RM2-ch12:Jellies-edited

Chapter 12: Jellies

There were those who doubted the Union could win this war. The Galactic Council, led and controlled by the Kermac, was a powerful entity, with hundreds of Thrall species, massive fleets and many millions of warriors.

The Larkami were no exception, difficult to control but tremendous fighters.

Ninsibfiv, the High Wizard of the Military himself had traveled to Lark, the homeworld of the Larkami to coordinate.

He planned to use Larkami manned Kermac warships to counter-attack several Union strongholds, and make this attack so costly for the Union, that they were open to a cease-fire agreement. Not even Ninsibfiv had illusions to defeat the Union.

The Larkami were as good and as aggressive as the Nogoll, the problem was their impulsive behavior that complicated tactical directions.

The Military Wizard had just issued a command to a group of battleships to return to the main system, instead of attacking a recently established Union outpost. His Long Range Telepath had sent the order, but instead of an acknowledgment, the Larkami commandant ignored his order and signaled he would come, after he wiped out the Union Outpost.

The Kermac Wizard sat in an elevated seat at the Command center, while Larkami and Kermac manned the consoles arranged before him.

These oafish Thralls were not controlled by psionics but freely followed Kermac rule. Unfortunately not always.

The feeling of military supremacy they all shared, quickly vanished as the main sensor operator reported. ”Mighty Kermac, there are Quasi drops. One of them is particularly huge.”

Long-range visual sensors relayed a frightening sight. Union battleships by the thousands had arrived, with blazing Translocators.

Swarms of Wolfcraft fighters swooped in as well.

Supreme Wizard Zwhehzwheneu stepped into the secret chamber of the Auspice. A chamber deep below the Wizard Tower on Kermac Prime.

The chamber was occupied by seven Jellies in their true form. All seven of the gelatinous Xeno morphs linked with each other, occupying tub-like seats.

It had been almost a hundred years ago when the Kermac discovered the Jellies. No one in the entire M-0 galaxy knew about these refugees that came from the M32 Dwarf galaxy. Survivors of the last Leedei cleansing war.

The Jellies, a non-humanoid sentient species of gelatinous morph walkers and gifted with vast psionic talent managed to infiltrate the Kermac society.

Individual Jellies were able to morph into another shape. They could do this only once and it was a painful but worthy process. Many of them morphed into the Silent Ones.

The control of other societies always had been the core of the Kermac society, and now they were controlled in secret but very successful.

Zwhehzwheneu really was a Kermac and he was fully aware of the Jelly control, it was them who elevated him to be the Grand Wizard.

The seven Jellies before him were linked and used their mental powers to control Kermac leadership, via the Silent-Ones.

One of the Silent-Ones came in as well. They all looked alike and Zwhehzwheneu did not know if they had any individual names. While they had no mouths and no acoustic voices. The Jellies were unable to simulate acoustic communication for some reason.

The Silent-One before him was masking as a Thought Police agent, like many.

Zwhehzwheneu, like all Kermac, had a Mind Shield in his beard, and it was of the highest quality, but the Silent-Ones could turn it off.

The Silent-One before him sent his thoughts. ”Zwhehzwheneu, supply the Auspice with information.”

“The latest scheme of the Ministry of Control was almost successful, I must say and I was too late to stop it. According to my sources, it was stopped by the Union at the very last moment.”

“This is why we elevated you to be the Supreme Wizard. The scheme depleted the stockpile of Wurgus sun bombs and there is an indication that the Wurgus contemplate Union membership. All this is concerning but unimportant. We learned that the Leedei are Union members, next to the Narth they are the most dangerous society. Unlike the isolated and non-cooperative Narth, the Leedei are very active Union members.”

The Kermac Supreme Wizard, who had been groomed by the Jellies since his birth to take this lead position sensed strong emotions of hatred and fear. ”I know little about the Leedei, other than that they are of a far distant satellite galaxy and that some are gifted psionics.”

