by Aer-ki Jyr
That didn’t stop them from taking losses, for it was the larger vessels that worked better in combat against the Hadarak, and they did obligingly create a single Mach’nel for such purposes, but the wise Dasc leaders knew that their contribution to the empire would not occur in mimicking the other races, but rather in finding their own niche…and that niche was in the mass production of small warships.
A Kafcha could only be in a single system at a time, but the same material built into 206 Ti’mat could be in 206 systems at a time…and with such a large domain to patrol, the V’kit’no’sat needed eyes as many places as they could.
That was equally true now, and after much debate the Dasc had agreed to join the Crusaders and assist with the invasion…for any planets taken and held by them would be retained by them, and this was an opportunity to grab a lot of territory that even the growing planet allotments coming out of Itaru these days could not match.
Virokor had not assigned them an invasion corridor, but rather gave them the freedom to roam and hit targets of their choosing…after other races were forced to abandon them. It was carrion work and a deliberate slight, but the Hjar’at campaign commander had not meant it as such. He too was wise, and knew that the Dasc and their Zen’zat would not be enough to counter the heavy Star Force ground troops. It wasn’t their strength, but sending them to disrupt Star Force by retaking worlds and shoring them up again required a great deal of wisdom, and Virokor wanted Star Force distracted as much as possible, unable to focus their Uriti-centered strike power on a limited number of targets.
The Les’i’kron had already assaulted this system, breaking through two of the 5 inhabited planets before the Uriti known as Nami had showed up. The Les’i’kron had fled, per was standing orders, but left their ground troops behind. Star Force had finally sent their main fleet away along with the Uriti to another location, leaving behind enough ships to replace the system defenses and maintain orbital control, bombarding the Les’i’kron whenever they were able to get clear shots, though the huge flyers had a significant foothold that was being chipped away at and already diminished in size down to 38 square miles. It was located up in the mountains where the mechs had a harder time finding the footing to fight properly, with the flyers having no difficulty whatsoever, hence giving them an advantage.
The Les’i’kron hated snow, but that’s where they were stuck now. Junarri didn’t know if they’d been stupid in estimating the resistance they’d face or if this group of ground troops was being sacrificed as a distraction to keep the fleet in orbit penned here and not reinforcing others, but the Dasc commander had decided that this soon to be carrion planet was going to be his first target. The other planet had already completely been retaken by Star Force, and if he could save a few Les’i’kron here he would, but the Dasc would be taking possession of this world, not the survivors.
He’d been sitting in a cloaked Wur’ki for weeks studying the situation from afar, having sent another ship back to gather his fleet. He preferred being the scout to sending others out, letting him evaluate a situation in real time rather than having to rely on reports, and right now the jumpline from the far off Haerbip System was breaking out with activity. It was a seldom used route due to its distance, and Star Force didn’t have even a single ship waiting in defense of it like they did on the shortest 7 and most heavily used jumplanes.
However, they responded instantly as the Dasc fleet began to enter in a tightly packed formation. The defenders raced to intercept, with many coming across half the system and getting to the jumppoint very late, but they had decent numbers of drones there before half the Dasc fleet arrived, leaving a messy battle before the numbers scaled for the attackers and the remaining drones retreated to the cover of the planetary defenses.
While they were playing at the jumppoint, Junarri took his cloaked Wur’ki and two nearby twin vessels and raced down to the surface of Havoc through the existing gaps in the planetary shield that was only 21% deployed over areas Star Force controlled. The rest of the massive facilities hadn’t been rebuilt, nor had the smaller defensive weapons that would have caused trouble for the Dasc ships. As it was, they made it near to the Les’i’kron holdout point without a shot being fired at them until they came into range of the mech armies surrounding the last refuge of the V’kit’no’sat troops.
Junarri stopped over the outer edge of the mechs, then had all three ships hold position and engage them. He had the mass advantage, and soon the Star Force mechs began to retreat from the planetary foothold…at least as far as necessary to get out of the warships’ range. The Dasc pursued them and made many kills before some of the Star Force drones made their way back to the planet to provide cover.
Junarri then let the surviving mechs go and tucked his three ships down in between the mountains as much as he could, sheltering the troops and hostages below them while calling Star Force out. If they wanted to kill the warships the debris would fall and crush those beneath them, and he knew Star Force wanted to protect and recover their captured people.
He’d guessed right, for their drones pulled back to strategic positions on the planet while covering for the mechs withdrawal back to the areas covered by intact shield generators as the Dasc fleet finally made its way to orbit and into bombardment range of anything not protected.
Junarri ordered them to open up on targets he tagged, refusing to slaughter the local population but not leaving them with key assets or defenses. If he was about to capture these people they would not be living in their own facilities for longer than necessary…and if another Star Force fleet arrived to drive the Dasc out, he didn’t want to leave behind intact structures that could be reused by the enemy.
Junarri deployed some of the Zen’zat from his fleet down to the Les’i’kron encampment to assist with defense and repairs while he stayed onboard ship overseeing the second invasion of the planet up until the senior-most surviving Les’i’kron contacted him via hologram, for aside from in a cargo bay the larger race wouldn’t fit inside the Dasc ships.
