“That’s something,” Tyler mused. “Something to build off of.”
“Ssignal Kopessh,” Verrikoth ordered. “Have them keep on our sstarboard sside. And no aggressive movezz. I’m ssure the localz are going to be more than a bit jumpy about sseeing armed vesselz entering their ssolar ssysstem.”
They two ships moved in closer toward the planet, but none of the shuttles and work pods changed their vectors or attempted to contact them. It was as though they didn’t even notice their approach, or perhaps they were just too jaded and worn out to care.
“They’re not responding to standard hails, Commander,” Killix reported. “They’re locked into their jobs there.”
“Strange,” Tyler stated, stroking his chin. “I would have thought they would be supremely interested when a pair of warships shows up in their system, especially since the attack.” He frowned. “You’d think they might run or something.”
“Commz. Open a channel, all bandzz.” Verrikoth straightened in his chair until the male zheen nodded to him. “People of Hecate, thiss iz Lord Verrikoth aboard my flagsship Nemessiss. I know about the assault from the Republic, and we are here to provide any help that we can. Pleaze contact me to let uss know we can assist. Verrikoth, out.” With the channel closed, he turned to Tyler. “Assuming that the freighterz I ordered ssent from Tysseuss left az sscheduled, they should be here in, what? A few dayz?”
“Should be here already, my Lord,” Tyler replied, consulting a display. “Even giving a generous margin of error.” He started pressing controls, running some more calculations.
“We’re getting a response from the planet, my Lord,” Killix replied, sounding slightly confused. “Audio only.”
“Put them on.” The line clicked active. “Thiss iz Verrikoth.”
“How dare you show your face here, you monster! After what you did here?” The voice was male and clearly agitated.
“We did not attack you,” Verrikoth replied calmly. “The attack came from a Republic flotilla. I am not Republic.”
There was a pause. “Well, then, back off! We are sending our defense ships to throw you out of here! Out of the system!” The man’s voice was shaking now.
“There iz no need for that,” the zheen stated, his tone soothing. “I am not here to harm anyone; we are here to help.” There was an audible click and the channel closed. “What happened?” Verrikoth demanded.
“He cut the connection, my Lord.”
Verrikoth buzzed. “Ssenssorzz, any change?”
Helk consulted his displays. “No change, so far, my Lord. Nothing is coming up from the surface, either.”
“Open a channel to the planet again, all channelzz,” Verrikoth ordered, adjusting his posture in his command seat. “This is Lord Verrikoth. We are here to offer relief ssuppliez and assisstance due to the attack by Republic forcezz. I do not wish to harm anyone. To that end, my sshipss will hold pozzition here, and await your response.” He turned to his flag captain, ending the call. “Hold pozzition here, Commander. Inform Kopessh.”
“Yes, my Lord. Engines, all stop,” Jensen Tyler ordered. “Comms, coordinate maneuvering orders with Kopesh.”
((--[][]--))
Twelve hours passed with no change from the locals, whose spacecraft continued picking through the debris field. No extra ships came up from the planet’s surface, and no transmissions were directed at Verrikoth’s vessels.
Verrikoth stood in his ship’s officer’s conference room, staring at a display showing the activity of the vessels almost eighteen million kilometers away. He’d kept his word; neither of his ships had advanced any further, but so far nothing in response from the locals.
How long should I stay? And where the hell are those freighters? Pressing a control, he brought up status feeds for both ships, specifically the fuel and food levels. Nemesis was still over seventy percent fuel levels (barely), but the smaller destroyer Kopesh was down to almost fifty percent. Both ships could continue on this journey for several more months, at present consumption levels.
It was the food stocks that were the issue. Nemesis was in decent shape with about a four-month supply remaining, but Kopesh had no more than a month’s worth left. Transferring some of the stocks over from Nemesis would be prudent and was in progress. But they only had so much to transfer and a much larger crew complement. Without replenishment, the two ships could sustain operations for a total of two more months, three, if they went to strict rationing.
