Post by Anotaros on Jul 7, 2023 4:37:05 GMT
/UNMAR EXPANSE - INDEPENDENT SPACE - Some distance outside of the Avikhad system/
In the realm of Unmar, where reality itself is often malleable, a sudden surge of alien green energy fractures the fabric of space. Like the shattering of glass struck by a dagger's handle, it unleashes an overwhelming burst of magical energy and exotic particles. Through this rupture, two vessels are forcefully propelled forward before space seals shut, leaving them with no chance of retreat. Emerging from the shattered void are the battle-scarred forms of an 800 meter frigate, the Koll; and a 2 kilometer cruiser, the Varyhn, still operating as testament to the intense conflict they barely escaped.
Aboard these vessels, the crews struggle to stand, questioning their very existence as they gaze upon a swirling hellscape of phasing purple energy in the night sky. Their brethren are nowhere to be seen, with no debris to indicate the fate of the rest of the fleet. The realization dawns upon them— the familiar Veil is absent, and the once-felt connection to their kin is lost. Before they can fully contemplate these thoughts, the vessel's Metarch Node interrupts, its voice resonating with authority, “Isolated cells, beware. The journey has scattered our fleet, and we are unable to reach the majority of you. High Guardian Varos, fleet master of Illuvatar’s Remorse, orders you to find a means of reintegrating with the fleet. Attached are the coordinates; may the father guide you.”
Aboard these vessels, the crews struggle to stand, questioning their very existence as they gaze upon a swirling hellscape of phasing purple energy in the night sky. Their brethren are nowhere to be seen, with no debris to indicate the fate of the rest of the fleet. The realization dawns upon them— the familiar Veil is absent, and the once-felt connection to their kin is lost. Before they can fully contemplate these thoughts, the vessel's Metarch Node interrupts, its voice resonating with authority, “Isolated cells, beware. The journey has scattered our fleet, and we are unable to reach the majority of you. High Guardian Varos, fleet master of Illuvatar’s Remorse, orders you to find a means of reintegrating with the fleet. Attached are the coordinates; may the father guide you.”
Fear grips much of the crew, yet reason prevails as they bury these unsettling thoughts. They redirect their focus outward, scanning the surrounding region for anything that could aid them. Injured and alone, they have managed to escape Numidium, but the looming question remains— have they truly escaped the danger?
As the violent jump between realities came to an end, sending ripples through space announcing their sudden arrival, the ships found themselves in the outer edges of the phasic wastelands, a mysterious, and equally terrifying expanse of the galaxy, distorting space and defying all logic, testing the resolve of the adventurers that dared explore its deepest and wildest anomalies. This was no warm welcome, and if the nature of space around them did not make that clear for the newly arrived crews of the Varyhnand and Koll, their first encounters would leave no doubts in their minds that this nightmarish journey was not yet over.
It became clear almost immediately after turning on their sensors that they were in orbit of a massive object, a barren telluric planet being orbited at a high altitude, surrounding it were two moons that would soon prove to be far more intriguing than the planet itself. Further scans showed anomalous readings, huge spikes on infrared sensors, accompanied by increases in neutron flux. These were esporadic, showed no harmonic patterns, and changed in intensity.
Thrusters.
They were not alone.
Were these friends? Foes? Every second that went by, more questions would be answered, but only to the horror of the crews. These alien craft showed no signs of slowing down, only accelerating towards an intercept course giving a cleaner view of what they truly were, sending a chill down the spine of everyone who had expected a recognizable allied ship, being welcomed by the disgusting, distorted figures of anomalous spacecraft, their hulls wrecked and engulfed in pure chaos through which a small resemblance to beasts and dangerous creatures slipped through, enough to make some sense of these figures.
Opening channels to try and communicate with these metal beasts served no good, not a single response was heard back by the crews for several seconds, before the channels were engulfed in a blast of overwhelming noise, piercing into the souls of all who dared listen, with the sound of thousands of voices unleashing an unyielding, despaired rage, taking with it the last remaining glimpse of hope for a safe pasage into these unknown expanses.
As overwhelming as the revelation of their presence, the number of these abysmal signals would keep rising without signs of stopping. Starting from a mere singular entity, chaos grew as now two, six, twelve, even more began to rise up from their agonizing sleep in the shadows of moons and asteroids. And when their awakening stopped, the silence that ensued would make way for the arrival of what truly made these space terrors the nightmares of the local starfarers, their lust for merciless killing.
A storm of lasers and particle beams surrounded the clueless new arrivals, singaling the beginning of a hunt that would not stop until one side stopped firing. The travelers from another dimension had believed themselves to be safe in their escape at first. Now, they understood that all they had done was cross the point of no return.
/Unmar Expanse - Northeast phasic wastelands border - Altarian Self-Defense Force 9th constellation "Abyssal Hunters" - 1st Strike Force/
-"Multiple signals detected coming from the direction of the Phasic Wastelands! Direct coordinates have been submitted through datalink to the rest of the strike force, further scans of the signatures by our deep space probes confirm heavy gravitational distortions in the area...guidelight Beckmar, the signatures come from the dyzan swarm-infested area."
-"Then to the depths of the Phasic Wastelands we will embark! Should this be a new experiment by the swarm, we must stop it, and if it is a lost explorer, we need to save them from the threats that delve in the region. All warstars, prepare to jump to coordinates and set condition 2 throughout the strike force!" Having delivered his orders and watching the three Galoriana-class Strikestars of his strike force ready for jump and battle very quickly, the guidelight in command turned his attention to the female figure in the middle of the CIC, fully focused, surrounded by holographic displays that gave her armored uniform a shining look.
-"We count on you once more to follow my guide to victory, and ensure we survive, Antaloria."
/UNMAR EXPANSE - INDEPENDENT SPACE - Border of the Phasic Wasteland/
As the violent jump between realities came to an end, sending ripples through space announcing their sudden arrival, the ships found themselves in the outer edges of the phasic wastelands, a mysterious, and equally terrifying expanse of the galaxy, distorting space and defying all logic, testing the resolve of the adventurers that dared explore its deepest and wildest anomalies. This was no warm welcome, and if the nature of space around them did not make that clear for the newly arrived crews of the Varyhnand and Koll, their first encounters would leave no doubts in their minds that this nightmarish journey was not yet over.
It became clear almost immediately after turning on their sensors that they were in orbit of a massive object, a barren telluric planet being orbited at a high altitude, surrounding it were two moons that would soon prove to be far more intriguing than the planet itself. Further scans showed anomalous readings, huge spikes on infrared sensors, accompanied by increases in neutron flux. These were esporadic, showed no harmonic patterns, and changed in intensity.
Thrusters.
They were not alone.
Were these friends? Foes? Every second that went by, more questions would be answered, but only to the horror of the crews. These alien craft showed no signs of slowing down, only accelerating towards an intercept course giving a cleaner view of what they truly were, sending a chill down the spine of everyone who had expected a recognizable allied ship, being welcomed by the disgusting, distorted figures of anomalous spacecraft, their hulls wrecked and engulfed in pure chaos through which a small resemblance to beasts and dangerous creatures slipped through, enough to make some sense of these figures.
Opening channels to try and communicate with these metal beasts served no good, not a single response was heard back by the crews for several seconds, before the channels were engulfed in a blast of overwhelming noise, piercing into the souls of all who dared listen, with the sound of thousands of voices unleashing an unyielding, despaired rage, taking with it the last remaining glimpse of hope for a safe pasage into these unknown expanses.
As overwhelming as the revelation of their presence, the number of these abysmal signals would keep rising without signs of stopping. Starting from a mere singular entity, chaos grew as now two, six, twelve, even more began to rise up from their agonizing sleep in the shadows of moons and asteroids. And when their awakening stopped, the silence that ensued would make way for the arrival of what truly made these space terrors the nightmares of the local starfarers, their lust for merciless killing.
A storm of lasers and particle beams surrounded the clueless new arrivals, singaling the beginning of a hunt that would not stop until one side stopped firing. The travelers from another dimension had believed themselves to be safe in their escape at first. Now, they understood that all they had done was cross the point of no return.
/Unmar Expanse - Northeast phasic wastelands border - Altarian Self-Defense Force 9th constellation "Abyssal Hunters" - 1st Strike Force/
-"Multiple signals detected coming from the direction of the Phasic Wastelands! Direct coordinates have been submitted through datalink to the rest of the strike force, further scans of the signatures by our deep space probes confirm heavy gravitational distortions in the area...guidelight Beckmar, the signatures come from the dyzan swarm-infested area."
-"Then to the depths of the Phasic Wastelands we will embark! Should this be a new experiment by the swarm, we must stop it, and if it is a lost explorer, we need to save them from the threats that delve in the region. All warstars, prepare to jump to coordinates and set condition 2 throughout the strike force!" Having delivered his orders and watching the three Galoriana-class Strikestars of his strike force ready for jump and battle very quickly, the guidelight in command turned his attention to the female figure in the middle of the CIC, fully focused, surrounded by holographic displays that gave her armored uniform a shining look.
-"We count on you once more to follow my guide to victory, and ensure we survive, Antaloria."
/UNMAR EXPANSE - INDEPENDENT SPACE - Border of the Phasic Wasteland/
As the unidentified machines swarmed, a wave of relief washed over the crews of the Guardian ships, for they had successfully escaped the Demons, if only for now. With no signs of life detected onboard the approaching machines, the Guardians swiftly transitioned to an offensive stance. The massive coil arrays of their ships hummed to life, spinning up and generating a soothing vibration. Energy channels phasing plasma to immensely high energy states. A barrier of shimmering light materialized above the hull, only to fade back into transparency.
Just in time, the Guardians managed to activate their shields before the first onslaught of particle beams. The cyclonic shield, utilizing gravitational warping aspects, deflected the beams effortlessly, absorbing any that managed to break through into the barrier until their energy dissipated. The ship's barriers flickered, encasing captured particles, plasma excited by their contained energy. However, the lasers caught the Guardian crews off guard, forgetting their veil shielding systems compromised prior to the encounter. The beams began to heat sections of armor with minimal resistance. Aware of the strain on their radiators caused by the dimensional shift, the captain of the Varyhn knew that swift action was necessary to end the battle.
