Kilrah Mines
Ghorah Khar II
“Well, now what?” Nrsah shouted over the roar of rifle fire and explosions. He crouched against a toppled wall next to Kruq’nov. Both Kings found themselves and a few fellow warriors pinned down by heavy fire.
Kruq’nov took another glance around the ruined wall into mining camp. Out of all the contingencies he planned he did not expect any mechanized infantry to be stationed here. He knew he should have known better. If these mines were as vital as he suspected then it was only wise to have some warriors in powered armor to defend it. Against who was a good question. The Terrans would not invade when they could blast the placed off the map from orbit. It would not be the first raid either.
Fortunately, the Kilrah expected attacks from above and invested the bulk of their resources in ringing the mines with anti-air and anti-orbital defenses. The mechanized infantry was in case the Confederation Marines decided to land at a distance and destroy the facility from the ground. “I suppose, my brother, we should thank any Gods that are listening that the Kilrah never expected a local uprising. Otherwise we might be dealing with tanks too.”
Nrsah’s jaw slacked in mock horror. “Such a disturbing thought.” His face grew serious behind the array of sensors on his helmet. “And if the Apes controlled the place, we’d be dealing with their bloody combat drones.” He remembered vividly how just a few of those turned what would have been an otherwise successful advance.
Only two powered armor units marched forward. Kruq’nov remembered how often he wished he could have donned a suit of mechanical armor. The units stood nearly twice as tall as any Kilrathi. One of its arms ended in blades as long as a warrior’s forearm while the other ended in the muzzle of a weapon. By the ripping sound echoing in the crumbling mining camp, Kruq’nov knew the first fired an autocannon. Hundreds of rounds a minute tearing into largely unarmored infantry was overkill.
As for the second—he knew the answer when a wave of heat washed over his position. He glanced over at Nrsah, who wore a genuine look of concern. The second carried a plasma torch, a flamer spitting million degree plasma. Those were not favored in the trenches. All Kilrathi enduring basic training had the order ‘do not fire these in enclosed areas’ pounded into them. Doing so would vaporize the user as well as the target. Out in the open, that was another matter.
Another look around the corner gave him the view of large hole instantly burnt through the walls of a small hovel, reducing any occupants to ions. Plasma rifles in a high enough concentration might bring down powered armor by overheating it, but not before the warrior within slew many of his attackers.
“Where are those anti-tank missiles?” Kruq’nov asked his brother. Not expecting armor, Kruq’nov had very few shoulder-launched missiles smuggled on to the planet. He planned to use them against hardened targets and armor doors, but mechanized infantry would work as a target just as well. Their armor was nowhere near as thick as something the size of a drill tank and would go down easily if hit.
“Last I heard they were making their way forward. I haven’t tried contacting since those things appeared.” Nrsah grew increasing agitated as he was forced to hide.
Kruq’nov dipped his head in approval. “Good idea in staying quiet. Those powered armor units might just home in on the signal.” Of course it also meant they had no idea where the missile launcher where at any given moment. Not unless the warriors carrying them decided to announce themselves.
“Do you know what’s really frustrating?” Nrsah asked.
“Aside from not being able to kill them before they kill us?” Kruq’nov asked. It was the bane to any warrior’s existence.
“That will always be a problem. What is even worse is that those two suit are all that stand between us and overrunning this place.” The initial plan of attack succeeded in drawing a large proportion of the defenders out into the open valley and doing battle on Kruq’nov’s terms. It was only when the Kilrah warriors fell in large number did they decide to retreat to the confines of a mine. They would use the confines of the camp to set up kill zones against the advancing militia. It was wise, and might have worked if it was not the exact same tactic Kruq’nov would have used in their place.
Another wash of heat, far more intense than the last, nearly knocked him off his feet. He did not like the idea of breaking cover to retreat but liked being hit by a cloud of plasma even less. He started searching for cover, anything to conceal his retreat from the armor’s sensors. He spotted a half-standing hovel within sprinting distance the same time as he spotted a contrail fly past him at supersonic speeds. The boom of its passing knocking him to the ground.
Kruq’nov regained his footing in time to watch the first armor unit, the one with the flamer, exploding in a cloud of debris. The thin armor excelled against infantry attack but offered little defense for the occupant against a missile. The powered armor, broken in half and its operator reduced to pulp, crashed to the ground as a second missile slammed into the autocannon wielding unit.