Can’t stay here long. I’ll give those ships another week, and if they still aren’t here, I’ll have to move on to Trullium. Once there I can resupply, reprovision and send back shipments here to Hecate. Damn. I wonder if those cargo ships from Tyseus were waylaid.
His comm panel chirped, and he pressed a button on his wrist communicator. “Yesss?”
“Tyler here, my Lord. We have a vessel approaching from out system. Its course is on a vector that could be from Tyseus.”
“Only one?” Verrikoth asked, bringing up the sensor data on his own display.
“Yes, my Lord, just the one ship. We’re receiving beacon ID now.” A pause. “It’s the Cierre.”
One of the two freighters. Verrikoth buzzed in relief, but then he felt a chill flow through his thorax. “Only one sship?”
Tyler paused for a moment, checking. “Yes, my Lord. Cierre is alone.”
Verrikoth clicked his mandibles, but then flicked his antennae. “Very well, we will adapt to circumsstancezz. Hail them and direct them to our pozzition, and get sstatuss updatess. You know what to do.”
“Of course, my Lord.”
Verrikoth ended the call. Finally. Even with only one of the two freighters, the supplies aboard would be a leg up for the locals here.
A few hours later, a compressed data file arrived from Cierre, and the Warlord immediately dug into it. Apparently, the resources of Tyseus were running extremely low and only one ship loaded with goods was all that could be spared at this time. He considered this and then quickly tapped out a communique for the leaders of Caridosia and Reeshee, to have equipment and supplies sent here on the first available ships, also including Cierre in this to do the transporting, with additional orders to Fletcher’s Dolly and any other transport ships that could be scrounged.
He checked Cierre’s cargo manifest and was pleased with what he saw. Forty industrial construction bots, six He3 fuel pods, two orbital He3 collectors, and crates of precision tools. In addition, they brought two cargo shuttles and ten engineering hard suits. It wasn’t a huge amount in the grand scheme, but it would certainly be enough to assist Hecate. Of course, Hecate was an industrialized world and had plenty of factories of their own on the ground, but having the proper equipment here in space already might get things moving faster.
He pressed his wrist comm. “Bridge, thiss iz Verrikoth. Get in touch with Cierre and redirect them to the gass giant. Once they are in orbit, they are to deploy the He3 collectorz and sstart them up. Once that iz complete, they are to join up with uss.”
“Yess, my Lord.”
((--[][]--))
“Misster Ssanty, it iz good to ssee you here,” Verrikoth told Cierre’s captain sometime later over virtual displays. “We were sstarting to think there waz ssome ssort of problem.”
The tall human ran a hand over his fuzzy scalp, then shrugged. “Sorry about the holdup, Boss. We had trouble with one of our shield nodes. Had to stop for almost four days to get it working again.”
“Where iz Fletcher’z Dolly?”
The man frowned, adjusting his somewhat antiquated spectacles. Modern medical care was rather lacking in the Argos Cluster compared to what was available in the Republic. It was something to be worked on, but it was hardly a priority for Verrikoth at the moment. James Santy spoke. “My ship carries all that could be spared from Tyseus, my Lord, at least within the accelerated timeframe. Supervisor Skrax managed to find enough equipment and gear to fill Cierre’s holds and send me on my way. Fuel production was only just ra
mping up when we left.”
“I ssee.” Verrikoth gave a hum of frustration but then forced himself to be calm. It wasn’t Santy’s fault; he’d done his job and hauled his cargo here to Hecate. “Very well. I will attempt to reopen communicationz with the localz, and you will drop off your ssuppliez. After that iz done, you will be going to Reesshee to pick up another load and then come back here. I will ssend you detailed orderz and communiquezz for the Reesshee government az well az for my sshipss there.”
The man perked up. “Reeshee, Boss? Never been. Look forward to it.”
“Good. You will liazze with Kapitan Flayl there once you arrive. Work with her to sset up a regular tranzport route. We might be able to put together a regular trade run.”
Santy drew himself up. “Oh, I think I can work something out. Jimmy will get it moving for you, Boss.”
