The Kressa project had been a success, but the feral mind proved erratic and unpredictable so a series of protocols were established. Under normal circumstances the programming maintained stability as it smoothed away the wild impulses and boosted the intellect until a level of understanding and reasoning could be established, yet a flaw hid within the coding, under stress the complex program collapsed as the creatures natural instincts gained dominance. The designers saw a failure, Go'an saw only opportunity, suddenly he possessed a thinking weapon that delighted in the chase, that revelled in the kill. He ordered further development to cease, he had what he wanted, docile and pliable in peacetime, yet vicious and unstoppable in action.
The male Kressa became the gender of choice, they were far more stable and predictable, they possessed aggression in abundance but were much easier to control, the females displayed a high level of irrationality, almost displaying emotions, true they were the better hunters and killers, but they simply weren't reliable enough to consider mass production. An order was issued that ceased female production leaving only the original prototypes in existence, the few female Kressa units became novelty items and of little military value.
Go'an relaxed his mind as the transport carried him deep into the rugged highlands that surrounded his research institute and smiled as he thought of the Territes delight in his unreliable Kressa unit, the gift had been so small a sacrifice to make when he considered the potential benefits, and if negotiations failed, what had he lost? A silver skinned freak and an emotional prototype.
"The Kressa is fast and agile," he began to think of options for future development, "Now I must find something for my land invasion forces," he ran through a list of suitable life-forms for potential integration, "I need something armoured and stubborn, something big and aggressive." his head began to ache reminding him of the massive drain he had suffered only hours before.
"Why am I worrying about this?" he rebuked himself, "I can leave that to the biologists, that's what I pay them for."
***
Even in his depleted condition Go'an sensed instantly that his scientists were hiding something from him as he stepped through the main entrance and into the institutes wide and bright reception area, he felt their evasion and discomfort, he sensed secrets and concerns, concerns that bordered on fear.
"Tell me." he demanded as he forced eye contact with the director.
"It is nothing to worry about Chancellor." replied the nervous head of the facility.
"I find that difficult to believe" Go'an replied as he forced his way into the mind that stood before him.
"Why was I not informed?" he glared as he forced the director to his knees.
"We didn't think we should worry you," came a pained reply, "We are working on a fix right now."
Go'an felt his own concerns rising, he was basing his entire domination plan on the Kressa units, it had not been by accident that they had remained a closely guarded secret for so many years... now their reliability could be in doubt.
His plan had always been to unleash their ferocity on any race that failed to comply with his broader plans for the Federation. Accept his authority or suffer the might of his Kressa fleet. "And they have begun to over-ride the safety protocols?"
The director nodded, "It is not happening throughout the entire fleet, but the fact that it is happening at all is a concern, but please don't worry Chancellor, we have a team of software experts working on the code and inserting new safeguards, given a little time we can fix this."
"You have three months, not one day more" warned Go'an, "After that I want a functioning and reliable fleet at my disposal... do not disappoint me Director, it would be very unwise."
Chapter 6
Maulik sat in his seat in Kressa's cockpit and they discussed the mission ahead of them. "How long will it take us to get there?" he asked.
"No more than eight hours," she replied, "We could be there much quicker, but I don't want to over work my reactor, we don't know what the reception will be like yet, and I don't think it will be wise for us to arrive when I'm not operating at full capacity."
Maulik nodded, "You know I'm just a passenger, you could probably do all of this without me." he laughed.
"I cannot function without you," she replied instantly, "It's a safety protocol, I cannot operate without a pilot, so we are both equally important."
"That's comforting to know," he chuckled, "I was beginning to feel very obsolete. So, eight hours, that should give me enough time to think of something to say when we arrive." he joked.
"Unnecessary," cut in Go'an, "I will tell you what to say, do not concern yourself with that issue."
"Nice of you to join us Chancellor." sighed Maulik, Go'an was beginning to irritate with his constant interruptions to daily life, "Any chance you will cut the link when this job is over?" he asked hopefully.
"I may consider it," laughed Go'an, "But then again, I may find more uses for you, there are other worlds."
"With respect, find someone else," replied Maulik with feeling, "I really would like my mind back, no disrespect intended, but you are really starting to annoy me now."
"Despite the knowledge of what I could do to you, even at this range, you are still defiant, I like that independence of spirit, I respect you Master Maulik, when you return we must sit down and talk properly, maybe you can be convinced to work for me more willingly, you would find the benefits and rewards... attractive. But that is a matter for future discussion, right now we have more pressing issues to attend to, have you made your preparations for the journey?"
"Yeah, mostly," he replied wondering why Go'an always insisted he repeat what he already knew, "I was just discussing that with Kressa."
"Good, the Kressa unit already has my initial salutation to transmit as you approach Diurian space, do not cross the neutral zone until you have received confirmation from their central command that your embassy has been accepted, it may take some time, so display patience Master Maulik, there is a certain … pace to Diurian thinking, you must not rush them."
"The mistake that you made on first contact?"
Maulik sensed a hesitancy, "You people rushed in didn't you?"
