Star People

Chapter 35

New Encounters and Ideas

Feb 12^th, 13 AE

Day 2 of Operation Star Point…

At a hidden airfield located 100 miles from Juno Beach, a new type of aircraft was being readied for launch. Unlike its predecessor, the Rakerat, the new fighter needed no propeller to get airborne. It would be powered by the latest and most powerful engine the best Zedan scientists and aircraft designers could come up with.

The air-compression thrust engine.

Unlike propellers, this new engine would create thrust by sucking in outside air and compressing it by using small, propeller-like devices inside of it. Once the compressed air entered the combustion chamber, fuel would be ignited and the resulting thrust emerging from the other end would give the new fighter phenomenal speed and performance.  The fighter’s overall form was also different from its predecessor. It had tapered wings, rather than straight ones. Its canopy was smoother and less pronounced. The nose of the fuselage did not have the traditional propeller mounted in front of it. Mounted on each wing, near the fuselage was a powerful, air-compression thrust engine. With both engines going at full throttle, the fighter could conceivably reach speeds of over 900 km/hr or just under 560 mph. It was armed with two 23mm cannons in the nose as well as two rockets mounted under each wing.

This was Zedan’s first, fully operational jet fighter, the Zodera. And it was about to go head to head with the Kingdom of Atlans and its Mustangs and Warhawks. The first of the new planes began powering up its jet engines as its pilot took a deep breath. The plane slowly began making its way down the runway, gradually picking up speed. When it reached a speed of 120 mph, it lifted off the ground and began climbing into the air. It was soon followed by eleven more jets as they sped off to destroy the invading enemy.

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0850 hours, some 50 miles from Juno Beach…

“This is Sky Blue Leader to Sky Blue Wing. We are now at coordinates 87… 42… 02.” Captain Yarks Werrin announced over the radio as he led his squadron of 12 Mustangs. His mission was to scout for any hidden bases or airfields. Since their planes were not equipped with radar or long-range sensors like the Free Land Starfighters, they would have to visually seek out their targets.

Nearly all of the pilots in his squadron were rookies who had just finished fight combat training. Two of them were former Warhawk pilots who had transferred to the Mustangs after the Planet Ravager incident. Operation Star Point would be their first time to go up against a foe that was just a little ahead of them in terms of technology.

“Sir?”

“What is it Corporal Latrino?”

“Do you think we’ll encounter any enemy fighters? I heard that the Free Land Star Hawk and Byatta fighters practically cleared the skies of them.”

“We’re scouting a sector that they haven’t covered.” Yarks pointed out. “There’s a good possibility that the enemy may have some forces out here.”

“But sir, this is Free Land we’re talking about!” Corporal Zeekro said. “I hear that their radar and sensor equipment is a million times better than ours!”

“Yeah, and those Starfighters are nothing to sneeze at!” Lieutenant Vigrore stated. “Man! What I wouldn’t give to fly one of those!”

“Hey, our Mustangs are considered top of the line and equal to the Zedan planes, if not better!” Yarks insisted.

“I’d still want to fly a Star Hawk!”

“Well, you may get your chance to fly the next generation of fighter when the war with Zedan is over.”

“What do you mean?” Vigore asked.

“I know this is a bit of a secret, but I suppose I can tell you all.” Yarks said. “This is strictly off the records, understood?”

“Yes, Sir!” The entire squadron replied.

“All right, then!” Yarks nodded. “I’ve just been informed by the higher ups that Free Land had agreed to give us the plans for our first, non-propeller plane called a jet.”

There was a huge commotion among the pilots as they heard the news.

“Are you serious, Sir?!”

“We’re getting jets?!”

“We’ll be able to fly the same kind of planes like Naran?!”

“According to what the higher ups are saying, the plans for the new fighter jet are even more advanced than the Sky Blade II planes of Naran!” Yarks said with some excitement.

“I can’t believe it! I can’t wait to see the new jets!”

VREEEOW! BAM! BAM!

The high-pitched screech of a jet engine, accompanied by the sounds of cannon fire, quickly grabbed the attention of the whole squadron as one Mustang received several hits on its tail. It started to wobble as pieces began to fall off. Finally, it started to nose over and began heading downwards. The canopy was thrown open as the pilot climbed out of his cockpit and bailed out. A few seconds later, the pilot’s parachute deployed to slow his descent. On the ground, his stricken Mustang hit the ground and exploded.

“Damn it! What was that?!”

“Whoa! They’re so fast!”

“They don’t have propellers!”

“Are those jets?!”

“Shit! The enemy already has jets!”

“All units break!” Captain Werrin commanded as he put his Mustang into a hard banking turn. Just out of the corner of his right eye, he could see what resembled a dart-like shape. It was painted in the Zedan battle colors of its air force. And it was fast, frightfully fast. A quick scan of his surroundings indicated that his Mustang squadron was up against at least nine of the new Zedan aircraft.

