Battle of The Wilds by Holmes D. J

Author:Holmes, D. J.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

The Empire has benefited from all her allies. None more so than the Kulreans.

-Excerpt from Empire Ascendant 3015 AD.

Pioneer, Kulthar, 26th March 2513 AD, (same time).

Edward didn’t know where to look. Just seconds ago, their worldship had entered the Kulthar system. Its advanced sensors were filling the massive holo display that dominated the large bridge with detailed information on every orbital body and structure. All Edward had to do was focus on one area, and it automatically zoomed in, showing Edward what was there as if he were mere kilometers away.

Edward glanced at Brook and then at Cortez. They had the same looks on their faces. The astonishingly quick journey from Earth to Kulthar had already blown them away, as had Pioneer’s sensors and other capabilities. Yet the Kulthar system was something else again. Until recently, a Kulrean worldship had been the largest vessel Edward had ever laid eyes upon. Yet before him, in the inner system, far larger ships were moving about. Even they were dwarfed by the massive orbital stations that surrounded Kulthar and several of the system’s other planetary bodies.

Edward shook his head. Compared to the Sol system, the Kulthar system seemed almost empty. Where Sol would have thousands, if not tens of thousands of ships moving about the system, Kulthar had less than five hundred. Yet every ship he looked at, and every orbital station he caused the holo display to zoom in on, was impressive beyond words. We are still so far behind them, he thought. It filled him with a mixture of confidence and something close to anger. Confidence came from his hope that one day Humanity would reach such levels. He felt certain that if they could, the Karacknids would no longer be a threat. At the same time, though, seeing the technological wonders in front of him, Edward couldn’t shake all those who were dying right now in the fight against the Karacknids from his mind. If the Kulreans would only share all their technology now, Humanity could defeat its enemy with ease.

But they won’t, Edward said to himself as he glanced at Sarson, Pioneer’s Captain. Growing up, Edward had learned all about the Kulreans, including their strange moral code that made them pacifists. Albeit slightly leaky ones, given the worldships they had built but insisted on being used only to defend their allies' worlds. Like other Humans before him, including his father, Edward had thought that during the journey from Earth to Kulthar, he could talk Sarson around into seeing the value in sharing all their weapons technologies with Humanity and even letting their worldships go on offensive operations. Yet Edward had found himself frustrated at every turn. Sarson had willingly accepted command of a ship that would be called upon to fight when the Karacknids reached Humanity’s border forts, showing he was among the most morally flexible of his people. Even so, he hadn’t budged an inch in their philosophical debates. If he hadn’t been just as stubborn as Sarson, Edward would have given up within the first couple of days of leaving Earth.

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