Star Force: Headstrong (SF72)

by Aer-ki Jyr

  There were further quarters upgrades available, but the next one up cost 3.5 credits per day and was therefore out of her pay range unless she wanted to save up and pay a year’s advance. That hadn’t appealed to her and the three room quarters were much more luxurious than the basic ‘pods’ that she’d lived in. The bedroom was larger and had several modular pullouts that she could configure as she liked. The cleansing chamber was also slightly larger and included clothing storage, but it was the auxiliary living space in the third room that made the quarters a true luxury.

  It had no specific purpose, but was more than three times the size of the bedroom and contained a large vid screen across one wall. The standard furniture was here, but Naisha could purchase additional pieces as needed…or actually the correct term was ‘rent,’ for when she’d transferred to Nym her old furniture hadn’t come with her. Right now there was a long couch and a stool stationed next to a table built into the wall. Anything beyond that she’d have to acquire with credits.

  Her credit account did transfer between factions, and all of Star Force used the same currency system so she wasn’t going to have to start from scratch, nor was she going to have to look for a new position. That had already been arranged prior to her transit. There had been a long waiting line for the survivors to transfer to the Protovic and priority had gone to those most qualified. Had she not been working a job she’d still be waiting on Onyx, so even though she was on the lowest working tier of the empire she still got preferential treatment over those who simply lived without contributing.

  Star Force had made it clear that that was perfectly acceptable behavior, but Naisha thought it was unacceptably rude on the part of the survivors to do so. They were alive and well because Star Force had rescued them, then went to the effort to train them. Naisha wasn’t skilled in any major way, but she was helping out where she could and didn’t care to socialize with any of the others that did not…and she’d gotten into more than one argument over that fact back on Onyx.

  When her bag hit the bed she came down beside it a moment later and just laid out. Travel between star systems wasn’t difficult, but it did take her out of her routine and she found that to be exhausting. Naisha closed her eyes and took a crash nap right then and there, waking up some time later and beginning to unpack the few personal items she’d brought with her. All the necessities could be acquired locally, so what was in her pack was an assortment of novelties that she’d accumulated, including a small collection of decorative statues.

  Naisha arranged them on one of the pullout shelves built into the living room wall and hit the activation buttons on those that were so equipped, with the Dvapp-built ‘snowman’ beginning to oscillate through his dance pattern as the crystalline material bent and flowed in a cyclical pattern.

  She’d paid 172 credits for it, but it was worth every one and her favorite of them all. A few special items of clothing went into the closet and a custom set of casual shoes dropped next to the bed, which was the end of her unpacking. She stowed away her travel duffle and left her quarters after reprogramming the security code to something new, headed to the nearest equipment store.

  There were several types in a Star Force city, but it was the clothing one that she headed to first. Nothing there cost credits, though there were temporal limitations to how much you could acquire at a time so no hoarding could occur. The amount was actually rather high so Naisha was able to fill out her wardrobe with standard uniforms and casual clothes on that single trip, then would be able to replace worn out clothing at a recycle station there and exchange them for tokens that could be used for more items.

  The standard was 300 tokens for clothing, which included shoes, but since she was working that stipend upped to 350. Likewise there was a utility stipend of 75 tokens that allowed her to get a toothbrush and toothpaste at another equipment store along with shedding kit and a few other personal maintenance items, all of which could be recycled for a refund of the tokens if they became broken or empty.

  Naisha went to a third store and picked up some training gear pulling from a third pool of tokens. Here she got a pair of running shoes and some stretch bands so she could do some resistance training in her quarters first thing when she woke up. She still had some tokens left in all three pools but didn’t feel the need to burn them all, but she did head to the civilian stores and bought a few things with credits, including a bag of candy that was sold as being tailored specifically to Protovic physiology.

  It was by far the best candy she’d ever had back on Onyx and she wanted to keep a supply of it in her quarters at all times. It cost her 1.4 credits per bag, but it was worth it when she came back from a workout with a sugar low and didn’t feel like heading over to the cafeteria to eat. Some people took prepackaged foodstuffs back to their quarters to store up a small stockpile, but all of the warm foods were meant to be eaten on site. Private companies made meals that could be prepared in your quarters using modular cooking equipment, but Naisha didn’t care for those. A regular candy snack was enough to get her by until she found enough energy to get herself back over to the cafeteria to eat rather than work.

  She wasn’t sure what would be different here, but assumed that most of the procedures would be the same. The grace window she had after transit was three days, but she went ahead and reported for work as soon as she got herself settled that first day. She spent a 4 hour shift then headed off for a workout in one of the local gymnasiums before allowing herself the luxury to explore her new home…or some of it, for the city was massive.

  She and the rest of the citizens pretty much had access to everything, with only a few restricted sections for those with clearance beyond hers. One of those was the shipyards, for the city had a surface facility that was working in the open air beneath a shield dome to keep the weather out. Naisha eventually found her way to an observation deck on a tower that overlooked the shipyard and sat down on one of the bar stools sipping a confection drink along with others that were there to enjoy the view of the city or the broadcasts on the vid screens that were showing everything from news to sports.

