Star Force: Consensus (SF43)

by Aer-ki Jyr

  “Resetting,” Kenny said. “Any suggestions?”

  “Try having the boxers and starfire lead the brawlers up, then keep them hammering at the door. I’ll work us in.”

  “Worth a shot,” Kenny agreed. “Return to start point,” he told her as he remotely sent the sled back as well.

  The pair of Archons kept at it for another 3 hours, eventually ending up with two blue as their best result. Their exercise data would be analyzed by teams of techs and mechwarriors over the coming days, and more often than not they’d come up with suggestions for new tactics or equipment upgrades. Such was the work of developing prototypes, as Cora had learned long ago back in Atlantis when they’d just been trying to get a machine to walk and pivot around a corner without falling over. They’d come a long way since then, but the process for making further advancements was remarkably the same.

  After getting in two hours of physical training Cora hit the cafeteria and filled up before heading back to her quarters and checking the message boards before bed, intent on getting an early start working with another prototype in the morning, this one a shield mech tagged as Umbrella-class, but when she saw the most recent message posting from Kip her thoughts about tomorrow disappeared while reading her fellow trailblazer’s bold suggestion.

  Bold, but incredibly insightful. Some of the others had added suggestions and Cora did the same, throwing out the possibility of including the remote mech technology if/when she got it working to her satisfaction, then sending it off through the comm grid for the others to chew on. She’d check again tomorrow and every day that came, with the responses from the others coming in gradually as they were shifted back and forth across dozens of lightyears. It was a bit of a chaotic and nonlinear method of discussing things as a group, but it worked.

  On top of that, they usually knew what each other were thinking anyway, thus there wasn’t much clarification required when someone posted a suggestion, just amendments that made it better as the various proposals were passed around, with Kip’s being the same.

  Greg was resupplying his fleet at Namek when he got the message updates all at once, having been out of relay range for several months hunting lizards and messing up their nearby systems as much as possible to keep them from encroaching on Star Force’s territory. The more they let them build the worse the situation would get, so Greg, Sara, Paul, and others were going out regularly to cause as much trouble as they could.

  The location of the V’kit’no’sat was a shock, but something that had been a long time in coming. The plan floating around to eventually head for the Rim seemed like nonsense at first glance to Greg, but the more he read through the various rationales and permutations he realized that they weren’t planning on abandoning Earth and everything they’d built up to date, only adding to it so in the case that it fell they’d have somewhere to pull back to…but the Rim was far from here and the idea of stretching a tendril of their territory all the way out to even the nearest part of it was, well, ambitious to say the least.

  The more immediate suggestion laid down by Kip and amended by others involved giving technology to the Protovic in order to strengthen them against the Skarrons. Normally that was something that Star Force wouldn’t do, for unless they were a part of the ‘family’ they weren’t going to trust other races, not even their allies, to the point of giving them weapons they could turn around and use against them later on. However, in this case they were going to get destroyed by the Skarrons anyway, and the idea of strengthening them really didn’t have a foreseeable downside, given the revelations about how large Skarron territory really was.

  One of the additions to that idea involved the Hycre, and Greg agreed that they needed them to be as strong as possible against the lizards, and giving them cleansing beams would be a significant boon against their enemy, as well as the idea Cora posted about giving them remotely controlled mechs so they could actually engage in ground campaigns…or at least give them enough so they could learn to build them themselves. A low flying naval ship could act as the controller, and suddenly they’d have a means to strike at the lizards in a way they’d never been able to before.

  Greg didn’t know if they’d want it, for they hadn’t developed any technology in that regard as far as he knew, but then again when the Hycre didn’t have legs or anything even remotely like them, the idea of them building walkers was a bit absurd, so maybe it was just a psychological blind spot. The idea definitely had merit, and Greg gave it his blessing with a note to Cora ‘if she ever got them working.’

  He didn’t doubt that she would, but he wanted to take the opportunity to annoy her a bit, for she’d been promising working units for some time now and hadn’t been able to deliver quite as fast as she’d expected.

