planning on showing Paul.

  “Other side of Calavari space,” the Archon commented.

  “I must create a supply route there from Achkor, then create auxiliaries on a more direct route if possible. For that I ask for your help.”

  “What do you need?”

  “I need fire support…and you to eventually pull your border all the way out to here. I can help hold it once the foothold is established, but I’d rather not have a single system sitting in the middle of enemy territory. I can make it work if I have to, but it’ll require far more ships to secure supply lines and delay movement. I need a secure route back to Voku space, even if it means traveling extra lightyears to accomplish it.”

  “You want me to guard your supply lines by extending our border while you do what?”

  “Create a string of outposts linking to the races I’m tasked to defend, all the while destroying nearby lizard worlds.”

  “We would stand a better chance timing our operations to coincide. More firepower for us and less available ships for them to counter with when they have to split their attention.”

  “Not just on us, but the other threats to the lizards. Do you have a hidden map as well?”

  “Not a current one, no. We’ve shared what we have with you.”

  “And the one from your ancient empire?” Cal-com guessed/prodded.

  “Too ancient to be relevant,” Paul half answered.

  “Then allow me,” Cal-com said, bringing up the secure file that he’d constructed for use based off the knowledge downloaded into his mind via the Elder’s implants. The whole of lizard space was finally available for Paul to see, along with numerous highlighted smaller regions around the edges.

  “Damn, they’ve got a lot of territory.”

  “And adversaries. Recently they have been consuming new territory faster than they can maintain it. I am told they will be forced to go through a consolidation period. It is not apparent to outsiders, for they still retain the strength to counter incursions and continue to expand, but the bulk of their territory is not reinforced as strongly as one would expect. As you and I assumed previously, if we apply consistent pressure they will be unable to respond with such effectiveness as everyone assumes is their norm.”

  “How stretched are they?”

  “Not enough to deliver a lethal blow, unfortunately, nor to make easy gains against, but a strong push will result in a counterattack…but the counterattack will be vulnerable. If we can sustain ourselves against it they will have little to follow up afterwards. It is a bluff, but a dangerous one on their part, for they still have the ability to do great damage. If we expand recklessly they will be able to overwhelm us. If we proceed wisely, with the additional troops I will be bringing to bear, we can break their hold and run rampant over this region for a time.”

  “Then we have to turtle up as the rest of their gains begin to reinforce them.”

  “They are going to become very strong once the new territory reaches further advancement, as you well know. No one can kill them before that time, not even the Nexus if they chose to devote their full resources. I wish they would, because they would cripple them, but the lizards have too many systems for them to strike at. Even if we could take out their core systems it would not stop them.”

  “
What do you know of the Nexus?”

  “More than you, I would wager. They too are spread thin, but their technology allows them to maintain dominance.”

  “That much I suspected.”

  “There is no power in the lizards’ path that is capable of defeating them, except for the Skarrons…and they cannot because they are out of position. By the time they realize the true nature of the threat, the lizards will be too strong for even them to stop.”

  “So we’re going to get you to your wards, turtle up…and then what?”

  “That is my mission. I leave the rest to you.”

  Paul nodded slowly. “I can work with that…but before we start making any firm plans I need to know what your new tech is going to be capable of doing.”

  “I could say the same to you,” Cal-com countered.

  “I think yours will be online a bit sooner.”

  “Honestly I do not yet know. I have received speculations only.”

  “Alright then, let’s pull this back a bit. What can or should we go after in the next decade?”

  “That will also depend on how many H’kar you have at your command. I hear more are coming by the day?”

  “Their new commander is a legend to them, but to be honest he’s a glorified newb. I met with him once and he’s close to dying. No sense of training or strategy above and beyond tradition. He has made a few wise deviations, but he is not in our league.”

  “They are regimented?”

  “They fight like dumb brutes,” Paul said flatly. “But they’re slowly learning, and more are coming based solely on this commander’s reputation.”

  “They have fought well in our raids.”

  “They have not fought so well on their own borders, which is why they’re coming here. It’s also why Vedja came out of retirement to come here. He wants to kill lizards and finds his fleets are able to do so better under our command.”

  “Curious.”

  “Annoying. They are a very obtuse race, and without self-sufficiency they don’t live long enough to learn. If they were part of Star Force we could counter the problem, but as they are, they’re going to be lagging behind in the strategy department.”

  “So long as you command them that is not a major concern.”

  “Not for our purposes here, no.”

  “Then let’s put them to use immediately along with what I have here.”

  “Do you have a target in mind?”

  “Nothing specific, but the longer we delay the stronger the enemy will become.”

  “But we can’t provoke the counterstrike just yet. Not unless we can force it against the Sentinel line.”

  “I was not thinking of anything so large.”

  “Feel free to clue me in.”

  “Just read my mind.”

  “I’d prefer the map, if you don’t mind. I’ll brain raid only if we get stuck.”

  “Terms accepted,” Cal-com said, with them striking a friendly deal going forward for how they’d handle the telepathic issue. Cal-com was too much of a warrior to expect Paul not to use it, and Paul was too respectful to use it on a whim. With the balance set they began moving forward with their planning, and within a week they had a basic strategy that Paul sent out over the network for the other trailblazers to chew on and improve.

  Meanwhile Paul and Cal-com began theoretical planning deep into the future, exploring many options and scenarios as they plotted out the development of both of their empires and tried to intertwine them as much as possible to mutual advantage.

