Star Force 82 Hradeiti (SF82) (Star Force Origin Series) (13 page)

      
The world was one form of barren after another, but it was empty and that was the main point. The Gnar needed territory to expand into, and while this wasn’t a huge addition it was the first new annexation that they’d been able to make in some time while other races more favorable to Star Force had been growing steadily with new planets given to them on a slow, but regular basis.

      
But now the ‘not so favored’ had a route to gaining more territory, with the first fruits of the Hradeiti’s labor now visible for all others to see, and the Gnar taking a much more heavy investment in the organization before that new fame drew others in to stake their claim. This was only the first of what would be many lizard worlds taken, and the Gnar wanted an ever increasing share of future conquests.

      
But for now Paget had a new home to build, with plenty of room for his broodmates and whomever he wished to invite here. The construction would take time, of course, but he was in full control of this new colony and would not be living under the crush of overpopulation here. He was already planning ahead with immigration quotas that would draw off some of the existing Gnar population from their crowded worlds without bringing the problem to his new doorstep, as well as negotiating with the Hradeiti to acquire mining rights for other locations in this star system.

      
He was going to hit the ground running, so to speak, and it seemed other races were attempting to do the same thing. Tiny surface bases were already springing up across the planet in addition to the single working colony that the Hradeiti had already established, though even it was still in its infant stages. Only the Star Force seda was fully intact and operational, and Paget knew they had to have hauled it here from somewhere else rather than building it on site. Star Force had some impressive construction rates, but not even they could have constructed that large of a station in so little time since this world fell.

      
Which meant this was also a race to see who could outshine the others, gain hold of what would be the developing economy, and try to tap into the trade routes that were already running beyond lizard borders. If many of them linked here then this location could become a very important one, and the Gnar wanted to be at the forefront of that if at all possible. And if not, they still wanted their piece of the action…so long as it didn’t involve direct military engagements.

      
The Hradeiti would be taking all the military risks and casualties, while Star Force would be defending this system like all others in the ADZ along this border. That meant with the hard work of keeping the lizards at bay not an issue, the Gnar and others could focus on the opportunities presented here…and the massive cost of their investment in the Hradeiti looked to be an ongoing blessing rather than a risky business venture.

      
Whatever would happen with future Hradeiti assaults, the Gnar and others still had their first tidbits of new territory to absorb, with the legitimacy that brought with it fueling the Hradeiti into a much larger organization practically overnight.

 
      
Fleet Admiral Tyree was summoned to the Executive Council’s chambers as was occasionally the norm now that he was back on Ventress, with the fleet once again in building mode. Both he and the other surviving commanders from the Velcor invasion had unanimously agreed that they were not ready to take on a larger lizard target, but with all the new investments and recruits pouring in there was talk of potential targets already arising and the upgrading and strengthening of the fleet was being rushed as much as realistically possible.

      
He wasn’t letting them get reckless, but the need for building a proper fleet was painfully obvious. Good against mercenaries was one thing. Good against the lizards…that was something else entirely. The Hradeiti had their first victory against them, but Tyree had made sure the Executive Council was fully aware of how ill prepared they were to take on a larger lizard force.

      
But they weren’t backing down, rather rising to meet the challenge, though they had a long way to go before they were truly battle ready.

      
“Fleet Admiral,” the single Lacvamat councilor greeted him as he arrived.

      
“Councilors,” Tyree greeted as he noticed a few extra bodies in the chamber. Two Calavari and a short Bsidd. He was used to seeing the really big ones, though this one was obviously an Alpha, their middle sized variety that typically didn’t serve in their military.

      
“You’ve been inquiring about the possibility of acquiring some higher level ex-Star Force recruits,” a Critel said, then gestured towards the three newcomers. “Fortuitously there have been some very high marks within the volunteer lists. May I present Admiral Nashtek, Knight Renkor, and Administrator Tikkito.”

      
“Formerly,” Nashtek corrected. “When we left Star Force those ranks were left behind.”

      
“Why did you leave?” Tyree asked, knowing there were many different reasons, having been in the same position himself previously.

      
“A chance to become trailblazers in our own right, even if on a much smaller scale.”

      
“I would not go so far,” Renkor said, looking down at the shorter Calavari.

      
“I meant no disrespect. I merely seek a different challenge.”

      
“I too,” Renkor agreed. “I can teach your people much of assaulting lizard cities. The ones you took were weak. Others will not be. You cannot rely solely on naval power to defeat them.”

      
“That I am keenly aware of,” Tyree said with a bit of dark sarcasm.

      
“If their anti-orbital batteries had been more advanced, the depression rate would have been enough to prevent anything from approaching over 150 meters at the lowest point. That will block your use of naval ships on lateral approach. You must get your ground forced under that line and into the cities directly.”

      
“Fortunately our ground troops were not thoroughly tested,” Tyree admitted, “but we did lose a fair number of them in the cleanup efforts after bombardment. Many lizards survived, and they were quite vicious and inventive maneuvering around in the rubble.”

      
“Coordinating with other Star Force Calavari is easy,” Renkor all but boasted. “Training your rabble into a proper assault force will be a significant challenge. I am here for that challenge.”

      
“Fair enough,” the Protovic agreed, purposely not taking offense at the rather candid remark. He hadn’t had much to do with the ground troops’ training, but he knew they were in bad need of improvement considering that most of them were not Star Force trained…aside from basic combat skills drilled into them in their maturias. But some of the recruits were not from Star Force at all and lacked even that minimum skillset. “And you?”

