by Aer-ki Jyr
That didn’t mean the Uvbor were happy about it, but they eventually labeled it as another Hjar’at excess, warning against the dangers of it, but eventually accepted it in so far that they were not interested in getting themselves involved to stop it, but there were questions already floating around about what the Oso’lon would do.
Mak’to’ran hadn’t heard anything from them yet, and neither had Yaquik, but that changed in a moment when sensors picked up an incoming fleet of Oso’lon ships at the star…quickly followed by a message to Mak’to’ran’s Kafcha demanding his surrender.
“Your pursuit has finally manifested,” Yaquik said via holo as the Oso’lon fleet numbering some 13 vessels, all Kafcha similar in capability to Mak’to’ran’s own, began to move into position for a microjump out to the planet. “I wonder if they actually intend to take you alive or have a fortuitous destruction of your ship.”
“It’s time for me to leave,” Mak’to’ran said before Yaquik could offer assistance. “My mission isn’t to actually start a fight.”
“A pity. Those 13 Oso’lon vessels are no match for us.”
“You have greater concerns to deal with. Better if interest in me is directed elsewhere.”
“Agreed, but it’s still a pity.”
“We don’t know if the Oso’lon are the traitors or not, and I don’t want to get in a fight with loyal V’kit’no’sat carrying out Itaru’s edicts.”
“You need to open more eyes first.”
“Indeed. Every life lost is a defeat, and the longer I can draw this out the more we can save.”
“But not all?”
“You know as well as I do that whoever is behind Terraxis is not a small faction. A fight is coming. This is about securing as many loyalists as we can, then digging in and surviving.”
“You dig in. Just give me a legitimate target and let me fight these traitors directly.”
“You may find out before me.”
“Somehow I doubt that, but get those courier ships established and I’ll share whatever I learn with your kin. I trust they know how to find you?”
“We’re using the Urrten as much as possible, but if we have to there are other means of communication set up and I check back in with Hamob regularly.”
“Thank him for me. The Hjar’at owe you a debt for exposing this treachery within us.”
“Purging it is all we ask in return. We have no wish to face you in combat.”
“Likewise. The prudence of the Era’tran will be remembered.”
“Fortune to the bold.”
“And the cagey,” Yaquik added as Mak’to’ran broke communications. A moment later his Kafcha accelerated through planetary orbit with haste, getting to a jumpline to another planet in the system without resistance from any Hjar’at vessel…not that they could have intercepted him if they tried, but the lack of delay was appreciated as the Era’tran warship winked out of view as it accelerated laterally across the star’s approach angle that the Oso’lon were coming on.
Mak’to’ran coasted between planets a random distance then used his ship’s massive gravity drives to slow them mid-jump as they likewise pulled heavily on the star and curved them into an unpredictable jumpline towards system’s center that the Oso’lon could not intercept. The longnecks did eventually reverse course, but with the sensor lag times and the speeds the Era’tran ship was capable of they were so far out of position that they had no chance of getting within realtime comm range, let alone weapons range, of Mak’to’ran’s ship as it arrived in stellar orbit.
From there he transitioned around the star at breakneck speed to the jumpline for the Kajjmat System, an uninhabited mass of gas giants that had been mined to depletion long ago. He picked up the trailing Oso’lon ships on the Hjar’at Urrtren tracking grid just before getting to the jumppoint as the signals finally caught up. They were chasing him as expected, but they weren’t going to catch him here and there was nothing ahead of him at Kajjmat for them to signal unless they’d anticipated him leaving through that system.
That was unlikely given how many navigation options there were coming out of Yat’ri, some 274 given the engine power he had available. He’d considered taking one of the longest ones that the Oso’lon probably couldn’t follow on, but he didn’t want to tip his speed advantage just yet and accordingly had his Kafcha jump out of the system more slowly than it had to during the deep push phase in near the star. When they had progressed up to enough speed that the sensor grid couldn’t catch up to them he had his ship push harder and get more speed than the Oso’lon navigators would predict.