  It was the suggestion of a secure network of colonies that caught Greg’s eye the most, and he immediately volunteered his Clan Firestorm to begin setting up a network of outposts in Alpha Region, seeing that several other trailblazers had done likewise in other Regions or in general. Setting up full-fledged colonies was over the top, given their current expansion projects already under way, but setting up small test bases and seeing if they could successfully stay ‘off the grid’ was worthwhile. If successful they could gradually enlarge those outposts into whatever facilities they needed, and the gradual construction timeline wouldn’t draw the attention that a massive construction project normally would.

  Greg brought up a map of Alpha Region and immediately began picking systems to scout out, knowing that the others would take care of the batch of suggestions afloat. If/when the lizards came at them hard in Alpha, they might need a secondary route from the Core out to Namek, and by secondary Greg meant none of the existing and well established cargo routes that saw regular Star Force jumpship traffic.

  No, he’d need to set up inefficient ones that would have his people travelling extra lightyears to stay off the ‘beaten path.’ The trick would be to work out a system for resupply that wouldn’t lead others directly to your secret base, and he immediately thought of a deep system rendezvous. They had binary drives, so they could jump into a system then microjump out to the edge and pull back against the star to come to a point that wasn’t located on a gravity well.

  He could put a seda or other station there, or rather just leave it a set of coordinates for drops or transfers…though drops would be kind of risky, but doable if it was cargo only. Other ships within the system would meet at the rendezvous point and take the cargo back to their base sites while the delivering jumpship never contacted the base in question.

  Yes, that was workable…if the transfer ships were sensor stealthed. Reduce the range of enemy or even allied detection and you could dance your way around any snoopers enroute to hidden locations, on planet or not. And if one of your allies chose to backstab you like the Nestafar had, they wouldn’t know the location of every world you possessed.

  The more Greg thought about this the more he liked the idea and was kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner. He wrote out a lengthy suggestion and sent it off to the other trailblazers, then began writing out orders for Clan Firestorm so they could begin assembling resources and research teams towards developing the equipment they’d need to sneak around. They’d share their findings with the others, and vice versa, but even if no one else wanted to pursue this Clan Firestorm would, because Greg saw an immense value in this strategy, even above and beyond the implications noted by the others.

  9

  March 22, 2468

  Epsilon Eridani System

  Babylon 1 Station

  “Hello,” Dakota-041 said as he walked into the Hycre embassy, seeing one of several floating gasbags on the other side of a very thick transparent wall in their natural environment…extremely hot and loaded with sulfur dioxide. The translation software built into the room picked up his greeting and translated it into the Hycre’s language on the other side, prompting one of them to drift over in his direction using internal atriums as air jets for
propulsion.

  The Hycre reached out one of its six tentacles and tapped the ‘glass’ in greeting.

  GOOD MORNING ARCHON, the computerized translation spoke back in a synthesized tone.

  “I have a matter of great importance to discuss,” Dakota said, crossing his arms behind his back.

  PROCEED.

  “Have the lizards taken any of your worlds to date?”

  THEY HAVE NOT, THOUGH THEY CONTINUALLY TRY.

  “What is stopping them?”

  THEY CAN DESTROY OUR DEFENSIVE FLEETS IF THEY COME IN SUFFICIENT NUMBERS. THEY CANNOT REACH US IN OUR WORLDS. THEIR PLASMA CANNOT PENETRATE THE ATMOSPHERE. WHEN THEY ATTEMPT TO ENTER WITH THEIR SHIPS THEY ARE EASILY DESTROYED. THEY ARE NOT ACCUSTOMED TO SUCH COMBAT.

  “Are they improving?”

  THEY ARE ALWAYS IMPROVING.

  “Yes they are. How is the rest of the Alliance faring?”

  DO YOU NOT RECEIVE THE SAME UPDATES WE DO?

  “Yes, but we don’t have assets in the other regions. Your territory is spread far and thin. I assumed you know things that we do not.”

  TO BE DEPRESSINGLY CANDID WE ARE LOSING. THE HYCRE CANNOT STOP THE LIZARD ADVANCE. THE ALLIANCE CANNOT STOP THE LIZARD ADVANCE. IN TIME YOUR WORLDS WILL FALL PREY TO THEM AS WELL. IT APPEARS UNAVOIDABLE AS THEY GAIN STRENGTH AND THE ALLIANCE WEAKENS. THE NESTAFAR BETRAYAL DOOMED US ALL.