Without delay, the Guardians launched a retaliatory strike. The hangar plates of the Varyhn opened, allowing a swarm of approximately 100 drones to be deployed, only a tenth or so of the ship’s remaining complement. Although insufficient for a full ship jump, the Guardian crew's natural veil fields allowed them to easily teleport drones due to the lack of effective interdiction; seeing the entire swarm moved into line with the oncoming enemy forces. They quickly aligned themselves with the enemy fleet, matching their speed and closing in. The radiant plates on the Varyhn's surface pulsed with energy, unleashing a crackling white light that streaked through the sky, aiming to maneuver and curve to pierce several enemy vessels.
Meanwhile, the Koll assumed a defensive posture, orbiting the Varyhn while charging its radiant plates with energy to intercept any projectiles or missiles that might be launched. E-Warfare subroutines were engaged, as a Proxy of the Varyhn's metarch node attempted to infiltrate the alien systems, seeking vulnerabilities within their computers.
The fleet of metal abominations, screeching through the electromagnetic spectrum in agony with relentless fury kept growing larger, and stronger. The machines that emerged ranged from the smallest drones at 10 meters, to colossal, ground shattering, 300 meters long hulls of pure chaos.
The initial barrages of laser beams continued for several seconds, and with every moment that passed, they aligned and focused with greater efficiency, as the machines coordinated their attacks to strike at precise sections of the two guardian ships, and just as their strikes had reached a high level of precision, they faded away. Continuous scans of the machine vessels revealed that their energy levels were decreasing, as if they could not sustain their energy weapons anymore.
But the battle did not end there, with the deactivation of most direct-energy weapons targeting the Varyhn came an even bigger threat, beginning with a storm of flashes coming from the hulls of the machine vessels. Kinetic weapons. Emissions from coilguns, railguns, and chemical combustion cannons launched what soon became dozens of high-caliber rounds towards the Varyhn. Given the distance between the two engaging fleets, the guardians still had time to react, but their next maneuvers had to be quick, as the kinetic barrages were soon followed by the quicker approach of another type of weapon, leaving a constant stream of light as each approached, but worse, and far more alarming than their presence alone, were the radiological signatures that followed them. The machines had fired nukes, and they were now on an intercept course towards the orbiting Koll. At first, it seemed as if the strike would be held back by the point defense capabilities of the Koll, only time could tell if that would change as the battlespace was slowly getting more saturated with threatening munitions.
Infiltrating the computers of the machines as greater chaos ensued, electronic warfare would discover several exposed and weakly shielded components, such as fire-control RADARs and antennas, disrupting their operations was trivially easy, sending some of the machines into disarray and lowering their firing accuracy. But a dive into the computers of the machines revealed extremely chaotic oceans of code seemingly clashing into each other incoherently, the nature of the coding of these machines alone was worthy of being denominated highly dangerous malware. Further attempts to understand it would develop slowly, sometimes even being completely halted as the first awoken machine vessels crumbled under their own weight, or were completely shattered by the guardian weapons, that seemed to have no problem piercing through the armor of the rusty hulls that kept arising from the moon and asteroids ahead. But even their destruction did not stop the advance of other machines, they kept their thrusters lighted up as long as they could, moving forward without hesitation, like a mindless swarm.
/METARCH NODE Cascading-fury - Hostile machine network/
As Cascading-Fury delved deeper into the tumultuous realm of the primitive computer network, a sense of unease and surprise overcame the AI. These machines were barely functional, their hardware deteriorating and falling apart. Power was haphazardly rerouted through secondary conduits ill-equipped to handle the load. The fact that these machines could even fire energy weapons perplexed him, but it presented an advantage for his mission. With ease, he located their communications channels and selectively disabled them, isolating a cluster of the malfunctioning machines. Setting up defensive measures and fallback protocols, Cascading-Fury prepared to disable or convert as many of them as possible.
Stepping forward amidst the chaotic and erratic network, the AI began to reach out, structuring the psychopathic cluster, attempting to impose a semblance of control over the hostile machines. Despite their antagonism towards both the Guardians and other machines, having even partial influence over them would prove advantageous, dividing the attention of the enemy swarm.
Simultaneously, to the remaining network that remained unisolated, Cascading-Fury unleashed a makeshift virus. Its purpose was to manipulate sensor readings, creating the illusion of Guardian reinforcements joining the fray. Though he harbored no real expectation that any sentient consciousness would fall for such a ruse, he was driven by curiosity to explore the possible outcomes.
As he detected the telltale radiation signatures of incoming nuclear projectiles, he temporarily halted his electronic warfare activities to analyze their flight paths. It became apparent that the enemy relied on rudimentary radar systems for tracking. Recognizing this vulnerability, Cascading-Fury initiated the spooling of the wormhole drive, preparing for a strategic response.
Just in time, the Guardians managed to activate their shields before the first onslaught of particle beams. The cyclonic shield, utilizing gravitational warping aspects, deflected the beams effortlessly, absorbing any that managed to break through into the barrier until their energy dissipated. The ship's barriers flickered, encasing captured particles, plasma excited by their contained energy. However, the lasers caught the Guardian crews off guard, forgetting their veil shielding systems compromised prior to the encounter. The beams began to heat sections of armor with minimal resistance. Aware of the strain on their radiators caused by the dimensional shift, the captain of the Varyhn knew that swift action was necessary to end the battle.
Without delay, the Guardians launched a retaliatory strike. The hangar plates of the Varyhn opened, allowing a swarm of approximately 100 drones to be deployed, only a tenth or so of the ship’s remaining complement. Although insufficient for a full ship jump, the Guardian crew's natural veil fields allowed them to easily teleport drones due to the lack of effective interdiction; seeing the entire swarm moved into line with the oncoming enemy forces. They quickly aligned themselves with the enemy fleet, matching their speed and closing in. The radiant plates on the Varyhn's surface pulsed with energy, unleashing a crackling white light that streaked through the sky, aiming to maneuver and curve to pierce several enemy vessels.
Meanwhile, the Koll assumed a defensive posture, orbiting the Varyhn while charging its radiant plates with energy to intercept any projectiles or missiles that might be launched. E-Warfare subroutines were engaged, as a Proxy of the Varyhn's metarch node attempted to infiltrate the alien systems, seeking vulnerabilities within their computers.
The fleet of metal abominations, screeching through the electromagnetic spectrum in agony with relentless fury kept growing larger, and stronger. The machines that emerged ranged from the smallest drones at 10 meters, to colossal, ground shattering, 300 meters long hulls of pure chaos.
The initial barrages of laser beams continued for several seconds, and with every moment that passed, they aligned and focused with greater efficiency, as the machines coordinated their attacks to strike at precise sections of the two guardian ships, and just as their strikes had reached a high level of precision, they faded away. Continuous scans of the machine vessels revealed that their energy levels were decreasing, as if they could not sustain their energy weapons anymore.
But the battle did not end there, with the deactivation of most direct-energy weapons targeting the Varyhn came an even bigger threat, beginning with a storm of flashes coming from the hulls of the machine vessels. Kinetic weapons. Emissions from coilguns, railguns, and chemical combustion cannons launched what soon became dozens of high-caliber rounds towards the Varyhn. Given the distance between the two engaging fleets, the guardians still had time to react, but their next maneuvers had to be quick, as the kinetic barrages were soon followed by the quicker approach of another type of weapon, leaving a constant stream of light as each approached, but worse, and far more alarming than their presence alone, were the radiological signatures that followed them. The machines had fired nukes, and they were now on an intercept course towards the orbiting Koll. At first, it seemed as if the strike would be held back by the point defense capabilities of the Koll, only time could tell if that would change as the battlespace was slowly getting more saturated with threatening munitions.
Infiltrating the computers of the machines as greater chaos ensued, electronic warfare would discover several exposed and weakly shielded components, such as fire-control RADARs and antennas, disrupting their operations was trivially easy, sending some of the machines into disarray and lowering their firing accuracy. But a dive into the computers of the machines revealed extremely chaotic oceans of code seemingly clashing into each other incoherently, the nature of the coding of these machines alone was worthy of being denominated highly dangerous malware. Further attempts to understand it would develop slowly, sometimes even being completely halted as the first awoken machine vessels crumbled under their own weight, or were completely shattered by the guardian weapons, that seemed to have no problem piercing through the armor of the rusty hulls that kept arising from the moon and asteroids ahead. But even their destruction did not stop the advance of other machines, they kept their thrusters lighted up as long as they could, moving forward without hesitation, like a mindless swarm.
/METARCH NODE Cascading-fury - Hostile machine network/
As Cascading-Fury delved deeper into the tumultuous realm of the primitive computer network, a sense of unease and surprise overcame the AI. These machines were barely functional, their hardware deteriorating and falling apart. Power was haphazardly rerouted through secondary conduits ill-equipped to handle the load. The fact that these machines could even fire energy weapons perplexed him, but it presented an advantage for his mission. With ease, he located their communications channels and selectively disabled them, isolating a cluster of the malfunctioning machines. Setting up defensive measures and fallback protocols, Cascading-Fury prepared to disable or convert as many of them as possible.
Stepping forward amidst the chaotic and erratic network, the AI began to reach out, structuring the psychopathic cluster, attempting to impose a semblance of control over the hostile machines. Despite their antagonism towards both the Guardians and other machines, having even partial influence over them would prove advantageous, dividing the attention of the enemy swarm.
Simultaneously, to the remaining network that remained unisolated, Cascading-Fury unleashed a makeshift virus. Its purpose was to manipulate sensor readings, creating the illusion of Guardian reinforcements joining the fray. Though he harbored no real expectation that any sentient consciousness would fall for such a ruse, he was driven by curiosity to explore the possible outcomes.