As soon as it was safely dead, Kruq’nov switched on his radio. “What took you so long?”
“Lord Kruq’nov,” one of the missile launchers quickly replied. “Begging your pardon, but we were held up by an ambush.”
Kruq’nov growled into the microphone. There was little point in chastising them now, especially since it would not bring the dead back to life. All he could do is not let their deaths be in vein. “Advance. We need you at the front. That goes for all of you listening. This mine isn’t going to conquer itself. Advance!”
Kruq’nov and Knarthi eyed each other with deep suspicion as the former entered the laboratory. They might be joint Kings of a newly unified Pride but that did not mean they trusted each other. Against common foes perhaps, for Knarthi and his brother had as much now to lose as Kruq’nov and Nrsah, but not when it came to their own Pride. Kruq’nov would always wonder if he would wake one morning with a knife sticking from his back and if he should eliminate the pilot before the pilot eliminated him.
No, there would be no assassinations while enemies without continued to threaten them. Even when the Shrekhar fell there would still be the small matter of the Empire. That was a foe that could not be defeated planetside or in space alone. Only a united front even stood a chance at repelling their attack. Kruq’nov glanced around the mine’s laboratory at various pieces of equipment, wondering if any of those could aid in defending Ghorah Khar. Perhaps those cursed crystals might prove of some use.
“What’s so important that I was drug away from the front?” Kruq’nov roared at the laboratory technicians. The front consisted little more than of the city of Shrekhar, which was rapidly losing surrounding countryside and the livestock needed to feed its population.
Most of the technicians were females of the Geraz Pride. They were a Pride of engineers and one Kruq’nov knew was loyal—or rather was loyal to the Mercher Pride. He could not say with utmost confidence their stance towards the M’krah-Mercher Pride. A few other engineers were males serving in the militia trying to learn anything useful from the Geraz to implement on the battlefield.
“It is an important matter, Lord Kruq’nov,” Reknit led Kruq’nov and Knarthi towards a rather large missile lying in the middle of the laboratory. Panels on the front of the missile were missing and some impressive looking equipment took up the space.
“I have seen my share of anti-ship missiles during my time in the fleet,” Knarthi said with a yawn. Thus far, he was not impressed.
Kruq’nov agreed. He was no expert on the anti-ship missile but knew they carried small annihilation warheads. He was reasonably confident that anti-electrons simply needed any other electron to interact with in order to explode. How could crystals magnify a total matter-to-energy conversion? Or was it anti-protons? Whatever it was, any regular matter would due as a reactionary.
“But have you seen one do this?” he asked as he issued the order to the Geraz to activate the device.
For a second, Kruq’nov wondered if his eyes were going bad. He was certainly not a young warrior anymore though quite a few Shrik lay ahead of him. The missile first grew fuzzy, then it shimmered and finally it vanished. No, not quite vanished. Kruq’nov could see a vague distortion where the missile once set. “Where did it go?” he asked, not sure if the missile remained in the distortion.
“It didn’t go anywhere,” Reknit said with a smile. He looked as if he single-handedly brought down a buffalo, so proud he was of the trick. “Don’t ask me how, for not even the Geraz understand the principles, but the crystals mined here act as a focal point for a cloaking device.”
“I see,” Knarthi lit up in understanding. “I heard of these missiles. They killed a great many Ape ships in the past two Shrik.”
Kruq’nov glared at the pilot. “Then why have you not said anything?”
Knarthi hissed back at him. “Because I had no idea how the cloaking device worked or that it required these crystals. I was a fighter pilot and only technicians and bomber crews with sufficiently high security clearance were allowed anywhere near them. Even the captain of my ship was forbidden to be in their presence. The cloaking missiles were kept in secure locations, always with a commissar’s office next to its armory. It is unhealthy to ask question when the Commission is involved.”
“Then how did you know about them?” Kruq’nov’s eyes narrowed and ears flattened. What else was Knarthi keeping from him? Far more secrets than Kruq’nov kept, that was certain.
“Because my fighters have sensors,” Knarthi snapped. “The bombers would launch these missiles and I could track them until they cloaked. Afterwards they were invisible to my sensors. I suspect in space we would not see this distortion either.”