  Dakota raised an eyebrow. “That’s more candor than I anticipated, but we agree with your assessment of the Alliance. We do not agree on our fate. As you know our technology is advancing at a considerable rate. We believe that in time we will have enough of an edge to hold the lizards at bay.”

  YOUR PROGRESSION IS REMARKABLE. BUT DO NOT ASSUME FUTURE ADVANCEMENTS. RESEARCH IS UNPREDICTABLE. YOU ALSO UNDERESTIMATE THE LIZARDS’ ADVANCEMENT RATE.

  “No I don’t. We are well aware of how innovative they are, but we’re confident that we’ll outpace them technologically. What we do not have are their numbers, nor do we expect to be able to compete with them on that level. We had once hoped to be able to defeat the lizards, and had planned an assault on their core systems, but that now appears untenable given how far they’ve spread and how long it will be until we’re strong enough to attempt doing so.”

  “We know they have additional technology that they haven’t revealed to us yet, as we shared with you previously, so how we match up with it is still a question mark, but overall we have already surpassed the lizards in several areas. We intend to stake out borders that we will defend, but not push beyond, creating a sanctuary for the Alliance and any other friendly race caught up by the lizard aggression. We are going to fortify this region as a fallback position for the Hycre and any others, but we are not ready yet.”

  AMBITIOUS. I FEAR YOU ARE OVERESTIMATING YOUR ABILITIES AND UNDERESTIMATING THE ENEMY’S.

  “As it stands now, I would agree, but we are building and building fast. Currently we’re holding the lizards at bay along our rimward border, but we both know they’re only playing with us. They’re holding back their main force for later. Even what they’re destroying the Calavari with isn’t their true strength.”

  WE CONCUR.

  “Most of your systems do not fall within the proposed sanctuary borders. Do I assume you will continue to defend them all, or do you already have contingency plans?”

  WE WILL DEFEND. IF THERE IS A GRAND BATTLE PLAN, I HAVE NOT BEEN INFORMED OF IT.

  “As I said, we need time to build and fortify this region, and we think you are the key to buying us that time.”

  YOU HAVE A PROPOSAL?

  “No, I have a gift,” Dakota said, holding up a data chip, then inserting it into a slot on the table behind him and transmitting it across the divide to the Hycre databanks. “These are the technical specifications to several items of advanced technology that we think will be of use to you. We are also offering tech support to help you convert the designs to your own technology, including the construction of prototypes. The stronger we can make you, the longer you will delay the lizard advance.”

  EXPLAIN.

  “We are giving you cleansing beam and mauler tech, two weapon systems that have proven effective against the lizards. They are both power hogs, but worth it when used correctly. The cleansing beam is a long range energy weapon. The mauler is a very destructive short range energy weapon that will also disrupt physical shield matrixes.”

  I AM FAMILIAR WITH YOUR DESIGNS. THE LIZARDS NO LONGER EMPLOY PHYSICAL SHIELDS. THEY HAVE UPGRADED TO A HYBRID DESIGN.

  “Yes, I know. But the cleansing beam will penetrate them with ease. Your military will confirm that from past joint operations.”

  YOU BELIEVE THESE WEAPONS ARE SUPERIOR TO WHAT THE HYCRE CURRENTLY POSSESS?

  “In their respective fields, yes. We are also including several new shield matrixes and armor variants. We believe that when this technology is incorporated with your own, your naval fleet will be far superior to the lizards. We are building ships as fast as we can, but we don’t have a tenth of your industrial output. You can put it to more immediate use than we can.”

  “We are also offering you an option to use a prototype remotely controlled mech force. We’re still working out the basics, but in theory you could control an army of the machines from a nearby warship in orbit or the atmosphere, which would give you the ability to strike at lizard targets that you previously have been unable to. This project will take longer to implement, and would be a joint venture, given that we’re still developing it for our own uses.”

  IS THIS GENEROSITY OR DESPERATION? YOU OFFER MUCH.

