Star Force: Shame (SF59) (5 page)

He lost track of them on the battlemap briefly, with
the control signals also being disrupted by the energy arcs but with enough
gaps that there was still intermittent contact and control. The shield ship lit
up with damage statistics suddenly, then it and the three cruisers were inside
the energy arcs and into the ‘calm’ center of the hurricane where the hulk of
the ship sat.

Defense weapons began popping plasma at the quartet,
but the three cruisers had come through virtually unharmed and targeted them,
first having to break through the massive ship’s shields with their maulers
before they began picking off the defense batteries and owning a little piece
of the ship as they maneuvered carefully so not to hit the hull or be flung
back out into the energy arcs as the invoker made several abrupt course
changes.

The drones were the faster and able to stay in their
pocket of calm, and from which they began moving out across the hull, targeting
other defensive weapons before they migrated over to the nearest emitter and
slagged
it. From there they hit more and more, diminishing
the energy field to the point where the lizards saw the writing on the wall and
decided to run.

The invoker reversed course and moved back to the
stellar jumpline, with the four drones sticking with it and some of the
remaining cruisers following, with the rest staying behind to fight and die as
a diversion. When the invoker got back to the jumpline it deactivated its energy
field and disappeared with a massive surge of acceleration…and with it went the
drones, now out of communications range and acting on preset orders.

Greg didn’t know if they’d do much more damage or not,
but he wanted them pestering the invoker when it arrived at the star.

A few seconds later his command ship made its own
offline jump, tugging on other gravity wells to get the proper angle as he
intended to beat the invoker to the star, leaving the two behemoths behind with
orders to move in and assist with cleaning up the remains of the enemy fleet
which included the battleships and dreadnaught.

Greg’s navigators had to guess at what altitude the
invoker would come out of its jump, but they got him close. The command ship
arrived some 17 seconds head of the invoker, which lit up its energy arcs again
and one of the cruiser icons pacing it went out, unable to stay or get back
within the hollow in time.

The other two and the damaged shield ship were still
there and now back in remote control range, with several more emitters shown to
have been knocked out during the microjump. Greg’s pilots used them to target a
few more as the command ship chased down the invoker and dove straight into the
now weakened energy arcs, taking the massive hits against its shields and
getting within close firing range.

When that happened the hull of the invoker literally
exploded with weapons impacts. Several emitter pylons were severed by cleansing
beams and the bloon launcher blasted into the hull with multiple hits in the
same location, chewing a crater into it as the command ship enlarged its IDF
field to dangerous levels in order to ensnare the bigger ship and keep it from
jumping out or maneuvering at all.

It was a modification that had been made in the newer
models and had the IDF emitters ramped up to their maximum output, with so much
power flowing through them they were on the verge of burning out, but it had
been approved by the techs and was holding up at the moment, though Greg knew
it wouldn’t last because the field was drawing off of a specific capacitor that
only held so much juice.

But in that short span of time the command ship was
going to rip apart the invoker. The only question was whether they could damage
the internal gravity drives before their nullification bubble popped.

Eventually the command ships’ shields went down and
the hull started taking hits, with several weapons batteries going offline like
the lights of a Christmas tree slowly winking out, but the number of emitters
left on the invoker was diminishing even faster, and before long there were
only a few rainbow tendrils left to damage the Star Force super ship, and those
were having trouble getting through the hull armor, for like the invoker had
done previously Greg was now spinning the giant donut around and taking the
damaged portion out of the line of fire.

With their sensors now back to almost normal, the
cleansing beams began poking deep into specific portions of the hull, reaching
for and hitting some of the gravity drives or their support components, but
they were having to burn through kilometers of ship to get to them, and every
twitch in their firing lines meant more material to get in the way of the
beams.

Then the IDF bubble expired and the field reverted
back to ship’s size, with Greg waiting to see what would happen.

A sudden surge of motion tore the invoker away from
the command ship, then it was off on a course around the perimeter of the star,
ostensibly towards a jumpline.

