by Aer-ki Jyr
Thrawn wasn’t worried about that. He knew Star Force would take any small amount of the Wass’mat and grow them into a new Star Force faction, as well as the fact that those on the surface would not be touched now that the trailblazers were here. That part of the mission was secure now, and as for the losses of the other Wass’mat, he personally did not care. A good number of his Paladin had died to the Wass’mat, and while he was willing to accept those that changed sides, trusting in the trailblazers’ wisdom, he wasn’t concerned with V’kit’no’sat losses.
In fact it was almost ironic, after all the time they’d spent trying to destroy Star Force, now they couldn’t even defend their own territory. It was downright pathetic, actually, that one’s sworn enemy has to come to the aid of a system abandoned by its own empire. And just like the Templars had abandoned Thrawn to die fighting, so too had the V’kit’no’sat abandoned these Wass’mat.
And the thing that drove the V’kit’no’sat so hard was their dominance. Well now they weren’t dominant. They were getting beaten by the lizards and a lot of other races out there, and despite Star Force being the weaker in the recent war, the empire that had rescued him was now rising to dominance. Give it enough time and Director Davis and the trailblazers would grow it to the point where it was larger and more powerful than the V’kit’no’sat, but even now, in this situation, Star Force held the upper hand and rescuing these Wass’mat was another small puzzle piece involved in growing the empire further.
So no, the lizards were not going to win here. They were not going to kill the rest of the Wass’mat. They were not going to claim this system for their own. They were not going to overrun Star Force and push them out. They were not going to destroy them. And they were not going to compromise this jumppoint.
But they were going to make Star Force pay a price for it in ships…but not in lives. Drones they would lose, but they were not going to take down a jumpship. Thrawn would make certain of that. But a price had to be paid in materiel, and seeing the records Paul was sending him about how many relief fleets the lizards had been getting, he made the decision to send a courier back to rally more Paladin to defend this system against however many subsequent attacks they decided to make.
Dominance was formed in permanence, and no matter how many more ships the lizards sent to this system, Thrawn was going to make sure they lost all of them.
Jason went down to the planet before the naval fighting was over, leaving Paul to handle the combat at the jumppoint as the other 4 trailblazers organized orbital bombardments to decimate the lizard formations on the planet still engaged against the Wass’mat. The few mech units onboard the command ships went down with Jason and helped to defend key points while the lizards were thinned out, then when the tide swung to the defenders advantage he didn’t have to do anything more. The Wass’mat were so incensed that they were out actively hunting down the remaining lizards and wiping them out in a small act of revenge.
Even as the naval conflict continued, the process of annexing the Wass’mat was beginning with Jason as he met with the leader of the planet in one of their intact cities. He went alone, wearing his combat armor but with no escorts, as the mechs had been sent to secure a spaceport for Star Force’s use.
“What do you require of us?” Gargara asked simply when the Jason arrived amongst a half dozen Wass’mat in an open air courtyard.
“Once we get this system stabilized, we will allow those who wish to return to the V’kit’no’sat to do so. We’re not going to treat this as a hostile annexation. Those that remain will have your normal infrastructure operations maintained while we slowly modify the planet. Right now I need you to keep things working, repair essential services, and just hold tight as you decide who goes and who stays.”
The Wass’mat exchanged a flurry of telepathic conversation, but it was Gargara who finally spoke again.
“You are letting us go? You only want the system?”
“We didn’t come for the planets, though they are prime,” Jason admitted. “We intend to keep them regardless, but we came for you. The V’kit’no’sat abandoned you. If you want to go back to them, you can. You would be stupid to do so, but we’re giving you that choice. Those who stay will go through a similar process to what the Rit’ko’sor did, and you will become the foundation for a new faction within Star Force.”
“What will our penance be?”
Jason frowned. “What do you mean?”
“For our part in the war against you. The Rit’ko’sor were not involved. We were.”
“Mercy is a luxury of the dominant. There will be no penance for you. The V’kit’no’sat penance was detailed in the Armistice. Any of you that choose to stay here will no longer be seen as V’kit’no’sat. You will be Star Force and treated as such.”
“We do not understand what that means,” Gargara admitted
“It means a lot of training. Not punishment. But training for those who willingly go through it. Those that do not should leave. We have no intention on annexing a problem. We intend to annex an asset. See to it that those who do not want to be here are put on the leave list.”
“How will they leave?”
“V’kit’no’sat ships can come to pick you up, or we can deliver you to the nearest V’kit’no’sat world not in the war zone. That will take time, and those who wish to leave must not make themselves a problem while they wait.”
“I will assure they do not,” Gargara promised. “And I will be one who is staying. I cannot promise any others will.”
“If you’re the only one, you will be welcome. In the meantime, all of the Li’vorkrachnika must be destroyed. They will not surrender, and will seek to do whatever damage they can until they are dead. But do not torment or torture them. Simply kill them.”
“They will not last long,” Jovcho, the planetary defense commander, assured him.