  All the faces she had seen since arriving here were Protovic and her red variety. Supposedly there were a handful of purple here that had come from Axius and even the other Protovic civilization that was an ally of Star Force, but they must have been so few in number to disappear amongst the masses.

  It was odd, for everyone was the same. She’d gotten used to there being different races everywhere, but aside from the occasional Human this colony was all Protovic. That brought up a few memories of the Veliquesh, but things here were so different, so open, that the comparison fizzed immediately.

  Looking out the windows she could see the drone warships she’d heard about. Rather than adopt the standard Star Force block style or use one of the other factions’ blueprints the Protovic had designed and begun to build their own version. It wasn’t much of a deviation, but they were using triangular wedges that would come together in fours that would then form a solid square, making for no wasted volume during transport onboard a jumpship.

  Right now there were three of the drones under construction within sight, along with several starships that took on a more unique design and incorporated the typical Protovic hammerhead motif into a blocky back segment rather than the X-design. These starships, Naisha knew, were for local transit within the system. Many more were promised to come, but the Protovic fleet was only in its infancy. There were two other shipyards on the planet and four more in orbit working to build that military and civilian fleet, but it was going to take a long time to increase their numbers, for they were getting no outside help in doing so.

  Everything here was being built locally, which was part of the draw for Naisha and the other immigrants. This was a Protovic civilization, and while they were part of Star Force she found it appealing to have a corner of it that was their own. That wasn’t to say she wanted to be isolationist, not at all, but she did like the idea of them being able to
pull their own weight and eventually give back to the rest of Star Force later on when they had the strength to really make a difference in the war against the lizards.

  That was beyond her prevue though, so she was determined to do what she could in support of those that would be going out to fight. Already there was a small number of advanced Protovic teams fighting alongside Axius, but the bulk of their limited military was still involved in permanent training to get them ready and establish a core group that others generations could build upon. Everything here had been built from scratch, and while they did have all the wisdom and experience of Star Force and the leadership of a trailblazer, some things still had to be earned with time and the Protovic were no exception.

  But they were earning their keep and learning, which was why Naisha was so excited to be here and be a part of it, finally, after getting passed up so many times for transfer. She loved the community on Onyx, but now that she was here she realized this was truly where she belonged.

  Another added bonus was that the Veliquesh that had tried to kill her and the others were now stuck in a prison facility in another system entirely, rather than being right next door. They couldn’t get out unless they earned their way out, but the fact that a lot of them were still alive and unrepentant was a disturbing thought. She knew that wouldn’t last forever, and even if Star Force isolation kept them alive longer than they would have been in their former decrepit society, they wouldn’t last forever unless they attained self-sufficiency, which Naisha knew required a lot of training and the willingness to analyze and rework a person’s interior.

  Veliquesh didn’t do that. They prayed to the Nash to aid them rather than trying to do it themselves. She’d already heard that some of the prison facilities were being torn down and the materials recycled as they were no longer needed, for the prisoner count was diminishing with each year. A few would earn their way out, but the rest were simply dying off from what had mistakenly been considered old age in the past. Now she realized it was really physical and mental degradation.

  In short, the Veliquesh that didn’t learn from Star Force and become Protovic were going to have their sick culture kill them through an alternative means…stagnation. The tools were there for them to use and learn from, but if they didn’t they’d eventually die off. All of them would, and that thought comforted Naisha. Not because of their failure to change, but because the nightmare of the Veliquesh would, some day in the future, be completely erased from the galaxy, and the ongoing deconstruction efforts of the prison facilities meant that day wasn’t too far away.

  Here though she didn’t have to worry about that, or see it. These were all Protovic, as she was, and they had a bright future ahead of them if they were willing to work at it, and she was, for while she was going to be working in the cafeteria she was also taking additional maturia courses at a slow pace attempting to create new skills. Right now that was just a basic, all around training program, but if she showed aptitude in anything she was going to pursue it, for while she was helping Star Force in a tiny way she wanted to do more.

  And even if it took her 100 years of training to get to the point where she was able to do that, she was ok with it. For now that she was self-sufficient she had all the time in the galaxy, and no matter what meager achievements she was able to make going forward she would always strive for more. Because that was the Star Force way and, above all else, she wanted to repay them as much as she could, knowing that debt could never fully be repaid. They had saved her from darkness and given her a place in the light…and she was going to defend and support that light in any way, shape, or form she could, in perpetuity.

  6

  January 3, 2880

  Aphat System (Bsidd Region)

  Nym

  Jenran took a deep breath and set himself, eyeing the target at the end of the run-up. When the tone sounded he took off running, not at full sprint, as he’d learned previously, because while he needed speed he also needed control and accuracy. He had 55 meters to work with and got up to decent speed in half that, then transitioned into a ‘floating’ stride as he set himself into a forward lean, finishing with his last few strides sending him into a partial lunge forward.