Jets.

However, due to Atlans’ relationship with Free Land, Werrin also knew that even jets weren’t invincible. With the plans for the new jet fighter, the Kingdom of Atlans was also informed of the weaknesses of flying the propeller-less planes.

As a trio of Zedan jets started bearing down on his fighter. Yarks put his Mustang into a very tight turn. Due to their higher rate of speed, the jets were unable to turn with him and overshot him. He let loose with a long burst with his six, fifty-caliber machine guns. He just managed to catch the jets at the edge of his guns’ range, as several rounds peppered the fuselage of one of them. The Zedan jet began trailing flames and smoke as the pilot threw open the canopy and bailed out.

As Yarks watched the enemy pilot parachute float down towards the ground, his wingmen began mixing it up with the Zedan jets. In terms of raw speed, height and firepower, the Mustangs lagged behind the Zoderas. However, they made up for it as they forced the inexperienced jet pilots into slower, turning duels. The Zedan airmen were not used to the higher performances of their craft and kept on overshooting their targets. Two more of the jets were sent down as flaming wreckage, but at a steep cost. Six more Mustangs had fallen prey to the cannon fire of the Zoderas.

After a brief and intense struggle, the jets broke off their attack as another one of their weaknesses was made apparent. Due to their huge consumption of fuel, they couldn’t engage the Mustangs for very long. As they retreated back towards their base, one more jet was downed as four Mustangs concentrated their guns and hit its tail. The other Zoderas accelerated away, out of the range of Atlans’ weapons.

Yarks signaled for the survivors of his squadron to hold their fire. Out of the twelve Mustangs that had take off from Juno Beach, only he and four others were still in the air. They had traded seven men for only four Zedan jets. He didn’t like that tradeoff and hoped that his nation would soon build the jets needed to strengthen their air forces.

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1250, more than 100 miles from Omaha Beach…

“Star Hawk Four to Hawk Prime. Hey, did you hear what happened near Juno?” Lieutenant John Carson asked as he and his flight of six Star Hawks patrolled the sector.

“I heard.” Captain Wittens acknowledged. “It seems that the Zedan forces are now deploying jet aircraft, so our allies are having some problems dealing with them.”

“I thought the Zedan forces only had propeller planes.” Lieutenant Kojiro asked.

“The higher ups rate the Zedan technology to be late World War II-era so it would be possible for them to develop aircraft similar to the Me262. Of course, due to their level of industry and production, there’s little chance of them being able to build enough jets to counter our technology and overwhelming numbers.”

“Speak of the devil. I’ve just picked up several contacts heading toward our positions. I count ten in all. We should have visual confirmation in two minutes. I’ve confirmed that they’re Zedan aircraft.” Kojiro announced. “They’re moving far too fast to be considered propeller planes. Orders?”

“Shoot them all down.”

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One minute before making visual contact…

Lieutenant Arks Volhen was amazed at the sheer speed and power of the new Zodera jets. Propeller planes couldn’t even come close to comparing to them. And it was rumored that their new aircraft could even be a match against the aircraft of Free Land.

Arks felt invincible!

KA-BOOM!

That was his final thought, before he and his Zodera exploded in a fiery ball, as a Skybolt missile slammed into them. The sudden demise of their flight leader put the remaining nine jets in a panic. Though the Zodera had improved performance over its predecessor, the Rakerat, it still couldn’t compete against the long-range sensors, performance and weapons of the Star Hawks.

Three more Zoderas exploded as Skybolt missiles streaked in. At that moment, the Zedan pilots screamed out.

“Over there! It’s the enemy!”

“They don’t have propellers either!”

“Are those jets like ours?”

“No! They’re faster!”

“Look out!”

Once they locked onto their targets, the Free Land pilots systematically and efficiently shot down their enemies. Particle beams tore through the Zoderas like hot knives through butter. Kinetic rounds ripped through reinforced armor plating. And even though jets had faster speeds than propeller planes, they didn’t have G-force nullifiers and inertial compensators to match the maneuverability of the Star Hawks.

In less than twenty seconds, all ten Zoderas were flaming wreckages descending towards the ground.

The Star Hawks continued on.

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1355, Polaris City, the Council of Prime Directors…

“It seems that Operation Star Point is proceeding as planned.” Benjamin announced.

“I’ve heard reports that the Zedan forces have begun to deploy what appear to be jet aircraft.” Nasaak commented.

“It’s nothing that we can’t handle.” Anida responded. “Not like that ‘other’ matter.”

“Indeed.” The Terran director remarked. “My friends and colleagues, even though the war with Zedan is not yet over, our victory is pretty much a foregone conclusion. Therefore, I feel that we must make a decision on a matter that we have been putting off for months.”

