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

establishing safe zones, but incoming intergalactic travelers often had to spiral around the black hole to slow down enough if they didn’t have sufficient engine power to brake directly against it, and that spiral could plow them into anything that didn’t have a gravity signature for the incoming traveler to pull on or push off of on approach.

And there were many such travelers. Far more than Mak’to’ran had ever expected. Some were Hadarak continuing to enter this galaxy and not knowing that this Gateway was held by their enemy. They had to be fought and killed unless a Jedein could get to them first, but the randomness of their arrival meant the Jedein could not stay here forever when other Hadarak could be saved in nearby systems. It was the V’kit’no’sat’s job to defend this Gateway against incoming hostiles, along with the help of the Veloqueen who acted as the primary diplomats, for almost all of the travelers were other Megaloids. Those few Socani that came through Star Force would usually intercept and attempt communication with, and most were talkative rather than combative once they saw how many ships the V’kit’no’sat had stationed here.

Most of those ships were stationed around planets and stars so they wouldn’t be rammed, at least until a contact arrived that needed a personal touch. Eventually Star Force was going to get a beacon system set up on the edge of the Galactic Core that would guide travelers in on specific jumplines, but that was still theoretical as all three races tried to figure out how to build such a thing, for even Azoro did not know how to do it for strangers that would not know their technology.

The best way was to get to the other galaxy and control that Gateway, but there were many in this galaxy alone that could be used to jump off of and travel to another galaxy…and there they would have many landing options, but a fixed amount. Right now the Hadarak controlled many in this galaxy, and until Star Force gained control of them all they would continue to get reinforcements in from the outside. That was one job Mak’to’ran did not have to deal with. The trailblazers were in charge of taking new ones. The V’kit’no’sat were then charged with holding them.

And as promised to him long ago, the Deep Core was where the V’kit’no’sat would make their new home…but a home without hatcheries, for it was far too dangerous here. Director Davis had once shown him an old map, one made with ink on paper that showed Terrax from a primitive perspective. And on that map, in the oceans, some areas were labeled ‘There be Monsters here.’

Davis had told him he wondered if a few V’kit’no’sat hadn’t been left behind to reproduce those monsters in the ocean, though he thought it unlikely. The real reason he had showed Mak’to’ran that old map was because the Deep Core could also be so labeled. And now that he was living here, amongst the Monsters, he could not disagree. Star Force would never own the Deep Core. They would never annex the races here, for they could not. They were too large and too alien, and with the giant black hole in the sky above him now, he knew that within it was an entirely different world he could never enter.

The best he could do was take his ship down to the surface, but inside it they could not go. Unlike other smaller black holes, the material in this one was so compressed it was described as ‘mud’ rather than ‘water’ by the few Uriti that had traveled here. Some were now in the servitude of the Jedein, by their own choice, but those were amongst the younger ones. The originals had greatly desired to meet the Jedein and learn from them, and the reason the Uriti had not wanted to attack their fellow Hadarak had been made crystal clear. It was their Jedein heritage showing through, for it was the Jedein nature to not war against anyone…which ironically also made them vulnerable to the very powerful predators out there, while they could usually defend themselves against the lesser ones.

But the Uriti were not Jedein, and they were built for war. Most did not want to give that up, so they had refused alteration by the Jedein in most ways. One that all the Megaloids accepted was a communications alteration, imbedding in them all the telepathic ability and common language that was sorely lacking in this galaxy. One that Star Force could also use through technological means, which meant the Wranglers were pretty much out of a job with the Uriti in the translation department, but the Uriti did not want to lose that connection and requested they remain with them as they worked to assist Star Force in combat where needed, which was mostly the freezing of Hadarak minions and the capture of Warden to be delivered to the Jedein for transformation.

Whether that was voluntary or not Mak’to’ran had never got a straight answer out of the Jedein, but the alternative was to kill the Wardens, so he wasn’t going to argue the point. Checks had been made to ensure the Jedein were not being controlled, nor were the Uriti or any other Megaloids, though the Uriti still retained their overrides…at least those that served Star Force. The others were confined to the Galactic Core, as were all Megaloids, to avoid inadvertently killing Socani…and likewise Socani were banned from the Galactic Core except with special permission.

It was a safety protocol more than anything, just the same as the Axius colonies being segregated by body size so the larger races wouldn’t step on and kill the tiny ones. But the Uriti elected to keep their overrides in exchange for free movement across the entire galaxy, with their Wranglers being with them to stop them if they accidentally put any Socani at