Star Force: Empire (SF58) (5 page)

Jack ran out of the enclosure on the rover a few
minutes later, coming out onto the landing pad and seeing a waypoint pop up on
his helmet immediately. He and the other assault teams poured out of the small
anti-
grav
transports that had brought them up to the
base as speeders whipped around them on patrol and in the distance he could see
the dropship that had brought them here climb up into the sky and began a
controlled hover that would bring it across the gap and land it at the base.

Before that happened cleanup crews had to remove
people and debris from the area, but that wasn’t Jack’s purpose here. He was
going inside the base and neutralizing personnel, with a host of stinger
weapons at his disposal along with one regular plasma pistol should the
occasion warrant it. He felt a bit clumsy with all the weaponry on his back in the
heavy gravity, but as soon as he passed through the blast doors that the mechs
had melted a hole in, the base IDF took over and approximately normal gravity
resumed, though it felt a bit on the light side to be honest.

That wasn’t surprising considering it wasn’t a Human
base, but the lightness was welcome and he felt more like his normal self as
his squad pushed ahead on the ever growing battlemap as various teams fanned
out and added more hallways to the virtual display. It took several minutes
before they ran into any personnel, with the first group being an ambush
waiting for them.

He and several others took armor damage from the
pirate plasma weapons, most of which looked to be of standard
Zarati
make, but their defenses kept them alive long enough
to respond to the ambush and turn the tables on their attackers. They disabled
most of them then pursued the fleers throughout the base, hunting them all down
in ones and twos before reporting in that all areas had been
safed
, after which Jack and the others were put on
scavenger duty, hauling the unconscious prisoners back to the loading dock for
processing.

A similar course of events was occurring at the other
5 bases, with them being systematically overrun and most of the pirates being
taken alive. Meanwhile the navy was intercepting the ships that managed to get
off the surface all the while waiting for their jumpship to arrive. That would
take another 5 weeks but the wait paid off and the Australians bagged the big
ship as it came off the stellar jumpline and into planetary orbit, including
the warships it carried and the most recent victim in the form of a damaged
cargo vessel of independent origin.

The pirates also had a few captives of their own in
one of the bases and the jumpship, which were recovered and freed…along with
the stories of those who had not survived. In addition it was learned that this
group of pirates had a second jumpship, so the stay for the Australians was
lengthened as they waited for it to unwittingly walk into their hands, which it
did some 3 months later. By that time the pirate bases had been cleaned out and
somewhat destroyed by demolition crews. They left behind what remained and
cleared out, returning the system to its neutral status and carrying their
prisoners back to Star Force territory where they could be unloaded for a
proper debriefing before being sent off to various prison facilities to being
their long isolation sentences.

As an added bonus, the Australians were permitted to
keep the captured jumpships, taking them back to their nearest colony to begin
either refitting or disassembly, for the gravity drives alone were worth
recycling.

To Admiral Laver it made him feel like they had become
anti-pirate pirates, though he was pleased to return home with some loot, which
Australia was more than happy to receive to bolster its limited resources.

5

June 4, 2652

Delorean
System (Zeta
Region)

Flux

Ren’jar’tel sat on the elevated walkway with his legs
hanging out into the air and his arms resting on the guard rail as he watched
the dance taking place below in the park. He wore a full body suit, including
loose helmet, to keep his
bioluminosity
obscured from
the other Axius denizens but the dancers below did not. They were all female
Protovic and fully nude, which is what drew his interest, but for the other
races watching below they were interested in seeing the light show, for the
artful and graceful gymnastics routine they were putting on was made all the
more impressive with the myriad of glowing purple and green patches of their
bodies’ own natural colors.

There weren’t many Protovic in Axius, with most
choosing to remain in their own territory, but Ren’jar’tel was born into the
arm of Star Force and had never been off planet. Most of his associates were other
middle-sized races, with the Flux colony being one of seven inhabited
planetoids within the system and reserved for those near his size range. There
were two other colonies that were for races smaller than him, and one for those
larger, with the remaining three being hybrids, two on the small end and one on
the larger.

That meant he could travel to a total of four worlds
within the system if he chose, and live there also, but he had never had cause
to leave Flux, let alone make a permanent move. In the past 12 years since he’d
graduated from the maturia he had switched quarters twice, both times moving to
different parts of the same city but going no further. He liked where he lived
and the carefree lifestyle that Star Force provided, and while he was a bit
curious as to what the Protovic worlds were like it wasn’t enough for him to
investigate further. He was happy where he was and with the current scenery as
some 23 of them danced about making for an erotic display to the handful of
other Protovic in the crowd.

But that’s not why they were here in the open air
park. They were dancing for aesthetic reasons, with most of the races not being
able to recognize the sexuality in it. They thought it was a colorful
acrobatics display, which it was, but as far as Ren’jar’tel was concerned there
wasn’t anywhere else in the galaxy he wanted to be right now.

