“I never knew Summersun had a military defense force,” Maxtin says
“They didn’t. More like a protection detail, or a highly armed police force. They didn’t trust those blue-skins to do it themselves.” He takes a control box from a table. A heavy cable snakes its way under the floor. Mummy presses the button. The wooden floor pops, creaks, and crackles as the boards snap and break. All the mercs and Maxtin are forced to jump back to avoid the missile rack rising through the floor.
Mummy pats one of the two rockets mounted on the launcher. “Around each of the major cities to help support us in the defense of the planet were placed dozens of these.”
“Surface-to-outer-atmosphere missiles. Dozens you say. Around each major city…” Maxtin silently calculates figures. “Are you sure they are all still functional?”
“Someone had the good sense to cover each installation with a building before the Mokarran assumed full control of the planet. Maintenance tunnels connect each station. They were designed to take the elements and be ready within a minute.”
“They would have to be launched all at once and as the attack began.”
“Accomplishable if we locate the main launch controls. The tunnels traverse for miles.”
A thin man with the cartoony Creature From the Black Lagoon on his combat vest rushes in. “Can we use the tunnels to escape? Ten Mokarran heading this way.”
“They have to be looking for the Admiral.”
“They find these rockets and our plan’s defunct.”
“Target and launch at the Mokarran battle cruiser?”
“No,” Maxtin protests, “you’d send them searching for the source of the missiles and prevent any hiring of mercs. Detonate them here?”
“I can set a launch parameter with a detonation code for five feet. They would take this building and most of the block with them.”
“Will we have time to escape in the tunnels?”
“Yes, but hundreds of innocent civilians will be killed in the blast,” Eli protests.
“Compared to the millions the Mokarran are killing by withholding the food grown here. Hundreds will have to die in order to save thousands.”
“Heartless as he may be, the Admiral’s correct.” If the Mokarran find these rockets, they lose the advantage they brought to the table.
Vlad waves at him to escape.
One by one, each merc drops through the tunnel hatch. Lagoon reprograms the missiles.
The Mokarran burst through the door. They fire. Plasma bolts shear the room. As they fan out to secure the chamber, the rocket on the right releases from its launch tray and drops to the floor, rolling toward the Mokarran. Five feet wasn’t enough distance to even ignite the thrusters. Liquid propellant spills from the damaged casing. A Mokarran stops the rolling tube with his foot as the second rocket releases from its tray. The first rocket explodes incinerating the building, launchpad, the warehouse and most of the surrounding buildings.
Left with nothing to do but watch the flames dance through the screaming crowd, Maxtin’s stomach flips over. It sickens him to witness so many innocent people burn and be able to do nothing to help them. Unable even to order medical transports to assist the dying without risk to the entire UCP population.
UNLIKE MOST BIPEDAL humanoid species Nytalyan’s synapses allow for the direct connection of a microprocessor to the portion of the brain, allowing the understanding of spoken languages. Most species must carry some form of external universal translator, which produces a short lag in the conversation. Since problematic in high-stress battlefield conditions, this unique quality has prevented Nytalyan’s people from being placed high on the Mokarran’s termination orders.
The Mokarran have been systematically training their own personnel to assume the duties of the aliens within the Tri-Star Federation. The Federation, once the most diversified congregation of species, was established on the cusp of the Iphigenians Civil War. Osirians, Mokarrans, and Tibbars recognized this new alliance. With peace consuming the alliances for a few hundred years, the Mokarran were able to return to a deeply spiritual practice, allowing the resurgence of an isolationist policy and the belief Mokarran were the one true species of the universe generated in the image of the Originator. This philosophy caused the bulk of the human Osirian military forces to be ousted from the Federation first, giving the war-mongering Tibbar an opportunity to break away from the alliance and re-form their empire and claim a new home world—Nysa. Now, with no major opposition, the Mokarran could begin to restructure their control over the planets and subjugate the humanoid species within its borders.
Being one of the privileged few to remain within the command structure of the Mokarran, Nytalyan secretly investigates the disappearance of many citizens.
Her yellow blub-eyes peek around the corner into the cathedral chamber. Her dull copper skin blends with the wall shadows. Being female, she lacks the bright rainbow plumage males of her species develop to attract mates. Culturally, her people have grown beyond the environmental development of a female’s requirement to hide and incubate the eggs from predators, protecting the next generation of her species. Even with society overlooking gender, her biology won’t forget that in her gullet her body produces eggs, soon to be expelled. She will request leave and return to the spawning pools on her planet where dozens of men will compete for the privilege of spraying the eggs, allowing them to germinate.
The process brings incredible pleasure to the males, which increases the competition and better stock to improve the overall genetics of her people. She understands the experience to be painful for the females. To spawn each egg she must force it out of her while being pinned under water by a male twice her size. Other Aequipinnatus females have permanent scars from the males biting them while they hold them down.
A traumatic experience—nothing like what the Mokarran will do to her if they discover her spying on their most religious of ceremonies. Groups of young Mokarran gather in a praying lotus position before their robed spiritual leader, Shan-goroe.
