by Aer-ki Jyr
This system held a single inhabited planet, which had a population of approximately 32 million Li’vorkrachnika, all of which were now his. They had held no marker, given the small size of this location and it not being necessary for it to fall under the command of a mastermind. Even without receiving his marker they were immediately accepting his command, and the evacuation of the planet was already getting underway.
That was expected, but a part of him wondered if there would be any resistance to the evacuation order. He had not given any reasons…for that would have been unusual, but given the fact that he was essentially attacking and conquering this world for Star Force suggested that there should have been some hurdles to overcome.
But there wasn’t, and given the Star Force fleet that would be following them in to lay claim to this world, no one would know what had happened here. Hopefully that meant they’d be able to repeat the process in many systems, and he wondered if the method would be discovered at all, for the invasions were continuing throughout this region and one more system going dark shouldn’t draw undue attention.
He knew there wouldn’t be any data files here on the templars, especially since there wasn’t an interstellar comm system built, but there might be some updates carried by courier and he wanted to have a look around the planet for other reasons, so he headed down to the planet as the evacuation began with a flurry of transport craft rising up to meet the jumpships that he’d brought down into a low holding orbit.
After so long on the war torn worlds of the capitol system it felt odd to land in one that was unblemished. Highly undeveloped, but pristine in its infrastructure and population. Everything was in order here, and he intended to make use of as much of it as he could as soon as he got to the planetary command center.
“What are your orders?” the administrator variant asked as soon as he walked into the chamber. The system had been his responsibility previously, but now he was standing down as expected and taking on the traditional sublimation to a servant. That had been woven into their genome, but the fact that the mastermind stood much taller and massed more than twice his amount always had a chilling effect, for if the strategic master wanted one of his underlings killed he wouldn’t have to order anyone else to do it.
“We are beginning a slow evacuation, but while we are still here there are tasks to be done. I have inspectors being dispersed to gather data, but for you I need ramped up output on the list I am supplying you. Utilize all reserve resources, and the less we have to haul away with us the better. I want as much equipment manufactured in the time we have, for I have need of it elsewhere.”
One of the Li’vorkrachnika librarians that had traveled to the surface with the mastermind gave the administrator the necessary data, then without question began to get to work.
The mastermind took the small central position in the chamber and began reviewing planetary status reports along with the limited intelligence on the surrounding region. It seemed there was an invasion noted only 23 lightyears from this position and several of the supply routes were heading through this location from three other systems.
That meant there would probably be other ships passing through…and that couldn’t be allowed.
“Get me the fleet commander.”
After a few moments one of the standard variants on a cruiser in orbit appeared in a flat hologram before him. “Take all your warships to the star and hold any convoys passing through. I am taking them under my command. Divert them to this planet.”
“Do you wish a personal order given to them?”
“I will dispatch emissaries to your fleet with the necessary markers to override any priority orders they may have. Leave one warship in orbit to gather them and send the remainder along with yourself immediately. I do not want any ships leaving this system not under my command.”
“It will be done,” the commander said, his image winking out.
When he finally got the first results of testing done on the local lizards, the scientists he’d brought with him reported no variation in their genetics as compared with those on Michra or those taken off the shipyard ring on Yamitar. He hadn’t expected there to be, but ever since the capitol system had been blockaded the rest of the empire had been cut off from his knowledge and he’d wanted to know if there had been any upgrades made. Technology wise there was nothing new here as well, save for an updated starmap that was outdated compared to the one that Star Force had provided him.
No, this was just a little filler system producing a handful of ships and supplies that were being exported elsewhere into the feeder system that was funneling them in a very circuitous route to the coreward region. No one was going to miss it either, and he almost wished he could hang onto the planet as well. There was a decent amount of infrastructure here that would have to be left behind, but he needed these Li’vorkrachnika on Michra and Paul had flatly stated he only had the one planet to work with.
The real question was how much could he take with him? Paul hadn’t designated how many round trips would be used, and if he sent less personnel on each trip he could cram in more equipment. Star Force wasn’t going to leave anyone behind, but the lack of detailed orders given to him suggested that Paul was going to be watching how he handled this rather than micromanaging.
He didn’t know if Paul was in this system or not. He’d been in orbit of Michra when this convoy fleet had left, but he knew he’d be overseeing this operation one way or another. So that left the question of how long he could stretch this retrieval operation out?
No, the real question was in what he was going to be taking back. Paul wouldn’t fault him for bringing necessary equipment, but if he started piling up a lot of bulk items that could be more easily manufactured on Michra then there could be trouble. The thing of it was, he could more easily produce additional population than hauling the 32 million here back on numerous jumpship trips. That wasn’t economical, but for Star Force the personnel mattered whereas the equipment did not.
