Star Force: Nexus (SF57) Read online

  He was alone in the sanctum, for there were no other Archons up here at the moment, but that didn’t bother Vlad for he was well accustomed to solo training. Some others preferred having training partners but this Archon felt it was a distraction, a healthy one at times, but when you transitioned from a partner back to solo you often were left with a lackluster period of time until you readjusted. Because of that Vlad preferred to always train solo and focus on pressing his own limits rather than comparing himself to others.

  He didn’t need a rabbit to chase, for his motivation was internal…something that most people in the galaxy lacked. Star Force was designed to offer incentives everywhere, and it worked, but at the end of the day you were either a badass or you weren’t, and a badass didn’t need incentive to do workouts.

  Vlad also preferred the empty sanctum, for while he got along with the Calavari well they were not up to his level, in any way, and he preferred the isolation so he didn’t have anything else to compare with. When with the Calavari he felt totally superior, which he was, but here, in the sanctum, it was just him and himself…and for the first time since his last visit did he realize just how rusty his body had gotten.

  A rusty Archon could still kick a Calavari’s ass, but take away that dominance and Vlad was just left with a body that was desperately in need of workouts. He kept his narrow perspective focused on himself and got three days’ worth of exhausting workouts in, so much so that he woke up the last day wobbly legged, but knowing that his duties down on the planet would offer up plenty of time to rest.

  When he boarded the dropship and began the descent he pulled out a datapad and got up to date on what had been occurring the past 3 days, for he hadn’t been monitoring anything during his training, keeping his focus squarely where it should be. Now that he was back he was totally invested in the fighting and the Calavari…plus the Protovic where he could help them out. In fact they were prepping for an attack on another subsurface lizard facility, which he knew they’d need an Archon for.

  Once he got back to the command center he contacted them and walked them through the various traps the lizards had in their most recent fight, then volunteered himself to take point more than a week later. Before that happened, though, he launched another attack on the remains of a lizard surface colony, which included subsurface sections, with the Calavari. After cleaning it out he transitioned back to base for a few hours then headed over to the Protovic to assist them.

  And so it went on, with Vlad bouncing from one fight to another, knowing that his psionics were badly needed to counter the lizards’ traps. Even though they were beaten, the enemy was going to strike out at the Calavari and Protovic at every opportunity until they were all dead, meaning that up until the planet was cleared of them Vlad was going to be needed constantly, for he didn’t intend to lose any of his people by getting sloppy.

  To that end he took point whenever he could, resolving himself to catch up on his training afterwards, for while his body could recover lost fitness he couldn’t bring back the dead.

  10

  September 3, 2643

  Epsilon Eridani System

  Corneria

  Kerrie sat in a waiting lounge at the spaceport as her dropship was finishing loading when a ‘click, click, click’ series of footsteps approached from behind her. Without needing to look or even use her psionics she knew it was Mavrel, their H’kar ambassador of sorts.

  “Yes?” she asked without turning from the observation window where she had her feet propped up on the rim.

  “You are hard to sneak up on,” Mavrel said in heavily accented English.

  “You should try putting some sound dampening nubs on your…contact points,” she said, not sure what to call his ‘feet’ because they were little more than hardened points…all four of them. “Your exoskeleton is noisy on our hard floors.”

  “That is why H’kar have soft floors,” he said, walking around the long sofa and into the trailblazer’s view. “You are about to depart?”

  “Yes I am. I thought you had already gone.”

  “Our fleet will not leave until yours does, so there is no rush. I wanted to speak with you again.”

  “Concerning what?”

  “I am still not convinced this plan will work.”

  “I thought the Nexus and your leadership approved of it?”

  “They have given their approval, but I do not see the wisdom in it. I was hoping you could kill those concerns.”

  “What is there that we haven’t already discussed?”

  “I do not see how we can do enough damage to matter.”

  Kerrie sighed. “Someone a long time ago once said that before you can stop a moving ship you must first slow it down. We aren’t planning on defeating the Li’vorkrachnika, just diminishing their ability to spread.”

  “And we can do that, but I fail to see how it will lead to an eventuality that is favorable to us.”

  “The Li’vorkrachnika are used to being on the offensive, hitting where and when they like. We’ve evened that out around the ADZ and they’re not so tough when we get to pick the battlefield and the amount of forces we bring to the fight. If we get too defensive we give them the advantage.”

  “Yet our numbers are so few compared to theirs.”

  “Our combined tech level is far superior. We should be able to make ship kills without losing our own.”

  “I fail to see how that is possible, though I know you have a history of doing so.”

  “That’s why the Nexus wanted to learn from us,” Kerrie said pithily.

  “Which is why I think they authorized our presence here. They want to learn more, but I see no chance of doing effective damage to the enemy.”

  “You think this is just a training exercise rather than real battle?”

  “The combat will be real, but the campaign will not. We have no objective to attain.”

  “Kill a lot of the enemy.”