“No, Lord Knarthi. The Geraz insist the distortion is caused by scattered light in the atmosphere,” Reknit agreed.
“Then why hasn’t the fleet destroyed the Apes yet?” Kruq’nov found it hard to accept that such a weapon existed while the enemy remained alive.
“That I can’t tell you,” Knarthi declared, his expression of annoyance equal to Kruq’nov. “Aside from the high security clearance required, I heard they are difficult to maintain as well as expensive. The killed a great many Ape ships before the Apes bombed the mines some time ago. These crystals are rare, and the high command is divided as how to spend them.”
“Begging your pardon, Lord Knarthi, but what better way could there be to spend them than invisible missiles?” Reknit knew nothing of combat in space beyond what propaganda told him.
“Invisible fighters,” Knarthi said with a hint of disgust. He did not care for the Strakha. “A fairly useless weapon, in my opinion. The cloaking effect goes both ways. In order to see the enemy both fighter and missile have to de-cloak and reacquire their target. And it doesn’t take high security clearance to know that,” Knarthi added when he saw Kruq’nov’s expression. “It takes only my own eyes and the sensors in my fighter to tell me that. They can’t fire while under cloak either. The only real advantage I can see is in ambush.”
“Are there whole warship that are cloaked as well?” Kruq’nov wondered.
“No,” said one of the Geraz. “It would require more power than a warship could generate in order to cloak them.” As soon as the young technician spoke, one of her elders snapped at her to not get involved in male business. Reknit bristled at the words for outside of martial practices, his engineering would be considered female’s work.
Kruq’nov dismissed trying to make the planet invisible. Perhaps the cloaking device could be adapted to the militia’s shuttles and gunships as well as mines and other anti-ship obstacles. Ghorah Khar would require every advantage to stop the inevitable Imperial counterattack. Now that he saw what these crystals could do, Kruq’nov no longer had any doubt of the importance of his planet. The Kilrah would be back and he knew the Shrekhar must be dead before they return.
“Is the missile combat ready?” Kruq’nov asked.
“Yes, lord. Though I’m not sure if its guidance is fully operational.” Reknit pressed a button on his computer gauntlet and the missile reappeared.
Kruq’nov shook his mane. “Never mind that. I just want it to fly a set distance then explode.”
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“Lord Kruq’nov, you have a visitor,” one of the sentries in Kruq’nov’s dug out called to him.
Kruq’nov took his eyes away from the not-so-distant city of Shrekhar to glance towards the entry to his bunker. It was one of several bunkers built into a hill overlooking Shrekhar. The enemy city sat in the middle of a valley next to a meandering river. Around the city were vast fields of grass filled with octaves of livestock and the ranching Prides that tended to them.
“Send her in,” Kruq’nov ordered.
The sentry looked at him in surprise. How did Kruq’nov know the visitor was female? “As you command.”
The sentry stepped aside to allow a regal female of advanced years step into the bunker. She moved as she had every right to be there, that no part of the planet was beyond her grasp. She was one fight away from being correct. “You have avenged my sisters?”
Kruq’nov dipped his head. “It will be done momentarily, Matriarch. As I recall, you wished to witness the moment.”
“I do,” Gherelith stepped forward to peer out the bunker. “By the way, Keitcha sends her regards and can’t wait to introduce you to your cubs.”
Kruq’nov stood a little taller, a little larger at her words. “It is an introduction I look forward to.”
Gherelith looked around the valley, searching for armor, guns or even sight of warriors on the move. “You have warriors hidden near the city?”
“No,” Kruq’nov said.
Gherelith turned on him faster than her years might otherwise allow. “Then why waste my time by calling me here?”
“I don’t plan on conquering the city,” he told her. Kruq’nov knew that the only people within the city now were Shrekhar and their most loyal vassals. Anyone not dedicated wholeheartedly to the city’s defense would have been expelled. It was a city full of enemies and one he did not need. The valley he did need, but not the city.
Kruq’nov tapped his communication piece. “Knarthi, is the missile prepared?”
“It’s been prepared for the better part of the morning. Let us end this war now for I have extensive planning to do for out orbital defenses.” Knarthi was vocally against allowing the Matriarch, or rather one of the two Matriarchs from being present on the front.