“The Leedei is the reason we had to leave our home, the Leedei are as gifted as the Saresii, but unlike the Saresii, the Leedei developed Psion based technology that surpassed all known achievements we know of.”

“I sense fear and hate. The Leedei you speak of, are they in control of the Union as you secretly control us?”

“We do not know, but let us educate you about the Leedei. We have actively taken control over a long and carefully developed intel asset of the Ministry of Information and steps have been taken to obtain the most potent weapon in the Universe.”

“I am your servant, it is not the Translocator Cannon am I correct?”

“That weapon is of no consequence. We know of the PSI listener and we know of the Abysmals who experimented with that device, combining it with the Gorrontha Device it can kill entire planet populations over any distance, it is conceivable that it can kill and destroy the Narth.”

A new chorus-like voice resonated inside the Kermac’s mind.

“About 8700 sun orbits ago and long before the Leedei became Union members they fought a war against the Kalemni. The Kalemni being technologically more advanced than the Leedei were winning that war.

The Kalemni who were our lords and makers were gaining much ground and poised to sterilize the Leedei out of existence. However, Leedei being psionically talented begun their development of Psionic technology and PSION based warfare.

The result of that research and effort, created a terrible weapon... The Gorrontha Device.

It has the ability to channel, even temporarily storing psionic energies. The Gorrontha Device was used to create the Psi Blast and was instrumental in winning the conflict. It was then turned by the Abysmals against its own population by creating an army of Psi blast capable teleporters oppressing the Leedei and installing a dictatorship. The Leedei eventually overcame the Abysmals and regained their freedom.

The Psi blast eradicated the Kalemi and forced us to flee.”

Zwhehzwheneu’s mind spun. ”A device like this combined with our Will Benders could accomplish total Kermac control.”

“Indeed.”

--

Admiral Stahl had jumped on the roof of a ruined building. Thick smoke obscured most of the local sun. He shoved a new energy cell into his SITKU, but there was nothing to shoot at.

A wing of Wolfcrafts in planetary assault configuration screamed across the sky and disappeared past the horizon.

SSgt. Bradley Déry aka Bull-Horn, a Saturnian marine, and member of the Steel Gauntlet stomped up to the Immortal warrior. In his right hand, a blood-smeared chain sword-Nuc flamer combo, and just like the Destroyer suit of the Immortal Warrior showing signs of intense hand to hand combat.

Stahl fighting with marines in a ground assault was frowned upon, by Fleet Command, and not without a logical reason. Admiral Stahl was perhaps the most important command officer of the entire Union military.

Yet, once again he had dropped along with the first wave of Recon Marines, on this core world of the Larkami. Doing a stealth approach long before, the main assault commenced. The Immortal Warrior’s legend and reputation among the fighting troops, however, had reached almost religious levels. There was a common opinion among Union troops, that Marines had long crossed that level. Union Marines regardless of species worshipped Stahl like a living warrior god.

SSgt. Bradley Déry swiped his helmet to transparent and said. ”Looks like we licked them, Sir. Third-wave and Army have landed. The Green boys landing the third Leviathan, not that there is much left to shoot at.”

Stahl was about to answer, as he took a break from leading the entire assault. He had blinked at his main commlink and set it to Orange. That was his personal code for diverting less important comm requests to his staff.

Yet one comm request remained. It was marked as a private call and came from a former marine, Sam Brown.

He would not call if it wasn’t important.

Sure enough, the former marine who was perhaps the toughest SOB had a reason and it was quite disturbing.

Sam told him about Roy and the escape of Kermacs from a supposedly save facility deep in Union space. Guarded by Union Marines no less. Roy, the young man from Green Hell abducted and on his way to a Leedei planet.

To pull this off, stealing a Union Fleet destroyer and even plan to use a Space Train.

Stahl was too far away to do anything himself. He would call McElligott of course, but this was more than serious. He still stood right there on the top of a burning building while he called Alycia.

SSgt. Déry knew his Commanding Officer was in communication and took a guarding position. Woe to anyone trying to attack or even just disturb, an overeager Army Lieutenant learned that rather quickly.