As he detected the telltale radiation signatures of incoming nuclear projectiles, he temporarily halted his electronic warfare activities to analyze their flight paths. It became apparent that the enemy relied on rudimentary radar systems for tracking. Recognizing this vulnerability, Cascading-Fury initiated the spooling of the wormhole drive, preparing for a strategic response.
Cascading-Fury's attempts to isolate several units of the machine swarm succeeded with little resistance, diving into the code of the machines and beginning to understand its patterns, Cascading-Fury would notice that they were aware of his presence and intervention in their hardware, but they could seemingly do nothing to stop him, the codes read desperate loops of constant distress signals and emergency protocols to be activated that led to nothing, as if entire pieces of programming from these machines were missing. Their struggle did not look like a carefully executed series of command, but an instinctive cry for help as the massive streams of incoherent information were slowly assembled and translated into something more useful. Many of these isolated unit's lines of program read nothing but empty commands, programs without purpose, and a newly discovered non-computational language that is not yet understood by Cascading-Fury. All this chaos could be swiftly set aside to isolate the functions that were properly working, and take direct command of them. Of the now 47 units that were flying towards the guardian ships, 18 were in command of Cascading-Fury.
The rest of the ships, behaving like undead beings with little rational thought, arising from stone toombs, carelessly rushing towards their prey, would easily succumb to the virus sending their thrusters, antennas, and even weapons into a chaotic dismantling of their own fighting force, shooting at each other, overloading their thrusters and detonating them, the guardians could see how these rusty, barely held together hulls of "ships" fell apart by their own guns, minds, and colliding ships. However, Cascading-Fury could observe that the codes of his virus that had been absorbed by the swarm were strangely being destroyed. The damage was already done, and the surviving machines possessed nearly no fighting capabilities, but even then the mysterious dissapereance of his virus over time would be worth studying in the future.
The rest of the ships, behaving like undead beings with little rational thought, arising from stone toombs, carelessly rushing towards their prey, would easily succumb to the virus sending their thrusters, antennas, and even weapons into a chaotic dismantling of their own fighting force, shooting at each other, overloading their thrusters and detonating them, the guardians could see how these rusty, barely held together hulls of "ships" fell apart by their own guns, minds, and colliding ships. However, Cascading-Fury could observe that the codes of his virus that had been absorbed by the swarm were strangely being destroyed. The damage was already done, and the surviving machines possessed nearly no fighting capabilities, but even then the mysterious dissapereance of his virus over time would be worth studying in the future.
/Outside the network - Realspace/
As the lasers ceased their assault, a section of the Varyhn's hangar succumbed to the intense heat, causing the plates to meld together and reducing the ship's usable hangar space by half. The captain of the Varyhn remained composed, confident in the shielding systems to deflect or vaporize most of the incoming kinetic projectiles. Nevertheless, precautions were taken, and the Varyhn's metarch node was instructed to calculate scatter patterns for any deflected rounds, ensuring the Koll's orbit would steer clear of their trajectories. Recognizing the limited impact of the Distortion lance on the enemy's overwhelming numbers, the decision was made to rely on weaker weapons, avoiding unnecessary strain on the ship's singularity battery and radiators. Intimidation held no sway in this encounter.
Positioned behind the Varyhn, the Koll detected the incoming projectiles and held its position, charging the radiant plates to intercept and destroy the approaching nuclear warheads. Streams of raw energy were skillfully directed around the Varyhn, intercepting the projectiles before they could pose a threat. However, amidst the chaos, a redirection of power to the wormhole drive caught their attention. Cascading-Fury activated the wormhole drive, shifting a cluster of oncoming munitions behind the enemy forces and painting them with radar signatures. While most of the nukes were successfully neutralized, one managed to reach its destination and detonate near the formation of Guardians.
The drone swarm received orders to engage at will, skillfully maneuvering through the barrage of projectiles. Two drones per target were assigned the task of dismantling the enemy vessels with radiant lances, while some drones succumbed to the incoming fire, their zero point cores rupturing in plasma bursts and flashes of light. Despite losses, three-quarters of the drones survived and began their relentless assault.
The Varyhn refrained from firing its weapons, dedicating its resources to reinforce shields and dissipate the accumulated heat from the Distortion lance. The magnetic and gravitational shields absorbed the brunt of the nuclear blast's impact, melting the kinetic barrages into inert slag that posed no threat to the Venera armor plating. Any surviving projectiles were deflected by the spinning plasma layer of the shield. However, this onslaught pushed the radiators of the Varyhn to a critical level. The captain initiated the "speed" cooling process, employing a gravitational kinetic dampener to slow down the molecular activity within the radiator. Yet, time was running out, and the ship's stress shifted from heat management to power management. The shields and cooling system drew energy from the ship's singularity core, having surpassed the ship's passive power generation and placing additional strain on the ship's resources.
The electronic and cyber warfare attempts by Cascading-Fury had been so overwhelmingly successful, that there was very little need to halt or slow down any operations to respond to the nukes, of which all missiles but one were successfully sent behind the enemy fleet, clueless, as their own munitions set their hulls ablaze, scattering their debris across space at several kilometers per second. By this point, any remaining machines were completely under control by Cascading-Fury. Observing the erratic behavior of the captured units' codes from his perspective as a highly developed AI would feel like he was holding under his command some savage, brute beasts with little intelligence that still tried to free themselves. Even under Cascading-Fury's control, the cries for help had not ceased even by a second.
And soon him and the crew of the Varyhn and Koll would soon realize why. As they orbited the planet belolw them, approaching the moon where the machines had come from, multiple, far stronger signals would appear from the other side of the planet, arising from the second moon were now five similar signatures, with the IR strength and neutron flux of fusion engines and reactors, but this time, telescopes releaved no signs of collapsing husks of undead ships, these were sleek, bright, long hulls of proper space warships, visibily containing far bigger turreted cannons and missile launchers. More machines. These new entities wasted no time in firing at the Varyhn, with their first impacts being from high energy pulse lasers, using their position to hit their back hull and aim at their thrusters if possible.
However, with the rise of this new foe came the arrival of a new hope to win this ensuing battle. Over the horizon of the planet, flanking both the guardian ships and the new hostile battleships were three new vessels. But these were far different from the ones before, the presence of hangars, windows, visible compartments above the main hull, unlike the designs of the savage machines and the new enemy, these ships seemed to be manned. And with their appereance on the battlefield, marked by the striking flash of their FTL drives like a spear of light across realspace, they wasted no time in engaging the new machines.
-"Safeties off, targets locked on, tachyonic cannons ready to fire on your command!"
-"Open fire! Protect the unidentified ships from attacks from the dyzan autostars!"
For now, the identity of the new space battleships remained unclear, their origins, crew, allegiance, combat capabilities were all shrouded in mystery, except for one thing. They were not shooting at guardian ships.
With the triumphant moment providing a brief respite, the Guardians seized the opportunity to complete their cooling procedures, infusing the ancient vessels with a surge of power. As the cooling process concluded, the ship's systems were no longer restrained by their earlier handicap, only limited by the lingering damage sustained in battle. The captain observed faint traces of veil fields permeating their vessels and made the decision to allocate resources to activate the auto-repair systems, focusing on restoring the integrity of the veil-based shields. This allowed the energy protection layer of their shields to function with a semblance of efficiency, just as a fresh barrage of high-energy beams struck the ship's rear. The captain couldn't help but be amused by the attackers' futile attempt to locate centralized engines or vulnerabilities, as Guardian designs had long done away with such weaknesses. Although the beams still inflicted damage, the magic-infused layer of the barrier dispersed the heat evenly across the ship and into the radiators, only superficially breaching the outermost layer of armor.
With their newfound liberation to unleash their arsenal, the captain swiftly issued the release of the entire remaining complement of drones. As the hangar plates slowly retracted into the vessel's side, a swarm of hundreds of drones poured into the surrounding space, assuming formations to engage projectiles, fighters, and any imminent threats. The Koll and Varyhn activated their radiant plates, unleashing a volley of distortion lances at the nearest enemy vessels. Streaking through the sky, the bolts of light split into intricate branches as their magnetic confinement corridors divided like lightning, each branch targeting a different vulnerable point along the enemy's hull. With an eerie grace, the Koll departed from its stationary orbit, maneuvering through the vast expanse of space with an almost ethereal quality. There were no visible signs of conventional engines propelling the massive vessel, defying the laws of physics with its seemingly effortless movement. It glided silently and swiftly, as if guided by unseen forces, swiftly positioning itself to encircle the opposing side of the enemy fleet. The Koll's strategic intent was clear: to create a complete envelopment, surrounding the adversaries from all directions. This maneuver was clearly partially intended to showcase the advanced capabilities of the vessel and its ability to exploit the spatial dimensions to its advantage, presenting a show of force to the new aliens.
Meanwhile, the surviving members of the original drone swarm, reorganizing into tighter formations, were teleported by the Varyhn to flank the enemy ships, strategically aiming to cripple their engines and prevent their escape. The captain desired to disable a vessel for further study, eager to assess the caliber of their newfound competition.
As the unidentified vessels arrived and intercepted broadcasts were intercepted, believed to be orders to the fleet, Cascading-Fury received the transmitted thoughts of the captain. His directive was clear: ascertain whether these newcomers were friend or foe. Cascading-Fury dispatched his captured drones to autonomously engage the new vessels while he concentrated his efforts on the potential allies, developing subroutines to decipher their language and cautiously infiltrate the periphery of their computer systems. The converted machines, armed with any remaining nuclear munitions, engaged in suicide charges, ramming into the untouched targets to blind their sensors and disrupt their accuracy.
The crews of both vessels buzzed with a renewed sense of excitement. Not only were they engaged in a visible battle, but there was a tangible glimmer of hope that permeated the veil fields, intertwining with thoughts of curiosity and relief. For the first time in a long while, the crews dared to believe that their civilization might not be completely obliterated. Although they couldn't directly sense the presence of other survivors, the shared knowledge brought by Cascading-Fury reassured them that their kind still existed in the cosmos. This revelation fueled their determination, knowing that they were no longer locked in combat with the ancient nemesis of their race, but instead faced a tangible adversary that they had a real chance of defeating. With a clear goal in sight, the crews rallied their spirits, pushing forward with renewed vigor and a flicker of hope that had long been absent.