“Then let’s end it. Launch the missile,” he snapped back. Kruq’nov extended a pair of heavily tinted goggles to Gherelith. “You will need to wear these, Matriarch,” he said as he pulled his own pair over his eyes.
Gherelith hurriedly placed the goggles over her eyes, suspecting what was coming. “Is it really necessary to destroy the city?” She was eager to avenger her Pride, but only against the Shrekhar. She knew many innocent Kilrathi lived within the city.
“It would take too long and cost too much to conquer it.” Kruq’nov explained. “As my esteemed colleague just complained, we need to prepare Ghorah Khar for what comes next. The Kilrahs are not going to just let us have the planet.” For most of the war, Kruq’nov believed the war against the Apes would distract the Empire. Now that he had seen what those crystals did, he knew Ghorah Khar’s importance to the war effort.
Would losing the planet cost his race the war? No, Kruq’nov decided it was the fools running the war that would cost the Kilrathi the war, not his actions. When it came down to choosing between them and his Pride, Kruq’nov choice was obvious. Let the Kilrah and the Eight burn.
“My sisters and those of the Mercher have discussed the issue. We have some ideas,” Gherelith told him.
Kruq’nov hissed. “It is the King’s responsibility to fight wars.” It was a partial truth. Females would fight as fiercely as any male if their territory was invaded. Their aggression was defensive in nature.
“And the realm of politics is ours,” Gherelith reminded him. “Our ideas are political in nature.”
Kruq’nov was about the launch back into the old power struggle between him and the Matriarch when a flash of light caught his attention. In an instant, Shrekhar vanished in a blinding white light. An odd green haze lit up in front of him as gamma rays slammed into the bunker’s shielding. Even with the goggles, he was forced to blink away the after image. When the glare cleared all that remained of the enemy city was a rapidly rising cloud of vapor and ash.
Kruq’nov broke the sudden silence that formed with only a few words. “Your sisters are avenged.”
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Kruq’nov stood alone in one of M’krah manor’s remaining studies. Since the bombing of M’krah most of the manor was rebuilt and its structure reinforced. He might not be able to prevent another bombing outright, but at least he could see it was survivable. Unless the Kilrah did to M’krah what he did to Shrekhar, which was extremely likely. He destroyed their city because he had no use for it. The Empire wants Ghorah Khar, his planet, only for the crystals that can be mined from it. He found it difficult to believe this planet was the only one where they could be found.
From what his intelligence people could tell him, the crystals were extremely difficult to synthesize and form only under certain conditions. While those conditions no doubt existed elsewhere in the universe, on Ghorah Khar they were pushed close to the surface and were easily accessible. They would be back and in force. At the moment, Knarthi oversaw the construction of orbital defenses. Warriors seeded into the orbital workforce managed to capture a half-completed station largely intact.
Kruq’nov wished there was a way to build the cloaking devices here. A swarm of invisible missiles would be a great asset to the planet’s defense. He the length of the study, desperately trying to sort out a plan. If he could force a battle on the ground, then Ghorah Khar might stand a chance. That would not happen. Why would the Kilrah fight on the ground when they can bomb from space?
He paused halfway through a voyage across the room when he saw another enter the room. He purred in delight as Keitcha approached him. In each of her arms she carried a cub, one male the other female. He had hoped for two of one or the other. Had both been males, then the brothers would stand a far greater chance at taking their own Pride one day. Perhaps he will one day find a battle-brother, one as loyal to him as Nrsah was to Kruq’nov. Or perhaps both of the cubs would be lucky to escape Ghorah Khar to live their lives as refugees in the Confederation.
“My sisters and I have been talking,” Keitcha hesitated, knowing Kruq’nov would not be pleased with their decision. “We have found a way to protect our world from the Imperial Fleet.”
Kruq’nov ears perked up at the news, though he disapproved of the breach into his domain. What good was a King if the Pride would not let him defend them? Normally he would protest, but after what he learned. “I am open to suggestions. I admit this to you and no other Pride female, but I don’t see our position is very secure. They could wipe every city and town off the map from orbit. Unless we have a fleet of our own, there’s little we can do to stop them.”
Keitcha casted her gaze towards the floor. “A fleet. Yes, that is what we discussed. We know where we can get one, but you’re not going to like it.” Keitcha explained to him the Pride’s plan.
After a moment of thought, Kruq’nov spoke. “You’re right; I don’t like it.”