“Your assistance is much appreciated, Dasc,” the large, scaly dragon said with equal amounts of gratefulness and scorn.
“We are not here to assist,” Junarri said evenly. “We are here to claim the planet. Rescuing you was a bonus.”
The Les’i’kron huffed irreverently. “This is our invasion corridor. You have no dominion here.”
“You were days away from being wiped out, after which we would have jurisdiction under Virokor’s orders. Would you prefer we withdrawal and wait those few days until you are destroyed, or act now and save valuable troops for the empire? Either way, the Dasc will now take control of this world for as long as we can hold it.”
“Such impudence,” the Les’i’kron all but spat.
“You are welcome. If you wish to stay and assist you may. If not, we will arrange transport to the nearest Les’i’kron fleet or outpost. The choice is yours.”
“So long as we exist, we possess the planet,” the Les’i’kron argued. “You are in violation.”
“Do you truly wish us to leave? For I am not assaulting this world only to hand it over to the Les’i’kron.”
“Yes. Take the other damaged world. You may benefit from our efforts there, bottom feeder, but this world is ours until we draw our last breath.”
“As you wish,” Junarri said, sending a telepathic order for all his Zen’zat to return to the ships, which was then repeated out through comm channels by his command deck crew. “You are on your own here. I apologize for delaying your deaths,” he added sarcastically.
Before the hologram could turn off a bolt of plasma shot across the image, hitting the Les’i’kron and deflecting off its thick scales. He turned to face his attacker, but was knocked out of view by another Les’i’kron bodily ramming into and tackling him out of frame. A third Les’i’kron appeared and looked directly at Junarri.
“We apologize for his arrogance. Do not leave. We will assist you in taking this world for th
e V’kit’no’sat. Possession will be yours for as long as you can hold it. He may have a death wish, but we do not. He is no longer in command.”
“I am, as of now,” Junarri said firmly.
“Accepted,” the Les’i’kron said as sounds of further combat were obvious. Apparently the former acting commander wasn’t taking his demotion well. “We must hurry before Star Force can reinforce again. We must kill their mechs.”
“They are already withdrawing beneath their remaining shield generators.”
“Then that is where we must press.”
“Patience, Les’i’kron. We will deal with them, but in our way. What is your supply situation?” the Dasc asked as one final crash was heard out of view, then silence.
“Limited. Several of us are without armor.”
“I will send generic replacements. You’ll have to configure them for integration. We do not have your file specs.”
“Thank you. We can handle that with what we have left.”
“How many prisoners do you have?”
“We have over 3,000 Humans, 58,000 Calavari, and 23,000 Kiritak. All are workers. None of their warriors were captured. We are having trouble feeding them given our limited supplies.”
“I will take possession of them and see to their confinement. I have cargo vessels nearby that will be summoned once we have sufficient control of the planet. The prefab structures for confinement can be set up within days. Until then we will work with whatever you are using.”
“We have a few prefabs, but mostly we’re using converted local buildings. What we need is a shield generator.”
“We have several to deploy.”
“Where you do need us, Commander?”
“Rest for now. We will take all available territory immediately, then push for what the enemy controls later. It is then that we will make use of your skills.”
“We appreciate the rescue, Dasc. Ignore the comments by Farschu. He was eldest, so command fell to him after our losses, but he was not hatched for command. The rest of us submit to yours until we can rejoin a Les’i’kron unit.”
“I am coming down to view the status of the encampment personally. Turn over as much of the defense as you can to my Zen’zat, then rest. You will be needed later, and I want you recovered.”
“We will have to fly across the planet unless you can alter your drop pods to accommodate us.”
“We have that capability built in for such occasions. I will not waste your strength on unnecessary travel. Rest now. We will not begin the heavy fighting without you.”
“I will hold you to that,” the Les’i’kron said, eager to get back on the offensive. “The planet is yours. May you hold it longer than we did.”
“That is up to their Uriti movements,” Junarri noted. “We will see how much they value it when other fresh worlds are coming under assault, but their decisions will determine the landscape of the war, not ours. We will attain victory through persistence, not brute force.”
“I am forced to agree. I will meet you on the ground, if that is acceptable?”
“It is, so long as you do not step on me,” Junarri said, half joking.
“I have no quarrel with the Dasc, nor do the others. Farschu is simply an arrogant fool.”
“Make sure he does not step on us.”
“He will have an escort at all times until we enter battle again. When that happens, his ire will be placed on the enemy where it belongs.”
“If any of my Dasc or Zen’zat are inappropriately harmed, I will execute those responsible.”
The Les’i’kron shoot its long neck in a dismissive gesture. “You need not fear. We are grateful for your arrival and we will make sure he does not bring further dishonor upon us.”
“I will see you momentarily then.”
The Les’i’kron huffed approvingly then ended the hologram, leaving Junarri with a pleased, but still wary mental state. The Les’i’kron were amongst the most difficult race for the Dasc to deal with, but it seemed that battle had burnt away most of their typical animosity. How long that would last he did not know, but he was glad to have them available to use in combat. Compared to the Zen’zat, they were far superior in skill, if not in temperament.