  “To what end?” Mavrel said, clicking his mandibles together over his mouth with a triple tap.

  Kerrie stared at him and probed into his mind, trying to get a feel for what he was getting at. Inside the hard carapace that covered his awkward body was a sense of hopelessness, minor at this point given that his race was protected by the Nexus, but he had no hope of ever defeating the lizards.

  “Some people,” Kerrie began to explain, “only know how to fight when they can see all the options and know they’re going to win beforehand. Then there are others who don’t assume to predict the outcome and only focus on what they need to do in the moment. The first type cannot fight a superior opponent, the second can and potentially win. A great deal of combat is based in denying your enemy the fight he wants and making him operate less efficiently than normal. Over time we can wear them down, but there are no guarantees. There are never guarantees. That is something you have to get used to.”

  “In my experience, if you go into a fight you are not confident that you will win you end up wasting troops and resources.”

  “For many that would be true, but a real warrior knows how to probe and disengage. Only fools fully commit blindly.”

  “Yet we are taught that once battle begins we must forcefully apply our full strength or risk defeat through indecisiveness.”

  “I would call that reckless. Things can change in battle in only a few seconds. You have to be able to adapt in the moment.”

  “Which is something your empire does well, but it is not how H’kar fight.”

  “Anyone can learn, given enough time. And you’ll have my fleet and the Voku’s with you to carry the load until you do learn.”

  “Yet ours will be far larger.”

  “In the beginning, yes. But that’s also why I’m going. So I can adapt for you.”

  “And we are grateful for your inclusion. I just do not feel that this endeavor will come to a beneficial conclusion.”

  “You never know how a fight will go down before you start, and anyone who says otherwise
is asking the bad luck monkey for an upset.”

  “Mon…kie?”

  “A metaphor we use. It’s a fictitious person who exists to sabotage you with bad luck at every opportunity.”

  “You have many metaphors in your language. It has been difficult to learn.”

  “You’ve done well.”

  “It was necessary, for we have no means of other communication.”

  “That’s a problem we’ve had to face here as well. So many different languages end up hindering communication. We operate with two, one for our empire and the more common one that most races in this region use. It’s a commerce language but we’re trying to replace it with English over time.”

  “Then it is good that I have learned most of it.”

  “How many do the Nexus have?”

  “Many, but one that binds us all. I have learned 6 in total over my years.”

  “I can read 14 and speak 5, though I’ve had a lot more years to learn than you have.”

  Mavrel stepped forward and turned around, sitting down on the couch with his spindly legs sticking forward like spears…and just as deadly if someone tripped and fell into them.

  “I keep forgetting your longevity. Most H’kar do not live half as long.”

  “Why haven’t you attained self-sufficiency?”

  “I have learned that word, but there is no translation. Our lifespans are default. We cannot train as you do. Our bodies are not built for it.”

  “Bullshit,” Kerrie said, staring at him during a brief pause. “Are you familiar with that term?”

  “No.”

  “It means what you just said isn’t true in any way, shape, or form and is reserved for extreme cases of stupidity. You can train, you just don’t know how.”

  “You do not know as much of us as you think you do.”

  “We currently have 273 different races in Star Force, most are wards that we care for, but a lot of them have said basically the same thing. It took some time and modification on the part of our trainers, but we found a way for all of them to reach self-sufficiency. It’s just a question of whether the individual is willing to work to attain it, and then maintain it. Sadly most are too lazy to do either.”

  “We are not lazy. Our energy reserves are low. We have long, sustained effort at minimal levels or short bursts of intense action, but we do not have the stamina for your type of training.”

  “Humans don’t either, in the beginning. You have to develop it. Look at me, I wasn’t anywhere near this powerful when I first joined Star Force. I was a pathetic weakling…still better than the other pathetic weaklings…but I was so squishy I have trouble even remembering what it was like. You can’t expect instant results. And now suddenly I think I understand your problem.”

  “What problem?”

  “Your concerns about this upcoming campaign. You can’t handle facing the unknown. You need some tangible results to work towards. You can’t get your mind set to fight simply to fight…or train simply to train. Tell me, have none of the H’kar achieved self-sufficiency?”

  “We have not.”

  “They call me a trailblazer because I will push into the unknown and learn new things that I can then teach to others, either directly or by example. I’m starting to think that once you guys start spending a lot of time with us you’ll advance rather quick.”

  “I do not understand.”

  “You need a battle plan to follow. Without one you’re totally lost. You can’t see a way to beat the Li’vorkrachnika and you can’t see a way to train so you don’t try. If you watch us you’ll see us doing it and then you’ll have something to pattern off of.”

  “Even if you are correct about the battles we will jointly fight, we will not be witnessing any of your training. We will be on our own ships.”

  “I wouldn’t mind a side project.”

  The H’kar shook his pointy head. “I do not wish this.”

  “If any of the others do, please tell me.”