Verrikoth stood silent for a moment, then nodded. “I expect rezzultss.”
“You’ll get them, Boss.”
((--[][]--))
“Governor Ezztinoss, I am glad we could finally sspeak.” An additional day had passed, during which time Verrikoth’s patience wore even thinner. Finally, just as he was on the verge of breaking his self-imposed holding pattern and moving into orbit, the people of Hecate finally decided to respond.
“I’m very glad to see you, Captain,” the governor replied. He was a fat human male, who had a nervous habit of rubbing his rotund belly. He also knew Verrikoth’s title, but continued to call him by his previous rank, a sign of disrespect, surely. Verrikoth wasn’t sure if it was a calculated insult or if the man was simply dim. “We surely could have used you three months ago when that Republic fleet came here!” “Of courssse. My sshipss were occupied elssewhere, and I regret not having any vesselz available. I, however, do have a freighter full of consstruction ssuppliez for the ssalvage and rebuild effortss.”
“Occu- occupied elsewhere? You had ships in our system at the time of the attack. And they cut and run! We could have used the support from those ships, Captain.” Before Verrikoth could respond, the man continued, cutting him off. “We lost everything! Everything! Is this the caliber of warship captain we can expect from you?”
Verrikoth let that pass, but he could feel his ire rising. “From the ssenssor telemetry on my own sshipss, Ironhide was in poor sshape at the time of the battle and was barely able to cover the freighterz in their esscape. And that waz at the cosst of the sship with all handz.”
“Escape! So you admit that your men ran!”
Verrikoth suppressed a buzz of irritation. “And what of my light cruizer? Your ssecurity forcez could not keep it ssafe from the invaderz. I paid a good amount of treasure for that sship.” His voice was icy calm. “All of that iz now gone, including a desstroyer, captain, and crew I can ill afford to lose.”
The man looked as though he might pop a blood vessel in his forehead. “Your cruiser? Your destroyer?” he sputtered, froth flying out of his mouth. “We lost everything! We barely have half a squadron of starfighters left for defense and only a few shuttles to get any work done. Don’t you whine to me about your losses.” His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What are you doing here, anyway? What’s your angle?”
“I heard of the attack and the destruction of my warship,” Verrikoth replied, amusing himself with fantasies of gutting the pompous twit. “I came here to ssee if I could lend any aid.”
“You expect me to believe that? You coming here with your own warships that you’re just here to help us?”
“I kept my word. My sshipss have sstayed well away from our planet and your ssalvage teamz. I told you I want to hurt no one and I meant that.”
“As if someone like you could understand. You’re just here to pick over the dead.” Eztinos waved a hand dismissively, his mouth working in such a way that it appeared as though he might spit.
Verrikoth let out a hum, and his mouthparts wriggled. “Sso you are ssaying then, that you do not want the consstructor botss, fuel podz and precizion toolz my freighter Cierre haz in her cargo holdz?”
The man paused, jaw dropping. “You have what?”
“Relief ssuppliezz for your consstruction and ssalvage effortss. My cargo sship iz sstuffed full of equipment that I assumed you sshould want. Clearly inssulting me iz more important than working to rebuild your orbital infrasstructure.” He paused, looking at the man. “Or iz it pride? You would rather launch inssultss at me than do the job for which you were elected?”
A calculated look appeared on Eztinos’s face, as he also clenched his jaw in anger at Verrikoth’s barbed comments. Verrikoth could tell that the look was tinged with cynicism. “And the price for your benevolence?”
Verrikoth clacked his mandibles loudly. “I would hope you could be grateful for any assistance offered.” He paused, letting the man stew for a moment. “I don’t want money; I have plenty of that already. I would, however, like for Hecate to remember who itss friendzz are and who arrived firsst to offer aid.”
The governor looked as though he wanted to chew on coral rather than accept the aid, but he managed to school his features back into a blank mask. “No, of course, we at Hecate know who our friends are. And we thank you, Captain Verrikoth for any aid that you can give.”