Junarri left the command deck and went down to the hangar in his Wur’ki, donning his armor before stepping onboard and being wrapped up in a cocoon of material that made him look like he was twice as large and standing on a floating pedestal. In reality it was the Dasc version of a personal speeder, though more heavily armored than those used by the Ari’tat and other small races who, unfortunately, viewed the survivability of their own populations as unimportant. Their reproductive rates were not much different than that of the Dasc, but their wisdom was lacking and they wasted many people in exchange for quick results and fast builds.
The Dasc speeders cost more to produce, but the extra expense was worth it if the technology ‘overload’ saved a single individual 5,000 years old. The Ari’tat did not understand that, but the Dasc did. They would die for the mission if necessary, but not casually. And that reluctance to dive in head first was one of the many reasons the Dasc were disliked amongst the empire.
But today at least he’d gained a few Les’i’kron friends. Hopefully they obeyed his combat orders so he could keep them alive and fighting well into the future. If not, they’d probably charge the mech lines in a ‘win or die’ fashion.
If that happened, he wouldn’t have to deal with their disobedience for long. Star Force was too dangerous of an opponent to recklessly attack, and the many dead Les’i’kron corpses spread across this planet were a gruesome testament to that fact.
7
March 13, 4898
Braum System (Star Force territory)
Winage
Niom cringed when he saw the massive transport enter the system behind an already huge Star Force fleet. He hadn’t gotten much damage done to it on entry, for he didn’t have enough ships to blockade the system in an effective manner and the jumpline they’d entered on wasn’t one of the regularly used ones. They’d made a few good exchanges once his patrol ships arrived, but the Oso’lon vessels hadn’t been able to kill any of the jumpships, only the drones. Soon thereafter they had to pull back before they were overwhelmed, for the rest of Niom’s ships weren’t rushing out to join them.
He knew he was going to lose the planet. Niom just hoped he’d done enough on the ground to prepare for the counter invasion, and right now he was evacuating all non-combat personnel to his fleet and getting every crate of supplies he had onboard his warships down there, for the ground troops were going to have to operate on their own until this fleet decided to leave.
The Oso’lon were not leaving the system, however. Normally they would and go and hit somewhere else, but Niom was staying. Not at the planet, but they were going to flee to the outer reaches and make Star Force follow them away from Winage. If they did, that would buy more time for his ground troops to dig in. If they didn’t, he’d sit and wait and watch what occurred, forcing Star Force to stay in the system with their Uriti and not move on to other locations. If the Uriti was going to hit him here, he was going to make sure it was tied up as long as he could so other invasion forces would have more time to press their gains.
Niom didn’t know which Uriti it was until the transport opened up, but his second stomach seemed to shrink to the size of a pebble along with the first when the jaws of the craft finally opened and the flat disc of Sivir appeared. Its circular edge looked sharp, though that was only due to the sizes involved. It was 94 miles wide and colored a deep orange, looking like a sliver of a star, for it wasn’t just colored orange, but it was bioluminescent and glowed that color.
Niom knew Sivir was capable of massive orbital bombardment, but it was one of the sloppier ones based on his information. It had only been involved in one fight against the V’kit’no’sat prior to this crusade, back in the Uriti Preserve, and it was one of the hardest targets for a fleet to attack. It was l
iterally a fleet killer, more so than the others. It could wipe out his entire fleet alone, even without Star Force backup, and Niom knew he had to get moving before the engine-neutralizing Star Force drones got to his ships and pinned them in place. If he could get moving the Uriti would never catch them, which was why he was going to stay in the system, but if he got caught fighting the drones and was pinned down…well, there was no way he could allow that to happen.
The Oso’lon commander gave a final deadline for the drop pods. Any not making it would be left behind and have to take their chances with the ground forces. His patrol ships were already enroute from the jumppoint, staying ahead of the first wave of drones that were small enough to destroy, but Niom knew it was a trap. If they turned and engaged they’d get caught soon thereafter, so they were racing back to rejoin the 12,218 ships he had left.
Niom began sending off groups now, for so many ships didn’t jump out of the same planetary jumppoint in a heartbeat and maneuvering farther out in the system without nearby gravity wells was problematic with such a large fleet. He needed smaller sub-groups to operate independently, and there was no need to make all of them wait for the last drop pods, so he began sending them out as he watched Sivir begin moving on its own and slowly transitioning around the star to the jumppoint to Winage.
Niom hated leaving after paying such a heavy price to break through the planet’s defenses, and that was why he wasn’t leaving entirely. His ground troops knew their role, and he wasn’t overly concerned about them. What he was concerned with was Star Force reclaiming the planet and rebuilding some of the shield generators to give them full coverage again. If that happened, the assault would have been next to useless aside from the more than one million drones he’d killed.
That number sounded like a lot, but they were so small it was deceiving. And to add insult to injury, all but a handful of their controlling jumpships were sitting safely in orbit around the other planets in this system. Most were totally empty, but they could be reloaded in other systems or even this one if they waited long enough for local shipyards to replace them. Niom hadn’t gone after those shipyards because they had been moved to such low orbits that they were now protected by the planetary guns.