"Let us just say we failed to adhere to protocol." admitted Go'an but masked the true details of their first contact.
It had been many years before, in a time of upheaval and shortage on Watuma, a time of flux and great uncertainty. The primitive perception of the Watu had been justified at that time, they lagged behind more advanced races by a considerable margin and their ecosystem was on the point of collapse. For centuries they had monitored the decline of Terrillia, their closest galactic neighbour but failed to learn from the mistakes. Their salvation would be in technology decided the High Council and encouraged acquisition by any means, beg, borrow or steal. So it came to pass that a marauding squadron of Watumian fighters had stumbled upon a fresh ion trail heading into uncharted space and the enterprising leader had followed the scent to a lightly armed freighter. Such ships were a tempting target in the search for alternative technologies but the decision to pursue as the bulky ship engaged it's FTL drives would prove to be disastrous. Crossing into Diurian territory uninvited and with obvious hostile intent had sparked a conflict between the two worlds that had simmered for centuries.
Go'an knew that his current strategy had limited chance of success, but with the total commitment that he had to mounting a united stand against the Reapers, the benefits of a potential alliance far out-weighed the repercussions, the loss of a Terrillian, a flawed Kressa and a continuation of an already established conflict. His downside was minimal.
"The Kressa has received full instructions and coordinates, she has been briefed on the protocols for this initial contact, you will simply be delivering my message and invitation, just try to keep your sarcasm to a minimum if you are forced to communicate without my guidance," added Go'an, "Good luck, and may your Gods go with you."
***
The mome
nt for departure finally arrived but Maulik had delayed to oversee the placement of the first harvester drones, they would be acting as a defence mechanism during this selective harvest as the L6's, although backward and under-developed, could potentially have rudimentary defence mechanisms of their own. Maulik considered the large colonies of aggressive ants he had seen defending themselves on Planet K559 on his last harvest, they were only L2 but displayed a fierce sense of self preservation, the larger soldiers, spreading their wings and attacking the collectors with powerful jaws and strong jets of acid had wreaked considerable damage before they could be subdued. The L6's on this remote world were only a fraction of the size of the aggressive and determined ants, but their more advanced level of development threatened the potential for defence or retaliation. As Harvester Master it was Maulik's duty to ensure the harvesting was handled efficiently with minimal damage sustained to his valuable equipment.
Kressa dropped back into the corrosive atmosphere and followed the lead drones down, back on 7 Maulik had sat with his team and selected a continent that straddled both northern and southern hemispheres, two huge blocks of land that were joined by a the narrowest of connections.
"This is the logical start point," he had insisted ignoring the advice that other regions displayed higher concentrations, "Agreed, other regions look more viable, however, we will work towards the recovery of this planet first, consider the selected target area, the northern section is teeming with L6's, and large areas are severely damaged, so total harvesting will comfortably fill our holds on this trip, but it is the southern section that interests me most, this area appears the least damaged, so for me it a priority to clear this section first, call it conservation."
"Densities are very low." said a junior officer.
"True," agreed Maulik, "But consider this, spend a few extra days clearing this section, or we stick to our original quota and spend an additional three months travelling to the next harvest-able world?"
With that thought in mind all debate ended, the whole crew could expect generous bonuses for delivering full quota ahead of schedule so a few extra days, a week at the most, spent satisfying their Masters conservation plan didn't seem unreasonable.
***
"Much more ozone in this region," announced Kressa as she modified her shields to compensate for the higher concentrations of the corrosive gas, "Most of the L6's are concentrated around the coastal regions, there are areas with quite high levels."
Engineering had configured the collectors to filter out all life below L6 and Maulik watched with interest as the massive ships worked a pattern over the largest colony, edging closer they saw the life-forms scatter as the beams flickered and transported.
"Just like the ants," laughed Maulik, "But I don't see any defence yet, surely such an invasive species has offensive capabilities?"
Moments later his curiosity was satisfied as small fighters swarmed into view.
"Scan their capabilities Kressa," he asked as the insect like defenders raced around the collectors firing what looked like tiny metal darts that flared ineffectually on the flanks of the heavy collectors.
"Minimal threat" announced Kressa, "They are a form of rudimentary attack ship, no reactors, no FTL capability, capable of inflicting only minimal damage, more an annoyance than a threat."
Maulik signalled back to 7. "Relik, there is no offensive threat to our equipment down here, program the drones to eliminate the small fighters, and proceed with the harvest as planned, I will be back in three or four days."
"Understood," replied his second in command, "May the Gods go with you." he added as Kressa burst out into clean clear space and lined up on her calculated course.
Their destination known, but the welcome; uncertain.
***
As they reached cruising speed Kressa released her tight grip around Maulik by relaxing the rigidity of his seat. "We have eight hours now" she purred, "Time to relax before the confrontation and hostility."
"You don't have much faith in this mission, do you?" Question or statement, Kressa could take it how it best suited her, fearless as she was, and brimming with self confidence, Maulik could feel the concern in her mind.