Ghorah Khar II
“Well, now what?” Nrsah shouted over the roar of rifle fire and explosions. He crouched against a toppled wall next to Kruq’nov. Both Kings found themselves and a few fellow warriors pinned down by heavy fire.
Kruq’nov took another glance around the ruined wall into mining camp. Out of all the contingencies he planned he did not expect any mechanized infantry to be stationed here. He knew he should have known better. If these mines were as vital as he suspected then it was only wise to have some warriors in powered armor to defend it. Against who was a good question. The Terrans would not invade when they could blast the placed off the map from orbit. It would not be the first raid either.
Fortunately, the Kilrah expected attacks from above and invested the bulk of their resources in ringing the mines with anti-air and anti-orbital defenses. The mechanized infantry was in case the Confederation Marines decided to land at a distance and destroy the facility from the ground. “I suppose, my brother, we should thank any Gods that are listening that the Kilrah never expected a local uprising. Otherwise we might be dealing with tanks too.”
Nrsah’s jaw slacked in mock horror. “Such a disturbing thought.” His face grew serious behind the array of sensors on his helmet. “And if the Apes controlled the place, we’d be dealing with their bloody combat drones.” He remembered vividly how just a few of those turned what would have been an otherwise successful advance.
Only two powered armor units marched forward. Kruq’nov remembered how often he wished he could have donned a suit of mechanical armor. The units stood nearly twice as tall as any Kilrathi. One of its arms ended in blades as long as a warrior’s forearm while the other ended in the muzzle of a weapon. By the ripping sound echoing in the crumbling mining camp, Kruq’nov knew the first fired an autocannon. Hundreds of rounds a minute tearing into largely unarmored infantry was overkill.
As for the second—he knew the answer when a wave of heat washed over his position. He glanced over at Nrsah, who wore a genuine look of concern. The second carried a plasma torch, a flamer spitting million degree plasma. Those were not favored in the trenches. All Kilrathi enduring basic training had the order ‘do not fire these in enclosed areas’ pounded into them. Doing so would vaporize the user as well as the target. Out in the open, that was another matter.
Another look around the corner gave him the view of large hole instantly burnt through the walls of a small hovel, reducing any occupants to ions. Plasma rifles in a high enough concentration might bring down powered armor by overheating it, but not before the warrior within slew many of his attackers.
“Where are those anti-tank missiles?” Kruq’nov asked his brother. Not expecting armor, Kruq’nov had very few shoulder-launched missiles smuggled on to the planet. He planned to use them against hardened targets and armor doors, but mechanized infantry would work as a target just as well. Their armor was nowhere near as thick as something the size of a drill tank and would go down easily if hit.
“Last I heard they were making their way forward. I haven’t tried contacting since those things appeared.” Nrsah grew increasing agitated as he was forced to hide.
Kruq’nov dipped his head in approval. “Good idea in staying quiet. Those powered armor units might just home in on the signal.” Of course it also meant they had no idea where the missile launcher where at any given moment. Not unless the warriors carrying them decided to announce themselves.
“Do you know what’s really frustrating?” Nrsah asked.
“Aside from not being able to kill them before they kill us?” Kruq’nov asked. It was the bane to any warrior’s existence.
“That will always be a problem. What is even worse is that those two suit are all that stand between us and overrunning this place.” The initial plan of attack succeeded in drawing a large proportion of the defenders out into the open valley and doing battle on Kruq’nov’s terms. It was only when the Kilrah warriors fell in large number did they decide to retreat to the confines of a mine. They would use the confines of the camp to set up kill zones against the advancing militia. It was wise, and might have worked if it was not the exact same tactic Kruq’nov would have used in their place.
Another wash of heat, far more intense than the last, nearly knocked him off his feet. He did not like the idea of breaking cover to retreat but liked being hit by a cloud of plasma even less. He started searching for cover, anything to conceal his retreat from the armor’s sensors. He spotted a half-standing hovel within sprinting distance the same time as he spotted a contrail fly past him at supersonic speeds. The boom of its passing knocking him to the ground.
Kruq’nov regained his footing in time to watch the first armor unit, the one with the flamer, exploding in a cloud of debris. The thin armor excelled against infantry attack but offered little defense for the occupant against a missile. The powered armor, broken in half and its operator reduced to pulp, crashed to the ground as a second missile slammed into the autocannon wielding unit.
