by Aer-ki Jyr
1
March 5, 3059
System 10746 (Nexus Domain)
Yvartis
Brad’s Warship-class jumpship coasted lazily through the Jhar defense fleet, staring down the smaller vessels as they parted to allow it through their orbital blockade to a lower holding orbit over the volcanic world that Asnem-1119 had visited a year ago. It was another anomaly within The Nexus, in that it didn’t appear on any official records. The trailblazer got the feeling a lot of systems were like that, for unless they proved themselves to be threats or valuable it seemed the The Nexus simply ignored everyone else within their domain.
This planet had been well hidden, for the Jhar were isolationists out of necessity and only had a few weak links out into the surrounding star systems, but one of them had led Asnem here where he had made contact with the Pink Protovic that inhabited the barely habitable world. The atmosphere was partially toxic, able to sustain you with enough oxygen to let you live long enough for the hazardous chemicals to slowly poison you to death. There was no water on the planet save for in the clouds, but where there would be rivers and lakes on other worlds there were pools of magma on Yvartis dotting the landscape and visible from orbit.
“About as close to Mustafar as I’ve seen,” Kip commented, standing beside Brad in the command nexus as his peer was linked into the system and they were both viewing the orbital spectacle that was the sizeable defense fleet sitting overtop the unfriendly world.
“If you want to keep the neighbors out…” Brad reminded him.
“Have we got our invite yet?”
“Yeah, coordinates match where Asnem landed.”
“At least we have a map then. Any surprises out there?”
“They’ve got a second fleet hidden behind the third moon. I bet they think we can’t see it, but their signal bounces are giving it away.”
“Ambush?”
“I hope they’re not that stupid. Asnem said he gave them a good indication of what we were capable of. This is probably just a backup plan in case we give them trouble.”
“We’re getting a tissue sample, one way or another,” Kip insisted.
“Don’t do anything rash…not with that fleet sitting here and all the defense turrets down there. Easy enough to pick off a dropship.”
“I didn’t say we’d be obvious about it,” Kip said defensively.
Brad smiled. “Armor up. I’ll meet you in the hangar after I tie up a few loose ends here.”
“Why didn’t we ever build a lava proof suit?” the trailblazer muttered as he walked away and back out across the bridge.
“Fair question,” Brad acknowledged as he ordered two frigates to disengage from the jumpship. They slowly slid out of their berths then took up flanking positions while the Jhar fleet keep a respectful distance without letting them out of their weapons range. If something did go down he wanted a couple of quick response assets in place, not to mention that releasing drones under fire played havoc with the defense shields and the enemy could theoretically slide a shot or two inside if they knew when and where to aim.
But they hadn’t come here to fight, so when they’d reached their parking orbit Brad left the bridge and headed back to his quarters to pick up his golden titan armor and then headed to the equipment room to stack his pack with equipment. Even though they were going down without weapon racks he didn’t want to run the risk of getting trapped on the surface without water or food, not to mention a variety of other odds and ends.
When he met up with Kip in the hangar the pair walked up into a Sparrow-class dropship and rode the small craft down to the surface where it landed in one of six major cities on the volcanic world. Off to the east there was one such huge plume of ash billowing out of a conical mountain, but it was far enough away from the city to only coat the dome with precipitation a mix of black and white ash. A large panel opened prior to their arrival, allowing the dropship and the four aerial fighters that were flying escort for them inside.
They passed through an energy shield, then the heavy blast doors slowly resealed and shut them inside the Jhar city that was only slightly better lit than the dim surface environment. The escort fighters took them to a nearby landing pad where they set down in a circle cleared of other craft and with a welcoming committee waiting on the deck nearby.
“Play some cards fellas,” Kip told the pair of pilots. “I don’t know how long we’ll be.”
“And keep the door locked,” Brad added as he and Kip went aft, switching to a private comm channel as they lowered the rear hatch. “I can sense them, but the resistance that Asnem said is there. Let’s play this coy until we get a better feel for them. If we do any snooping let’s make sure they can’t detect it.”
“This is your party, I’ll follow your lead.”
“Just here for the popcorn?” Brad asked as he stepped down the ramp and through the dropship’s atmospheric containment shield.
“There’s popcorn?” Kip replied as he followed. The readout on his helmet’s HUD switched immediately when he passed into the city’s atmosphere, indicating the low level toxins present. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the planet’s natural atmosphere but it was still dirty. Kip had never understood that, for Asnem’s reports had indicated the same. Why, if you were going to create a fully concealed dome, did you not process out all the toxins? “Looks like the maid really did take the day off.”
“Dirty air confirmed. I still don’t get that,” Brad agreed as there were a group of fully armored Protovic headed towards them.
“Maybe they stay in their suits all the time and just don’t care?”
