Star Force Perseverance (SF81) (Star Force Origin Series) by Aer-ki Jyr Page A
Authors: Aer-ki Jyr
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because the backup oxygen is for more
than just being under water.”
“They didn’t use Zen’zat for underwater operations
anyway.”
“Not that we know of, but their armor still had an
aquatics module. So it’s possible they were used in that sense on occasion.”
“I’ve never seen any files detailing that.”
“Neither have I. We’re too slow in the water compared
to the swimmers to be worth deploying save for emergency situations. Unaugmented
anyway,” Davis said as he slipped the datachip into a slot on his desk and
pulled up the reports Wilson had compiled for him, seeing that, as usual, Star
Force’s head trainer had been excessively thorough. “Who do you want to start
with?”
“I’m assuming we’re nowhere near developing any custom
psionics?”
“The timetable on that has gotten considerably hazy,
but assume no for the foreseeable future.”
“Then I want 100 Calavari here, on Earth, in Atlantis
so I can personally develop this program. We’ll need some considerable
remodeling first, though.”
Davis nodded. “You still don’t trust the Archon
trainees to anyone else?”
“I want to be able to troubleshoot if needed, but most
of the duties can be handled by others. That and I want to be the face they
know from the outset. I won’t lose touch completely, but I can free up a lot of
spare time if needed for this.”
“How do you plan on choosing the candidates?”
“These aren’t candidates. This is an advanced training
group, pure and simple. I need to learn the Calavari better before I design the
real one. I just need experienced, intuitive individuals that I can press and
study. I need to know how they think and respond under pressure, and to do that
I need to poke and prod them in very specific ways.”
“Will a seafloor expansion suffice? We’re kind of
lacking in internal space as it is.”
“So long as I don’t have to hop on a dropship to move
from one group to another.”
“I’ll have them build you a private transit system to
an adjacent facility. We have several nearby that can be repurposed easily and
they’ll function as part of the city if the link is fast enough, which it will
be.”
“Adequate. How soon can I get my experiments?”
Davis bit his lip. “I can rush the conversion inside
of a year. Finding and recalling the volunteers might take longer. Do you want
to handle that as well or should I just ask the Archons to do it?”
“If this were the actual first class I’d do it, but
since I’m not sure what to look for in Calavari they’d probably be better
judges. Just ask the ones that have worked with them extensively. The others
probably know less than I do about them at this point.”
“Done deal.”
Wilson nodded. “I don’t know how long this will
actually take.”
“No rush. No rush at all. Just another puzzle piece we
need to get in motion.”
“We have a lot of those, don’t we?”
“The bigger the empire, the more pieces.”
“About that…I have another request. A side project
that’s long overdue.”
“Yes?”
“I need to run the Archons through psionic armor
challenges. For that I’ll need an army trained to use them…which I’ll have to
develop if no one else gets around to it. It’s been on the Archons’ to-do list
for some time, but they’ve never implemented it as far as I know.”
“Gun shy?”
“Might be. Either way, it’s better something that I
handle than them. Same reason they can’t create their own challenges…at least
not ones as good as I can. You can’t think like yourself and your enemy at the
same time.”
“Terrorize them as you like.”
“That’ll actually be a bigger logistical project than
the Calavari.”
“Recruit what personnel and resources that you
need…although I would make one recommendation.”
“Which is?”
“Involve Vermaire. From an Archon’s point of view,
nothing is more intimidating than a Black Knight immune to
than just being under water.”
“They didn’t use Zen’zat for underwater operations
anyway.”
“Not that we know of, but their armor still had an
aquatics module. So it’s possible they were used in that sense on occasion.”
“I’ve never seen any files detailing that.”
“Neither have I. We’re too slow in the water compared
to the swimmers to be worth deploying save for emergency situations. Unaugmented
anyway,” Davis said as he slipped the datachip into a slot on his desk and
pulled up the reports Wilson had compiled for him, seeing that, as usual, Star
Force’s head trainer had been excessively thorough. “Who do you want to start
with?”
“I’m assuming we’re nowhere near developing any custom
psionics?”
“The timetable on that has gotten considerably hazy,
but assume no for the foreseeable future.”
“Then I want 100 Calavari here, on Earth, in Atlantis
so I can personally develop this program. We’ll need some considerable
remodeling first, though.”
Davis nodded. “You still don’t trust the Archon
trainees to anyone else?”
“I want to be able to troubleshoot if needed, but most
of the duties can be handled by others. That and I want to be the face they
know from the outset. I won’t lose touch completely, but I can free up a lot of
spare time if needed for this.”
“How do you plan on choosing the candidates?”
“These aren’t candidates. This is an advanced training
group, pure and simple. I need to learn the Calavari better before I design the
real one. I just need experienced, intuitive individuals that I can press and
study. I need to know how they think and respond under pressure, and to do that
I need to poke and prod them in very specific ways.”
“Will a seafloor expansion suffice? We’re kind of
lacking in internal space as it is.”
“So long as I don’t have to hop on a dropship to move
from one group to another.”
“I’ll have them build you a private transit system to
an adjacent facility. We have several nearby that can be repurposed easily and
they’ll function as part of the city if the link is fast enough, which it will
be.”
“Adequate. How soon can I get my experiments?”
Davis bit his lip. “I can rush the conversion inside
of a year. Finding and recalling the volunteers might take longer. Do you want
to handle that as well or should I just ask the Archons to do it?”
“If this were the actual first class I’d do it, but
since I’m not sure what to look for in Calavari they’d probably be better
judges. Just ask the ones that have worked with them extensively. The others
probably know less than I do about them at this point.”
“Done deal.”
Wilson nodded. “I don’t know how long this will
actually take.”
“No rush. No rush at all. Just another puzzle piece we
need to get in motion.”
“We have a lot of those, don’t we?”
“The bigger the empire, the more pieces.”
“About that…I have another request. A side project
that’s long overdue.”
“Yes?”
“I need to run the Archons through psionic armor
challenges. For that I’ll need an army trained to use them…which I’ll have to
develop if no one else gets around to it. It’s been on the Archons’ to-do list
for some time, but they’ve never implemented it as far as I know.”
“Gun shy?”
“Might be. Either way, it’s better something that I
handle than them. Same reason they can’t create their own challenges…at least
not ones as good as I can. You can’t think like yourself and your enemy at the
same time.”
“Terrorize them as you like.”
“That’ll actually be a bigger logistical project than
the Calavari.”
“Recruit what personnel and resources that you
need…although I would make one recommendation.”
“Which is?”
“Involve Vermaire. From an Archon’s point of view,
nothing is more intimidating than a Black Knight immune to
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