“You mean the petition for Star Alliance Membership by the dwarf nations?” Nasaak inquired.

“Indeed.”

“Well… if it were up to me… I’d let them join. I like those little guys.”

“We cannot just let the dwarves join the Alliance based on the personal preferences of one Prime Director.” Anida pointed out.

“I know that.” The Catian Director said. “I just wanted to put out my opinion on the table.”

“In any case, perhaps we should summarize all the information that we have on the dwarves, before discussing the reasons why they should or should not be a member of the Star Alliance?” Viska asked.

“An excellent suggestion.” Nerto concurred as he pressed a control on his console. This made the main holo-projector display an image of a typical dwarf. “Now then, dwarves are generally a humanoid species that average between 1 meter to 1.2 meters in height, or about 3-4 feet. They have an average lifespan of about 200-300 years, though there are some individuals who have lived for half a millennium. Despite their small stature, they have more muscle mass and bone density than the average human of this planet. Additionally, they have displayed greater strength, stamina and resilience.”

“Yes.” Ben nodded. “I’ve seen them lift and carry more than quadruple what the average human of this world can handle and they could even keep pace in many areas with Terrans.”

“It’s not just their physical abilities that are remarkable. Their overall biological constitution is quite impressive.” The Kyteeri Prime Director pointed out. “I’m not certain if it’s because of their genetic makeup, magic manipulation, or due to generations of working in the mines and forges, but they’re quite resilient against disease, infections and toxins. They are able to perform manual work in places of extreme heat and high pressure for extended periods. And I think all of us are aware of their extraordinarily high tolerance towards alcohol.”

“That would be putting it mildly.” Nasaak said with a bit of snort. “Seriously, what are their livers made of? Hyper-durlenium? I once saw a dwarf chug down a 1-liter bottle of Catian Rum and not even feel a little tipsy. The dwarves basically drink alcohol as easily as we drink water.”

“I’ve noticed that all the bars and taverns in Free Land are frequently visited by dwarven tourists.” The Velor Director stated. “And there’s been an increase in export orders of Jack Daniel’s and other Free Land alcoholic beverages to dwarven nations. Since the alcohol content is generally higher than the average ale, wine or mead, the dwarves have taken a liking toward anything from the Star Alliance. When they say that dwarves have been raised on alcohol since birth, I tend to believe it.”

“Their love for alcohol also makes it easy for businesses and diplomats to deal with them.” The Nemonian Director added. “As long as you include some Free Land beer or whiskey into the deal, the dwarves are quite agreeable. In some cases, alcohol is treated as a form of currency for the dwarves. You can get a good labor force by simply paying their wages in alcohol.“

“Be as it may, aside for their tenacity for a shot of whiskey, the dwarves are a hard-working race.” Ben continued. “For them, ten straight hours at the forges, mines or heavy construction is just a normal day at the office for them.”

“They possess a love for creating new devices and have a talent for invention.” Nasaak stated. “I’ve had the technicians look over the Gigaran, and they rate it to be equivalent to a Class D Construction-Type Mech-Frame. That may be the lowest level of Mech-Frame, but it’s quite impressive they achieved that level with just hand-forging and manual tools.”

“They also have a gift for learning mechanical principles and applying them.”  The humanoid lizard Director stated. “They’re quite intelligent and are able to grasp scientific principles fairly easily. Their overall technology level was late 19^th century when we first encountered them.They already knew about the steam engine and some applications in electrical power. After we had given them some samples of early to mid-twentieth century Earth technology, they had begun mastering the internal combustion engine, the Bessemer process, and even radio and television. The vacuum tube has already raised their level substantially. They are just a hair’s breadth away from discovering the fundamentals of the transistor. And once they do so, their technology is going to take a huge leap forward.”

“Actually, I think they may already have the means to make a transistor.” Ben pointed out.

“What?!” The other four directors exclaimed.

“Calm down and let me explain. Now we all know that a transistor’s basic function is to amplify, control and switch electrical signals and power. A vacuum tube does the same thing, but it’s too bulky and can’t handle the kind of output that a transistor can. At present, what’s stopping the dwarves from creating a viable transistor through mechanical means is their lack of knowledge of semiconductive materials and how to process and refine them. However, they may have an alternative.”

“And that is?” Anida asked.

“Dwarven Runes. We’ve been studying those marks on the Neo-Psion reactor for some time and quite frankly, our technicians are bamboozled by them.”

“What’s bamboozle?” Nasaak asked.

“It’s an old term which means to confound or perplex. We’ve studied magical runes from other countries, such as Naran, but Dwarven runes aren’t like the others.”

“How are they different?” Viska inquired.