Hopefully when he reached Kajjmat he’d have enough of a head start that he could make a second jump before they arrived and keep gaining ground from system to system, though he knew he couldn’t lose them in Kajjmat, for while it was uninhabited it was still a relay for the Urrtren, meaning it had navigational recorders for everything coming in and out from the star.
But there were many nearby systems that didn’t, and if he could get enough of a lead he could dart off through one when the Oso’lon were still in coast phase and lose their pursuit entirely…then it would be a matter of keeping ahead of any ambushes they’d have to lay, for if he could just keep running they’d never catch him. They’d have to corner him and force a fight, and to do that they’d need not just a lot more ships and good captains, but a lot of luck, for any naval expert understood just how vast space was and how hard it was to pin down a ship if you didn’t have superior speed.
Which they didn’t. At least not with these pursuing ships. That might change, but even if Itaru managed to send a speed-enhanced task force themselves that didn’t necessary mean they’d catch Mak’to’ran. There were a lot of other navigation tricks that he could play, and after sharpening his tactical teeth against Hadarak Recursevs he was ready to play hard if necessary, though right now his primary nemesis was going to be fuel. It wasn’t an issue yet, but he would have to resupply eventually and if Itaru started blockading nearby Era’tran worlds that could get tricky…which was why Hamob had arranged refueling depots in uninhabited systems, some of which should already be in place.
He wasn’t going to use them if he didn’t have to, but the Era’tran had planned out Mak’to’ran’s mission thoroughly before sending him on his provocative tour of the empire. He was meant to draw out the traitors, and if they didn’t already want his blood they soon would, which would help further expose them throughout the empire, but especially on Itaru. Not everyone in the empire’s capitol was a traitor, for the Era’tran had many people there. The traitors had to label Mak’to’ran as disloyal and make it stick, otherwise they wouldn’t get the support they wanted. With everyone already on edge about Terraxis some would prefer to wait and see rather than strike, and he hoped that their focus on him would provide a needed distraction for Yaquik and others that Hamob probably hadn’t even told him about to continue the work they were doing.
If a civil war broke out now there was no way to stop it. The Era’tran would hold their own as long as they could, but the prospect of taking on 192 other races or some lesser combination thereof was suicide and everyone knew it, which was why alliances were being sought out. You couldn’t survive, let alone win without support, and if the Era’tran were to reforge the empire they were going to have to craft an alliance far larger than their opposition…otherwise the two or more sides would bleed each other dry.
Maybe that was the plan, then have Star Force and its allies move in. Maybe they were never intended to be the first wave and the Hadarak were intended to fight the other Hadarak after the fact so that the coreward border wouldn’t completely fall apart?
It was an interesting angle that he hadn’t considered before, but at this point it was irrelevant unless you conceded the traitors winning. He wasn’t going to do that, nor live to see it. He and the Era’tran had decided to remain loyal V’kit’no’sat or go down fighting. One way or another this poisoned empire was going to end, and if the traitors
did end up winning he didn’t want to be around to see it anyway.
His fight was here and now before the civil war started, and he knew he could do more by following Hamob’s devious mission plans than by summoning a fleet and taking it into battle. Allegiance had once bound the V’kit’no’sat together, and that must be the primary weapon the Era’tran wielded now.
And symbolically Mak’to’ran was being forged into that weapon. It wasn’t his usual method of attack, but he was learning quick enough and now that they were out of the Yat’ri System and into their coast phase it was time to check what the next destination Hamob had left for him was.
After retreating to his private chambers he opened the sealed orders and activated the next sequential data entry. It burned to life in holo form and Mak’to’ran recognized the system immediately. It had 197 planets, with more than half of them being prime habitable. The acquisition of that system had been a coup long ago for the Ari’tat, who had outmaneuvered everyone else on Itaru in order to claim sole ownership. It was so valuable that the tiny Ari’tat had actually relocated their capitol there along with more than 18 trillion of their population.
They’d had to concede much to get it, losing over 200 other territorial possession in a series of trades, but they’d built up Zorrtai so much that it stood now as visible reminder of how the smallest V’kit’no’sat race had managed to best all the others and was still laughing at the irony of it.
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