      
Tyree had addressed the Bsidd, who shifted its multi-appendaged body around like a bush with the wind blowing through the branches.  

      
“I am here on a temporary basis. One day I will return to Star Force. That is who I am and where I belong. But I also see the opportunity to gain field experience with the Hradeiti that I will not get within the well-polished Star Force structure. The Hradeiti are raw and badly in need of proper organization. If I can succeed here it will be because I have upgraded my skillset considerably.”

      
“And what exactly do you plan to do here?”

      
“You are gaining a lot of new material and resources. The larger you get the harder it will be to manage it all. If you are going to develop a proper military, you will need a proper logistical division supporting it.”

      
The Protovic poked a glowing finger at the Executive Council. “I thought that was their job?”

      
A Calavari councilor huffed a not displeased response. “We have managed. He will excel. There are no egos involved here, Fleet Admiral. We know we cannot afford any weaknesses going forward. This council will deal with the diplomatic angle and keep the functioning core of the Hradeiti insulated from it. Allow this endeavor to become political and we are all doomed. Fail to advance and acquire a requisite skill level…and the lizards will slaughter us when we attempt to take a larger target. We know we have no room for slackers, and a Star Force Administrator makes us slackers in comparison.”

      
“Are you on loan then?” Tyree asked the Bsidd.

      
“No. I quit Star Force of my own choice. They are not sanctioning my being here. But I know that they will accept me back if and when I choose to return. They value skill, and I seek to enhance mine with the experience here.”

      
“That’s almost cheating.”

      
The Bsidd regarded him quizzically. “How so?”

      
“We were told not to allow any Humans. Having a temporary loan of a Star Force Administrator feels like that’s crossing the line.”

      
“I am not Human,” Tikkito pointed out the obvious.

      
“But you haven’t permanently left Star Force.”

      
“I have, as far as they know. My intentions regarding rejoining them are my own. I did not broach the subject when leaving.”

      
“Are you sure they’ll take you back?”

      
“Perhaps not at my previous position, but my skillset will be the better for it and I do not mind having to demonstrate my mettle again.”

      
“As you wish,” Tyree said, deferring his future to his own accord, “I for one am glad to have the three of you here. Especially you,” he said, pointing to Tikkito, “because I need a full fleet retooling.”

      
“Define ‘retooling.’”

      
“We need more drones and a better way to employ them. The lizard ships are better than ours, more so than I feared. Either that’s because we underestimated our own strength or because the lizards are subtly increasing theirs. We’ve also got some lizard debris we’re working on, but so far we haven’t been able to crack any big secrets. Don’t suppose you’ve found any scientists for us yet?” he asked the council.

      
“None of sufficient merit, no,” the Irondel councilor said.

      
“So it doesn’t look like we’ll be stealing any insights from their tech just yet,” Tyree continued. “So we gotta make do with what we have. And we have to build more drones, better drones, and build them faster. I can’t use our warships in the way originally planned. They’re sitting ducks.”

      
“Why do you not have a proper control ship?” the Calavari Admiral asked.

      
“Range,” Tyree admitted. “Our control signals can’t reliably reach far enough to avoid jamming, so we have to keep the controllers much closer nearby. We’ve been using some relays to bounce signals off our smaller ships nearby to cheat that range, but it still requires a manned presence in case of intentional jamming.”

      
“If you have more drones, then the smaller relay ships will become more obvious targets.”

      
“Which is why we also need to redesign larger drones to appear to be identical to our manned ships…same way the lizards use a fleet of identical cruisers. They won’t know where the remote control signals are coming from, because they and the drones will be constantly transmitting signals, even if they’re filled with nothing but romantic vids.”

      
“It sounds like you already have a plan of action then?”

      
“More like a wish list,” Tyree said, turning to the Bsidd. “Which is why we badly need your guidance.”

      
“I agree that a proper control system placed onboard a heavily armored jumpship is the goal to attain.”

      
Tyree spread his hands wide. “If you can do that, please do, but if not we need another method to accommodate our next attack, which is years away, but we don’t want to wait a century while we build. Our investors will need more than that, despite our promises of no guarantees on return of investment.”

      
“I can put you on a path to whatever goals you wish to reach,” the Bsidd hedged. “But you must determine how you want to fight, not what you’re willing to skim with. You cannot go into battle against the lizards with a ‘just enough’ mentality. You have to have triple redundancies and then a backup plan after that. This cannot be done cheaply, with credits or time, and even if done properly you may still be killed.”

      
“That we all know.”

      
“Then allow me to give you what you truly need, over the course of time, no matter how long that may be. I promise I will not delay once a proper goal has been reached.”

      
Tyree exchanged glances with the councilors, who nodded in reluctant confirmation. They didn’t want to massively delay the next assault, but if it was best for the long term success of the Hradeiti then they were willing to grind their teeth and suffer through it…so long as there was an end game.

      
“Well then. It seems we need to go back into planning mode. Admiral, are you comfortable with taking a subordinate position? I know your skills probably exceed mine.”

      
“I am new here, and you already led your fleet to victory once. I do not seek full command. Nor do you need to refer to me by my previous title.”

      
“That victory cost us our fleet commander, so I technically wasn’t leading the whole time,” Tyree pointed out. “And as for your title, you’re going to need a new one then. Within our current structure there is only one Admiral, that being myself, due to the small size of our fleet. We’ve withheld from granting titles that do not benefit experience, which is why there are currently only two Captains. In your case, however, I think an intermediary rank should be created,” he said, glancing at the Council, “of Commodore until such a time as we have enough ships to warrant a second Admiral.”