Star Force: Quenar (SF88) (Star Force Origin Series) by Aer-ki Jyr Page B

population was small and they did not reproduce fast,
though Davis thought that was more out of cultural bias than biology.
    The KoQ housed their non-Knights in various
facilities, some of which provided industrial support while others were in
training to earn their status as Knights. Davis got the sense that there was a
stigma associated with the non-Knights and for that reason that part of their
pocket civilization was not developed further. After 6 million years they could
have regrown to the size of their previous Traelix civilization but they hadn’t, rather focusing on advancement rather than
repopulation.
    And it seemed that the other surviving Traelix had so abandoned their past that they were now nothing
more than a shadow of their former selves, fitting in with the other races of
the galaxy and not possessing the technological or cultural heritage that the
KoQ carried on…though heavily modified as the Knights pushed to make
improvements and changes that ultimately led to the fulfillment of Oaths that
seemed to have no end in sight.
    There was a knock on his door, with Davis reaching out
his limited telepathy to discover who was on the other side. He telekinetically
flicked the open button and the narrow door slide aside to let Paul enter.
    Davis sighed and tossed the datapad onto a side table.
“I could say they swamped us with data, but in truth there’s very little here
other than an overview. Please tell me you’ve got something.”
    Paul pulled the chair from Davis’s comm station over to him and sat down on it in the reverse position, lounging his
arms on the backrest. “I’ve been talking with one of them, remotely, concerning
their naval abilities with regards to protecting the Preserve. They were
considerate but careful not to give too much away, but I’ve got a nagging
suspicion that they don’t fight much.”
    Davis raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
    “I don’t think those are warships. I think they’re
mobile field bases.”
    “All of them?”
    “They can fight if needed, and I’d guess they’re
heavily armed. I did get out of them that they do have capture weaponry so it
wouldn’t be necessary to kill everyone that came into the Preserve without a
ticket, but the way this one talked was more like, and I hate to misuse the
term here, but that they operated more like Jedi.”
    “I can vouch for the Force choke part.”
    Paul frowned. “Did they touch your body or your
armor?”
    “Actually,” he said, trying to remember, “I think it
was my armor, but it got past my shields.”
    “Could be intentional or a limitation,” Paul
speculated, but moved on. “Their ships are powerful and when grouped together
like this can really hurt you, but I think they’re used more for intimation and
carrying around their Knight teams. More transports than anything. I think most
of their operations are infantry, with a good portion of them being diplomatic.
They’ll reason first, apply pressure second, and fight navally last. I don’t
think they’re used to having to go to that third option, and I don’t think
they’re set up to replace losses. Have you found a size for their operations in
all of that?”
    “Nothing specific. I figured you had already gone
through it, Sav and all.”
    “I skimmed, but didn’t find anything too useful. Most
of it is boring as hell.”
    “I’ve got a lot left to go through, but I think I’m
starting to get a feel for them. They’re used to getting their way and being
the intelligent one amongst a galaxy of trolls, so if you consider that with
regards to their meeting with us what does that tell you?”
    “They don’t like wasting time.”
    “I picked up on that too in conjunction with the
‘patience’ suggestion. It’s like they know the proper course of action and will
allow us some measure of time to come to that conclusion. If we don’t they
force the issue. Standard protocol, and not too dissimilar to the way you
operate at times.”
    “You don’t