“It’s sloppy, whatever the reason is,” Brad said, switching on the translation computer in his helmet and setting the emitter for the Jhar’s native language.
“You are the promised emissaries?” one of the delegation of 5 thinly garbed individuals asked while they were flanked by columns of armed troopers with a combination of rifles and gear bandoleers, all of which held their pink/green glow contained behind opaque masks.
“We are,” Brad answered.
“Follow us please. The rest of your crew will be staying in the ship?” the Jhar asked as the boarding ramp closed.
“The pilots will stay with their ship. We are all that is necessary to carry out negotiations.”
“We will go inside,” the speaker said before spinning about and backtracking with the guards surrounding the pair of Archons and waiting for them to follow.
They’ve got mental blocks in place, Kip noted. All of them.
Wait for a slip. I have no doubt that we can force our way through, but let’s save that for after we hear them out.
You really think they have anything new to say?
They want something, else they wouldn’t have offered a second visit.
Why didn’t they ask Asnem for it?
Could be prudence or a strategy on their part.
I wish Asnem hadn’t been so polite, Kip complained.
We’re not used to dealing with other telepaths. He was just being careful.
Careful didn’t get us a tissue sample.
If they wore their suits the entire time he didn’t have much of a chance of procuring it through the normal means. We’ve got to play this another way.
And that being?
The Jedi angle.
Peacekeepers?
Yep. If they really are as feared as they suggest, they don’t have many friends. Anyone who is powerful and fair would be taken as an ally…of sorts. We’re going to play that up along with the Protovic link.
And hope one of them takes their helmet off?
I don’t think that’s an option with this many people. Even with rudimentary blocks I don’t think I c
an be clean enough with them all. Plus there might be camera recordings.
We’ve got to get one sometime or this trip is a bust.
That’s why I’m glad you agreed to come along. If we have to do this the hard way I’m going to need your help.
But you want to try the easy way first. Still hoping to entice some of them to come back with us?
Right now I’m keeping my options open. I’ll do the talking, you Ikrid snoop as much as you can without getting caught.
Only way to be sure where that line is is to get caught, Kip pointed out.
Impress me, Brad dared as they crossed from the exterior to the interior via an oddly shaped tunnel entrance that looked like a ‘W’ with a couple rows of ceiling protrusions that held small light globes that also provided less than usual illumination, as far as Star Force was concerned anyway. At the end of the tunnel was a set of blast doors, a full foot thick, that opened to allow them access then closed again behind them with the internal atmosphere registering better but still with trace amounts of toxins.
From there they were led on a curvy route to a distant chamber where a large circular table was set up with nooks for many people, but no chairs. The guards were met by more already inside the room and took up positions alongside their brethren on the perimeter while the delegates found slots in the table to place themselves next to two Jhar that were already present.
“We are pleased that you have returned,” one of the originals said, “though may we ask why your previous representative is not with you?”
“His mission was to make contact with you, and that is now complete,” Brad explained. “We are his superiors.”
“May I ask to whom you answer?”
“Did he inform you as to what a trailblazer was?”
“He did not.”
“We are the military commanders of Star Force. We answer to no one.”
“You honor us,” the Jhar said, but there was a quiver in his mind that both Kip and Brad noticed. Not enough for more than a peek, but they could both sense agitation within him. Far more than should have been present during a negotiation…unless there was something they needed very badly from them. “Might I inquire as to your business here? Your former representative said you might return, but he did not state for what purpose.”
“As you were told, within our empire there are many others like you. We wish to facilitate an exchange of information. Your race has been spread across the stars, and we are still trying to puzzle out the mystery behind this. Any information you have, even inconsequential on its own, could be useful to us. Likewise we can tell you a great deal about the others, if you wish, and we would also like to establish formal relations, the depth of which is ultimately up to you.”
“But there are none like us there, correct?”
“None with pink skin, no, not yet. You are the first colony of your kind that we have discovered, though we suspect there are many more out there yet to be found.”
“This is of interest to us, but be aware that we are not well liked in this region of the galaxy. Our telepathic abilities has made us an enemy of those that fear our ability to read their minds. We have hidden here, for the most part, and kept to ourselves when applicable. We maintain trade with a few partners who do not fear us, but we are not trusted by anyone. Our history has been one of persecution and violence, with our former homeworld having been destroyed out of such fear. We hope that you, who also have an impressive telepathic ability, will not view us with such fear.”
Again, there was a fluctuation, but Brad didn’t press into it.
“We do not fear you, but we also have no reason to trust you, given that you are new to us. In time, perhaps, but first must come learning.”
“Will you be staying with us long? Or perhaps you have other ships nearby to continue with this cultural exchange, if we so agree?”
“You have been given a map of our territory, yes?”
“We have. It is far from here, which is why I ask.”
“Though we may return later, for this mission we have brought only the one and we will stay as long as we deem necessary. We have no other business within this region.”