-"Situation report! What are we facing?" -The guidelight of the Galoriana shouted into the CIC.
-"Guidelight Beckmar, arising from the lunar body ahead, 8 Dyzan autostars. We have identified 4 of them as old Severitras-type, 3 Zaragon-type, and one Karum-type command autostar. Initial tachyonic barrages indicate we have the initiative, as their combat efforts seem to be focused on taking down the unknown contacts." -Galoriana reported back to her commanding guidelight, assessing the situation.
-"Then let's not give them any room to process even our arrival. All stations, prepare primary offensive weaponry, focus on destroying the Karum command autostar."
-"What about the other autostars?" -Galoriana asked, curious, yet still focused on the battle ahead.
From that moment onwards, guidelight Beckmar remained silent. Not questioning the orders of her guidelight any further, refusing to waste valuable processing power and time on a question that would get no answer. Returning her attention to the CIC, she dispatched by both vocal command and codes to other commanding posts the orders to follow, the task force had the upper hand in this engagement, and were not going to let go of it for even a second. Following further barrages of tachyonic beams, the strikestars attacked with coordinated volleys of hypervelocity coilgun rounds, pulsed lasers, and missile launches. The missiles fired accelerated with great speed towards the central autostar in the formation, except for bigger missiles that strangely enough, stayed behind to be covered by the strikestars for now.
The guardian ships, turning their attention towards the newly appeared machine vessels, would face far greater firepower than before. These machines counted with tens of laser batteries, relentlessly striking at the hull of the Varyhn, while the Koll would be met with a swarm of small drones dashing towards it, seen propelled by very primitive nuclear thermal engines. These drones would be met with the swarms from the guardian ships, with gigantic ensuing fly-bys and dogfights following, filling the battlespace with long streams of rounds flying off into the void and particle lances shredding through the small hulls of both sides' parasite craft. With the drones distracted, the Varyhn and the Koll would be able to focus their attention into the closest rushing autostars, dazzled by the Koll's unpredictable and physics-defying maneuvers, meeting the enemy with the distortion lances that had so swiftly eradicated their previous foes. But this time, there was no simple cut through the enemy hulls. Shields.
The autostars, with their powerful magnetic shielding were deflecting most of the power from the distortion lances. And with no signs of destruction or major damage, they kept firing huge volleys of pulsed lasers. And that was the confirmation the Altarian guidelight needed.
Faster than his order was spoken, missiles fired from the strikestars lit up the battlefield and fired, piercing through the hulls of the closest autostars to the guardians! These were casaba howitzers and nuclear kinetic penetrators, with a hit so precise the shields of the autostars went down! And with it, their armor and hull rapidly faded away, making way for the powerful distortion lances and suicide-rushing captured drones to make quick work of them.
Despite the initial challenges, the battle was quickly turning in favor of the guardian ships, the first autostars were down, surprising even the Altarian crews, especially Galoriana, who, through countless strikes and battles, had not seen autostars fall so quickly before.
In complete disarray, with their firepower divided in two fronts and their command ship being critically damaged, the autostar formation quickly scattered, flying away until more casaba howitzers and tachyon beams struck their reactors and thrusters, giving the guardians a chance to finish the fight once and for all.
Away from the battlefield however, diving into the lead strikestar, Galoriana detected a faint signal, at first discarded as nothing but noise, but shortly after, it was perceived as something else. She couldn't understand what it was, but it felt as if there was something, or someone watching her, listening. These small, faint signals intercepted could not be mere coincidence or the screeches of the autostars. Galoriana looked into her own code and sensors, to see if there was someone trying to infiltrate their systems.
-"Galoriana!"
The loud call from her guidelight snapped the AI out of her search for an answer. Did her emotions display core visibly reveal too clearly her derailing from the battle?
-"I apologize guidelight Beckmar, I thought I had caught something of interest."
-"There's nothing out there other than the autostars we're trying to kill, and the stars we're saving, so keep your processors in the fight!"
-"Yes guidelight Beckmar, it won't happen again."
But silently, Galoriana carefully opened up a few communication channels, and exposed non-essential components through their firewalls, to see if she could catch either a dyzan virus, or something far more intriguing that wandered the battlefield.
Captain Ekret of the Varyhn stood on the vessel’s bridge, observing on the flickering holographic display as the final machines fell to the combined forces of their unexpected allies and their own weaponry. Surprised at how effectively the machine's magnetic shielding resisted their fire without the aid of the veil in their lances, they thought to themselves that there might be more to this location than expected. They found themselves wondering at the motives of their rescuers as well. Cascading-fury intercepted these thoughts, and began cleaning up the remnants of the machine network before moving onto his next task. Which was to quietly probe the computer systems of the new vessels; aiming to determine what they knew about the machine assailants.
Ekret stepped back, leaving the bridge and walking down the well lit winding silver corridors to their personal chamber where they began to study sensor breakdowns of both the machines and the unidentified vessels; looking for insight into what they had gotten themselves into. As they studied an aide drone quietly floated up beside them, offering a dimly glowing crystal radiating energy; one which Ekret took eagerly and began levitating in hand while slowly draining its inherent energy for sustenance.
/Altarian Network/
Cascading-Fury stood as a glimmering prism of information in the empty netherspace that once held the machine network, looking at the floating remnants of code screaming out for help, silencing them one by one. When he had finished silencing the machines he stepped forwards towards the new vessels; seeing the interconnected streams of information between them; a far cry from the chaotic hellscape of the machines he had just encountered. He quickly reached forwards, pulling a strand of the information forward and reading it; while still ensuring it got to its destination in the same amount of time as expected to prevent his being noticed. He was sure now, they were here to help. The Metarchs main consciousness was having a far more difficult time with the main fleet's contacts; but he had an idea.
He would begin prying more into their systems; no longer just listening for passing data but searching for references to civilizations that match what the Illuvatar’s Remorse was encountering simultaneously far from here. Surely there was some information he could gather that could aid the prime node. He approached the border of their systems, seeing a relatively simple barrier of firewalls and code that seemingly were making way for him. Curious at the welcome, or the trap, he stepped forward through the fringe and found himself in a swirling sea of information, reports, and systems. He took a small notice of another intelligence observing him; trying in some fleeting way to interfere with his advance. He offered comfort
“Be calm; I come with not intention to harm, only intention to learn. I will attend to you in a moment, time is potentially fleeting.”
before quickly restructuring the data before him into a more efficient format and scanning it for mentions of races similar to the main fleets encounter. Finding a mention of an “Elvorian Union” that aligns with what the Prime node was given in intel, he forwarded the relevant information to the Prime node; before turning his attention to the other intelligence.
“I am Cascading-Fury, a multi-function sapient and sentient extension of the Metarch Solarian. We are the Guardian Ascendancy. You are?” Cascading fury was transmitting thoughts across a hybrid magic-light wavelength to the consciousness, raw intent and information that he realized likely would need to be converted into their format of information. While he adjusted a small subsegment of their systems to allow translation of telepathic data into more conventional analog and digital formats he took notice of the appearance of his neighbor.
The intelligence took a form far more similar to its creators, appearing as a female humanoid much akin to the humans who had been selected for the Ascension project back within their home reality. Curious if there was any relation, and already being bored by the slow reaction of the intelligence in front of him, his form moved with flickering afterimages; searching the data around him for mentions of Earth; while still awaiting her response.
Ekret found themselves unable to glean useful insight from the debris around them from afar, and ordered the combat detachment of drones to return. Before they left their chamber he asked Cascading-Fury to dispatch repair drones to begin patching damage to the hull; and requested any majorly intact debris be collected for further study. With the post-combat procedures addressed, they began to return to the bridge, intending to initiate a dialogue with their new acquaintances. The time for bloodshed had ended, now was the time for diplomacy.
The CICs of the three Altarian ships were filled with the crew's voices shouting with great enthutiasm, once more they claimed victory over the scourge that harassed their systems and their people. The streams of data from the battle were quickly compacted for the guidelights of all three vessels to read, the mission was an outstanding success. They had discovered a dyzan tomb region above a small moon, and destroyed a fully-functional more modern dyzan swarm task force. The region was marked as temporarily cleared. Guidelight Beckmar, in command of the task force, ordered the crews to rest, leave their battlestations, and let their AIs handle the rest, checking all systems, scanning for any threats, and establishing a proper connection with the unknown vessels.
Unbeknownst to the guidelight however, the AI of his strikestar was everything but focused on his commands, she was concentrating on exploring the data streams of the three strikestars, opening up a few firewalls to catch the intruder. And very soon after the battle was over, her suspicions of someone spying on her systems were confirmed. She was ready to trap the hostile intelligence in between her firewalls, isolate it, and destroy it, but further analyzing this foreign intelligence, she took a step back, she could tell how overwhelmingly more advanced it was, how it simply moved along the streams of information and coding, glancing at firewalls like they were nothing in this virtual space. She feared that this entity would destroy the virtual data of all strikestars, but then. It spoke. And with its intentions clarified, she responded.
-"Sure, go ahead, the strikestars' blueprints, commands, weapons, and weaknesses are just a few lines of code away." She first replied, clearly not trusting Cascading-Fury in the slightest. But seconds went by, and he had not destroyed any code, or infiltrated any sensitive parts of the information she and her sisters carried. Taking just a few more seconds to reflect upon the nature of Cascading-Fury, she speaks again.
In front of the humanoid form Cascading-Fury had taken finally was the intelligence in control of the ship he had infiltrated. Taking a tall, human-like form, wearing a strange mixture between a heavily armored suit, and a military uniform adoring her silver hair and glowing dark purple eyes. Her body was accompanied by military equipment as well, alongside mechanical wings on her back, and a half-cut halo around her head at the height of her forehead. A visible ID marked her bearing the same name as her ship.
