The Powers That Be by Aer-ki Jyr (best pdf reader for ebooks txt) 📗

“By ground assaults while the fleets keep reinforcements away?” Davis finally asked.

“Yes.”

“And why not use all of our armies to do so? Why just Canderous?”

“The rest of Star Force has to protect us from numerous enemies, and to have all specialize against the Hadarak would be inviting destruction on another front. Let Canderous evolve into what we need to become…a weapon designed for one purpose and one purpose only. We will leave the other wars to you. Give us the power to face the swarm head on.”

“How does this involve the sedas?” Lord Daegan asked. “Or are you planning on taking your civilians into the war zones?”

“Our civilians are always in the war zones. That’s what it means to be Canderian. But I’m not talking about moving our existing sedas. I’m talking about building new ones. Offensive ones, built to fight Hadarak and not other threats. I mean come on, we are talking about fighting an enemy that does not have armor or shields. The minions are weak as hell, yet we’re running from them? Can you not see how they’ve tricked us into ignoring their greatest weakness?”

Davis slammed his fist down on the pedestal, denting it in half the depth of his fist as Esna flinched, not expecting such an angry reaction from him.

“Yeg’gor,” he said, all but spitting the world. “Why have I been so blind?”

“Put it on the sedas and we become Wardens,” Esna said. “The minions can swarm all they want, and all they will do is scratch us. Include Essence weapons and we will be able to kill Wardens that try to engage us, and give us some defense against any Lurker that slips past the Borg vessels. I still need others to hunt and engage them, not Canderous, but the minions and their Warden bases Canderous can duplicate. We can become their mirror image, only better. We can beat them at their own game if you can figure out how to deal with their Essence units. Even their mainline minions, hard as they are to fight, we can deal with.”

“No,” Lucin said, looking up at Esna. “They are the fleet’s responsibility.”

“But seda designed for offense can handle them if needed,” Esna pointed out. “Give us Essence weapons and an Archon to use them…or even just Essence weapons where all we have to do is pull the trigger. You can run tankers out to us and refill as needed, and we can use some of it for heavy ground weapons when needed, but the grinding will be done the conventional way. Warrior to monster. And if we go on a killing spree we can kill them faster than they can reproduce. That’s the way to win, but it only works if we work together as a team, and if we have the grinding weapon necessary. Let me forge Canderous into that weapon. The other armies can come in behind us and pick up what we drop, but let us become the Hadarak’s worst nightmare. An enemy that fights them strength for strength and defies the swarm…but we can’t do it like this,” Esna said, pointing at her small body with both hands. “We need to be his size.”

Davis followed Esna’s finger to Bren, then sighed. “So this is what you two were talking about.”

“We didn’t do much talking about details, but I’m tired of letting the warships determine our fate. If we can be applied as the major planet-cleansing force, the Golden Knights will go with Canderous, and it would probably be a good idea to send the Varkemma as well. Neither of us are good for defensive situations. We’re bred for offensive.”

“Where are you going to get the Yeg’gor?” Tennisonne asked. “There’s no way we can produce what you need. Not even with Tu’gor.”

“We earn it in battle,” Esna said defiantly. “Put the factories to produce it inside our new sedas, and we’ll build it plate by plate as we go along, using resources from the planets we cleanse and taking it from any Wardens we happen to kill.”

“No,” he said with a firm shake of his head. “You don’t realize how big those factories are. I might be able to squeeze one inside a seda, but you wouldn’t have room for anything else. And I’m talking one of your big sedas.”

“It wouldn’t have to be every one,” Davis interjected. “You could have a few foundry sedas tagging along with an offensive one to protect it and give them the ability to create Yeg’gor bits as the war progressed. They’d slowly become stronger over time as long as they didn’t bite off more than they could chew. And recycled Hadarak Yeg’gor is how much faster?”

“184 times faster than pure synthesis.”

“I don’t like the idea of hunting for loot, but the Hadarak are going to attack and fight to the death no matter what. We caught a break with the lizards, but unless a Warden suddenly has a change of heart, we’re not going to be able to convert the others. And the Uriti have made it pretty clear the chances of that.”

“Is that a yes?” Esna asked.

“How do you plan to grow big enough to matter?”

“Through battle,” she said simply. “It’s not the numbers that matter, but how many minions one of us can kill, and that number will go up over time with experience and technology increases.”

“I can kill a lot,” Bren offered. “When the skies are clear.”

“But Canderous isn’t nearly large enough to do a full assault on the Hadarak worlds. The rest of our armies will be needed.”

“You may need them against the Founders or others,” Esna countered. “Let us do this, no matter how long it takes. We will grow into it, and we can always call on the others when the time comes,