Star Force: Starchaser (SF69) Read Online Free

his scouting fleets probing
what lay far beyond the new protected region and into areas where the lizards
had not even been mentioned. His forces had to go pretty far to find advanced
races that were not aware of the storm devouring everything in its path, but
they had found several new threats out there of their own accord, as well as
bastions of strength that he intended to make diplomatic contact with.
    As he read through the recent reports he found that
one of them had come to him first, with a diplomatic envoy from an previously
unknown race wanting to have a direct discussion with the Voku’s leader…and a tech tree that was on par with his own, based off the limited
analysis his scouts had made of their small fleet that had sought them out.
    Along with the message came their credentials in the
form of a territory map, linguistic database, and a sufficiently detailed
historical record. They were known as the Preema and their territory sat well
down the length of this galactic arm…with their numbers rivaling that of the
Skarrons. That combined with their level of technology immediately put Cal-com
on guard, and with that spike of trepidation his implants unlocked a new bit of
information the Elders had stored within them.
    What followed a burst of knowledge that confused
Cal-com. The Preema were, per his new memories, an isolationistic race that
maintained a very tight hold on a limited region of space, dominating virtually
every system within their geographical boundaries as opposed to the Skarrons
that skipped over most to cheery pick the ones they wanted. Most races did the
same, but the Preema were able to pour so much population into a ‘small’ region
that what happened within it was virtually unknown to outsiders, for no transit
was allowed within or through, making it a gigantic black hole of information.
    The Preema were benign as far as the Elders were
concerned, keeping to their own systems with little concern for others.
‘Private’ was the word that best described the avian race, which made this
unsolicited diplomatic contact far beyond their borders confusing…but also one
that Cal-com knew he had to follow up on. Currently the ships that had brought
the message were holding position at one of the Voku colonies that he’d
recently set up in the gaps between the ward races’ territories. That was where
they had made contact, and that was where they were awaiting a response.
    Cal-com read through the whole of their data packet
before issuing any orders, finding buried within it all the records of a brief
conflict with The Nexus. For reasons not mentioned The Nexus had invaded their
territory and, after a war that lasted only a handful of years, given up the
task after being met with too firm of a response. The Preema had not pursued
them beyond their own borders, deciding to only defend their own rather than
try to conquer their attackers, but Cal-com found it interesting none the less.
    The Elder had said The Nexus was reckless, and this
was the first evidence of that that Cal-com had seen. He’d been keeping an eye
on the distant empire that existed primarily in the next galactic arm out on
the rim, but had not tasked any scout fleets in that direction, save for their
nearest border with the lizards. He’d sent a few ships there to confirm the
reports Paul had been getting from the H’kar and to measure enemy strength
levels around the lizards’ core systems, but aside from a few delicate
information hacks into the ships passing through H’kar space his forces knew
little of The Nexus besides what was detailed in their public records.
    The territory they watched over was larger than what
the Skarrons possessed, but as the Elder had said they were reckless in that
they did not own but a handful of systems within it. It was more a patrol zone
than owned territory, with them dictating to others rather than taking physical
possession or responsibility. They were almost always involved in some