  “Agreed, but we cannot eat your food,” Mavrel said with some hilarity.

  “We’ve made food for countless races, I think we can manage a few new items.”

  “I will pass the offer along, but I do not think you will receive a response.”

  “Don’t your infantry train?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why haven’t they attained self-sufficiency?”

  “Our bodies are not suited for it.”

  “Bullshit,” Kerrie said softly.

  “It is a fact of our race.”

  “I’m never going to accept that.”

  “You do not have to.”

  Kerrie sighed. “I always enjoy our conversations. You’re so optimistic.”

  “After a long history of lost wars, optimism is not something the H’kar have much of.”

  “Time to change that.”

  Mavrel flexed his binary arm, which was more of a claw, and tapped his leg with both sharp points making loud clicks. “How you have survived I do not understand.”

  “Watch and learn,” Kerrie said as her earpiece activated and she slid her feet off the window trim and back to the floor. “My dropship is ready to go. I guess we’ll be talking via hologram from now on.”

  “Yes,” he said, and Kerrie sensed a gratitude in that sentiment.

  “I stink?” she said suddenly, picking up on his thoughts.

  “Apparently this is not the first time you have been told so. I was not going to say anything, but Human scent is quite foul.”

  Kerrie reflexively tilted her head and sniffed near her armpit…smelling nothing. “I don’t smell anything.”

  “Perhaps you are used to your own scent.”

  Kerrie frowned at him. “Do other races stink to you, or just Humans?”

  “Some do. Most do not. I believe it is your sweat glands.”

  Kerrie looked at his hard carapace. “Which you have none of.”

  “Of course not. We regulate temperature internally.”

  “Well, this stinky Human is going to head to her ship. Remember to pass along that training offer. I’ll write up workouts you can do on your own ships if you want.”

  “I will tell the others.”

  “Alright,” Kerrie said, standing up and walking around the couch on the opposite side from Mavrel, heading for the door and taking another whiff of her armpit. She walked out of earshot then whispered, “I don’t stink.”

  18 hours later Kerrie was aboard the Majestic Dolphin, a Melee-class command ship, as her crew went through final fleet checks. She had 22 Warship-class jumpships with her, full of the latest model naval drones and some of the best remote pilots Star Force had. There were no ground troops aboard the Majestic Dolphin, which had been packed full of cargo in their place, for this first hunting mission into lizard territory was to be naval only. They could bombard planets if they chose, but they were after ships, and not the big ones.

  They’d take them if they ran across them, but the task force was primarily interested in hunting cruisers and jumpships. Those are what the lizards had in legion, and those are the kills Kerrie was going to be going after…and the more the better.

  But she wasn’t going alone. Sitting in high orbit around Corneria were two Voku conglomerates, but both the number of ‘ships’ they could split into and the drones that Kerrie had paled in comparison to the H’kar fleet sitting mid orbit. There were six of their ‘Hive’ carriers along with thousands of their mainline warships of various models. All were upgraded with low level Nexus tech that gave them a significant advantage over the lizards, it was their battle tactics that were in question.

  Kerrie had learned that they were sluggers, and their ships were built for just that purpose. Well armed and armored, but they didn’t know how to retreat or use navigation to their advantage. They just wanted to walk up to a target and blast away…and against the lizards that wasn’t going to work. They were devious bastards and turned the H’kar’s up front combat philosophy against them, but not w
ithout a cost. The lizards had to fight them at close range sooner or later, which cost them a lot of ships in the process.

  Now that the H’kar had Nexus upgrades the lizards couldn’t beat them short of spamming them with ships…but then again they didn’t have to. They just hit the other worlds around them, grabbing up the easy territory and growing, always growing. Then fielding the spam-level ship numbers wouldn’t be such a hard thing to do.

  But this H’kar fleet was going to take its lead from Star Force. The Voku were involved because, well, their ships were superior to both of the others and if you were going on a hunting expedition you wanted as much firepower and speed as you could get. Kerrie expected them to move as a single fleet most of the time, perhaps splitting up occasionally but hitting their targets with overwhelming numbers that would make it difficult for the lizards to flee. The Voku had already volunteered for stellar ward duty, which left Kerrie and the H’kar with the job of hitting their planets and tearing them apart.

  That had seemed a little off the wall when Paul had first suggested it to her, but he and Cal-com had been going over and forming this plan for years and he quickly explained that while the first few attacks might be better with the Voku up front, the lizards would learn from survivors what was happening and choose to run rather than fight and lose…which meant in order to kill as many as possible you had to have a backdoor guard and the Voku tech was best suited to that.

  That was the plan, anyway. What would actually happen once they started to dive deep into lizard territory and hit them where they weren’t expecting was anyone’s guess. Kerrie felt they’d be able to stay mobile and survive even if something went horribly wrong because they wouldn’t be tied down to defending or assaulting any planets. That and they had binary drives and the lizards didn’t, fortunately, though that wasn’t going to last forever.