“Damn,” he swore, getting navigational analysis a
moment later that indicated the invoker was off course and headed towards no
known jumpline…as well as drifting out from the star, which would diminish the
gravitational intensity it would need to make an interstellar jump, especially
now without all of its gravity drives to pull on.

Greg smiled and input a chase course to the navigator,
with the command ship making its own jump and catching up to the invoker
without it altering course in response. A quick look at the sensors indicated
that there had been an internal explosion, possibly due to the last microjump,
that had gutted the remaining gravity drives or at least their power sources.

That meant the ship was now dead in the water.

Greg held the command ship back at range and let his
shields recharge, poking the invoker with his cleansing beams and now bloon
launchers since the ship had only a handful of energy arcs to stop them. Some
would get through, he knew, so he didn’t mind spamming the giant ship with them
while the cleansing beams poked the remaining emitters out of existence.

After that happened, he’d move in and finish off the
ship...then have the techs paint a kill marker on the command ship’s hull as
they repaired the damage.

5

September 29, 2658

Solar System

Venus

Davis’s puddle jumper landed in one of the many
starports in orbit around the planet, nestling up against the wall in a hangar
bay that contained a mix of dropships and larger transports before releasing
him to walk over to a spoke-like concealed tunnel bump that ran across the huge
deck floor. Once inside he walked in safety over to the far wall while more
ship traffic moved about over his head, visible through the clear bubble that
was ringed with bulkhead ridges that he passed through rhythmically. It took a
while to cross the huge bay, but eventually he made his way into what was a
service starport that was off limits to the general public.

The station was huge, like most in the Sol System, but
the Director found his way around easy enough and eventually ended up in an
observation lounge that had false windows relaying realtime camera footage of
the outside of the station showing the planet below and the larger than normal
sun just above the horizon. Inside the lounge were 10 white clad Archons, each
showing a brown stripe running from neckline down to their ankles on the
outside of their casual uniforms, denoting the padawan rank that they all held.

They noticed Davis approaching before he had even come
in the doorway, and all turned to look as the Director entered their little
get-together.

“You’re late,” Olli-247 teased.

“I’m never late,” Davis said deadpan. “I always arrive
precisely when I mean to.”

“Some last minute instructions I assume?” Victoria-243
asked, sitting on the back of one of the two couches in the room.

Davis shook his head. “More of a pep talk. I know
you’re going to have to improvise on the spot, so there’s little point in
giving you instructions. Have a seat please,” he said as he walked over and
pulled up a loose chair so he could sit in front of the Archons and face them
as they piled into the two couches that held four each, with Victoria and
Dennis-240 sitting perched on the back corners.

“I know this is new for you, more or less,” Davis
began. “Stephan did some work with the Calavari back in the day, but the rest
of you have been focused more on combat and training than dabbling with empire
building. You have all had some experience handling Clan matters, so I wouldn’t
label you as
newbs
, but I’m here to tell you that’s
basically going to be what you are when you get to the Benoid. I’ve had a lot
of experience dealing with alien races and their various cultures, and every
time I deal with a new one I have to learn again.”

“Granted, there are some similarities in the process
of annexing a race, but it’s not something that can be preplanned. You’re
Archons, you’re the best we have at improvising and Duke Stevenson will bring
with him all the experience and administrative procedures we’ve concocted to
date, but at the end of the day it will be you ten that will be reshaping the Benoid
into a Star Force adjunct and I want to encourage you to take liberties. Lessen
disadvantages and reinforce strengths, like you always do, and make the Benoid
your own.”

“I know you’ve had some chats with the trailblazers
who have done this sort of thing before, but I can tell you that no matter how
much prep work you do you’re still going to have to play it by ear once you
arrive. The language difficulties will be a major problem, as will be
dissenters. There are almost always some, and we saw that with the Kiritas too,
despite their being the most loyal and grateful of all the races we’ve come to
include in Star Force. If I were you I wouldn’t expect the same when you
arrive.”

“When you first tested out for basic training you had
to pass a video game test, proving that you could understand the fundamentals
of working together as a team, and I want this endeavor to be no less. You may
be going to different star systems but I want the Benoid acting as a single
unit. The details of which I’ll leave up to you. It’ll be decades before I get
a strong grid link out to you, so you’re going to have to make do with what
you’ve got on site, and even I don’t know what exactly that will be. The data
files we’ve gotten from the Benoid are sketchy, as you already know.”

