“We have waited for more than 3 billion years. Our patience is not in question, but Star Force has given us our first glimpse into the source of this toxicity, and we would be remiss for not pursuing it.”
“But you can’t. We have to. And we have other priorities at the moment. Tasks must be done first, and while there is much I wish to learn from you, my near future path is now clear and it does not lead to the Galactic Core. He may have further questions for you, but I am done here.”
“What exactly are you going to do?” Davis asked Plausious, sensing a shift in what he had discussed earlier.
“Defy the Natural Order…”
4
July 2, 158393
Zykres Nebula (Shoveini Kingdom)
Eta Fermi Temple
Plausious had split up with Davis partway on their trip back from the Maty. The Director had his business to attend to and the Reignor had his, with a Star Force cargo ship being diverted to carry him out to one of the Temples. From there he had assured Davis that he could make his own way through the network wherever he wanted, for there were safeguards against total blockage of the Essence portals, and if one knew the system well enough you could come out wherever you wanted.
Those high level codes were not widely shared throughout the Bond of Resistance, and since the Neofan had been the largest contributor to the construction of the Temple network, they had, of course, incorporated some of their own backdoors into the systems so nobody could completely lock them out of their own constructions…nor could they divert them to preferred entry points where the individuals arriving could be killed instantly.
This was why Star Force had such a difficult time keeping House Atriark out when they invaded, but resourceful as always, they had managed to do some reprogramming and rebuilding of their own in certain areas to take control over most of the maintenance portals.
But there were others never before activated kept in reserve. Ones that the invading Neofan had not used, and Plausious knew why after reviewing the detailed battle history Davis had given him. They had gained access to 18 of the Star Force-occupied Temples, briefly, but had only been able to take and hold 7 of them. Since that time Star Force had taken back two more using clever strategy to get inside, but each trick they used House Atriark learned from, and it seemed they didn’t have anything left to get at the 5 captured ones or the three that were originally owned by House Atriark.
The thing was, they could get people to all of them…but they’d be emerging into an ambush against superior numbers and firepower. The only way to win was to get where your enemy wasn’t, and both sides had firmed up their positions, which was why there currently wasn’t any more invasions.
There was still fighting in the Temples, though. Star Force hadn’t fully subdued the recaptured pair, and there was fallout everywhere with the Vargemma and the rift between those loyal to Star Force and those loyal to the Neofan that the Neofan refused to take into their Temples when Star Force tried to send them there.
An assault from the exterior of the Temples, as Star Force had done once before, was not possible with the shield up and the Neofan watching for such incursions…at least not unless you knew the weak points, and before he had left, Plausious had told Davis where they were in case he didn’t survive his return home. One way or another, the Reignor intended Star Force to control all the Temples in this galaxy.
He hadn’t told him, though, of the backdoors other than warning him there were other means of entry. He knew his House wasn’t using them because they couldn’t beat Star Force once they got here…not without getting a lot of them killed in the process. Their plan to use the Vargemma had not been nearly as successful as he imagined them to predict it would be.
Hence they had gained 5 Temples, but lost any possibility of remaining in this galaxy permanently. Star Force was relentless, and they would retake them eventually and purge this threat from the galaxy they called the Milky Way. He had no doubt about that, but Plausious intended to do it for them much faster.
The Reignor had entered this Temple via the Star Force constructed ‘spacial tap,’ and he had to admit it was an improvement so long as the Hadarak couldn’t get out here to find it. And even then, he expected Star Force to be able to hold it. A dozen ramming moon-sized opponents would at best poke a few holes in the Temple, and the exterior defenses had been designed to guard against such things when fully charged.
But the biggest difference with the spacial tap was the fact that it required no Essence, so Star Force could move far greater numbers of people and material in and out at the cost of secrecy…though they kept the nearby destination systems locked down well enough that nobody had an idea that there was a Temple here, though almost everyone in Star Force knew of the legend of them…just no specifics about how to get to them, for they were not listed as ‘public access.’
When Plausious had arrived, he was met by a Lord Ver’nan, a Calavari Monarch that had been put in command of this Temple, but he was not the one Plausious needed to find. Eta Fermi had been his chosen destination because it was the one Temple that held the Neofan prisoners Star Force had taken, and they were under the care of a Trinx Maverick called Jasmyn. Lord Ver’nan graciously had Plausious transported across the Temple’s high speed personnel Essence network to a location near