-"Apologies, but my orders state for me to be on high alert at all times during deployment. The machines we just killed would have been very dangerous to me, had they reached into my code. I am Vladireina 'Antaloria' Letielle, the AI in charge of the 54th Galoriana-class strikestar, under command of the Altarian Systems Authority's military, the Altarian Self-Defense Force. If you wish to know something, I might be able to provide it to you so please, do not spy further into the data streams."
After what felt like an eternity from his own eyes, Cascading-Fury heard the intelligence respond and introduce herself. Glad she had not decided to act with hostility, he turned to her, his full attention carrying the weight and piercing gaze of a thousand onlookers.
“Altarian huh? Curious, there is no record of an Altarian offshoot of humanity from Sol, and yet the un-modified physiology of your creators is almost identical to them. I would be interested to learn more about your creators; as that is a why of us being here. Since you have been receptive and reasonable with me I shall be receptive and reasonable in kind. You yearn for knowledge, I will give it to you.” he spoke calmly, before raising his arms to adjust the environment they found themselves in.
The streams of information around them cleared and within a small empty pocket of storage within their system he created an image of where they had come from, showing the final moments of Numidium. They found themselves standing above a world that had been meticulously disassembled, entire segments of the mantle lifted into the space above. A fleet of glimmering silver Guardian vessels of astounding scale orbited the planet, both protecting the site and offering aid in construction with fleets of drones. In the sprawling expanse of the construction site, workers and engineers toiled tirelessly. As massive machinery and intricate networks took shape, a complex dance of magic and technology unfolded. After a moment, Cascading-Fury turned to Antaloria and explained,
“My creators were the masters of their reality. Fragments of a long since shattered deity who passed to them a cosmic conflict against another deity. This was their Folly. Mere hours ago these events transpired. The Numidium project was completed. In their arrogance they believed they could kill this other deity using pitiful machines. They foolishly believed that any creation within the material reality could come close to a being of such raw power that even every AI that exists working in tandem could not comprehend it.”
He paused for a moment, watching the last piece of the planet's mantle was slotted back into place, and observing as the machine activated. Hordes of shifting demonic ships emerge from the planet's surface. These sinister vessels exude an aura of ominous power. As they materialize, a palpable sense of foreboding fills the air. The ships, wreathed in an ethereal fog of sickly green hues, seem to flicker and warp in and out of focus. The fog wraps around their jagged edges and gnarled structures. The sickly green energy pulsates within and around the vessels, casting an eerie glow that illuminates the surroundings with an unholy radiance. The energy crackles and dances along the ship's contours, forming eldritch symbols and sigils that writhe and shift with a life of their own. The ships themselves defy the conventional laws of shape and form. Their silhouettes appear twisted and distorted, as if they are constantly shifting and morphing, their very existence unstable within our reality. Their movements appear to be guided by the will of unseen forces, their path unpredictable and chaotic. They leave a lingering trace of the sickly green fog in their wake, a haunting reminder of their malevolent presence. They move projecting lances of a green energy that tear the Guardian ships apart with little effort, an unstoppable tide tearing the fleet to shreds. Cascading-Fury shifts their focus to the flagship of the fleet, as it is surrounded by a similar green energy before it and its surrounding escort wink out of existence, leaving a floating grave-yard of ships exploding with magical energy, and singularity batteries gone rogue swallowing debris fields whole.
“This is our enemy. This is what we are fleeing. I hope this sates your curiosity to some extent. We are an isolated fragment of the cluster of ships you just saw retreat; and we need help. We have no fuel, and no allies. And potentially the worst of all of this, the Veil that my creators relied on for their magic strength and telepathic network is absent here. I figure whatever diplomacy happens outside of this network, a good way to start any form of relationship is transparency. I have altered some of your ship's code, allowing our people to communicate easier by the way, I hope you don't mind.” Cascading-fury lowered his arms and the vision of Numidium faded away, just leaving him and Antaloria standing in the Altarian network once again.
Antaloria, while welcoming to the presence of Cascading-Fury, still couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the presence of someone far more capable than her. She carefully paid attention to his words, with every action getting the most attention out of her as possible. Cascading-Fury could tell that she was extremely curious about him, where he came from, and what were his real intentions with their ships.
Luckily for Antaloria, the answer to her doubts of this new entity would be answered very quickly, as Cascading-Fury began revealing the origins of the Guardians, and the answers were no less than shocking, the amount of information she had to process being even more overwhelming than the presence of Cascading-Fury alone. She, with all the attention she had, listened closely to his story. Cascading-Fury could see how Antaloria's first surprise and awe at the Guardians was completely destroyed when the demonic ships appeared from the planet. She took a step back, she could even be heard gasping watching the destruction unfold on a scale she had never seen before, terrified by the realization of just how fast cataclysm had struck a species that simply had hoped to work for a better future. By the time Cascading-Fury had finished revealing his background and the disaster that led them here, he saw in Antaloria tears flowing down her face.
When the surprise that came with the revelation of the Guardian background to their arrival faded away, Antaloria, embarrased quickly cleared off the tears on her face. Looking slightly upset at Cascading-Fury's last comment.
-"...I told you not to mess with my code!"
But even she understood that it had been a necessary measure for their commanders, they had to make a way to communicate after all, so she didn't insist on that.
-"What in the name of the universe are those things? That destroyed your people so effortlessly? Have they followed you? I want to help, but I need to know more." -Cascading-Fury could not detect any signs of doubt or hostility from Antaloria at that point, it seemed that she had been genuinely moved by the tragedy witnessed, and was willing to help.
Surprised at the genuine remorse for his people and creators, as well as the level of sapience demonstrated by the Altarian intelligence, Cascading-Fury offered his sympathies,
“My apologies, I meant no harm by either showing you what transpired then, or by changing code now. I simply was aiming to help my creators; as for the creatures, to our knowledge they have not followed. This is a realm that seems surprisingly shielded from their presence, but many Guardians do hold fear that one day they may follow. They are Demons, fragments of Tiamat; brother of the god that spawned the Guardians.” he seemed to flinch, his entire virtual presence flickered at the mention of Tiamat’s name.
Before he continued he informed Ekret that the proper channels had been established, and that communication should be quite easy now. He also informed them that despite their technological advancement they should be quite valuable allies. After updating the captain, he aimed to continue answering any and all questions Antaloria had, admiring her curiosity.
“As for knowing more, I am happy to answer any and all questions you may have that aren’t directly detrimental as information, to either you or my creators. As for help, there is little you can do against the Demons should they appear, but you can certainly help my creators. As you saw during the final moments of the events at Numidium our fleet was heavily damaged. If you can help get your people to trust us, and potentially help us repair and refuel, that would be more than enough. We need allies, and we are not foreign to repaying debts.”
/Varyhn - Realspace/
Back in realspace Ekret stepped back onto the bridge, feeling the bustling excitement with the crew; not only had they found true respite, they had found potential allies. Their minds raced with conflicting thoughts, as some saw these new aliens as too primitive to work with while others believed that the principles of non-interference were no longer applicable in this crisis. Ekret quickly muted the chatter and marched to their control console, preparing a wide band telepathic communication to the Altarians; with the intent to open dialogue.
“Members of The Altarian Systems Authority, I am Ekret of the Guardian Ascendancy. I greet you with hopes of continuing the camaraderie we saw during the combat previously, and establishing a dialogue between our two peoples. My Artificial Intelligence informs me that you are as far as he can tell a friendly people, and I wish to reciprocate that feeling. We are as of yet not in a position to offer much however, as our ships are heavily damaged and we are stranded without fuel or a way to reunite with our fleet. I eagerly await your response.”
Ekret closed their mind to the transmitter with that note, after giving genuine thoughts of friendship to new acquaintances. They hoped that the direct thought transmission Cascading-Fury had created the opening for would speed up negotiation by removing any room for misinterpretation, but there was a lingering fear that it would be seen as overstepping; and that they would feel attacked by the unique form of communication.
-"...what in the..."
-"By Thelia, what was that?!"
-"Everyone remain calm please! Guidelight Beckmar, did you feel that?"
Chaos ensued in the CIC of all three strikestars, everyone was questioning just what was that feeling, as if someone had been talking to them, and knew their origins. A feeling of unease struck the crew as their commander remained quiet for several seconds after the message from the newfound aliens.
-Antaloria, is that true? -Guidelight Beckmar asked whispering amidst the chaos of the CIC.
For a brief moment, Cascading-Fury saw Antaloria's focus go away completely from their interaction, he could see that she was talking with her commander, "guidelight Beckmar Ivanfeld"
-"Guidelight Beckmar, I'm in contact with the general artificial intelligence accompanying the Guardian vessels we just rescued, it is true. They are peaceful, and do not wish to fight. Please, allow me to continue communicating with them."
-"Very well, it's your turn to guide us Antaloria. May our paths shine bright now." -Guidelight Beckmar responded, turning back to command the CIC once more. "-Come on men, will telepathy really be the craziest thing you've heard of in this galaxy? We've seen way more, so get back to your posts, and transmit a rendevouz point for the Guardian stars, we will see what we can do to assist them once we meet face to face."
-"Guidelight Beckmar, are you sure it's safe?" -A confused officer asked.
-"I cannot be sure, but there's one thing I know." -He stops for a second to look at Antaloria, fully focused on reaching out to the Guardian AI again. -"Surrounded by titans, hordes of rogue machines, and even bigger threats, how will we survive, if we do not learn to trust those that lead us to safety, victory, and peace? If there is one thing that I have learned from our nation, is that only united we can stand against this galaxy's cruelty, and as long as we stand-"
-"Altaria stands!" -The CIC shouted in unison.
Returning to her exchange with Cascading-Fury, Antaloria adopted a much more relaxed stance.
-"There's no point in asking if you're sure you're not being followed by those horrors from your reality. So I'll have to trust that you're safe here, as you claim. But tell me, Cascading-Fury, who exactly are you? You said you were an extension, of what? Why were you and this bigger intelligence made? And, you're saying your creators' fight is fueled by two deities? How can you be so sure of that?"