“Back in the day I played a lot of video games before
transitioning over to the corporate side, and it should be no surprise that the
ones I favored were civilization building games. I know you guys are far better
experienced in the gaming realm than I am, but I want to draw a parallel here.
You’ll be doing in real life what was called for in the games, and look on it
as such. Right now the Benoid is far enough away from the lizard advance to
give you some time to build, but you are under a countdown, one for which we
don’t know the exact date.”

“Canderous will shield for you as long as they can,
but the Benoid is going to have to become self-sufficient as soon as possible,
and like with some games you only have your handful of ships and personnel to
start with. You’re going to have to incorporate the locals, but do so at a
reasonable pace and don’t put too much on them. You are transforming them into
Star Force, so don’t cut corners and compromise standards for the sake of time.
Use transitional teams if needed, but the Benoid cannot become a Star Force
hybrid, it must be fully Star Force.”

“I don’t say this because I doubt you, I just know
some of the headaches that you’re going to encounter. These races are joining
us out of self-preservation more than anything, so expect resistance when you
drastically start to change their culture. It’s going to be similar to what
Randy and Tom had to deal with when they saved the Kiritas, but my gut says
this is going to include some new challenges. I don’t know what they will be,
that’s something you’ll have to figure out on the spot.”

“Bottom line is there is no training for this, and
even if I was to go myself I’d have to learn and adapt to the conditions
present. So if you find the situation seemingly unworkable don’t fret. Just
take it piece by piece and build out from a fortified position. Even though
you’re on the clock, building a proper transition is of a higher priority.”

“Sounds a bit like double talk, and it is…but it’s
also the reality you face. If this was going to be easy and straightforward I
wouldn’t be sending the 10 of you and a Duke. You’ve got to start from scratch
until I can get the transportation grid extended out to you, and when I do I
expect something useful to feed.”

“Normally a trailblazer would be assigned to a mission
of this importance, but they’re needed elsewhere and this isn’t the only
annexation that we’re undertaking…but it is the largest. It’s also going to be
a proof of concept, to some degree, for the region. If you succeed I imagine
other races will petition us for inclusion as well. Biggest thing I want to
say, in addition to good luck, is that this is the first big stepping stone to
our future expansion and I need you to make it work, even though I have no idea
what that will take.”

“Relax,” Zac-241 said confidently. “You were smart to
assign our old basic team to this. We’re used to brainstorming as a group.
We’ll make this happen.”

“Agreed,” Victoria echoed.

Davis smiled. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

“And?” Olli asked.

“If it wasn’t for the Ikrid blocks I’d say you were
reading my mind,” Davis commented, impressed with the Archons’ deductive
abilities, for he was fairly sure he wasn’t giving away anything with his
facial gestures. “There’s been a last minute request that I’m stalling until I
get your take. In fact I’m leaving it up to you. This is your mission and I
want you to go with a team you’re comfortable with, so don’t worry about hard
feelings if you don’t want them, but both the Calavari and the Elarioni have
offered their assistance.”

Britt-249 frowned from his position in the middle of
the second couch. “Star Force Elarioni or the independent faction?”

“The independent Elarioni.”

“What the hell do they want in this?”

“When they found out that two of the races in the Benoid
lived on
waterworlds
it seemed to have piqued their
interest.”

“I already have a handful of Star Force Elarioni in my
team,” Attrick-242 noted, for he was to oversee the annexation of the one fully
aquatic race. “And I thought the other Elarioni were only interested in hiding
out from the V’kit’no’sat.”

“I’ve been noticing a shift in their culture that I
believe has resulted from their connection to the ADZ. While they’ve taken the
hermit role to be sure, they’re linked in with our data grid and are getting a
lot more knowledgeable about the region around them. I think it’s bringing them
out of their fear-induced shell, on top of the fact that they know Humans are
also on the chopping block and we’re not exactly hiding.”