“You came out this far just to find us?”
“You are a missing puzzle piece in this mystery we wish to solve.”
Something is wrong, Kip warned.
“Your previous representative mentioned something concerning a reunion. This is not unknown in our legends, but to date we have had no contact, nor knowledge of, any more of our kind. We assumed they too had been destroyed as others attempted to destroy us.”
“Not all of your race are telepathic,” Brad explained as he stretched his Ikrid senses a bit. “In fact, we believe only the ones with your Pink skin are.”
Another fluctuation in his mind, as well as a few others, though none so large. Something was building to a climax, and this Jhar was conflicted about it.
“Then they have not been feared by their neighbors?”
“Each colony is in its own unique position, but those we have gathered within our empire are not feared.”
“They serve you?”
“They are a member faction, and Star Force is also allied with an independent faction of Protovic, who also bear that name. They are equals, not servants.”
“But not mind readers?”
“No.”
“And what of your race? Have you not been persecuted for your abilities, which are apparently far greater than ours? We cannot touch your minds in even the faintest sense.”
Spidey senses tingling, Kip reported.
I felt it too, Brad said. Something sinister was lurking within this Jhar. “We have not made our abilities public knowledge, nor have we abused them. We are hated for other reasons.”
“Such as?”
“Doing the right thing.”
“The right thing?”
“We’re peacekeepers, warriors who fight those who prey on others. Those with good intentions come to favor our presence. Those with bad intentions despise our presence.”
“You are currently engaged in a war of great conquest?”
“We are retaking what has been taken from others.”
“And are you returning it to them or keeping it for yourself?”
“Many of those it was taken from have been annihilated. There is no one to give it back to.”
“Such is the way of the galaxy. Mere survival is something you must fight for, barter for. Hiding away only works to a point, for your enemies eventually find you out.”
“I noticed your warfleet on the way in,” Brad commented.
“It is pitiful compared to others out there, but sufficient to keep the smaller threats at bay.”
“And the larger ones?” Brad pressed, sensing something right beneath the surface of his mind but not daring to push into it for fear of being discovered.
“We cannot stand up to them…not without help.”
“What kind of help do you require?”
I don’t think he means us, Kip said. I’m picking up non-Protovic minds moving our way. A lot of them.
“Protection. While we are feared for what we can do, mind to mind, it cannot save us against enemy fleets and orbital bombardment. We have survived through the benevolence of those that see more wisdom in keeping us alive than destroying us.”
“With you returning the favor through using your telepathy to aid them?” Brad asked suspiciously, sensing the other minds heading their way in the corridors outside.
“Yes we have. We do their bidding in order to preserve ourselves, and at a cost to others, I’m sorry to say.”
“Including us?” Brad asked directly.
The fluctuation in the Jhar’s mind widened and this time Brad didn’t hesitate, diving in and out quickly.
They sold us out, Kip said, beating him to it.
The dropship, Brad reminded him, with Kip getting on the comm to them immediately.
“It was not our choice, though I am s
orry that you have come yourselves rather than sending an intermediary again. Your ability to block telepathic prying is quite rare. In fact, it has never been heard of before, and is valuable to those who do not have telepathy.”
“Including your masters?”
“We did not inform them of your presence, but they learned of it upon your first arrival. Some of them remain on this world at all times, and they arranged for your capture should you come back a second time,” the Jhar said a moment before the doors opened and a group of hulking ape-like bipeds burst through standing nearly twice as tall as the Protovic and massing some 10x their thin bodies. They pushed through the Jhar guards, who in sync raised their own weapons along with the forearm mounted pistols the newcomers bore.
“Well, they’re new,” Brad said casually as the two Archons were quickly surrounded with mountains of hairy flesh and the armored suits of the Jhar.
“Remove your armor please,” the delegate asked politely. “Or they will blast through it. You are now their prisoners.”
“Do they speak your language?”
“No, but we have been instructed to speak theirs. Sadly, you will not be able to negotiate with them, and while they prefer to take you alive your corpses will also be of value to them, so I urge you to capitulate.”
“Like you have?” Brad said, stepping away from the table and back to back with Kip as he sensed a battlemeld prompt from him, which he accepted.
“If you try to use your telepathy on them our men will gun you down, so please do not try. Even if you could incapacitate these, there are many more outside. You cannot run, so submit before they grow tired of waiting. Their patience is not large.”
“Can you translate a message for me?” Brad asked irreverently, though that bit didn’t survive the mechanical translation.
“I will grant you that. What would you like me to say to them?” the Jhar asked as one of the hulking apes huffed and stepped forward, coming within a few meters of the Archons and pointing to the ground.
“Tell them to fuck off,” Brad said a second before he and Kip telekinetically picked up Donkey Kong and threw him back through the air into the others.