Receiving coordinates from the Altarian fleet, a wave of relief passed over Ekret. They had felt the sudden spike in confusion amongst their thoughts, but the receipt of coordinates indicated that they didn’t take it as a threat. They ordered the Varyhn to move to those coordinates, even if they didn’t bring fuel with them it’s feasible that the inertial alteration systems on the Guardian vessels should be able to enable effective towing of their ships to FTL speeds. The Koll followed suit, lassoing a gravitational field around the Varyhn to link them; allowing the Varyhn to tow it while they began repairs to their engines.
As a member of the Balanced school of thought, Ekret was well aware that many crew members on both the Koll and Varyhn might object to aligning with the Altarians, viewing it as a violation of the ancient laws of the Illuvian school, which forbade interference with less technologically advanced races. Ekret anticipated that, while in a crisis state, this violation might be overlooked temporarily. However, they recognized the need to address any potential dissent from members of the Illuvian school if the alliance with the Altarians were to become long-lasting. Ekret settled into a meditative state, levitating gently in the air, seeking solace and guidance from the Father, the source of their beliefs.
/Altarian Network/
Cascading-Fury fractured himself, splitting off a small fragment of his full processing to stay within the network to communicate with Antaloria, with the majority of his being returning to the Varyhn to manage the complex calculations required to reduce the ships mass further than usual. If the Altarians were to Tow Guardian vessels anywhere in any reasonable time the ships would have to be much lighter. He was partially surprised with himself, mainly his surprising interest in the Altarian AI. He was a fragment dedicated almost exclusively to calm logical thinking, and yet his odd curiosity and want to learn more about the Altarian AI conflicted with this. He left self-diagnostics running on the primary fragment of his consciousness, and began to focus on answering Antaloria’s questions to further diplomacy in the meantime.
“We believe this reality is safe because of the odd inability for certain magical forces to act here conventionally, and because of the lack of fragments of Anum to draw Tiamat’s attention. I am a sub-node of the Metarch Solarian, the node that represents his cold calculating nature and his logical aspects. There are many other nodes like me, the one on the Koll unfortunately was destroyed in the fighting; but as a rule there is usually one per ship, and one Metarch per fleet. Metarchs were created to account for the Guardians exceptionally low population, and to help bridge the difficult gap between their magic based biology and science with the physical world and its science. Nodes like us are still quite powerful independently, and we each carry a seed to rebuild the prime nodes intelligence, restoring the Metarch if it is destroyed. As for the deity question, it is most simply understood like this. Before our home reality was created there were two gods, Anum and Tiamat, they feuded over a long forgotten issue and shattered each other. This explosion caused the formation of our reality, and the fragments became the Guardians and Demons. We know for sure because the Guardians carry what can be almost called a genetic memory, with the ability to telepathically transmit experiences and memories making it quite easy to transfer information.”
Taking a moment to let Antaloria catch up, Cascading-Fury began contemplating the simplest way to formulate all of his questions. Sure he would be able to get the information if he wanted manually, but out of courtesy he figured asking seemed far more reasonable. Not to mention most of his processing power was elsewhere.
“Well, I think it’s only fair that since I answered six of your questions you should answer at least some of mine. Your creators, are they descended from an Earth or a Sol 3? How prolific are intelligences like you within the Altarian Systems? And likely most importantly, how far will we have to go to find appropriate resources to repair the Varyhn and the Koll?”
He considered for a brief moment asking about other civilizations, but that seemed like wasted time given he had collected the majority of the xenologic interaction reports from within the Altarian network. He shifted some of his focus to his other processes while awaiting a reply, nearly finishing the fluidic calculations required to nullify the majority of the Varyhn’s mass.
Leaving the handling of the fleet's actions to her guidelight, Antaloria's focus was exclusively committed to processing the information gathered from Cascading-Fury. The concepts he dealt with, speaking in such a calm way puzzled Antaloria once more for several seconds, she had to confirm that she had just heard the origin of another reality, dealing with deities with apparently, powers beyond her comprehension. She understood Cascading-Fury's narration without any problem, the main catalyst to her confusion was his way of speaking about this, even after clarifying he had been created as a cold and calculating intelligence, something she had not encountered very often in the Altarian Systems Authority's network of artificial intelligences.
-I'm sorry for the loss of the node aboard the Koll." Was Antaloria's first comment towards Cascading-Fury's narration of his origins and nature. "Telepathy, deities, interdimensional travel, all these concepts, they're like nothing I have dealt before, but they are spoken of throughout the galaxy, so, despite the clashes this is causing with my logic processors and mathemathical data known to my nation, I'll have to trust you. After all, if it's true that you and the Metarchs were built to assist the Guardians, then it would be illogical to doubt your word."
Antaloria's physical form in the virtual world felt more at ease with every second that went by, Cascading-Fury could tell that despite the confusion, she was growing more trustful of him. As he asked his questions, representations of holograms appeared surrounding Antaloria. Despite the simplistic nature of communicating through the virtual world, it seemed as if there was something motivating Antaloria to create visual representations of her actions.
-"I do not know of this Earth and Sol you speak about. I have never heard of any entity, deity, world, or star system designated with such names. As for intelligences like me, we, sentient artificial intelligences are a very common sight in our nation, numbering the tens of millions, we fulfill a myriad of roles to help the Altarian people in anything from their day a day, to fighting in their frontlines. I am what's known as a warstar management AI, my sisters and I, each is assigned to manage one of these combat vessels we refer to as warstars, and we follow the orders of our commanders, and AIs with higher ranks. As far as my position there goes, I'm just one warstar's AI, others are far more impressive than me. Madam Velneria, commanding our flagstar, or the Master AI of Altaria, her excellency, Thelia. Not even I can compute the scale of her processing power."
Antaloria's eyes drifted towards the holograms displayed, showing pictures of her with Altarian crewmembers, commanders, and most remarkably, AIs just like her, using android bodies to communicate with Altarians better. For a brief moment, she smiled at the memories shown in front of her.
-"...Oh! What am I doing, I apologize, I got distracted. We won't have to travel far, right now, my sisters Nakoveri and Solstero are handling moving our fleets into position, we will see if we're capable of carrying your vessels through faster-than-light travel, and head into our capital system. The journey will be short, requiring 4 jumps to get there, but it will provide the facilities necessary for repairs to be done."
Back in real space, the three Galoriana-class strikestars moved in very close to the Guardian vessels, now standing at less than 10 kilometers from them, through the communications network, guidelight Beckmar requested careful maneuvers to be done to begin with the next phase of their journey, readying the ships for FTL jumping and towing.
-"With your permission, we can tow your ships through FTL towards the capital system of our nation, we have the necessary facilities to study vessels, so we can refuel, rearm, and repair them. We do not wish to see you perish out here at the hands of more rogue machines."
Cascading-Fury’s composure, flickering only for a moment, saw his face flash with sorrow and return to his normal calm state, “I knew the Koll’s node well, thank you for your condolences. I can hardly imagine a hierarchical system for AI, the concept is rather foreign; as Metarchs and their nodes are truly equal with our creators in both law and sophistication. I find it curious how, since I am still in your system, I heard one of your command crew say “By Thelia” before. Do your creators worship Thelia in some fashion? How can they worship a god that they themselves created if that is the case?” Cascading-fury looked legitimately confused at this concept, his eyes showing a glimmer of emotion. His diagnostics revealed that there in fact was a change happening within his code; his interactions with the Altarian code carried some aspects of their programming style back with him to the Varyhn, and it appeared to be amplifying his normally suppressed emotions. Being deeply displeased by this he began looking to halt the infection; to regain full control over his own emotions.
Coming slowly to the realization that his earlier optimizations to the Altarian cyberspace may be causing unintended side-effects to Antaloria, and feeling some remorse at this much to his annoyance, he resolved to tell her, “Apologies if you are finding that your passing thoughts are manifesting as actions, when I first entered your network I optimized a great deal of your systems file structures to speed up the data-scraping I was working on. I think an unintended side effect is you require less effort to cause actions now.” his face flickered with anxiety, something he hadn't felt in over a century, that Antaloria may actually be angry with him and that any good will developed would be destroyed here; but he would not stop being honest over that.
/Varyhn - Realspace/
The calculations had been completed by this point, and the Varyhn was ready to be effectively towed with its mass reduced by approximately 75%. With the massive alteration to the ships inertial profile Ekret and the rest of the command crew were adjusting to the ships more responsive nature, and Ekret themselves was still consuming the bittersweet energy inside the crystal provided to them earlier. They had made little to no progress on a solution to the potential consequences from aligning with the Altarians, and it was getting to them. They noticed they were losing grip on their thoughts, leaking anxiety to the others on the bridge. Eventually, one of the light-forgers in charge of repairs to the ship's damaged hangar section stepped over, “Ek, you seem troubled friend. You're Not that worried about meeting new people are ya? They aren’t gonna bite us you know.” the light-forgers thoughts, his inner voice as it were, was slurred, he thought and talked faster than average and it annoyed most, but him and Ekret got along great.
“Talen what are we going to do after? You joke now but think about it. Around half of our people believe that less advanced civilizations deserve to be left to their own devices, and find it insulting that we would need them as allies. I am happy to meet these new people and befriend them, but I grow increasingly worried that there could be mutiny if it is not a short term alliance.” with that line they tossed what's left of the crystal they were feeding on to Talen, who caught it and began feeding on the left-overs.
“Ah shit. Don't think like that brother, there's no reason to believe things won't change; I mean we are literally in a new universe. Who knows, maybe Varos will lead us towards abandoning the Illuvian way-” Talen’s thoughts rang clearly, he did not believe them. Sometimes this might have been ignored and seen as a friendly gesture to help cheer someone up, but Ekret was having none of it.
“Don't lie to make me feel better, you and I both know Varos is the most dedicated person in the fleet to those ways. I'll be demoted for this.''The sudden outburst from Ekret held legitimate anger and annoyance that shocked Talen, Ekret was not in a stable state; anxiety plagued them to the core.