As soon as it was safely dead, Kruq’nov switched on his radio. “What took you so long?”
“Lord Kruq’nov,” one of the missile launchers quickly replied. “Begging your pardon, but we were held up by an ambush.”
Kruq’nov growled into the microphone. There was little point in chastising them now, especially since it would not bring the dead back to life. All he could do is not let their deaths be in vein. “Advance. We need you at the front. That goes for all of you listening. This mine isn’t going to conquer itself. Advance!”
Kruq’nov and Knarthi eyed each other with deep suspicion as the former entered the laboratory. They might be joint Kings of a newly unified Pride but that did not mean they trusted each other. Against common foes perhaps, for Knarthi and his brother had as much now to lose as Kruq’nov and Nrsah, but not when it came to their own Pride. Kruq’nov would always wonder if he would wake one morning with a knife sticking from his back and if he should eliminate the pilot before the pilot eliminated him.
No, there would be no assassinations while enemies without continued to threaten them. Even when the Shrekhar fell there would still be the small matter of the Empire. That was a foe that could not be defeated planetside or in space alone. Only a united front even stood a chance at repelling their attack. Kruq’nov glanced around the mine’s laboratory at various pieces of equipment, wondering if any of those could aid in defending Ghorah Khar. Perhaps those cursed crystals might prove of some use.
“What’s so important that I was drug away from the front?” Kruq’nov roared at the laboratory technicians. The front consisted little more than of the city of Shrekhar, which was rapidly losing surrounding countryside and the livestock needed to feed its population.
Most of the technicians were females of the Geraz Pride. They were a Pride of engineers and one Kruq’nov knew was loyal—or rather was loyal to the Mercher Pride. He could not say with utmost confidence their stance towards the M’krah-Mercher Pride. A few other engineers were males serving in the militia trying to learn anything useful from the Geraz to implement on the battlefield.
“It is an important matter, Lord Kruq’nov,” Reknit led Kruq’nov and Knarthi towards a rather large missile lying in the middle of the laboratory. Panels on the front of the missile were missing and some impressive looking equipment took up the space.
“I have seen my share of anti-ship missiles during my time in the fleet,” Knarthi said with a yawn. Thus far, he was not impressed.
Kruq’nov agreed. He was no expert on the anti-ship missile but knew they carried small annihilation warheads. He was reasonably confident that anti-electrons simply needed any other electron to interact with in order to explode. How could crystals magnify a total matter-to-energy conversion? Or was it anti-protons? Whatever it was, any regular matter would due as a reactionary.
“But have you seen one do this?” he asked as he issued the order to the Geraz to activate the device.
For a second, Kruq’nov wondered if his eyes were going bad. He was certainly not a young warrior anymore though quite a few Shrik lay ahead of him. The missile first grew fuzzy, then it shimmered and finally it vanished. No, not quite vanished. Kruq’nov could see a vague distortion where the missile once set. “Where did it go?” he asked, not sure if the missile remained in the distortion.
“It didn’t go anywhere,” Reknit said with a smile. He looked as if he single-handedly brought down a buffalo, so proud he was of the trick. “Don’t ask me how, for not even the Geraz understand the principles, but the crystals mined here act as a focal point for a cloaking device.”
“I see,” Knarthi lit up in understanding. “I heard of these missiles. They killed a great many Ape ships in the past two Shrik.”
Kruq’nov glared at the pilot. “Then why have you not said anything?”
Knarthi hissed back at him. “Because I had no idea how the cloaking device worked or that it required these crystals. I was a fighter pilot and only technicians and bomber crews with sufficiently high security clearance were allowed anywhere near them. Even the captain of my ship was forbidden to be in their presence. The cloaking missiles were kept in secure locations, always with a commissar’s office next to its armory. It is unhealthy to ask question when the Commission is involved.”
“Then how did you know about them?” Kruq’nov’s eyes narrowed and ears flattened. What else was Knarthi keeping from him? Far more secrets than Kruq’nov kept, that was certain.
“Because my fighters have sensors,” Knarthi snapped. “The bombers would launch these missiles and I could track them until they cloaked. Afterwards they were invisible to my sensors. I suspect in space we would not see this distortion either.”
