Star Force: Resolution (SF89) (Star Force Origin Series) (9 page)

They needed all kinds of civilization support going,
but most important of all was assistance with understanding and assimilating
Trinx science and technology. They were on a similar technological level but
much was different between the tools the two empires used, hence Star Force
wanted help in learning that they otherwise would have just done on their own
from all the captured equipment and databases.

But it was more than that. Foodstuffs had to be
produced or shipped into the system, and right now the Trinx production
facilities were being maintained to supply the planet’s needs as its population
slowly dwindled as more and more ungrateful citizens were taken off the planet.
Sadly there were many more left here that had yet to be sorted out from the
rest, but within this isolated and protected sector there were only the
faithful, and it was his job to pass orders from Oni to them and information
back to her while keeping everyone accounted for and organized…most of whom far
outranked him in Trinx society. He was but a simple factory worker before the
invasion, though now he was liaison to the warlord that had mercifully
conquered them.

But he knew that his position would not last. It would
disappear when no longer needed and the new generations of Trinx being raised
in Star Force maturia would lead the way. He and the others could find a place
with them if they proved themselves worthy and learned the Star Force ways,
abandoning the past and embracing the future, which was why he was committed to
his studies and training, the latter of which he did in the mornings before
setting himself to the day’s tasks. He never knew for sure when a new order
would come down from Oni, but the following morning was one such occasion.

It didn’t come in the form of a hologram, but rather a
text message still written in Trinx for it would take him and the others a long
time to learn the Star Force language. In the brief message that followed she
instructed him to ready more of the residential buildings to accept another 382
loyal individuals that had been rounded up and to incorporate them into the
operational structure according to their skillsets…which he would have to
determine and then appoint their various appropriate positions.

Attached were their identities and no more. The Trinx
filing system was what his people were maintaining, and if Star Force needed
something they’d come to him, not the other way around, so he took the list of
names and began looking up their personal histories while seeing what available
slots he needed filled and which ones he could expand upon. Priorities went
first, but there was no structure in place to tell him where to appoint whom. It
was all based on his judgement and he often wondered what about him had made
the Archon give him this gigantic responsibility.

He was curious but had never asked the question,
gladly accepting it and paying as much attention to his duties as he could to
prove Oni correct.

“
Coordinator
,”
an aide said, jolting him from his trance staring into the holographic panel
before him.

“
What is it?
”
he asked, blinking his eyes twice.

“
I’ve just
received word from the Hamoriti site. They report the construction will be
complete within the week. They recommend we begin evacuating the area
.”

Deervan
nodded solemnly, for
there was no greater matter of importance within Trinx society than the
Hamoriti, though it was soon to be taken from them to be put in the care of
better hands.

“
I’ll inform
Star Force
,” he acknowledged, with the aide quietly returning to his duties
and
Deervan
to his while getting a weird trepidation
regarding that transfer…as if it was a monumental turning point in history that
he was having the fortune to be present at.

9

April 3, 3297

Nearkod
System
(Occupation Zone)

Inner Zone

The
Excalibur
came out of its jump into the former lizard core system at the head of a
convoy…which wasn’t all that peculiar, given that many Star Force convoys
passed through this system to get to the front, using it as a traffic nexus and
supply depot. There were sixteen habitable planets that were still producing
recycled materials from the lizard infrastructure that were feeding Star Force
factories on the ground and in the captured ring shipyards, of which this
system had the most known to exist.

There were 9 here spread across seven planets, two of
which had doubles, which was rare. The reason this system had them was due to
the unbelievably high deposits of natural resources. In addition to the sixteen
habitable planets, there were more than a hundred others that were barren lumps
of rock full of precious ores. The lizards hadn’t been mining those worlds so
much as consuming them, with three having visible chunks already taken out of
them and a fourth that was barely a wedge and looked more like an ugly
asteroid, for that was all that was left of it.

Processing all that material locally was more viable
than shipping it off to other core systems to handle the load so even while
this system wasn’t the tops within the former lizard hierarchy it did have the
most raw production value. That was all in the past now, and those shipyards
were just ghosts of their former selves save for a few spots within them that
had been converted to Star Force’s use.

There were a few defensive forces in the system, which
was usual to protect the recycling facilities and other sparse inhabitants. No
full colonies had been built here as of yet. It was simply a work zone that sported
several million people.

A command ship arriving was a common enough sight for
the warships meant to monitor and defend the system, but seeing that it was
Paul’s command ship caught their eye as a message from him flashed across the
comm
systems telling them to stand down and allow him to
assume command of system defense.

That wasn’t necessary, but still his prerogative. The
ship captains acknowledged the order just as their
laggy
sensors began registering the lizard ships jumping into the system behind the
Excalibur
…and the fact that Paul was
tagging them as friendlies.