  “It is a strategic decision on our part.”

  WHAT DO YOU SEEK IN RETURN?

  “You not dying as soon,” Dakota said bluntly.

  OUR CONTINUED SURVIVAL IS YOUR GAIN.

  “That and your expertise in naval combat. We’ve learned a lot from you and are interested in seeing how you put these new weapons to use. There is also the matter of the Skarrons, who are a far larger threat than the lizards, crazy as that sounds. Have you read the report we filed?”

  I HAVE. IT IS LIKELY THAT THE PRISONER WAS EXAGGERATING.

  Dakota shook his head. “No, he wasn’t.”

  YOU CANNOT BE SURE OF THAT.

  “I can’t, but the ones who interrogated him are, and I trust their judgement. They confirmed the intelligence.”

  DO YOU HAVE A STAR CHART?

  “No.”

  THEN HOW HAVE YOU CONFIRMED THE ASSERTED SIZE OF THEIR TERRITORY?

  “We’re willing to share technology with you, but some secrets we will keep.”

  UNTIL WE SEE SUCH CONFIRMATION OUR SKEPTICISM WILL REMAIN.

  “Understandable, but know that we are convinced and are being forced regardless to fight a war on two opposite fronts, and if you count the Nestafar/Calavari theatre that’s three. We need you to be as strong of a deterrent to lizard expansion along the rim of our territory as possible while we strengthen both the rim and coreward fronts.”

  OTHER THAN BUILDING MORE SHIPS, HOW DO YOU DEFINE ‘STRENGTHENING?’

  Dakota smirked. “We have quite a few projects in the works. Given enough time, it will become very difficult for the lizards to evict us from a system we’ve set up in, and they’ll burn through fleets of ships trying.”

  3 months later…

  “It’s here,” Kip said, clapping his friend on the shoulder as he walked up behind Ren’san’do in a Protovic command center in one of the contested cities on Erentia.

  “What is?” the Protovic asked, with a few others glancing over at the Archon through their faceplates.

  “A gift…I would have talked to you about it sooner, but I needed to get approval from the others first, and it came in along with a jumpship full of equipment and techs.”

  “What do you mean?” the senior ranking Protovic in the room asked, walking over to the pair.

  “Though it won’t make a difference immediately, Star Force is going to give you some tech upgrades to help you fight
the Skarrons.”

  The Protovic’s head tilted back slightly, but that was the only reaction Kip could see…though he could feel a sense of shock rippling through the commander and the rest of the aliens in the room, including Ren’san’do.

  “It will take some time to alter our designs into tech compatible with your ships, which was why I’ve asked for techs to help you with the crossover. They’ve got equipment with them for you to study and are standing by to teach you everything you need to know to add our cleansing beams, maulers, and binary gravity drives to your fleet, along with some shield and armor options, though you’re pretty solid there already. That should give you a tactical advantage over the Skarron fleet, once you’re able to incorporate the weapon systems into your ships…but be warned, they’re power hogs.”

  “What is it you’re asking in return?” the Protovic commander wondered.

  “Kick the Skarrons’ collective ass,” Kip said, throwing a glance at Ren’san’do.

  “You’re serious?” his friend asked.

  “Yes,” Kip said, taking his helmet off. He put it on a nearby table and pointed at his nose. “See, this is my serious face.”

  “Races don’t just give away tech freely,” the commander said, still in disbelief.

  “Our race isn’t led by representatives, civilians, pacifists, or egotists,” Kip explained. “It’s led by warriors. Warriors that know the dangers of sharing weapons tech with others and the threat they could pose if turned around and used against us. We’re not worried about that happening with you. Our relationship is a new one, but it’s been forged in battle, and that has a tendency to cut through the crap and get straight to the truth.”

  “We know we have to work together to push the Skarrons back from your territory and establish a firm boundary to defend,” Kip continued, doing a little mental digging to find the Protovic’s doubts and allay them. “To do that we need your larger fleet to be as strong as possible, and we figure if we give you the tools you’ll make good use of them…though I would recommend constructing cleansing beam towers in your cities to keep enemy walkers at bay, along with several other ground applications.”