Koban 6: Conflict and Empire Read Online Free
Author: Stephen W. Bennett
strength increased fell within expected parameters for the class of warm-blooded lifeforms to which the humans appeared to belong.
The beam intensity at which exposed humans died would be useful for setting an upper radiation threshold for future punitive actions, after this subservient species was added to the Empire. Dead servants of the empire were less productive than live ones, and paid no taxes. An income that the Ragnar collected for the Empire, and received a share.
The Strangler’s surveillance system relayed its recordings automatically to the flagship for later scientific review. That was fortunate, since the ship, and the other three Stranglers, were soon lost.
Before that loss, however, a human wearing a brightly colored shirt, which matched the one worn by the presumed crewmember of a combat ship, shot up out of a square hole in the ground, at one of the openings into the underground drainage system. He rose in an improbably high arc in that gravity, executing a graceful folded up tuck and roll in apparent preparation to land feet first. It looked as if it was trying to come to the aid of the other humans affected by the beam. Some of those more susceptible victims had fallen, and were struggling to crawl to the shelter of that hole, even as the Debilitater robbed them of the ability to control their muscles.
What was gratifying to Thond was the total collapse of the leaping human, as he failed to control what had started as a graceful and powerful leap. After that, his body reacted far more violently to the beam than did the other adjacent humans. Whereas the bodies of the freighter’s crew flipped and flopped around, as nerves spontaneously directed muscle spasms, the brightly clothed human spectacularly flipped more than a body length into the air from a prone position. Its limb twitches were far faster and more forceful than that of any of the other humans, even when the beam strength grew stronger for the others.
Well after it was presumed to have died, its body continued impossible gyrations and high flips, which should have broken all of its limbs and many other bones. Yet, the limbs seemed to retain their proper articulation, as if unbroken, the muscle attachments untorn. The detailed study of these images provided some vital clues about the humans that flew in the extremely high performance combat ships. It helped explain some of their improbable tolerance of high acceleration and maneuvers by their ships, if they possessed considerably greater strength and durable bodies than the colonists and freighter crews. Thond was already impressed with the high gravity capability of the colonists, who demonstrated comparable strength to the average Ragnar, despite their smaller size. But the combat ship humans were in a distinct class apart.
These appeared to be a breed of super humans, and their ability to defeat the Krall began to seem more comprehensible. Except they were suddenly revealed to have a vital weakness, even greater than when compared to others of their own species that did not possess their strength and speed. They fell victim to the Debilitater ray at low signal levels, and died considerably sooner than did the other humans.
It was that conclusion, which had so energized Force Commander Thond that he lifted his face and roared at the sky, vigorously thumping his chest with the knuckles of both hands. His chest would be sore tomorrow, but his spirit was now healed. He’d been distressed by how successful those outnumbered humans had been at fighting his fleet. Now he knew their great weakness, and it was one the Ragnar themselves were less susceptible to, and had shielded armor, should humans learn to copy that weapon. All he required was more ways to exploit the weapon, and increased Debilitater production would be a significant part of his plans for the future of this conflict.
****
Sarge wouldn’t let go of his gripe. “I still think we should go to Wendal, to rub
The beam intensity at which exposed humans died would be useful for setting an upper radiation threshold for future punitive actions, after this subservient species was added to the Empire. Dead servants of the empire were less productive than live ones, and paid no taxes. An income that the Ragnar collected for the Empire, and received a share.
The Strangler’s surveillance system relayed its recordings automatically to the flagship for later scientific review. That was fortunate, since the ship, and the other three Stranglers, were soon lost.
Before that loss, however, a human wearing a brightly colored shirt, which matched the one worn by the presumed crewmember of a combat ship, shot up out of a square hole in the ground, at one of the openings into the underground drainage system. He rose in an improbably high arc in that gravity, executing a graceful folded up tuck and roll in apparent preparation to land feet first. It looked as if it was trying to come to the aid of the other humans affected by the beam. Some of those more susceptible victims had fallen, and were struggling to crawl to the shelter of that hole, even as the Debilitater robbed them of the ability to control their muscles.
What was gratifying to Thond was the total collapse of the leaping human, as he failed to control what had started as a graceful and powerful leap. After that, his body reacted far more violently to the beam than did the other adjacent humans. Whereas the bodies of the freighter’s crew flipped and flopped around, as nerves spontaneously directed muscle spasms, the brightly clothed human spectacularly flipped more than a body length into the air from a prone position. Its limb twitches were far faster and more forceful than that of any of the other humans, even when the beam strength grew stronger for the others.
Well after it was presumed to have died, its body continued impossible gyrations and high flips, which should have broken all of its limbs and many other bones. Yet, the limbs seemed to retain their proper articulation, as if unbroken, the muscle attachments untorn. The detailed study of these images provided some vital clues about the humans that flew in the extremely high performance combat ships. It helped explain some of their improbable tolerance of high acceleration and maneuvers by their ships, if they possessed considerably greater strength and durable bodies than the colonists and freighter crews. Thond was already impressed with the high gravity capability of the colonists, who demonstrated comparable strength to the average Ragnar, despite their smaller size. But the combat ship humans were in a distinct class apart.
These appeared to be a breed of super humans, and their ability to defeat the Krall began to seem more comprehensible. Except they were suddenly revealed to have a vital weakness, even greater than when compared to others of their own species that did not possess their strength and speed. They fell victim to the Debilitater ray at low signal levels, and died considerably sooner than did the other humans.
It was that conclusion, which had so energized Force Commander Thond that he lifted his face and roared at the sky, vigorously thumping his chest with the knuckles of both hands. His chest would be sore tomorrow, but his spirit was now healed. He’d been distressed by how successful those outnumbered humans had been at fighting his fleet. Now he knew their great weakness, and it was one the Ragnar themselves were less susceptible to, and had shielded armor, should humans learn to copy that weapon. All he required was more ways to exploit the weapon, and increased Debilitater production would be a significant part of his plans for the future of this conflict.
****
Sarge wouldn’t let go of his gripe. “I still think we should go to Wendal, to rub
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