Can you see anything else?
Yes, there is a weapons board with a rather large selection to choose from. This ship is heavily armed.
Day looked up at the huge ship, If this is a scout, their main ships must be huge.
We should go look. Kreen teleported away.
The Sensor said, Something using a strange form of energy is close to us.
The Nest Master turned, Where is it?
The Sensor stared at its display, Its no longer here.
What was it?
The Sensor shook its triangular shaped head, I have no idea. Nothing appeared on my monitor but my scanner reported energy.
Could it be a malfunction?
Nothing is on my panel now. I dont know.
The Nest Master thought a moment, If it happens again, notify me.
I will.
Day and Kreen were above a planet that had been conquered by a strange looking species that looked very much like a wasp. It walked on four legs but had two arms with hands that had six fingers. It had the abdomen of a wasp extending beyond the four legs and a triangular shaped head. The eyes differed from a wasp in that they were set into the head in small indentations. Kreen had his wings extended and was feeding the scans into Days armor. They watched as the population was herded into camps all over the planet as large ships moved into the system. I wonder whats going to happen to those prisoners.
Im more curious about what those ships are coming to do, Kreen. This planet has been defeated and offers no resistance. Why bring in the extra ships?
I have no idea but the planet put up quite a fight. Most of the larger cities are still burning to some extent but they were not been nuked from orbit. It looks like their fleet didnt have much success against the invasion.
Day glanced out at the space surrounding the planet and saw the wreckage of ships scattered around the planet in high orbit, No, it appears they didnt. Day accessed his computer and queried it about information on wasps and related insects. He downloaded it and immediately felt a sense of dread. Kreen, take a look at this download.
Kreen took a look and said, You dont think thats what theyre going to do?
Day looked at the huge incoming fleet, Those ships are either bringing something here or are going to take something away. I dont see those warriors on the surface collecting anything but the population. This may get ugly.
I hope youre wrong.
Day shook his head knowing whatever was going to happen was never good for a conquered planet. It appears those creatures havent discovered a means of jumping inside the jump limit.
Youre right. Ive scanned their warships and they have a force field thats as good as a Zeta. Ill need to see one of their weapons fired before I can assess their strength. We can probably assume its pretty strong if the beam to force field relationship holds true.
I was just thinking that as well. Im glad we charged our armor; it could get dicey if they discover us.
Kreen looked at his helmets display, They are advanced in terms of the weapons on their ships but they are behind in terms of the finesse of their tools. Their drives are standard fare and their stealth is adequate to hide them from too close an inspection, but not that advanced. While Im scanning the planet, you should keep your scanners on their ships. Let me know if you see one charging their weapons.
Already on it, Kreen.
The fleet of ships arrived at the planet and thousands of small shuttles began dropping toward the planet. Pick one and follow it down, Kreen.
Day saw one of the shuttles landing at a compound where hundreds of captives were being held. The shuttle landed and the guards surrounding the compound started moving the prisoners toward the shuttle. As the line walked slowly toward the shuttle the guards would fire a hand weapon at the ones in the entrance and stun them; the shuttle crew would then carry them into the shuttle. What are they doing?
Im not sure, Day.
Suddenly they saw one of the wasp creatures run out of the shuttle, grab one of the captives and drag them out of line. Day and Kreen saw that the wasps abdomen was much larger than those herding the hostages. The wasp threw the captive to the ground, whipped its abdomen around, and penetrated its body with a large stinger. The captive struggled but then grew stiff and ceased moving. After ten seconds the wasp withdrew its stinger and its abdomen was back to normal size.
The captives in line saw what happened and turned and fled in panic. The guards fired their weapons until all of them were on the ground. One of the wasps walked forward and hit the one that had stung the prisoner and it was clear it was angry that it had caused an orderly process to disintegrate into chaos. It was clearly saying something and the wasp it was addressing was cowering in front of the leader. The leader took a small container for its vest and sprayed a bright white X on the stung prisoner. The body was carried into the shuttle with the others being moved.
Day said, The population is going to be used to feed their eggs.
What are they doing now?
The leader of the wasps looked over the bodies lying on the ground and began pointing at some of them. The guards came forward, picked them up, and carried them back into the buildings of the small city. Day watched and knew what they were doing, Theyre leaving some of them as a breed stock for future invasions.
Kreen saw Day had to be right, This is just another form of Keeper. I wonder how extensive these creatures have become in this universe.
I think well know once we collect all the information we gather. However, that first planet we recorded stands no chance against them. They dont even have a war fleet.
We need to follow one of these ships when it jumps out, Day. Were also running a risk staying in one place too long.
Go ahead and teleport to the jump limit and well wait for them there.
The Sensor worked his panel and just couldnt localize the location of a strange energy signature. It scanned a wide area and tried to home in on the source but was frustrated in its efforts. He called the Nest Master over and he was also unable to find the source. Suddenly the reading turned to zero. Its gone.
What was that?
I dont know. Ive never seen that pattern before and it seemed to just fill a huge area above the planet. Whatever caused it was small.
The Nest Master looked at the Sensor, How do you know that?
I could see the energy of our ships in orbit behind it.
Can you estimate the size?
My best guess is that it is one tenth the size of our drop ship.
Are you sure there was something there? Thats too small to have been a ship.
The Sensor hesitated, No, Im not sure and that may have been why I couldnt locate anything. This is something I cant explain.
Let me know if you see it again.
I will.
Kreen watched the scans from the planet while they waited for a ship to arrive and noticed something, Day, we may have a problem.
What!
Im going to feed this to your display; I want you to watch the warship that was located about twenty miles to the west of our location. Day watched as the ship slowly turned in orbit until its bow was pointed in their direction. They are turning the ship so they can bring their main sensors toward us.
Do you think they saw us?
I dont think they could see us but they must have detected something.
Why do you say that?
If they saw us, they would have fired on us. Notice that the bow was turned toward us for ten minutes and they didnt charge their weapons. We are giving them something but they cant see us.
What do you think it is, Kreen?
Well, we can eliminate anything physical so it must be energy. Their scanners must be able to see our energy frequency.