“Eliminating them is the first priority. The second priority are foodstuffs. Has enough production survived to accommodate the existing population?”
“We are at 83% production,” Gargara said. “We have some stores of supplies to compensate, but we do not have enough to perpetually sustain us.”
“Put your construction efforts there first. Even ahead of planetary defense. We will protect the planet, but you must get the foodstuff supply up to 100% to sustain you through the initial transition. We’ll build our own facilities when we’re able, but it will be months before we can get even limited production. We’ll ship in some supplies before then, but you need to maximize what production you have in the interim. How long can your surplus last?”
“I do not know. Several weeks at the minimum. Possibly longer. We have not done a full tally of resources remaining.”
“Do so now. I need to know. Are all of your injured being treated with Kich’a’kat?”
“Our armor has it included. Those few exceptions are being dealt with. Your assistance there is not required.”
“Good. Do you have any ships left?”
“Drop pods only. All our starships were destroyed.”
“Use them to search for and pull in survivors. Don’t assume the lizards got them all. And ‘lizards’ is the term we use for Li’vorkrachnika. It’s a shorter word and an insult. As for language, I and many others speak V’kit’no’sat, but our empire uses English and you’ll need to learn it eventually. For those who want to start now, I’ll have the files transmitted…assuming you don’t already have them. For the next few years V’kit’no’sat will suffice, so there’s no rush, but we don’t like different factions with different languages. If we can’t talk to each other, what’s the point of communication?”
“That will not be well received.”
“A lot won’t be. Which is why we’re letting those of you go that wish to. Changes will be occurring, but beneficial ones. We defend our people rather than writing them off as expendable. We also do a lot of other things differently. We won’t expect you to change instantaneously, but it will be a p
rocess…and it’s a process we’ve had a lot of experience with.”
“If not for you we would be dead,” Gargara stated unenthusiastically. “A life in Star Force is preferable to no life. That is what we agreed when sending Hanniena to ask you for assistance, now you tell us we can leave. We did not expect that.”
“We’re the good guys. The V’kit’no’sat are not. That’s why we do things differently. That’s why we were in the right in the recent war, you were on the wrong side. That’s a tough lesson to learn, and not always a fast one, but as I said, mercy is a luxury of the dominant, and we’re offering you a path forward. Until you decided whether to take it or not, we need to secure and stabilize the planet. During that process you will have plenty of time to think…while we keep the lizards at bay and the V’kit’no’sat don’t give a damn. Keep that factoid in mind throughout this transition process.”
9
February 12, 4919
Meinto System (Zadjen Region)
Treneis
Davis stood less than a meter in front of the enormous windows in his office looking out over the ocean and beach beyond. Palm-like trees were swaying slightly in the wind with small waves lapping up onto the shore where dozens of Meintre were walking about on their 6 thick legs. All of them were part of their faction’s leaders, for the beach was part of the command complex where Davis had set up his unofficial capitol when he’d taken on the personal duty of annexing the Meintre into Star Force.
In the beginning he hadn’t been sure whether the Meintre could be a full-fledged faction, or would become a sub-faction that couldn’t field all 5 divisions of military assets. Given their size, aerial combat and aquatics were a concern, but as it turned out the latter was actually an asset. It had taken a lot of time and bravery to get the Meintre to swim, for they instinctively did not like the deep water, but with appropriate suits they actually fared well compared to many of Star Force’s other races, though aquatics wasn’t their specialty by any stretch of the imagination.
Their four trunks, especially, were well suited for manipulation underwater and actually allowed them to work well as construction crews when needed, but most of their aquatic and aerial forces were drones piloted by Meintre in secure locations. They had to have backups, meaning the ability for manned craft and a proficiency in them, which they’d proven, thus their race had been designated as ‘faction’ status and the responsibilities that came along with it.
A lot of interior work was still being done on their race, and a faction had to not only support themselves, but support the rest of the empire as well, both in combat and other functions. That was why they had to have all 5 military divisions and an exporting economy, and the Meintre had been coming along nicely. Far better than other Monarchs had expected, but Davis had seen their potential immediately, which was why he’d taken on the task of their annexation personally. Others had suggested a low level Monarch would be best, for the Meintre were not a broken people. They had joined by choice and were one of the stable Nexus races that had agreed to change sides.
But such stability was misleading at times, and when changes had to be made a stable race sometimes was more resistant. Fortunately there hadn’t been any major issues with the Meintre, and Davis had headed off many others before they arose. They’d never be among the most numerous races in Star Force, but they were among the largest. Ironically the Meintre and the Wass’mat had a lot in common, despite their origins.
The Meintre were covered in hair, whereas the Wass’mat were reptilian and covered with thick skin scales. The Meintre also stood taller, whereas the Wass’mat were wider and flatter, but both were large massed, hexped, and moved about in a lumbering nature. The Meintre didn’t have the psionic upgrades that the Wass’mat had, and the Wass’mat didn’t have the facial trunks, but both were now the primary large races within Star Force.
