Gateways by Aer-ki Jyr (world of reading txt) 📕

This one was #18, and as soon as Amir arrived he got directional coordinates of where to go inside the nebula.

The scout ship had to reset its shields and lower its speed to pass through the thick soup, and it took four days of travel into the darkness of the nebula before he sensed the Jedein’s telepathic presence recognizing and calling to him from a distance.

Amir adjusted course slightly to match the call, passing through various density of material, but nothing as dense as rock. All was gases, mostly hydrogen, with a few other oddities included, but as he approached the Jedein he began sensing other Cores out there. Lots of them, but small. Those would be the converted Hadarak minions that had been brought here from multiple other systems at the Jedein’s request, loaded up into Star Force cargo ships after being put into cocoons, then to emerge here in different forms of the Jedein’s choosing.

Usually they repurposed them in the same system they found them, but this was a special project that the accompanying fleet did not know the full purpose of.

It wasn’t long until he passed by the first of the cluster of Megaloids, though most were no bigger than his scout ship, having previously been naval minions but now were growing larger as they ate the gasses…how Amir did not know, for there was no sunlight here to charge them, and everything was dreadly cold. Some Megaloids could handle this environment indefinitely, but most couldn’t, and he was interested in seeing what wonders the Jedein had worked on this group.

He swung the scout ship close enough for the scanners to work and saw a hard carapace, almost like a space turtle, around which was a different concentration of gasses. Amir guessed it was eating the hydrogen, fusing it inside to generate heat, then discarding the resulting helium, for the Megaloids were actually glowing in thermals and shedding heat into the surrounding area, making the entire region near them less cold, but still freezing by any sense of the term.

Amir used a Wrangler armband to enhance his telepathic presence and made contact with those he passed by, having a conversation in thoughts more than words, and realizing they were here to construct more than helium in the nebula. They were actually fusing higher end elements that the larger Megaloids were consuming to increase the durability of their bodies to the level where they could survive inside stars where Hadarak minions could not.

So the Jedein had turned them into little miners rather than cannon fodder for naval battles. That was interesting, for ever since the first Jedein had emerged from its transitional cocoon, it had been working to build up networks of Megaloids with specific tasks, as if it had a master plan at work, but they always claimed they didn’t, that they were merely putting together puzzle pieces where they saw they fit together without knowing the full picture.

Amir sensed many more puzzle pieces in the nebula as his scout ship passed by them, heading towards the largest presence that was the Jedein, both in physical size and telepathic aura, but when he got close to it he also began to sense another large presence beyond, of a type he had never before encountered.

Welcome, #18 said to him telepathically in the Star Force language as his scout ship slowed and came into a parking slot alongside the 349 mile long Jedein…and that wasn’t counting the extended tendrils.

Hello, he said back, using his gauntlet to boost the signal rather than using Essence to do it, for the Jedein were not that good at picking up faint telepathy, meaning that which came from Socani. For what reason did you summon me?”

I have confirmed this nebula is sufficient as a sanctuary for the Hadarak minions, and I have constructed converters that will be able to transition them into a single form without my presence. You may begin large scale transport here of any systems you wish to clean the Hadarak from.

What sizes?

All can be accommodated here, save for those bound to stars. This will be a suitable home for them.

Can you grow carriers to assist with the transport?

Eventually, if you wish it, but they cannot be converts. Their bodies are incompatible in construction.

We have had this discussion with other Jedein. Our ability to transport the cocoons between stars is limited. Most need to be able to move themselves, remain in place, or have others carry them.

The carrier construction is far different than what most Heidoor are built for. They must be supplied with sustenance rather than gather it themselves, or they cannot continuously transport. Nor are they strong enough to starbathe.

Do you see another alternative?

If you seek to keep them alive, I do not. The obvious alternative is to save a lesser number of the expendable ones.

That’s not an option for us. Will these swarms be able to take care of themselves in your absence?

Of course. We have agreed as much. Why do you ask again?

This location doesn’t seem conducive to their thriving.

To other forms it would not be, but I have fashioned these to create their own starlight, and to move with friction in the nebula as they pull in and then expel the material.

Is it not too thin for that?

If you wish to move quickly you will be unable to here, but they can move slowly, and have the ability to grapple onto others to share momentum. This is not a place of combat, it is a sea of tranquility.

Every place can become a place of combat, and it sounds like they would be easy targets here.

Heidoor of their size are always easy targets. Surviving the environment is the greater challenge for them, and I have rewritten them to that task. It is up to us to protect them,