Stahl had just spoken to Alycia. That mysterious woman, who came from a secret society called the Coven, and managed to capture his heart. Something he would never admit to anyone of course.

The silver-haired, exotic beauty who was the Commandant of the PSI Corps promised him to take action and she recommended to include Cherubim.

Stahl disliked that Immortal and distrusted her, he was certain that woman had broken the law more than just once and violated every ethical barrier. However Alycia was right, this problem was right up the alley of the Immortal, the Guardian once called the Hunter.

-

Roy was not sure what to do. It was clear to him, that Cara had been replaced with this impostor. He should have paid more attention to Partner.

While Roy was still contemplating what to do, Partner popped out of thin air. Sensing Roy was in trouble before Roy was able to stop Partner, the beast swiped his right claw across the impostor and killed whoever she was.

A disembodied voice came on. “Surrender, Green Hell boy or we will kill your friends and Cara.”

“I am done surrendering, you sons of bitches. You release my friends and Cara now!”

The voice laughed. ”You are trapped.”

The next thing he heard was a panicked scream. Partner had disappeared and was obviously teaching that laughing clown a lesson.

He dialed his TKU to max and aimed it at the massive security door. The blast of the strongest handheld weapon know to Union tech, punched a large hole through the door and raised the ambient temperature of the corridor just outside the hygiene facilities to almost unbearable temperatures. What Roy did not consider, was the fact that this was a Union ship.

His blast activated fire suppression systems and intruder alert.

The ship's AI flooded the deck with paralyzing rays and increased gravitation.

When he came back to consciousness, he looked into the face of a silver-haired beauty. ”Thank you, Mr. Masters, for helping us to uncover this cancer growth within the Union, but I recommend to limit your use of your TKU 12 at the highest setting.”

He got up and swung his legs from the med couch he was on. “Cara!”

“We were able to send a reaction team to rescue her before her captors were able to take her beyond our reach.”

He immediately noticed Partner, who occupied a diagnostic couch right next to him.

The woman saw his concerned look and said. ”We found your beast next to you, it appears to be alive but it defies all scans.” Roy's belonging laid on a table. He rushed to it, took an energy cell from a belt pouch and stuck the entire thing into Partners maw.

The exotic looking woman was quite surprised to see the huge black beast, come to live almost immediately instead of being utterly destroyed. “Sata be cursed!”

Roy now realized that he was completely in the buff, and there were two human females in the room, next to the exotic woman, there was a blue-skinned Med Tech.

He blushed and held his bio seal suit before his crotch. ”The Leedei and the others?”

“I am Alycia Lichfangh, we briefly met at Belle Station and because of this, I knew how important that beast is to you. Your friends are on the way of recovery, as in their case the Simlak parasites have already reached their neuro spine core and it is a little more involved to remove these pests without harming the host.”

“But they will be okay soon?”

“Yes, they will! Why don’t you get dressed and then join me in the conference room for a more detailed briefing?”

-

Zwhehzwheneu felt the great anger as he was summoned before the Auspice once again.

The Silent-One immediately contacted his mind. “Our scheme was foiled! We have little confirmation, but it appears that this young human from Green Hell was again at the center. We can not explain how he managed to resist the Simlak.”

The Kermac Wizard had no real answer to that so he speculated. ”We have reports telling that he is able to navigate the jungles of that deadly world with little external protection. Maybe he developed some sort of immunity? I have no information.”

“We summoned you, so you can instruct the MOI. We will contemplate a new plan to gain access to Leedei tech, while you will put every effort into preventing that human from meeting with the Wurgus.”

Zwhehzwheneu was not a mindless puppet, so he said. ”Did we not commit the same sins as the Supreme Wizards that came before me and interfered with the Ministry of Information assets?”

“You can be replaced Zwhehzwheneu, now perform and kill that human. We are already at war with the Union, so there is no need to hold back.”