“What’s their angle here?” Britt asked.

“I think they want pull with the other aquatics races.
They don’t seem to care that much about the land dwellers, but they’ve
established significant diplomatic relations with every known aquatics or semi-aquatics
race to come into the ADZ.”

“What type of help are they offering?”
Attrick
wondered, suspecting more interference than
assistance.

“They want to establish their own colony on
Vardeenplis
, given that those oceans are uninhabited, and a
resource outpost on
Bellot
to feed you,” Davis said,
pointing to
Attrick
, “resources and to assist as an
intermediary learning their language and acting as a bridge between the two.
They also want to share 40% of their collected resources on
Vardeenplis
in exchange for the right to set up that colony.”

“Sounds like claim jumpers to me,” Garen-248 scoffed.

“Do you think they’re on the level?”
Attrick
asked.

“That thought had occurred to me,” Davis said,
addressing
Garen
first, “and I think they are.
Consider that, while they’re not part of Star Force they are operating within
our borders as an ally and associate rather than going outside and trying to
set up a fully independent colony. I think they see this new annexation as an
opportunity to expand and play a role in shaping future events.”

“How did they even know about this mission?” Victoria
wondered.

“Any new annexation I make public knowledge. And since
this isn’t a military operation I’ve let the timetable go public as well.”

“How long will we have to delay if we want them to tag
along?”

“You won’t. Both have fleets insystem ready to go
with.”

“Sounds presumptuous,” Wrex-245 accused.

“Not for the Calavari,” Stephan differed. “They
probably saw the timetable and wanted to be in a position to help without
having to delay us. You told them the mission commanders would make the final
call, didn’t you?”

“I did,” Davis confirmed.

“Then that’s just them trying to be as efficient as
possible. Not leverage.”

“And the Elarioni?”
Wrex
asked.

Stephan shrugged. “You may have a point there.”

“I’ve made them no promises and they’ve acknowledged
that point. Whether that’s just talk or not is anyone’s guess,” Davis said,
looking from face to face as he tried to judge their reactions. “It’s totally
your call. Do you want a third wheel or not?”

“The Calavari are already Star Force, so they’re not a
third wheel,” Stephan said assuredly. “If no one else wants their help, I’ll be
glad to take it.”

“How many of them are there?” Victoria asked.

“They’ve assembled a team of 1.6 million, mostly
comprised of techs and workers, with enough supply ships to sustain
themselves.”

“Done deal there, I think,” she said, glancing at the
others for confirmation, getting a few nods and telepathic equivalents in
response.

“I should probably say that the Elarioni are offering
a much larger fleet to the mission and some 22 million personnel.”

Attrick
whistled. “That’s
one hell of a colonization effort.”

“And potentially useful if they cooperate,” Stephan
added, “but not to me.”

Attrick
looked at
Draven-246. “What do you think?”

“Depends on how willing they are to take orders.
They’ll heavily outnumber us and may think that gives them the right to play
loose with the rules we set down.”

“It is a risk,” Davis agreed, “but I’ve discussed this
with some of the Star Force Elarioni that transferred over and they seem to
think the offer is legitimate and would be very useful.”

“What does Ariel think?”
Attrick
asked.

“If she hadn’t
okayed
it I
wouldn’t be bringing it to you guys.”

“That’s good enough for me,”
Attrick
said satisfied.

“Same here,” Draven agreed.

“Alright then,” Davis said, clapping his hands
together once, “that’s done. So now to the big question.”

The ten Archons looked at him for a moment, getting
some weird looks on their faces when he didn’t say anything…then Davis laughed
once, breaking his straight face.

“Nah, there’s nothing. Just messing with you. Get
going,” he said, motioning towards the door, “do your thing.”

Victoria blew out a breath in a half laugh as she
swung herself off the couch top, standing up. “
Punked
by Davis. That’s a first.”

“See you in 50,” Britt said to the Director with a two
fingered salute as they got up off the couches and headed out, with
Attrick
lagging behind a bit and giving Davis a curious
stare.

“Problem?”

“You did that to check and see if we’d found a way
around the Ikrid blocks.”