  9

  July 3, 2683

  Nephla System (near to Achkor)

  Neph

  When the Voku warship/mini conglomerate emerged into planetary orbit it was immediately detected and the fleet of lizard cruisers that had been guarding the world for the past 9 months moved to engage quickly. Strong as the Voku were technologically, one large warship wasn’t going to be enough to beat the cruisers that were protecting the infantile colony on what had previously been a Skarron world. The lizards had recently moved in, eliminated the opposition, and were now devoting a significant amount of their smaller vessels to holding it.

  They knew the Voku’s approximate strength, and sensing a mismatch they moved en mass towards it, intent on taking advantage of the opportunity while it existed, fully aware that there might be more ships nearby.

  The Voku simply held their position in orbit not far from their jumppoint, waiting for the cruisers to come up to them. They were almost in plasma range when addition contacts began jumping in behind the Voku, with the green crystals that appeared opening fire immediately on the lizard ships with their sammies and burning into their shields with the constant topaz beams.

  As the Dvapp warships continued to arrive more beams leapt out, touching targets and quickly getting through their shields to the hulls as four, five, six or beams would be attacking an individual ship at once. More and more green crystals appeared out of the jumppoint and flew forward, encircling the Voku ship that hadn’t moved nor engaged the enemy…and it wasn’t going to save for self-defense. It was armed but not here for the naval battle, rather carrying Voku ground troops for the forthcoming assault.

  There were lizard incursions occurring all along the edge of the ADZ that stretched out to Achkor as they preyed upon weak Skarron worlds and others, with Star Force and the Voku countering them wherever they appeared within the new annex to the ADZ loosely termed the ‘Achkor Region.’ It had no firm boundaries like the ADZ, but rather stretched out beyond Beta Region to Achkor itself, from which there was a string of worlds being colonized to create a second defense line.

  Some were uninhabited worlds, but many were formerly Skarron or now lizard colonies that were being removed. Nearly all of the Skarron worlds in the Achkor Region had now been reclaimed, but with the lizards creeping in it had been necessary to skip over the last few and start defining a border…as well as to knock down these small colonies before they could grow stronger or receive additional reinforcements.

  With conflicts occurring on multiple battlefronts the Dvapp had volunteered to use their reconstituted fleet to take this one…with a little Voku assistance on the ground where they didn’t fare so well. The Dvapp would also be keeping this world for themselves and taking a place on the new border, plugging one hole out of many, but it was one that the major powers in the ADZ wouldn’t have to fill and an opportunity on the part of the Dvapp to start reclaiming their status after the nearly fatal losses their civilization had taken during the Skarron war.

  That, and it was time for some payback against the lizards, who had done far more damage to the Dvapp than the Skarrons ever could.

  And a good number of the Dvapp troops had lived through that time, seeing their empire diminished against a weapon they couldn’t counter, then the evacuation to the ADZ and their short lived regrowth before the Skarrons had nearly ended them. But now was different, both because the ADZ and their new homeworlds were now secure and the fact that Star Force’s alteration to their crystalline technology now made the lizards’ chemical weapon against them useless.

  Not that these enemy ships were equipped with it anyway, but now that the Dvapp’s hulls wouldn’t melt under its infectious contamination the strength of their weaponry was more than enough to shred the enemy cruisers under sustained fire that they’d never been able to mount before given the presence of the chemical weapon.

  The lizards weren’t stupid, but having no other options they fought the Dvapp head on while the single jumpship within the system ran, hoping to make it to the star and evacuate the system before it could be destroyed. The Dvapp let it go, more than happy that the cruisers were fighting them head on and giving them a chance to really lay out the damage. In a satisfying, one-sided beatdown the Dvapp fleet ran through the cruisers and claimed orbit, with a few jumping off to the star to make sure the lizards had actually left while the Voku ship moved down just above the atmosphere and began spewing pieces of itself down towards the pla
net.

  Part of the Dvapp fleet followed them down, entering the atmosphere and heading for the shield plate that was protecting the single large lizard colony. There were several spurs already beginning to form, but they weren’t shielded and would make easy targets for the Voku who were coming down some distance around the perimeter. The Dvapp moved in directly over the colony, taking the first bits of overranged plasma fire as they settled into position and began stretching out their energy beams, multiple ones per ship, and pouring firepower down into the shield rather than trying to skirt under its exposed edges.

  Slowly they drained it, with the lizards unable to get through the Dvapp shields given that the sammies far outranged their plasma weapons. Streams of wisps came up from the colony in an attempt to get at the warships but they were more or less impotent against the larger ships who all but ignored them as they continued to pound the colony’s shield until it finally fell and the shield tower in center was exposed.

  That tower had secondary shields covering itself, but those didn’t hold up for more than a handful of seconds as dozens of beams targeted and burned through it, wrecking the tower and insuring that the shield plate would not go up again. The Dvapp could have stayed at range and sniped the lizard buildings from there, but instead they chose to move in and hit the defensive plasma batteries directly, suffering a little hull damage on a few ships whose shields went down but quickly establishing dominance over the air as their weaponry also ate through the wisp swarms when they finally turned their attention to them.

  As those were thinned a scattering of Voku fighters moved in to mop up the rest as their mechs approached the colony’s edges and began working their way in, targeting key structures and ground troops that managed to survive long enough to get to them. The Dvapp were roasting everything that popped its head up within the colony, with none of the lizard tanks even able to get into position to fire on the Voku.