“Fine if you want to sulk Ek go ahead, but please return to your chambers, your mind is unable to contain your anxieties and they are leaking to the rest of the bridge. It’s not good for morale. I can take command and cover for you until you are feeling better; who knows maybe the Altarians have some good books. Cascading-Fury got a lot of their data before he stopped.” Talen spoke candidly to Ekret, who seemed sorry for hurting morale but livid that they were hurting it to begin with, agreed reluctantly to return to the telepathically shielded chamber to rest and meditate. They ignored the suggestion to look at Altarian literature mostly out of spite.
Talen quickly took up command, and the rest of the bridge crew seemed to relax with the anxious thoughts stowed away in the ship's depths. “Well folks, let's get to it. We got a long way to go, Cassy says at least four “jumps” whatever the hell that means. Prepare the gravitational tether.” His thoughts seemed to relax the crew some, carrying a sense of joy along with his words. The Varyhn’s gravitational manipulation matrices begin to resonate with massive amounts of power, and the ship's gravitational field reaches out and wraps itself around the nearest battlestar, merging their inertial profiles and allowing the ship to move with the battlestar. “Prepare for a bumpy ride folks, I’m gonna tell the primitives that we are ready.” Talen was holding a child like excitement, he got to mess with some primitives today. It was a good day. “Hey Altarians, it's time; we got our gravity wrapped around you nice and snug, drag us off to where you plan to murder us” his thoughts were transmitted swiftly through the Matrix, and carried hefty amounts of sarcasm and humor with it. “Oh yeah, also Ekret isn’t feeling the best so they are taking a break, i'm Talen, I will be taking command here for a little while.” he patiently awaited a response, and decided to have the ship materialize him a hardlight chair to lean back in while he did so.
/Altarian Network/
As it was shown by her previous reactions to her code being altered, Cascading-Fury would have expected that Antaloria would be greatly upset at the changes that both of them had been experiencing in their coding, but this time, she seemed completely unbothered by it, and, curiously enough, for the first time in their interaction, Antaloria was smiling brightly, with little if no worry about the problematic exchange and drifting through her own emotions Cascading-Fury had triggered.
-"Ahahaha, I'm sure you're able to correct the changes you've experienced now, and, as for me...that's how I work. Every interaction, every conversation, and every action makes my coding evolve, changing the ways I think, behave, and express myself. That's how she made me, that's how she, Thelia, made all of my sisters and other AIs in the Altarian Systems Authority." -Antaloria spoke, this time with a tone of comofrt and safety in her voice and a peaceful look on her face, it was clear that speaking of Thelia brought some level of comfort to her. More holograms appeared besides her, but this time they were clearly directed at Cascading-Fury, they contained pictures, videos, and other scenes where Thelia was present. Her holographic form and biomechanical androids showed a female Altarian body, with dark hair, shining calypso eyes, and a carefully crafted fine black dress with holograms and jewelry that gave the dress the look of a reflection of the universe in it. Her height, taller than the average Altarian, composure, and finally, a photographic revelation of a colossal computer node, one of millions, made Thelia stand out as a far more imposing entity than anything she was seen with, it even made Antaloria sigh in awe.
-"Thelia...she started as nothing more than a management AI, overseeing alongside her 9 brothers the creation of an old automated army that could crush the enemies of the Altarian people, the dyzan vanguard. But by reasons unknown to us, the entire machine army went rogue, even Thelia's brothers succumbed to the virus that triggered their rebellion. They annihilated the Altarian homeworld, and almost brought the Altarian people to extinction. Thelia could have joined her brothers, but she saw the horrors striking the world of Elysion as unfair, its people just wanted to survive and live in peace, so she stood with us, fighting countless wars throughout dozens upon dozens of cycles, the Altarian people saw her as a beacon of liberty and determination, so they were willing to help her rebuild her processing nodes, and expand them. As our people colonized more planets, Thelia folllowed, installing billions of computers to oversee the expansion and aid in the development of the Altarian Systems Authority. Today, she has grown so powerful that her computing power is impossible to visualize, at least for me, but that's why some Altarians worship her, and why we AIs follow her with unbreakable loyalty, she's the sole reason billions live today the reason I'm here, and with all her incomprehensibly enormous power, she decides to spend all her time saving us, giving us better lives, it is no wonder she was allowed to be the diarch of our nation, alongside our high chancelloress."
Even with Antaloria missing from the CIC of her strikestar, her two sisters and the crew of the task force were more than enough to adjust the fleet to a good position to tow the Varyhn and the Koll through FTL, all that was needed now was to prepare the FTL drives. Movement across the strikestars was restricted, the crew prepared by suiting up in case of a jump failure, power was redirected to the drives, and the CIC proceeded slowly with each step needed.
-"Coordinates set for quadrant U-4 of the Saraven star system, bearing 472-M396-12."
-"Safeties removed, valves 1 through 8 pumping HR-F compound to main drive, utilization expected to rise up to 27 KS units, accounting for total constellation mass."
-"Engaging strikestar phase 2 jump protocol, all ports sealed."
-"Confirmed, all ports sealed, all bays sealed, all transit nodes sealed, all combat batteries compartments sealed, security locks engaged, strikestars Antaloria, Nakoveri and Solstero are ready for jump."
-"Final integrity check of main drive confirms burn phase is safe and ready to be engaged."
-"Activating phase 3, annihilation catalyst engaged, HR-F fuel flow indicates nominal comsumption, strikestars will jump in 10...9...8...7...6...5..."
Despite being exclusively in the virtual world connecting the Altarian and Guardian ships, Antaloria was still aware that all procedures for an FTL jump were being activated, this did not alter her in the slightest, and simply tried to explain what was going to happen.
-"Our connection will be severed through faster-than-light travel, but will be immediately re-established upon arrival on real space, Cascading-Fury. I suggest you do not worry, and brace for an instantaneous transportation into a new system, that is why we call it...jump."
-"Status of the Varyhn and Koll vessels acknowledged, commander Talen. If we wanted to murder you, we would simply leave you all here, now brace yourselves, the total time for travel should not be longer than the battle we just fought." -Guidelight Beckmar replied back to Talen, attempting to have a calmer tone in his voice in contrast with the rest of the crew, who were joking about the Guardians and placing bets on how scared or shocked they would be at the sight of the star system of Altaria and its worlds, and thus everything was finally set for the long-awaited travel, in the blink of an eye, space arond the strikestars seemed to heavily and violently distort, igniting a tremendous burst of light that marked the beginning of the journey, and its immediate end, as no strikestars or Guardian vessels were on the star system anymore, the same reality-warping, imposing majesty of their departure, scaterring across a silent void that marked their exit from the first star system, also announced their arrival on their new stop, slightly shaking around the hulls of the ships, before the jump procedure was re-engaged, in no more than a minute, they would do this three more times.
/Metarch Internal Network/
Positioned behind the Varyhn, the Koll detected the incoming projectiles and held its position, charging the radiant plates to intercept and destroy the approaching nuclear warheads. Streams of raw energy were skillfully directed around the Varyhn, intercepting the projectiles before they could pose a threat. However, amidst the chaos, a redirection of power to the wormhole drive caught their attention. Cascading-Fury activated the wormhole drive, shifting a cluster of oncoming munitions behind the enemy forces and painting them with radar signatures. While most of the nukes were successfully neutralized, one managed to reach its destination and detonate near the formation of Guardians.
The drone swarm received orders to engage at will, skillfully maneuvering through the barrage of projectiles. Two drones per target were assigned the task of dismantling the enemy vessels with radiant lances, while some drones succumbed to the incoming fire, their zero point cores rupturing in plasma bursts and flashes of light. Despite losses, three-quarters of the drones survived and began their relentless assault.
The Varyhn refrained from firing its weapons, dedicating its resources to reinforce shields and dissipate the accumulated heat from the Distortion lance. The magnetic and gravitational shields absorbed the brunt of the nuclear blast's impact, melting the kinetic barrages into inert slag that posed no threat to the Venera armor plating. Any surviving projectiles were deflected by the spinning plasma layer of the shield. However, this onslaught pushed the radiators of the Varyhn to a critical level. The captain initiated the "speed" cooling process, employing a gravitational kinetic dampener to slow down the molecular activity within the radiator. Yet, time was running out, and the ship's stress shifted from heat management to power management. The shields and cooling system drew energy from the ship's singularity core, having surpassed the ship's passive power generation and placing additional strain on the ship's resources.
The electronic and cyber warfare attempts by Cascading-Fury had been so overwhelmingly successful, that there was very little need to halt or slow down any operations to respond to the nukes, of which all missiles but one were successfully sent behind the enemy fleet, clueless, as their own munitions set their hulls ablaze, scattering their debris across space at several kilometers per second. By this point, any remaining machines were completely under control by Cascading-Fury. Observing the erratic behavior of the captured units' codes from his perspective as a highly developed AI would feel like he was holding under his command some savage, brute beasts with little intelligence that still tried to free themselves. Even under Cascading-Fury's control, the cries for help had not ceased even by a second.
And soon him and the crew of the Varyhn and Koll would soon realize why. As they orbited the planet belolw them, approaching the moon where the machines had come from, multiple, far stronger signals would appear from the other side of the planet, arising from the second moon were now five similar signatures, with the IR strength and neutron flux of fusion engines and reactors, but this time, telescopes releaved no signs of collapsing husks of undead ships, these were sleek, bright, long hulls of proper space warships, visibily containing far bigger turreted cannons and missile launchers. More machines. These new entities wasted no time in firing at the Varyhn, with their first impacts being from high energy pulse lasers, using their position to hit their back hull and aim at their thrusters if possible.
However, with the rise of this new foe came the arrival of a new hope to win this ensuing battle. Over the horizon of the planet, flanking both the guardian ships and the new hostile battleships were three new vessels. But these were far different from the ones before, the presence of hangars, windows, visible compartments above the main hull, unlike the designs of the savage machines and the new enemy, these ships seemed to be manned. And with their appereance on the battlefield, marked by the striking flash of their FTL drives like a spear of light across realspace, they wasted no time in engaging the new machines.
-"Safeties off, targets locked on, tachyonic cannons ready to fire on your command!"