"I think it is a waste of our time," she agreed finally, "I feel that there is too much bad blood between the Watu and Diurians to ever contemplate a collaboration, but that is only my opinion."
Maulik eased himself out of the seat and strolled back to the compact relaxation area. Kressa was well equipped for a craft of her size. She was only slightly larger than a star-fighter but the genius of design allowed all of the basic facilities needed for a scout on deep space exploration, helping himself to a small sachet of reconstituted meat he sank down beside a video terminal and requested a re-run of the Diurian data stream.
"Pause," he ordered the on-board computer as an image flashed onto the screen. "Enlarge and enhance, twenty five percent," the image grew and clarified, it was an artist’s impression of a Diurian military officer, an image unchanged for hundreds of years and based on the testimony of the only survivor of that first hasty territorial incursion.
"And what are you hiding under that exoskeleton?" he mused. The image depicted armour, dark and sleek, functional and outwardly aggressive looking. "I guess these guys really want to look the part" he laughed, "But they have to be soft to need all that armour."
"Don't be deceived," broke in Kressa, "For some races armour is simply uniform, a status symbol, or ceremonial, many use it but don't need it, I'm afraid not enough is known about the Diurians to be able to establish their natural form, but it would be an error on your part to under estimate them."
"Point taken," laughed Maulik, "But I didn't plan to under estimate anyone, I was just thinking out loud. This is a very old picture, what is the most recent data on their capabilities?"
"The most recent dates back over one hundred years." replied Kressa.
"So really, we have no idea what to expect when we arrive, they could have a fleet of craft just like you by now!"
"True," she replied, "Exciting isn't it."
Maulik slipped the unwrapped sachet into his pouch and turned off the display, there appeared very little point in studying the outdated data further, he would soon discover if the Diurians had changed or advanced since the last encounter, "Maybe after a hundred years without contact their tempers have cooled," he chuckled, "But I guess I won't be that lucky."
After five hours of uneventful travel Kressa announced that they were about to leave known space from a Terrillian perspective. "This is as far as your people have ever been, you are now in uncharted space, congratulations Maulik, you are now an explorer." she laughed.
"Well at least I've fulfilled one ambition," he joked in reply, "Not exactly how I had pictured it, but I've joined the scout club... finally, I just wish it was on a mission for my own people."
"But it is for the benefit of your people," cut in Go'an, "It is for the benefit of all races in the galaxy, you should feel honoured."
"Yeah, honoured to be the first idiot to offer himself as a gunnery practice target to the Diurian fleet, I'm underwhelmed by the privilege." replied Maulik, he had been expecting Go'an to interrupt him so the comment from the invasive Watu came as no surprise. "I guess in about three hours we will all know if this was a good idea or not, but if they start shooting, Kressa and I are out of there so fast... do you get what I mean, much as I like you Chancellor I have no intention of dying for you, if it can be avoided."
"Lets hope it doesn't come to that," laughed Go'an, "But I have a feeling that they will be in the mood to chat when they have heard my salutation, like the Watu they are a strong race, but they are not strong enough to face the Reapers alone, we need each other, they will see that when they have studied the data you will present."
"Yeah well, we will soon discover if you are correct."
"Maulik, we have company." called Kressa.
Jumping up he rushed forward and dropped into his seat.
/> "Where? Who?"
"Off to our left, two Diurian star-fighters."
"An escort?" he wondered.
"Unknown, they are scanning us and maintaining a parallel course."
"Probably ordered to escort us in," he guessed as he scanned distorted space through the left view port.
"Possibly," replied Kressa, "But their weapons are hot and locked... so hang on, I may need to get us out of here quickly, I won't be able to give you much warning."
"If they have allowed themselves to be detected and not opened fire it can be taken as a very good sign," added Go'an who had been monitoring the conversation, "Usually they fire first and then scan the debris."
"Hey, thanks for letting me know that in advance," exclaimed Maulik, "It's always good to know you don't keep anything from me."
"You are welcome," replied Go'an, "You can start transmitting the salutation message now, all frequencies."
"Weapons are still hot, but they released the lock." reported Kressa and Maulik felt a small wave of relief wash over him, the step down in threat level was a good sign anywhere in the galaxy and he allowed himself to breathe again.
"Moving away now," she added after a few moments, "They have taken up flanking positions, I believe that they are now an escort, weapons threat minimal." she paused for a moment, "I have interfaced with the lead fighters computer and received coordinates, confirming acceptance now."
"Congratulations Chancellor, I guess that means your meeting is on." Signalled Maulik but received no reply.
"I raised shields when they locked on," explained Kressa, "But allowed them to scan, they were probably confused they couldn't find any weapons system," she purred, "They feel secure now that we are unarmed."
"You can block a weapons scan?" he asked in shock, a scan would usually reveal every system on a ship no matter how well shielded.
"I take their data and filter out what I don't want seen," she laughed, "A lady needs some privacy... I'm about to lower shields in a moment as a show of trust, so get prepared for Chancellor Go'an, I'm sure he will be contacting you again very soon." Maulik appreciated the warning and tried to clear his mind.