Star Force: Nexus (SF57) Read Free Page B

planetoids were colonized by different races with
different architecture, though it looked like approximately the same level of
tech…all higher than what Star Force currently had.
    In addition to the planets there were millions of
installations situated in orbit or null space between the planets, but once
again each and every one was neatly arranged with traffic flows moving through
a very scripted routine. The three Star Force ships
followed their escort closely, matching microjumps and other lesser maneuvers
until they arrived at a particular planet and were given a parking orbit.
    Though she couldn’t be certain, she suspected that
this one system contained more infrastructure and population than the entire
ADZ…which was mindboggling. Talk about big fish in the little pond. Seeing it
all she wondered what the hell the Nexus had to worry about from the lizards,
because they were truly the superior, like Asgard superior to Earth in Stargate , only bigger and more
impressive, for some of the ‘stations’ were the size of moons themselves.
    Once getting parked, arrangements were quickly made to
get her down to the planet with a dropship being escorted by fighter-like craft
from orbit all the way down to a city made of angular pillars that reminded her
of Superman’s fortress of solitude. They even looked like ice, though more
blue, and were sticking up at all kinds of angles that belied any visible motif
other than sheer randomness. It wasn’t until the dropship came in closer did
she realize just how big each of the spike/columns were, with most reaching up
some 7-12 miles, with the largest oddballs climbing as high as 20.
    The escorts led the tiny Star Force dropship to one of
the ‘tall’ ones, with the mountain-sized structure having nearly invisible
cutouts until you got close enough to see them, one of which was a landing pad
recessed into the otherwise smooth, crystal-like exterior…though that pad alone
could have held more than 1000 dropships, with several larger Nexus craft
sitting on the deck along with a steady stream of smaller ones coming and going
as Kerrie’s ship landed.
    The planet itself was larger than normal, with 1.27
gravity and a mix of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere. Ironically the Sety
breathed the nitrogen, while most of the other races in the Nexus respired
using oxygen. The binary atmosphere worked for both races, which meant that Kerrie
wasn’t going to have to wear special breathing gear, though she did choose to
wear her brown padawan armor, minus the weapons, and blew out a deep breath as
the boarding ramp lowered and she walked down to the deck, feeling the gravity
thicken as she left the dropship’s IDF.
    Outside the ship there was a delegation waiting, made
up of six individuals from two different races. Five of them were what Kerrie
recognized from the files the H’kar had given them to be Gfatt. They had huge
arms and one leg, which was more of a tail that fell directly beneath them.
These were wearing an anti- grav harness and floating
above the ground, but she knew they could walk as a tripod with their ape-like
arms doubling as legs if they leaned forward slightly. Their skin was silver
and slick, without so much as a hair or blemish, reminding Kerrie of dolphins
save for the face…which was made of harder spikes jutting out at odd angles.
    The other individual was a H’kar, with its exoskeleton clashing with the smooth motif of the Gfatt. It was
a dark green almost to the point of being black and looked very intimidating,
though from their previous experience she knew they were more turtle than
warrior, though the natural armor meant they’d be a beast to tackle hand to
hand.
    “Welcome to Nexvt’ya ,” the
H’kar said in passable English. “We are pleased you were able to make the
journey.”
    “Thank you,” she said, looking at the Gfatt and making
a modification inside her helmet. “ Can
you understand me? ”
    Her external speaker created a series