Which meant he had to pick and choose carefully, focusing on items that would allow him to make other things on Michra rather than finished products. The short range transports he had just ordered built would assist in carrying cargo up to orbit and across the surface of Michra, so he wasn’t worried about those as much as the raw supplies here. If he took those back Paul might object because there was plenty of material in the form of rubble to recycle, which was why he wanted those raw materials used here and now rather than hauling them back, but this planet had a good stockpile, above average actually, and he didn’t think the local industry would be able to burn through it all by the time they had to leave.
Then again, if Paul was going to get him more captured jumpships he didn’t have a firm timetable anyway, so he was just going to have to take this one convoy at a time and see where it led. Getting even one crate and one Li’vorkrachnika off this world was a bonus…he just needed to maximize the bonus as much as he could.
3 months later…
The mastermind was still on the surface of the planet when a new fleet of jumpships arrived in planetary orbit along with a Star Force jumpship. Fortunately he’d already got markers onto the warships so their captains didn’t fire at it on arrival near the star, but he did have to order it labeled as a neutral vessel within this system before his ships stopped navigating evasively.
As soon as the order filtered its way into orbit his ships reorganized appropriately, trusting in his command even if they didn’t understand it, then a comm call came in directly to him. His personal staff were not surprised, and routed it through to him accordingly.
“Hello, Thrawn,” Paul said, using the annoying Human name given to him. “I have some more ships for you.”
“249?” he asked, seeing the count on the orbital sensors.
“We recently invaded Hopyr and managed to grab these before they ran or committed suicide. I need a crew swap.”
“Where is your command ship?”
“Busy. I ju
st needed a ride here so I took one of the small ones. We have a few senior personnel from each of the ships that we managed to take alive, but we’ve been having to force feed them using Archons to keep them intact until they could get here. We’ve tested them and they do not have an inhibiting marker like we found on Yamitar, so I believe you can use them. They do know they have been in captivity, but we’re going to wipe their memories. Can I trust you will take the necessary measures to insure they don’t kill themselves when they wake up?”
“You can. What do you mean by force feeding?”
“Taking remote control of their bodies in order to get them to eat and move around a bit before rendering them unconscious again. It’s not something we can do for mass numbers, hence the rest of their crew, when they didn’t surrender, were killed.”
“Do you not have stasis technology?”
“Not by any means that we’re comfortable with using. It might keep you alive, but it trashes your body in the process.”
“Yet alive and trashed is preferable to dead.”
“Is that Li’vorkrachnika logic?”
“No. We would just grow new personnel. It is Star Force logic, as I would conceive it.”
“In a manner of speaking. Our mercy has limits, and we chose to preserve these few in this manner. We did not choose to go to greater lengths for people you have considered expendable.”
“Given your population growth restrictments, each has more value than previously.”
“How touching,” Paul said sarcastically. “Handover will occur as soon as you can get crews onboard.”
“Any significant damage?”
“Spotty, but they’re all jump worthy. Any difficulties here?”
“None.”
“Could it have been achieved without your presence?”
“I believe so.”
“I see you’ve picked up some new ships of your own.”
“I’ve confiscated several convoys passing through this system. No issues there either.”
“And my showing up?”
“They obey even if they do not understand.”
“As soon as the ships are handed over I’m heading back to the fighting. The sooner you get this evacuation finished, the sooner we test your theory.”
“Given the fact that you can’t read my mind across a comm channel, I will tell you that I am utilizing this planet’s industry to produce a variety of craft and equipment rather than shipping the raw materials back to Michra.”
“Don’t delay personnel transfers. I’ll allow one full trip of all jumpships here for equipment alone. Get your people back and integrated as soon as possible.”
“That will be sufficient. What will you do with the planet thereafter?”
“Recycle the remaining infrastructure and leave the planet empty, added to the patrol list.”
“A waste of intact facilities.”
“Yes it is,” the Human agreed before the comm shut off.
So he had an extra convoy run for equipment alone. That would simply things…as well as dictate how much he could take back.
“Ready a transport. I am heading up to orbit.”
When the evacuation of Immita ended, the mastermind departed making sure that no one was left behind. Usually he would be the first one out, but he was among the last this time as a Star Force ship, a Ma’kri, made itself visible as it slid in behind the jumpship convoy as they approached the stellar jumppoint. It was tagged as neutral immediately, for he’d ordered all Star Force ships to be regarded as so unless otherwise ordered. None of his ships juked to avoid it and the knife-like behemoth didn’t close within 1000 kilometers.