“No, Lord Knarthi. The Geraz insist the distortion is caused by scattered light in the atmosphere,” Reknit agreed.
“Then why hasn’t the fleet destroyed the Apes yet?” Kruq’nov found it hard to accept that such a weapon existed while the enemy remained alive.
“That I can’t tell you,” Knarthi declared, his expression of annoyance equal to Kruq’nov. “Aside from the high security clearance required, I heard they are difficult to maintain as well as expensive. The killed a great many Ape ships before the Apes bombed the mines some time ago. These crystals are rare, and the high command is divided as how to spend them.”
“Begging your pardon, Lord Knarthi, but what better way could there be to spend them than invisible missiles?” Reknit knew nothing of combat in space beyond what propaganda told him.
“Invisible fighters,” Knarthi said with a hint of disgust. He did not care for the Strakha. “A fairly useless weapon, in my opinion. The cloaking effect goes both ways. In order to see the enemy both fighter and missile have to de-cloak and reacquire their target. And it doesn’t take high security clearance to know that,” Knarthi added when he saw Kruq’nov’s expression. “It takes only my own eyes and the sensors in my fighter to tell me that. They can’t fire while under cloak either. The only real advantage I can see is in ambush.”
“Are there whole warship that are cloaked as well?” Kruq’nov wondered.
“No,” said one of the Geraz. “It would require more power than a warship could generate in order to cloak them.” As soon as the young technician spoke, one of her elders snapped at her to not get involved in male business. Reknit bristled at the words for outside of martial practices, his engineering would be considered female’s work.
Kruq’nov dismissed trying to make the planet invisible. Perhaps the cloaking device could be adapted to the militia’s shuttles and gunships as well as mines and other anti-ship obstacles. Ghorah Khar would require every advantage to stop the inevitable Imperial counterattack. Now that he saw what these crystals could do, Kruq’nov no longer had any doubt of the importance of his planet. The Kilrah would be back and he knew the Shrekhar must be dead before they return.
“Is the missile combat ready?” Kruq’nov asked.
“Yes, lord. Though I’m not sure if its guidance is fully operational.” Reknit pressed a button on his computer gauntlet and the missile reappeared.
Kruq’nov shook his mane. “Never mind that. I just want it to fly a set distance then explode.”
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“Lord Kruq’nov, you have a visitor,” one of the sentries in Kruq’nov’s dug out called to him.
Kruq’nov took his eyes away from the not-so-distant city of Shrekhar to glance towards the entry to his bunker. It was one of several bunkers built into a hill overlooking Shrekhar. The enemy city sat in the middle of a valley next to a meandering river. Around the city were vast fields of grass filled with octaves of livestock and the ranching Prides that tended to them.
“Send her in,” Kruq’nov ordered.
The sentry looked at him in surprise. How did Kruq’nov know the visitor was female? “As you command.”
The sentry stepped aside to allow a regal female of advanced years step into the bunker. She moved as she had every right to be there, that no part of the planet was beyond her grasp. She was one fight away from being correct. “You have avenged my sisters?”
Kruq’nov dipped his head. “It will be done momentarily, Matriarch. As I recall, you wished to witness the moment.”
“I do,” Gherelith stepped forward to peer out the bunker. “By the way, Keitcha sends her regards and can’t wait to introduce you to your cubs.”
Kruq’nov stood a little taller, a little larger at her words. “It is an introduction I look forward to.”
Gherelith looked around the valley, searching for armor, guns or even sight of warriors on the move. “You have warriors hidden near the city?”
“No,” Kruq’nov said.
Gherelith turned on him faster than her years might otherwise allow. “Then why waste my time by calling me here?”
“I don’t plan on conquering the city,” he told her. Kruq’nov knew that the only people within the city now were Shrekhar and their most loyal vassals. Anyone not dedicated wholeheartedly to the city’s defense would have been expelled. It was a city full of enemies and one he did not need. The valley he did need, but not the city.
Kruq’nov tapped his communication piece. “Knarthi, is the missile prepared?”
“It’s been prepared for the better part of the morning. Let us end this war now for I have extensive planning to do for out orbital defenses.” Knarthi was vocally against allowing the Matriarch, or rather one of the two Matriarchs from being present on the front.
“Then let’s end it. Launch the missile,” he snapped back. Kruq’nov extended a pair of heavily tinted goggles to Gherelith. “You will need to wear these, Matriarch,” he said as he pulled his own pair over his eyes.