“Runes from other magical countries are inscribed with a substance that is conductive to psions and imbued with a large amount of psion energy. I believe it is called magical ink or scribing medium. The substance directs the psion energy in a pattern or enchantment as it is called. You could say that the runes are the magical equivalent to circuit pathways. However, there is one major drawback. The psion energy feeds on the ink or medium as it is being utilized. Eventually, the psion energy in the substrate will degrade over time, causing the runes to fade and lose their potency. Unless a new infusion of psions and medium is added, the runes eventually fade away into nothingness. And that’s where Dwarven Runes differ. They don’t fade away.”

“They don’t?” Nerto asked as he and the other directors became more interested.

“And what’s even more surprising is that Dwarven Runes cannot be scanned or analyzed, even by our most sophisticated sensors.”

“Do they have some kind of spell or barrier that prevents them from being scanned?” Anida inquired.

“Quite the opposite. The runes just don’t register on the scanners at all. It’s as if they don’t exist.”

“Say what?” The Catian director exclaimed.

“It’s true. Even though the runes are right in front of us, when we try to focus our sensors on them directly, the instruments draw a blank. They can measure the psion emissions coming from the markings, but not the markings themselves. It’s driving our analytical teams crazy that they can see and feel the engravings Clurke made with a TIG-welder, but they can’t determine how they function. Of course, neither Clurke, his son or any other dwarf will reveal the process of how these runes are created. The only thing that the analytical teams can conclude is that the runes are able to direct and amplify psion energy.”

The other directors then began to understand Ben’s train of thought.

“Transistors do the same job, right? They direct and amplify electrical energy.” Anida stated.

“And since energy is still energy, regardless of whether it is manipulated by science or sorcery…” Viska continued.

“… you’re telling us that the Dwarven Runes and runes in general, are the magical equivalent of transistors.” Nerto finished.

“Basically, that’s the conclusion the analytical teams came up with.” Ben admitted. “Elf and Fairy Runes fade away relatively quickly, so they’re not suitable to be used in the same way as our hyper-quantum transistor banks. Heck, they can’t even last longer than the average vacuum tube.”

“But you’re saying Dwarven Runes have the same capabilities as our advanced transistor banks?” Nasaak asked.

“Not quite.” The Terran Director corrected. “At best, they have the same capacity as the late twentieth century versions. However, they do have one other quality.”

 “The Neo-Psion Reactor?” Nerto asked.

“Indeed. The ability to create neo-psions solves two major problems. First and most important of all, the ability to generate psions in places that do not have an abundance of them; particularly in the vacuum of space. Secondly, the runes greatly increase the efficiency of psions.”

“And that reactor is the only tangible thing the dwarves could contribute to the Star Alliance.” Visak stated. “Previously, we weren’t very interested in learning magic since it cannot be invoked in space and it was too inefficient. The performance of the Naran kingdom during Operation Star Point proved that.”

“The Neo-Psion Reactor now makes it possible for magic to be used more efficiently and in places where it normally cannot be invoked.” Nerto added. “Basically, the dwarves had come up with a viable, alternate energy source.”

“And how would you rate the Neo-Psion Reactor’s capabilities?” Nasaak inquired.

“According to the latest reports, the reactor’s output has been upgraded and is similar to that of a C-Class Mark IV series thermoelectric generator. It’s now certified to be used for day-to-day civilian applications or as an emergency power supply.”

“What about military applications?”

“It’s still well below that of a Scrapper at 20% power. You’d need to have it equal to an A-Class Plasmonic Field Generator in order to be useful in combat. It still doesn’t compare to meson/anti-meson reactors or fusion power cells. However…”

“However?”

“That’s only applying it to our standards. If they were to use it in their military against the other nations, then they could surpass both the Kingdoms of Atlans and Naran.”

“Yes, I can see how being able to create psions quickly and more efficiently would be a huge advantage.” Ben admitted.

“A magic cannon would be able to fire and reload faster. Magical barriers would have far greater resistance to impacts. And of course, if they were to mass-produce a military-grade version of the Gigaran, then they’d be able to stand head and shoulders over the other nations in ground warfare.”

“That by itself is a huge consideration.” Nerto pointed out. “Although both the Kingdom of Naran and Atlans are allies, they still follow the warlike and aggressive tendencies of this world. If the dwarves are able to surpass them militarily, then they will be seen as competition.”

“Aren’t we seen as such?” Viska asked. “After all, our technology is far beyond anything that anyone on this planet is capable of.”

“Yes, but if the dwarves do become Star Alliance members, then that will cause envy and jealousy among the other nations.” The Catian director said. “They might even petition for membership themselves. And as Ben told those dwarven engineers, we would have to turn those other nations down.”

The Council continued to discuss until late in the afternoon. By the time they finished and made their decision, it was already 1900 hours.

They would announce their decision by the end of the conflict with Zedan.

To be continued…

Author’s Notes

Sorry it took so long to get this next chapter out but I had a bit of writer’s block and a lot of real life issues. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.