  He hit the target head first with his body at about a 40 degree angle to the ground then bounced off it and landed haphazardly to the left. The Protovic flipped around into a tri-point stance and shook off the momentary disorientation with a twitch of his head, then ran off to the side to touch a finish pedestal. This challenge was two part, with the level of impact being measured as well as the recovery time, and as soon as he hit the pedestal with his glowing red/green hand his score was displayed above it in holo.

  Jenran frowned. His combined score had gone up 16 points, but his kinetic impact had decreased 7. It seemed that no matter what he tried he always lost ground in some way.

  He hit the reset button on the side of the finish pedestal and walked back to the start point, set himself again, then took off running. He hit the wall in a similar manner, impacting it with the exoskeleton cap on his head where a Human would have had hair, but if one of them had tried this they’d knock themselves unconscious or snap their neck. Jenran didn’t have to worry about either because when he impacted his exoskeleton ran down the back of his head and connected to his torso, so as long as he held his form there wasn’t going to be any bending involved.

  The bounce coming off the wall was uncontrollable and somewhat random, but others had learned how to at least predict it so they could stay on their feet and get to the pedestal almost instantaneously. His current bounce sent him neither left or right, but rather returned him directly opposite his momentum path…which was a rarity. It bounced him back half a meter and he fell flat on his face.

  Jenran climbed to his feet and jogged the few steps over to the finish pedestal on the right, for there were two to accommodate which way you bounced off the wall. He’d been screwed by the reverse direction immediately, and as a result his score ended up being junk…yet his kinetic impact had gone up 21 points from the previous run.

  “Having trouble?” a voice asked from nearby.

  Jenran turned around and saw Kleeva watching him. “I can’t get a handle on this.”

  “Your head is more rounded, so it’s going to be harder to apply a predictable hit,” she said, walking over to him and hitting the reset button on the pedestal. “All males are.”

  “They don’t have the same difficulty that I do,” he complained.

  “Watch me,” she said, running back to the start and reversing direction with a single foot plant that turned into a light sprint. When she hit the wall head first her flatter cranial dome rolled her to the right. Her shoulder hit the wall, then her body rolled across it and she landed on her feet already moving towards the finish pedestal. She slapped the button and got a transition time less than half of what Jenran had been scoring on his best runs.

  Kleeva tilted her neck to the left, with a soft pop sounding as her exoskeleton readjusted. “See what I did?”

  “You stayed on your feet.”

  “No…well yes, but that’s not what I meant. I turned my head a fraction prior to impact so I knew which way I’d be bouncing.”

  Jenran frowned. “Doesn’t that reduce your impact score?”

  “Not when you only do it a fraction. I can measure it out better because of my flat head, but I’ve seen some males do it better than me so I know you can.”

  Jenran looked down at his shorter friend who was also going through commando training. All females were smaller than the males by about 12% mass, but aside from a slightly flatter head and a few other small cosmetic differences they were every bit as effective as the males, though in the case of this training drill they were better because of that cranium difference.

  “I’ll keep trying, but my scores aren’t even at the minimum yet.”

  “I’m only just over it,” she argued.

  “You’re lower mass, so that’s to be expected.” />
  “I have to hit the same scores as you, regardless.”

  “I’m just saying your technique is better, and I don’t know how to train myself a better one other than throwing myself at this stupid wall a bazillion times and hoping to accidentally improve.”

  “You know, when we get into actual combat we’re going to have helmets and targets that aren’t flat walls.”

  “Exactly my point. We have to adapt and I can’t figure out how to do it here on the easy, predictable, non-moving challenge course.”

  “It’s all in the angle of impact.”

  “I can’t feel it enough to control it.”

  “Then slow down.”

  “My score tanks from the lack of impact if I do that.”

  “But you might need to in order to learn the control necessary. You can gradually up it until you find the break point, then fiddle with it there.”

  “I have to learn this at speed.”

  “And you will…after you learn it at slow speed,” she insisted, pulling him by the arm. “Come on. I’ll pace you.”

  “We’ll run into each other on the bounce.”

  “Afraid of a few bumps?” she said, citing the now well-known endurance that the race had compared to the others in Star Force. With their exoskeletal patches and almost Gumby-like flesh elsewhere, the Protovic could take a lot more pounding than others could without getting injured, so much so that it was rumored that their trailblazer patron had designed this and other collision tactics specifically for their combat use…things the other races couldn’t do without hurting themselves.

  “Fine,” he relented, walking with her back to the start and taking up a position alongside the shorter Protovic.

  “Mimic me,” she said, walking forward at first then transitioning into a slow jog that she added to at the very end with a lunge forward into the wall. Jenran made for a sloppy shadow and hit a fraction of a second after her, with both of them rolling to the outside and away from each other.