Gherelith hurriedly placed the goggles over her eyes, suspecting what was coming. “Is it really necessary to destroy the city?” She was eager to avenger her Pride, but only against the Shrekhar. She knew many innocent Kilrathi lived within the city.
“It would take too long and cost too much to conquer it.” Kruq’nov explained. “As my esteemed colleague just complained, we need to prepare Ghorah Khar for what comes next. The Kilrahs are not going to just let us have the planet.” For most of the war, Kruq’nov believed the war against the Apes would distract the Empire. Now that he had seen what those crystals did, he knew Ghorah Khar’s importance to the war effort.
Would losing the planet cost his race the war? No, Kruq’nov decided it was the fools running the war that would cost the Kilrathi the war, not his actions. When it came down to choosing between them and his Pride, Kruq’nov choice was obvious. Let the Kilrah and the Eight burn.
“My sisters and those of the Mercher have discussed the issue. We have some ideas,” Gherelith told him.
Kruq’nov hissed. “It is the King’s responsibility to fight wars.” It was a partial truth. Females would fight as fiercely as any male if their territory was invaded. Their aggression was defensive in nature.
“And the realm of politics is ours,” Gherelith reminded him. “Our ideas are political in nature.”
Kruq’nov was about the launch back into the old power struggle between him and the Matriarch when a flash of light caught his attention. In an instant, Shrekhar vanished in a blinding white light. An odd green haze lit up in front of him as gamma rays slammed into the bunker’s shielding. Even with the goggles, he was forced to blink away the after image. When the glare cleared all that remained of the enemy city was a rapidly rising cloud of vapor and ash.
Kruq’nov broke the sudden silence that formed with only a few words. “Your sisters are avenged.”
----------------------
Kruq’nov stood alone in one of M’krah manor’s remaining studies. Since the bombing of M’krah most of the manor was rebuilt and its structure reinforced. He might not be able to prevent another bombing outright, but at least he could see it was survivable. Unless the Kilrah did to M’krah what he did to Shrekhar, which was extremely likely. He destroyed their city because he had no use for it. The Empire wants Ghorah Khar, his planet, only for the crystals that can be mined from it. He found it difficult to believe this planet was the only one where they could be found.
From what his intelligence people could tell him, the crystals were extremely difficult to synthesize and form only under certain conditions. While those conditions no doubt existed elsewhere in the universe, on Ghorah Khar they were pushed close to the surface and were easily accessible. They would be back and in force. At the moment, Knarthi oversaw the construction of orbital defenses. Warriors seeded into the orbital workforce managed to capture a half-completed station largely intact.
Kruq’nov wished there was a way to build the cloaking devices here. A swarm of invisible missiles would be a great asset to the planet’s defense. He the length of the study, desperately trying to sort out a plan. If he could force a battle on the ground, then Ghorah Khar might stand a chance. That would not happen. Why would the Kilrah fight on the ground when they can bomb from space?
He paused halfway through a voyage across the room when he saw another enter the room. He purred in delight as Keitcha approached him. In each of her arms she carried a cub, one male the other female. He had hoped for two of one or the other. Had both been males, then the brothers would stand a far greater chance at taking their own Pride one day. Perhaps he will one day find a battle-brother, one as loyal to him as Nrsah was to Kruq’nov. Or perhaps both of the cubs would be lucky to escape Ghorah Khar to live their lives as refugees in the Confederation.
“My sisters and I have been talking,” Keitcha hesitated, knowing Kruq’nov would not be pleased with their decision. “We have found a way to protect our world from the Imperial Fleet.”
Kruq’nov ears perked up at the news, though he disapproved of the breach into his domain. What good was a King if the Pride would not let him defend them? Normally he would protest, but after what he learned. “I am open to suggestions. I admit this to you and no other Pride female, but I don’t see our position is very secure. They could wipe every city and town off the map from orbit. Unless we have a fleet of our own, there’s little we can do to stop them.”
Keitcha casted her gaze towards the floor. “A fleet. Yes, that is what we discussed. We know where we can get one, but you’re not going to like it.” Keitcha explained to him the Pride’s plan.
After a moment of thought, Kruq’nov spoke. “You’re right; I don’t like it.”