A few other spectators were on the railing with him,
most of whom were standing as the mass of the crowd was milling about in the
courtyard below on the grass. There were no seats or infrastructure, for the
performance was a random one. More often than not various artists would come
here to perform whatever it was they did, making the locale a hot spot for
spectators. A few hours ago there had been a sparring display between a
Critel
and a Scionate, with both showing enough skill that
their mismatched forms made for a good bit of action, but most of the displays
were less impressive.

More often than not you’d get amateurs trying to
polish their skills in whatever it was they did, building a fan base that could
propel them into the credit-generating class of artists, but there were some,
like this Protovic group, that simply danced to dance, using their natural glow
to highlight their movements in the twilight hours.

It made for quite the spectacle, and luckily they made
their circuit of performances known a day or so in advance, otherwise he would
have missed it being over in the entertainment complex catching a vid. He found
it funny how the crowd was completely oblivious to the fact that they were
nude, making it almost his own private peep show, despite the fact that it was
in public with a crowd of several hundred watching.

Normally nothing would have torn his eyes away from
the dancers, but a silent mass rising across the last bit of sunlight on the
horizon drew his attention, along with several others on the upper walkway
whose vision wasn’t blocked by the trees.

“Whoa,” someone else said, pointing to the ship rising
up from the surface. It was big…in fact, bigger than big, so much so that to
the Protovic it looked like it didn’t belong in the atmosphere at all. From the
direction it was he knew that the location had to be the D39 spaceport, for
there was nothing that could handle a ship of that size anywhere within 100
kilometers.

“Troop transport,” an old Calavari said from behind
him.

Ren’jar’tel turned back to look at the dancers, who
were appearing to glow more and more as the last bit of sunlight faded out, but
his curiosity overrode his sexual buzz for the moment and he half spun around
on his stone seat. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ve traveled on many of them. The silhouette is
familiar.”

“Whose troops?” a
Martekal
asked, blinking its three eyes
eagerly.

“Ours,” the Calavari said matter of
factly
. “Those are either Axius ground or aerial troops
leaving to fight, probably on the front somewhere…there, you can just see the
top of the second ship now. They’re leaving in convoy to meet up with a
jumpship stationed in stellar orbit.”

“I thought our troops stayed here to defend us?”
Ren’jar’tel asked.

The Calavari shook his head slowly, as if that was the
quickest movement his decayed body was capable of. “No, no…Axius does most of
its fighting elsewhere. Only twice has one of our worlds come under attack,
with both being little more than scouting runs by the enemy. Our troops are
taking the fight to the lizards in order to keep them from coming here.”

“Those ships are huge,” someone else commented, now
that the second one was fully visible and trailing slightly behind the other as
it quietly rose up in altitude and headed for orbit at a tranquil pace.

“Most of Axius, like you, are civilians,” the Calavari
explained, “but do not underestimate the size of Axius. There are,
proportionally, enough of us wanting to fight that we have one of the largest
militaries in the ADZ. You don’t see it because it’s spread across many
systems, but it’s there, and right now you’re getting a glimpse of a tiny piece
of it.”

“How many people are onboard those ships?” Ren’jar’tel
asked.

“Difficult to say without knowing what races there
are, but I’d conservatively estimate over 100,000 each, plus their fighting
equipment, which will including mechs and other large craft.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I know because I once fought with them, long ago.”

“And now?”

“Now? As you can see I am not fit to fight those
dancers, let alone a lizard. My time has passed and I earned my keep, now I sit
back and watch others continue the fight.”

“Why haven’t you obtained self-sufficiency?” someone
asked from behind the Calavari.

“I did, once, as do all our troops…but after I
finished my duty, well, the strains of civilian life are so few that retaining
your strength is not a priority. I am not proud to admit it, but I got lazy. It
is a well-deserved, restful lazy, but my body has deteriorated none the less. I
am content as I am, and have lived a long life. I have no regrets.”

“Why not start training again?” Ren’jar’tel asked.

The Calavari stared down at him, his bulk coming more
from fat than muscle. “Perhaps the same reason you do not.”

Ren’jar’tel scoffed beneath his mask. “I’m not old.”

“But you are not self-sufficiency either…and do not
try to tell me otherwise. I have been around too long not to be able to tell
the difference, no matter what race you are. Ask yourself why you do not train,
then you will have my answer in that it is the same.”

“I don’t need to train,” the Protovic said, not sure
where this conversation was going.

“You’d rather watch others…act,” the Calavari said,
pointing one of his lower hands at the dancers, “than do so yourself.”

“I’m not a dancer.”

“No, but you are inactive, as are most people in
Axius. You are taught differently in the maturia, then you slowly lose what you
gained there. It is common and due to a lack of motivation. I predate Axius, I
was not born here, but back on one of the original Calavari worlds just before
they fell. I fought to help my people survive, and that we have accomplished.
Now I am content to pass the torch to others who wish to fight. I have earned
my place here, whereas most of you do not nor ever will.”