The convoy jumped out of the system, leaving it empty save for the small flotilla of ships hiding on the opposite side of the star. With no stellar monitoring system and only one inhabited planet, the lizards hadn’t seen the Star Force ships arrive and take position in the ‘shadow’ of the star. With the Ma’kri lagging behind just long enough to signal them, they now came around and headed into the planet while leaving behind a single warship to guard stellar orbit and intercept any lizard traffic that might be coming through.
The three cargo jumpships and their crews of techs were escorted into planetary orbit by another warship that took up stewardship of Immita and let the recycling crews get to work landing their equipment. This planet wasn’t fully inhabited, in fact less than 10% of its surface was covered with sporadic infrastructure, and none of it rubble. They would be doing a thorough investigation and survey of the planet before disassembling the lizard structures, for this was the first time they’d ever had access to one taken without damage or sabotage.
Nothing of consequence would be found and the planet would slowly be returned to its natural forested state. Landscapes would be reworked to fill in the holes that had been dug to facilitate the underground structures, but in the end some 22 years later they’d leave the planet with a lot of small tree sprouts poking up out of the wide plains of dirt and grass that had once been lizard cities.
Who would get this planet down the road had not yet been determined, but it would be one of many that had to be watched to avoid squatters coming in and putting down roots on a region painstakingly recovered from the lizards by Star Force and its allies…and one that was becoming more and more coveted by outsiders.
Fortunately the recovery of this world hadn’t necessitated any fighting, and it wouldn’t be the last. The long shot of trying to convert a lizard mastermind had paid off, with Immita being just the first of many small worlds that would surrender to Star Force without them even knowing they were doing it, easing the path forward and accelerating the progression of the front lines as they continued to creep out around what was left of the core worlds like a giant sheet hug up on a knob in the center.
Soon those would fall and the slightly less developed worlds around them thereafter, scaling down to smaller and smaller systems in what would eventually be a long cleanup campaign…though the fighting in that campaign would be more intense than a lot of other races had ever encountered in warfare. Star Force had simply advanced to the point where they could handle so much that the ‘lesser’ battles were no longer in doubt, simply a matter of time and effort.
7
October 18, 3229
Solar System
Mordor
Kirritimin sat on a cushioned platform, his body at odds with the chairs nearby that were designed for vertical torsos, but the Archons had provided the necessary accommodations since he’d arrived. It had been three days since then, and he’d been basically sitting and waiting with a few people visiting him and asking questions. Greg had gone, after having very lengthy conversations with him during the trip back to the Star Force capitol system, and the Fassna had been left with several other caretakers.
Food had already been synthesized for him, and while it was better than what the Li’vorkrachnika had provided it included no meat whatsoever. He’d expected that, but the idea of his newfound ‘freedom’ not including his ability to eat the foods he wanted struck a chord of hypocrisy. He truly didn’t care at this point, but it was noteworthy how Star Force restricted a lot of actions of the dominant in order to give the lesser races privileges they didn’t deserve. Any race that couldn’t communicate was a legitimate food source, though the Li’vorkrachnika didn’t bother adhering to that distinction. Star Force completely went the other way with it, not allowing even the consumption of microscopic lifeforms deemed to be ‘animal’ in nature.
In Kirritimin’s spare time he’d been doing a lot of research now that he had direct access to the Star Force information network. A lot of it was the same as he’d received back on Yamitar, but there were updates to a lot of things that he was interested in and some information that had been granted to him that wasn’t in the public databases that had been fully copied and supplied to the Li’vorkrachnika by their agents within the ADZ.
Their rationalization of their food source procedures was curious because
almost all races without fail used others for their own gain, whether it be benign or malevolent. Star Force went to great lengths to do the opposite and see to it that all races were aided in some way, with large tracts of land set aside as sanctuaries for races that would otherwise have been raised for the production of foodstuffs. Star Force was gaining nothing from them and expending resources to maintain and even train them, and the reasoning behind that had never fully sunk into Kirritimin’s mind.
Now that he had full access to their database he was doing some research to try and close that logic gap.
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” a voice said from behind him, startling the Fassna and causing him to jump up off all six legs and almost spin about as he turned around to find a Human standing behind him.
“What is the right thing to do?” he asked a moment after he regained his wits and looked up at the person who was wearing an administrator’s uniform, but with a different pattern of colors he didn’t recognize.
“Taking care and defending those who cannot do it for themselves,” the man said, grabbing a chair and hauling it over near to Kirritimin’s platform.
“You were in my thoughts?”
“Yes, I have some limited skill in that area.”
“Who are you? You don’t wear the uniform of an Archon.”
“I though you studied our records thoroughly?”
“I did, but Human faces all tend to blur together for me.”
“I am Director Davis.”
Kirritimin twitched. “Why do you have no guards with you?”
“I do not need them. I am also an Archon.”
“You have questions to ask as well?”
“A few, but first I think you have some to ask of me.”
“Such as?”