The mastermind known as Thrawn entered the system in
one of the many lizard jumpships, his identity not known to any outside
observer nor logged within fleet systems. That was standard practice to keep
him from being targeted and even now under the protection of Star Force he
didn’t feel like breaking the habit. He received his orders from Paul via
relays and did not even think the Archon knew which ship he was on, for he’d
tried to hide that fact from him as well during the uploading in
Krachnika
.

His fleet followed Paul’s command ship out to
Miit
orbit, which was one of the two planets with twin
rings, one situated above the other with an interval of some 580 miles between
them and connected via support struts just like the inner ring was connected to
the surface. Paul signaled for him to meet him in person onboard the outer
ring, providing the coordinates and no other explanation.

Thrawn did as instructed and took a small transport
over to the massive space station, finding no one present. He walked, alone,
out of the hangar bay for a few minutes before he came to the compartment he
was told to go to and waited there, finding it to be little more than an empty
storage chamber several hundred meters long and high.

A few minutes later a group of Humans entered, with
Paul being the last in line. He walked quicker than them and got to Thrawn
first with the others visibly questioning his presence here. The Archon gave him
a translation piece of Human design and the mastermind slid it on over his head
like a headband before they began talking, for to this day he still hadn’t
bothered to learn the Star Force language.

“This is Administrator
Keery
,”
Paul began, gesturing to the Human nearest him, “Administrator Keller,
Administrator Harvey, Baron
Trew
, and Tech Gregory
Kotch. They run all operations in this system, and I felt it was best they met
with you face to face as I explain the situation so there is no
miscommunication.”

“
Wise
,”
Thrawn said, measuring up the shorter Humans.

 
Paul turned to
the Humans. “This is Thrawn, the only mastermind amongst the surrendered
lizards and the reason any of them bothered to surrender in the first place. I
can vouch for him, that he will not attempt any subterfuge, and that his ships
will follow his orders. I know mine will, so there shouldn’t be a conflict here
so long as we all know what’s going on.”

“What is going on?” the Baron asked.

“This outer ring is being returned to them so they can
process the materials they will be mining from planets 43, 56, 58, and 62,”
Paul said, indicating the ones that had been so heavily harvested they were no
longer spheres. “That means their mining ships are going to be traveling across
the system on a regular basis and they’ve already been rebuilt to register on
our battlemap and vice versa without them having full access to it. If by some
chance an enemy lizard ship showed up here you’ll be able to see which ones are
ours and so will they,” he said, gesturing to the mastermind.

“Will they be shipping material out of the system as
well?”

“No. Everything is staying local and a percentage of
what they harvest will be turned over to you through the connecting columns.
The rest they’re going to use to start building ships for me.”

“Star Force or lizard tech?”
Keery
asked.

“Lizard. New designs we’ve been working on.”

“To what end?” he asked, looking at their former enemy
questioningly.

“A project of mine. I need you to leave them to work
on their own. They’ve brought enough supplies to sustain themselves and I’ll
bring in more as needed, but they’re going to be reworking this ring to provide
a lot of stuff so don’t concern yourself with any odd construction activities.
So long as they stay here and don’t cross over, just ignore them.”

“And if they do?”

“
Take notice and
inform me
,” Thrawn said evenly. “
I
will be personally overseeing this operation until I am satisfied that it is
stable enough for me to leave in other hands
.”

“What kind of resources will I be getting?” the Baron
asked, but not to Paul.

“
A comprehensive
load
,” Thrawn answered. “
We are not
searching for individual materials, but will be collecting and harvesting bulk
material and utilizing every part of it possible. Final manifests will be
decided by what raw materials are recovered on a day to day basis
.”

“Are we open to trades?”
Trew
asked, this time looking at Paul.

The Archon raised an eyebrow. “I had intended for you
to each keep to your corners, but if you can find arrangements that are
mutually advantageous I see no reason not to.”

“Is there a security concern with contact?”

“Possibly,” he admitted, “but usually they do as he
instructs. Press them into an uncomfortable situation and they might revert to
past habits. I assume you can avoid creating such a situation?”

“If you trust him, then I think we can work something
out.”

“I’ll leave it to you two then. How soon can you
evacuate this ring?”

“Give me twelve hours,” Administrator
Keery
said. “I don’t have much here, which is why I assume
you chose this ring. Do I need to post guards on the columns?”

“Surveillance, but no guards. Aside from handing over
materials there should be no travel up or down.”

“
My people will
not explore on their own volition
,” Thrawn promised. “
And I will instruct them where the boundaries lie.
”

“Then I see no reason why we shouldn’t be able to make
this work. Are you going to keep bringing in more people periodically?”

