Point Zero by Aer-ki Jyr (christmas read aloud TXT) 📕

felt the same way, despite the fact that a day or two wasn’t going to change much…but patience was a skill of the Archons, not an attribute.

“Exactly,” Paul agreed, referencing an old problem that had the empire being held together by a few strong points and units while most of their territory was shielded by them and unable to stand well on its own. Threat of reprisal scared off many enemies, but the actual strength of Star Force was, if seen on a galactic map, was a patchwork of strength and weakness. Outsiders didn’t realize that, for most of them didn’t have the power to assault even one of the weaker worlds, but take a mirror image empire and throw it at them and Star Force’s weak spots would show, for there was no way a planet of Irondel could fight hand to hand with an invading force of Oso’lon. Mechs were their only hope, and could be effective, but the limitations of their race would always be an issue.

The Bsidd and Paladin were much better off, but individuality is what they lacked, along with intelligence, as a starting point. The experienced ones were damn valuable and wise at this point, but it was the starting point that was the concern, for every population expansion didn’t start with veterans. It started with newbs, and what those newbs had to work with was critical when your civilization was placed under stress. Peace had a way of covering up the cracks and making you look impregnable even when that was far from the truth.

“So your kids are going to become the new glue for the empire?” Kara asked from her new seat on the edge of the elevated stage to the right of Paul, who was also now sitting on the edge, after she’d moved there when they’d done some shuffling to better accommodate the sleepers.

“Name something we can’t do.”

“Swim well,” Jason quipped.

“But we can swim decent with equipment. Can any other race master all areas as well as we can?”

“I could give you a list,” Davis added, “but they’re all lacking the same thing. Temerity. And the ones who do have it usually have too much, or it’s skewed in some fashion. If we can craft a race even remotely like the Archons, it will be an asset. How much I can’t say, but I think I can see where Paul is heading with this. No reproduction allowed?”

Paul nodded. “We’ll deactivate at birth, and only if they achieve great enough accomplishments will they be added to the gene pool. No civilian birth base.”

“You’re talking some medical intervention then,” Morgan said, “because there’s no way I can produce that many eggs, even if you don’t have the same sperm limitation.”

“A little cloning of the eggs isn’t hard, but if we are able to pass on some of our traits, do we want them watered down by a generation or two of slackers?”

“We’ve never tried anything like that,” Wilson said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Paladin genetics are set from a base template, and they can’t even reproduce otherwise if they wanted. Do you plan to use the Clans?”

“Yes. Obviously this is contingent on all of us making the transition, but with 88 males and 12 females we can get a different genetic strain for each Clan and keep it that way. And if we end up with some different abilities, I don’t think we should mix and match everything at the get go. There are too many variables in play already. So I recommend we each find a pairing we like and stick with it as we rework our Clans into more of a Battletech Clan with the non-Furyans eventually becoming sidekicks…though at first they’ll be the teachers and elders.”

“I like it,” Carlo-062 said. “But how much are you willing to bet our future on this new race?”

“More than I would on genetically altering existing ones, but it always comes down to the individuals in the bodies. We know how to find and train them. Consider this just better starting equipment.”

“Psionic deactivation if they want to go civilian?” Jason asked.

“We’ve already learned where to put that line for the Knight races. We have the experience molding and troubleshooting other races, but do we have a primary in the empire?”

“Do we need one?” Carlo asked.

“That question isn’t do we need one,” Morgan said evenly, “but does the empire need one? We are the glue that’s been holding everything together, and I don’t mean Humans. I mean Archons and Mavericks.”

“Humans were surpassed a long time ago,” Davis casually noted. “And while we could deactivate all reproduction in the weaker races while allowing the stronger, perhaps even one superior race, to reproduce in order to strengthen the empire in the distant future, my instincts say no…though there is a caveat. We can’t get too bottom heavy, and right now we are if we come up against a superior opponent that can target our vulnerabilities better than the Hadarak. They’re a bulldozer, but an assassin-minded assault could pick us apart in many ways you are not even aware of. Technology and training can accomplish much, but the biological starting point at birth isn’t something that can be ignored.”

“If we knew everyone was randomly inserted into an avatar at birth, then stopping reproduction in the weaker races would be helping them out more than ourselves,” Morgan noted. “Anyone remember the Vicar-ni-shi?”

“No,” Devan-000 said.

“They are nearly extinct now. Only a few thousand left in one of our Ward colonies. Nasty temperament, poison that would kill you in seconds. Their entire mental makeup was so messed up we decided to stop any reproduction and try to help the individuals as much as we could, but we weren’t going to let any more be born. It wasn’t fair to them to start out in such a darkside-tilted body.”

“No