“You’re saying we don’t belong here?” the
Critel
asked.

“No, no, do not misinterpret my meaning. I only say
that most do not contribute. That is a luxury that Star Force allows you, and
it is a luxury that I am enjoying right now, though as I said I earned my keep
early on, just as those,” he said, pointing to the rising ships now three in
number, “
are
doing now.”

“I’d rather watch the dancers,” Ren’jar’tel said,
turning his attention back to them as they jumped and flipped around in the
darkness, lighting the faces of the crowd nearest to them in their
multi-colored glow.

“As you wish, youngling. Your path is yours to choose.
Fortunately not all of Axius feels the same way, and a good number of them are
heading out now to keep us and others safe.”

“Why don’t you go with them?” Ren’jar’tel asked, his
attention now fully back on the dancers.

“I lost one leg, and it is something that I do not
wish to repeat.”

The Protovic spun around, seeing both of the big
Calavari’s
legs from the knees down to his shoes in fleshy
yellow/orange.

“It was regrown,” he explained, “but with it went a
great deal of my strength. As did my self-sufficiency.”

“Sounds like you quit,” Ren’jar’tel said, wishing the
Calavari would just shut up and let him enjoy the nude dancers in peace.

“At least I had something to quit. Most never begin,”
he said, followed by some heavy footsteps as the old man walked off to
Ren’jar’tel’s
relief.

The Protovic sat and watched the dancers for several
more minutes, then glanced back at the now black horizon. The cityscape below
was lit, with just enough of a haze to block out most of the stars, though it
was more than enough to light the underside of the stream of transports rising
up and disappearing in the distance. He saw at least a dozen, once again in awe
at the sheer size of them, and now a bit more so knowing who and what was
inside.

He shook the thought off and returned his attention to
the park and the living campfire in the center that was dancing around. He
wasn’t a fighter and never would be, but he was glad the others were and
silently wished them good luck before his mind was once again lost in the
spectacle of his nude kin and he returned to the normal ebb and flow of Axius
civilian life.

Waiting in orbit around the central star a Ma’kri
floated next to a slew of Axius jumpships, all of which were taking on
personnel and cargo from the various planets. The Ma’kri was a recent arrival,
bringing with it an Archon commander and some light battle damage from a recent
engagement. Two of the
Ka’sevron
cannons had been
knocked out, but the rest of the weaponry remained intact and the ship wasn’t
retreating to a shipyard for repairs. With a bit of secondary armor covering
the damage in the primary plating it had come here to pick up reinforcements,
then was heading back into battle at the head of an Axius fleet.

While unknown to most, Axius was technically a branch
of mainline Star Force, but one focused on non-Human adjuncts. They used all
the same technology as the Human forces did, and as such the Axius-produced
drones were the same make and model of the ones produced in Epsilon Eridani or
Sol. There were some variations in mechs and fighters, but that was largely
given to the fact that the different races had different talents and needs.
Valeries were used more than skeets, and the whole line of mini-mechs was not
present within the Human mainline forces, but otherwise they were the same and
operated out of the mainline hierarchy of Administrators, meaning that in the
upper levels Humans ran Axius the same way they ran the Core Region.

The Calavari were different, with Human oversight and
command but with the Calavari handling a lot of internal decisions on their own
and customizing their equipment to their liking. Axius was a mixed bag of races
that was growing with each decade that passed, making it the communal mixing
ground that Star Force was using to unite the various races in the ADZ as well
as to make use of their skillsets. That generated a unique Axius culture, but
not a singular identity, for different Axius colonies had different feels to
them, some with denizens only a few inches tall where others were multiple
meters in height.

They were all Axius, and all Star Force, but unlike
the Calavari there was no nationalist bond uniting them. They were a scattering
of individuals, most of whom were living off of Star Force’s generosity…and
that didn’t come anywhere close to the level of self-reliance necessary for a
semi-independent status within the empire.

But it had never been intended to become that. Axius
was like the majority of Human colonies who existed primarily with a lazy and
uninterested population, but out of which enough volunteers came to take care
of the rest. Axius produced far less warriors and workers by percent than the
Human colonies did, but the sheer size of Axius, which now outstripped all but
the Kiritak, meant it was fielding a high number of troops and resources that
Star Force had come to rely upon.

Right now that meant calling up troops waiting for
just this occasion, and doing so within a day of the Ma’kri ship coming into
the system. Where they had been extensively training, now the Axius troops were
being shuffled onto transports and taken up to the jumpships...and after loading
the Archon would be taking them to locations unknown to do battle against what
they also didn’t know. The Axius troops weren’t the most veteran in Star Force,
but they were solid and motivated, willing to go where needed with no questions
asked. Some of them had even migrated over to the mainline fleets and armies,
where their physiology allowed them to pass the Human requirements.