“
We will grow
what we need here
.”

All sets of Human eyes turned to Paul and he gave them
a confirming nod.

“Space traffic?” the Baron inquired.

“We have access to your systems and will avoid your
ships whenever prudent. Our patterns will become evident and not alter, making
our movements predictable for your ships to also avoid.”

“Are they armed?” Koch asked.

“Their current ships aren’t, but the ones they’re
going to build for me will be. Though it’s in its infancy, you can consider
this operation to be under the Clan Saber mantle and these lizards to be
contractors that I’ve hired, if that helps you mentally settle.”

“Ah…that it does,”
Trew
said
with a touch of gratitude. “Will you be returning to collect the produce or
funneling it through me?”

“It’ll stock pile here until I pick it up. Don’t
concern yourself with it…this is just an independent operation that just
happens to be camping out in your backyard. Your duties here have not altered
save for the bonus material you’ll be getting and any side deals the two of you
set up. Their oversight is Clan Saber responsibility.”

“Very well, then. I won’t pry and we’ll stay out of
each other’s way. Will they be reclaiming any other orbitals?”

“No. Just this one ring.”

“Just,”
Keery
repeated,
citing the irony in that given how massive a construction it was, and drawing a
glance from Paul. “I don’t have a problem with it. We’ve got too many of them
to use anyway. It’s basically just sitting here collecting dust.”

“Good,” Paul said, clapping his hands once in
finality. “Introductions made, now let’s all get busy. We’ll be converting this
chamber and everything in a 1.5 mile radius around the closest hangar into a
transitional area. I assume you have no assets to remove anywhere near that?”

“No. Nothing within a thousand miles, actually.”

“Then there’s no reason to delay, unless there are
other questions. Koch, I do need you for something else though, so stick
around.”

The Baron looked at his Administrators. “You heard the
man. Back to work,” he said with a sarcastic drone.

“Welcome to the neighborhood, Thrawn,”
Keery
said, offering him a nod that wasn’t returned as the
four men walked back towards the door they’d entered through.

“You don’t like us, do you?” the tech asked the
mastermind.

“
Like is
irrelevant. I am here with a mission
.”

“Do we annoy you?”

“You’re starting to annoy me,” Paul interrupted. “I
need your appraisal of something.”

“Sure,” Koch said, a spark of interest at suggested
work.

“Follow us,” Paul said as he and Thrawn headed for the
same door the others had just left through.

The tech frowned, then did as told and followed the
pair, noting the tail swag of the lizard that dwarfed Paul’s small body. If he
hadn’t been an Archon Koch would have been a little worried about his safety.
It looked like this Thrawn could kill him within a few seconds through brute
strength alone if he wanted, not to mention the claws he was carrying on both
hands and feet, which were bare despite the ornate robe he was wearing.

Eventually they worked their way to the hangar that
had the lizard Kirby sitting in it along with several other lizards that put
Koch even more on edge. They were standard variants, and to his surprise they
did have weapons. Handheld ones anyway, but Paul walked towards them as if they
were no different than Star Force Commandos.

Then as they approached another lizard came out, this
one a scientist variety that he’d only seen pictures of, though most of the
lizards he’d personally encountered were dead ones pulled out of rubble, but he
was fairly sure this type wasn’t one of them.

But what was even
more odd
was the fact that it wasn’t green, it was dark shade of blue.

It carried a large case that it set on the ground in
front of them and opened up, out of which came the familiar sight of Star Force
tech. The trailblazer pointed down at it.

“Inspect these.”

“What am I looking for?” he asked, keeping a wary eye
on the lizards as he knelt down and pulled one of some 28 components out and
held it in his hand, twisting it around and easily identifying its purpose. It
was a power transfer conduit that was used in just about every building and
ship Star Force manufactured. There were several varieties that he had come
into contact with over the years as improvements were made, but this looked to
be one of the most recent model.

Spinning it about and hefting it in his hand he tried
to spot any irregularities and found none, so he put it down and picked up
another item that he saw to be a micro structural brace used in walls to
support add-ons to the primary frame. It and several of the other varied parts
all checked out until he came to a flat structural panel sample that looked to
be about 9 inches square. He tapped on it twice, then tried to bend it. That
felt about right, but his gut said something was off so he pulled a multi-tool
out of his pocket and touched a resonator to it as he altered the frequency of
the vibrations that he was sending into the material.

12 seconds later it shattered in his hand, falling
into more than a dozen pieces as Koch looked up at the lizards, then back at
Paul. “They built these, didn’t they?”

“Yes, but apparently not well enough. What did you
just do?”