“And I am happy to give it,” Verrikoth replied, still irked by the omission of his proper title, but gracious in victory. “I would like permission to bring my vesselz in closser in order to drop off the sshipment.”
The governor nodded. “Of course. Traffic control will provide a vector in to our makeshift orbital station.”
“I appreciate that, Governor. I await their call. After which, I would like to disscuss additional sshipmentss. I think we could get more ssuppliez transsported from Reesshee and Caridossia. They have indusstry that can be modified to be compatible with your tech.”
Surprise came through the governor’s mask. “Why? Why would you do this?”
“The Argoss Clusster iz a harssh place,” Verrikoth replied sternly. “And friendz look out for one another. Don’t they?”
((--[][]--))
“I am surprised at the soft approach you are taking with these people,” the Xai’ryn told him some time later. He was in her chambers aboard Nemesis while they moved into the system, waiting for Cierre to unload her cargoes. “This is not the Warlord who stormed a pirate base and slaughtered the inhabitants, the Warlord I chose for my consort and brought offspring into this world with.”
Verrikoth let out a soft hiss. “I am not going ssoft. But these people have already been hit with the sstick by the Republic. It iz time to uze a carrot. I want their trusst but more importantly, their indusstry.”
She chittered, watching him as the purple-carapaced drei’kai scampered about their sire. Verrikoth felt a slight thrill go through him hearing her laugh; such was her presence that she didn’t even need the pheromones to impress him. “I was worried. But I am glad to see you haven’t lost focus.”
“Don’t be foolish. Hecate was a good ssizzed sshipyard, one I cannot afford to loze, esspecially if the Republic iz starting to ssend out punisshment partiez.” He stroked the spine of one of the warrior drones, who snuggled up close to him. “I need that planet to recover, get their indusstry functional again and sstart producing sshipss again. We cannot afford to be down a sshipyard. And I waz counting on that cruizer being ready to fight.”
The Xai’ryn preened a bit at hearing the “we.” “You still are suffering from a crew shortage,” she reminded him. “But I suppose some of those crews could be from Hecate itself.” She considered this, and then her antennae perked up. She began to emanate a light hum from her thorax. “But perhaps it might be time to increase your support base and bring in more drones.” Her voice was coy, but there was a hint of steel in her tone.
He felt himself stand straighter, excited despite knowing what was about to happen. “Yess,” he replied, stepping closer and shooing the warrior drone away. It gave a cackle-purr and trotted off, leaving the two standing b
efore one another. “Yess, Xai’ryn, you are right. I believe it iz time.”
((--[][]--))
Things moved more smoothly now that the locals had accepted Verrikoth’s gift. He even allowed for three days of engineering assistance, using two of his own tech teams to work on the orbital platform. The local government was more than happy to accept his assistance. However, the men on the ground (or in space as it were) were less enthusiastic about having outsiders “help” on their fragile platform. Integrating his people with the locals was a challenge, but Nemesis’s Chief Engineer Kujes worked it out. There was some behind the scenes horse trading, some engineering components went out from the spare parts lockers, and a bill for drinks showed up on the Quartermaster’s ship expense account, but suddenly the Hecate Supervisor was more open for the “friends of Hecate, the hardworking lads” to join in the work.
Kujes’s teams were assigned to salvaging and then attaching enough metal to assemble a new, airtight module to the station’s spire. The plan was for boxes to be built and then attached, radiating outward from the central spire, which would create a hodgepodge of a station. Kujes took umbrage to this. “Sloppy design. Will be riddled with structural integrity issues. No, we need something sturdy.” From there he called upon the services of the industrial replicator located in Nemesis’s cargo bay.
As a rule, Verrikoth did not outfit his ships with such devices, but the Warlord brought this one along from Tyseus to be used at Trullium, to assist with the orbital industry there. One replicator, even an industrial one, would hardly revolutionize the construction efforts at Verrikoth’s capital world, but it could churn out custom parts and equipment needed to push smaller projects forward.
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