Star Force: Perquisition by Aer-ki Jyr

theirs, which is why
they have a physical head start on the rest of you.”
    Jadren stared at him for a
moment, putting those two pieces together. “And you didn’t feel like telling us
this before?”
    “We’re going to figure this out before it can cause a
problem,” Brad promised him. “We’ve got the appropriate people on the
taskforce, so telling the rest of you would just give you cause to worry
without the ability to help. Better to keep you all in the dark until there is
actually something to do.”
    “So why are you telling me now?”
    “You accusing me of being a slacker. Can’t have that,”
Brad said sarcastically.
    “Seriously.”
    The Archon glanced down at his desktop for a moment.
“I don’t know how this is going to play out, but so long as the Protovic are
following an impulse to gather I want them gathering here and adding to our
strength. But it has to be as a part of Star Force. In some ways I see them all
as family, in others I recognize the threat they pose. When the Blues first
came here they wanted to call the shots and they were quite vocal about not
being able to. They tried to turn some of you away from Star Force and begin
assembling a different type of union before we sent them packing. Those that
have come back are doing so on our terms now and as you can see there are a lot
of them.”
    “You’re worried that there’s more than just a genetic
imperative to assemble,” Jadren surmised. “You think
it might be something cultural as well. Something that would erode us from the
inside out.”
    “No matter how much genetic impulses one has, you always
has a choice. Sometimes you just don’t realize it. A strong mind guides itself.
A weak mind follows and is ruled by the genetic impulses. Star Force trains all
of us to develop into strong minded individuals, so…”
    “You’re trying to counter a potential threat by
bringing as many of us into the fold as possible.”
    “And at the same time further develop our little piece
of the empire. The changes that this reunification will make may very well be
beneficial. Time will tell, but if it is something undesirable we’re going to
rewrite your genetic code to make you immune to it.”
    Jadren straightened, sensing
another layer to Brad’s reluctance to leave the Protovic. “You can do that?”
    “Not yet, but we’re learning. And the more variants we
find the more data our medtechs have to figure out what’s going on and how to
deal with it.”
    “You’re trying to save us from a potential doomsday on
the horizon.”
    “If there is one, I need to shield you from it before
it happens.”
    Jadren looked down at his
glowing hand, striped in both green and red bioluminescent bands that were
mostly uniform amongst all Protovic, but always slightly different per
individual. “Is this a natural thing or engineered?”
    “I can’t say for sure, but the going theory is
engineered. There have also been bits of mythos collected from the various
civilizations that refer to a reunification and the glory that will follow.
Stories that they have had before they had contact with other variants.”
    “As if someone had told them what was coming…and
scattered them?”
    “Something went down. Right now we have mostly
guesses.”
    Jadren was silent for a long
moment, with Brad peeking in on his thoughts as he sorted through all this.
“What’s the last variant color?”
    “We don’t know, nor did we know any of the others
prior to finding them, save for some rumors, some of which turned out not to be
true.”
    “And you don’t know how many civilizations were out
there originally?”
    “We’ve found evidence of some that have since been
destroyed, so we assume there were many of each variant. We have also found a
genetic imperative, stronger than the assembly, that urges you to turtle up and survive. We think this is why a reunification hasn’t
occurred yet, prompting each civilization to err on the side of caution