The Ikrotor had been with Star Force since nearly the beginning, though not as a member race. They were still independent, even after having to be evacuated from their homeworld in the ADZ when the Devastation Zone consumed it. But a lot of Ikrotor had joined Axius and they had formed the central core of the large-scale infantry units that were essentially the size of mechs. They were true biped, which was rare for such large races. None of the V’kit’no’sat bipeds had straight vertical backs, such as Humans did, and the same was mostly true for the other known large races in the galaxy.
But as a race, the Ikrotor were not unified. They were more a loose association of individuals, and even those that had joined Axius, or were born into it, were lacking a gravitas that the Meintre had. Their inclusion in Star Force had been more important than anyone else realized, aside from Davis, and now he had been gifted with another such race even more impressive.
Right now the trailblazers were overseeing their initial stabilization while the Ohson System remained a war zone. The lizards kept attacking it, but so far no other Star Force world. It was odd, why they would be so insistent on that one yet not engage the rest of the empire. It was also odd, if they were trying to avoid combat with Star Force, as Paul had suggested, that they would not let that system go. They had the V’kit’no’sat to deal with, and they were going to be destroyed by them, so why bother with Star Force now?
Something about that didn’t feel right, but he couldn’t pin it down. He also couldn’t understand why the lizards were fighting the V’kit’no’sat. It was too much for them to handle, even if the V’kit’no’sat were busy fighting the Rim Consortium. Better to just let them fight it out and then assault the crumbs that remained afterward. No, whoever was feeding the lizards tech had to be nudging them into this fight…or worse. As bad as the lizards had always been, they were never stupid. This was stupid, unless there was something else in play.
There was a small V’kit’no’sat delegation on the planet now, acting as ambassadors. At his request they were Ari’tat, and thus smaller than Humans. Having the larger races around, with their host of psionics, was dangerous and put everyone else on edge. Security especially didn’t like them getting close to Davis, but the Ari’tat, while they did have basic psionics, were nothing that Davis couldn’t handle with his own. Right now couriers were still being used, as a full scale Urrtren extension had not yet been built, primarily because Tamprani was a lizard-infested war zone, but the Ari’tat had enough ships coming and going regularly to keep both empires in decent communication.
And what they’d told him of the wars going on indicated that some of the Rim Consortium had already backed off, in some cases abandoning taken planets and in others holding them. So far none were violating the terms of the Armistice and the lines of dominion established, but the races on the far side of the galaxy probably hadn’t gotten word of the Armistice yet, and as such they were still fighting.
But there were others, like the lizards, who were not part of the Rim Consortium and were continuing to push into V’kit’no’sat territory. The fleets who were being freed up from those war zones that were standing down were being redistributed, but not enough to stem the tide yet. The V’kit’no’sat were losing a lot of outer territory, including some of the systems promised to Star Force as a buffer zone.
Davis had informed the Ari’tat that the V’kit’no’sat must retake them and then deliver them to Star Force, for he wouldn’t be doing that job for them, but already there were 9 systems that had been evacuated and handed over in the regions on either side of Tamprani. Davis had sent different races to those systems, but all were accompanied by either Kiritak, Bsidd, or Paladin so they would have access to larger populations quickly. The distances between them and the empire weren’t much different than the trek out to Shangri-La, but the other ones that would soon to be added to the occupied list would be further and further away from Star Force territory and help if needed. They had to stand on their own, so population spamming was going to be required.
The Ohson System wasn’t originally on that list, but Davis had decided to keep it and add it to that
ring of systems that would eventually encircle the galaxy. 14% of the Wass’mat there had decided to stay, with the rest in the process of being picked up by other Wass’mat ships who were volunteering to come get them. Davis had been told there was some bad blood between those picking them up and those refusing to leave, but no fighting had broken out. For whatever the reason, some wanted to stay with Star Force and Davis had to make good on their membership, just like he had with the Rit’ko’sor.
Which brought him back to the Meintre. They couldn’t walk around on other worlds with the smaller races. The size difference was too dangerous. That was why Axius worlds were divided into size zones. And while all Star Force infrastructure was built on the big side, the Meintre and Wass’mat really needed super-sized cities. Star Force had already built some for the Reen and others, but none of their civilizations were as motivated, unified, and as loyal as the Meintre were.
Davis had kept the Meintre integrated into the empire, but also separate at the same time. Their worlds had some other races on them, but not in large amounts and only to use as intermediaries. That wasn’t totally unusual in Star Force, for aside from Axius and Beacon, a lot of races were little empires within themselves, but Humans and Protovic and Calavari easily mixed with one another. But with the Meintre it wasn’t the same.
There was no issue working with Monarchs and Archons, nor the elite individuals within the empire. It was the civilian aspect that didn’t mix well, and the fact that the Meintre were simply more advanced than many other races. It wasn’t snobbishness on their part, it was just a side effect of being superior. They related better to those with skills and, frankly, more knowledge than them than they did to those weaker, stupider ones. Those they tended to avoid, though politely, and interacted via intermediaries such as the Kiritak, whom they had developed a curious relationship with.