Roy learned that he was aboard an Attikan built NAVINT cruiser, called the USS Revenant. None of his friends were there. A Union fleet officer in the graphite grey and black uniform of a NAVINT lieutenant had shown him to a small conference room with a triangle-shaped table and ten Vari-Form chairs arranged around it. There was the exotic beauty and a Leedei. He could not tell them apart, but he hoped it was Inklung or Knunging.

After he had found a seat, the Leedei said. ”Yes, Roy, I am Knunging. I was able to keep the Simlak at bay, but I was unsuccessful to do with the others.”

The woman he now knew was Alycia Lichfangh, he did remember seeing her in the company of Stahl and that he had spoken to her briefly.

She appeared human, maybe Saresii but Roy had the distinct feeling she was neither. She nodded friendly towards Partner who sat next to Roy and then she said. ”Your friends, including Cara, are on their way to a Union Med Center. We do have experience in removing Simlaks, but it requires neurosurgery which in the case of a Xiptin will be the first time. In Aat’s case, it might be a little more difficult as she was exposed to the vermin the longest.”

Roy did not like to hear that, he felt angry and said. ”How come Marines could be influenced? Knunging raised many questions.”

Alycia’s changed to a serious expression. ”The Worm infiltrated that facility for many years and with Kermac sponsorship, he turned the lead personnel of the Brick.”

“The Worm?”

“A criminal element that sadly managed to infiltrate the Union Fleet and military for centuries. Every effort is taken to eradicate that influence, but that is neither easy nor fast. It won't be accomplished very soon, I am afraid.”

It took him a moment to process that information and he was certain he did not understand it completely. ”What about my parents?”

The Leedei responded. “We understand, that your legal guardian is also a very accomplished RAvE man and he is on the trail of your parents, but the invitation to take you to G 6783 remains.”

The woman said. ”We will be at Blue Moon in two hours. From there the Leedei and you will have to travel by Space-Train.”

--

The two beings were deeply shrouded in brown dust cloaks, with dust goggles and several layers of fabric wound around the lower part of their faces. They stepped into the tavern that has been carved into the side of a Canyon wall. The tavern had a good number of guests, and several of them turned to check out the newcomers.

Barnkok, a genuine Botnaar and usually the biggest had to admit that the second one of the newcomers was truly tall and the ground vibrated as that being moved. Both had a humanoid shape.

The shorter one stepped right up to the bar plank and said to the Jooltar bartender. ”No sense to pretend otherwise, I came for information. We are looking for a crook going by the name of Coldblood. I would be much obliged to get any information you can share.”

“You must be stupid, stranger. You are not the only bounty hunter out for that cutthroat. Every other day some dust-covered idiot comes here with the same question.”

The smaller one of the two obscured men slowly nodded. ”I was expecting this answer, it is the same answer I got from three other tavern hosts. The difference, however, is that Coldblood is a Jooltar and of the same litter as you.”

The Tavern owner made a gesture. Several patrons got up, including the Bootnar, who immediately hammered his Power mace over the head of the taller one. The blow was strong enough to split the head of a Petharian, yet the only effect was a metallic thud.

The head of that stranger rotated 180 degrees, the Botnaar noticed a dark red light behind the dust goggles, that was the last thing the Botnaar ever noticed on this side of life.

A hand covered with a flexible metal snapped around the head of the Bootnar and tossed the eight-hundred-pound bruiser like a weightless right through the tavern entrance.

The rest of the tavern’s patrons hesitated and weapons were drawn. The first blast set the cloak on fire. To the utmost horror of the patrons, the form of a genuine Cerberus Battle robot was now revealed.

There weren’t enough beings on Alvor’s Cove to stop that Union War machine. It took Charles less than a minute to neutralize every opposition in the room.

The shorter man said to Jooltar. ”Can we now return to our conversation?”

“You pay for that, bringing a Union Battle robot and killing all my guests.”

Sam pulled a crude metal token out of a pocket. ”I paid for the Kill-as-much as-you-want-fee. As for the robot, it is a sentient machine and released from military service.

Now your brother attacked a Union explorer with friends of the robot, I suggest you answer me or I let Charles do the questioning.”