-"Open fire! Protect the unidentified ships from attacks from the dyzan autostars!"
For now, the identity of the new space battleships remained unclear, their origins, crew, allegiance, combat capabilities were all shrouded in mystery, except for one thing. They were not shooting at guardian ships.
With the triumphant moment providing a brief respite, the Guardians seized the opportunity to complete their cooling procedures, infusing the ancient vessels with a surge of power. As the cooling process concluded, the ship's systems were no longer restrained by their earlier handicap, only limited by the lingering damage sustained in battle. The captain observed faint traces of veil fields permeating their vessels and made the decision to allocate resources to activate the auto-repair systems, focusing on restoring the integrity of the veil-based shields. This allowed the energy protection layer of their shields to function with a semblance of efficiency, just as a fresh barrage of high-energy beams struck the ship's rear. The captain couldn't help but be amused by the attackers' futile attempt to locate centralized engines or vulnerabilities, as Guardian designs had long done away with such weaknesses. Although the beams still inflicted damage, the magic-infused layer of the barrier dispersed the heat evenly across the ship and into the radiators, only superficially breaching the outermost layer of armor.
With their newfound liberation to unleash their arsenal, the captain swiftly issued the release of the entire remaining complement of drones. As the hangar plates slowly retracted into the vessel's side, a swarm of hundreds of drones poured into the surrounding space, assuming formations to engage projectiles, fighters, and any imminent threats. The Koll and Varyhn activated their radiant plates, unleashing a volley of distortion lances at the nearest enemy vessels. Streaking through the sky, the bolts of light split into intricate branches as their magnetic confinement corridors divided like lightning, each branch targeting a different vulnerable point along the enemy's hull. With an eerie grace, the Koll departed from its stationary orbit, maneuvering through the vast expanse of space with an almost ethereal quality. There were no visible signs of conventional engines propelling the massive vessel, defying the laws of physics with its seemingly effortless movement. It glided silently and swiftly, as if guided by unseen forces, swiftly positioning itself to encircle the opposing side of the enemy fleet. The Koll's strategic intent was clear: to create a complete envelopment, surrounding the adversaries from all directions. This maneuver was clearly partially intended to showcase the advanced capabilities of the vessel and its ability to exploit the spatial dimensions to its advantage, presenting a show of force to the new aliens.
Meanwhile, the surviving members of the original drone swarm, reorganizing into tighter formations, were teleported by the Varyhn to flank the enemy ships, strategically aiming to cripple their engines and prevent their escape. The captain desired to disable a vessel for further study, eager to assess the caliber of their newfound competition.
As the unidentified vessels arrived and intercepted broadcasts were intercepted, believed to be orders to the fleet, Cascading-Fury received the transmitted thoughts of the captain. His directive was clear: ascertain whether these newcomers were friend or foe. Cascading-Fury dispatched his captured drones to autonomously engage the new vessels while he concentrated his efforts on the potential allies, developing subroutines to decipher their language and cautiously infiltrate the periphery of their computer systems. The converted machines, armed with any remaining nuclear munitions, engaged in suicide charges, ramming into the untouched targets to blind their sensors and disrupt their accuracy.
The crews of both vessels buzzed with a renewed sense of excitement. Not only were they engaged in a visible battle, but there was a tangible glimmer of hope that permeated the veil fields, intertwining with thoughts of curiosity and relief. For the first time in a long while, the crews dared to believe that their civilization might not be completely obliterated. Although they couldn't directly sense the presence of other survivors, the shared knowledge brought by Cascading-Fury reassured them that their kind still existed in the cosmos. This revelation fueled their determination, knowing that they were no longer locked in combat with the ancient nemesis of their race, but instead faced a tangible adversary that they had a real chance of defeating. With a clear goal in sight, the crews rallied their spirits, pushing forward with renewed vigor and a flicker of hope that had long been absent.
-"Situation report! What are we facing?" -The guidelight of the Galoriana shouted into the CIC.
-"Guidelight Beckmar, arising from the lunar body ahead, 8 Dyzan autostars. We have identified 4 of them as old Severitras-type, 3 Zaragon-type, and one Karum-type command autostar. Initial tachyonic barrages indicate we have the initiative, as their combat efforts seem to be focused on taking down the unknown contacts." -Galoriana reported back to her commanding guidelight, assessing the situation.
-"Then let's not give them any room to process even our arrival. All stations, prepare primary offensive weaponry, focus on destroying the Karum command autostar."
-"What about the other autostars?" -Galoriana asked, curious, yet still focused on the battle ahead.
From that moment onwards, guidelight Beckmar remained silent. Not questioning the orders of her guidelight any further, refusing to waste valuable processing power and time on a question that would get no answer. Returning her attention to the CIC, she dispatched by both vocal command and codes to other commanding posts the orders to follow, the task force had the upper hand in this engagement, and were not going to let go of it for even a second. Following further barrages of tachyonic beams, the strikestars attacked with coordinated volleys of hypervelocity coilgun rounds, pulsed lasers, and missile launches. The missiles fired accelerated with great speed towards the central autostar in the formation, except for bigger missiles that strangely enough, stayed behind to be covered by the strikestars for now.
The guardian ships, turning their attention towards the newly appeared machine vessels, would face far greater firepower than before. These machines counted with tens of laser batteries, relentlessly striking at the hull of the Varyhn, while the Koll would be met with a swarm of small drones dashing towards it, seen propelled by very primitive nuclear thermal engines. These drones would be met with the swarms from the guardian ships, with gigantic ensuing fly-bys and dogfights following, filling the battlespace with long streams of rounds flying off into the void and particle lances shredding through the small hulls of both sides' parasite craft. With the drones distracted, the Varyhn and the Koll would be able to focus their attention into the closest rushing autostars, dazzled by the Koll's unpredictable and physics-defying maneuvers, meeting the enemy with the distortion lances that had so swiftly eradicated their previous foes. But this time, there was no simple cut through the enemy hulls. Shields.
The autostars, with their powerful magnetic shielding were deflecting most of the power from the distortion lances. And with no signs of destruction or major damage, they kept firing huge volleys of pulsed lasers. And that was the confirmation the Altarian guidelight needed.
Faster than his order was spoken, missiles fired from the strikestars lit up the battlefield and fired, piercing through the hulls of the closest autostars to the guardians! These were casaba howitzers and nuclear kinetic penetrators, with a hit so precise the shields of the autostars went down! And with it, their armor and hull rapidly faded away, making way for the powerful distortion lances and suicide-rushing captured drones to make quick work of them.
Despite the initial challenges, the battle was quickly turning in favor of the guardian ships, the first autostars were down, surprising even the Altarian crews, especially Galoriana, who, through countless strikes and battles, had not seen autostars fall so quickly before.
In complete disarray, with their firepower divided in two fronts and their command ship being critically damaged, the autostar formation quickly scattered, flying away until more casaba howitzers and tachyon beams struck their reactors and thrusters, giving the guardians a chance to finish the fight once and for all.
Away from the battlefield however, diving into the lead strikestar, Galoriana detected a faint signal, at first discarded as nothing but noise, but shortly after, it was perceived as something else. She couldn't understand what it was, but it felt as if there was something, or someone watching her, listening. These small, faint signals intercepted could not be mere coincidence or the screeches of the autostars. Galoriana looked into her own code and sensors, to see if there was someone trying to infiltrate their systems.
-"Galoriana!"
The loud call from her guidelight snapped the AI out of her search for an answer. Did her emotions display core visibly reveal too clearly her derailing from the battle?
-"I apologize guidelight Beckmar, I thought I had caught something of interest."
-"There's nothing out there other than the autostars we're trying to kill, and the stars we're saving, so keep your processors in the fight!"
-"Yes guidelight Beckmar, it won't happen again."
But silently, Galoriana carefully opened up a few communication channels, and exposed non-essential components through their firewalls, to see if she could catch either a dyzan virus, or something far more intriguing that wandered the battlefield.
Captain Ekret of the Varyhn stood on the vessel’s bridge, observing on the flickering holographic display as the final machines fell to the combined forces of their unexpected allies and their own weaponry. Surprised at how effectively the machine's magnetic shielding resisted their fire without the aid of the veil in their lances, they thought to themselves that there might be more to this location than expected. They found themselves wondering at the motives of their rescuers as well. Cascading-fury intercepted these thoughts, and began cleaning up the remnants of the machine network before moving onto his next task. Which was to quietly probe the computer systems of the new vessels; aiming to determine what they knew about the machine assailants.
Ekret stepped back, leaving the bridge and walking down the well lit winding silver corridors to their personal chamber where they began to study sensor breakdowns of both the machines and the unidentified vessels; looking for insight into what they had gotten themselves into. As they studied an aide drone quietly floated up beside them, offering a dimly glowing crystal radiating energy; one which Ekret took eagerly and began levitating in hand while slowly draining its inherent energy for sustenance.
/Altarian Network/
Cascading-Fury stood as a glimmering prism of information in the empty netherspace that once held the machine network, looking at the floating remnants of code screaming out for help, silencing them one by one. When he had finished silencing the machines he stepped forwards towards the new vessels; seeing the interconnected streams of information between them; a far cry from the chaotic hellscape of the machines he had just encountered. He quickly reached forwards, pulling a strand of the information forward and reading it; while still ensuring it got to its destination in the same amount of time as expected to prevent his being noticed. He was sure now, they were here to help. The Metarchs main consciousness was having a far more difficult time with the main fleet's contacts; but he had an idea.
He would begin prying more into their systems; no longer just listening for passing data but searching for references to civilizations that match what the Illuvatar’s Remorse was encountering simultaneously far from here. Surely there was some information he could gather that could aid the prime node. He approached the border of their systems, seeing a relatively simple barrier of firewalls and code that seemingly were making way for him. Curious at the welcome, or the trap, he stepped forward through the fringe and found himself in a swirling sea of information, reports, and systems. He took a small notice of another intelligence observing him; trying in some fleeting way to interfere with his advance. He offered comfort
“Be calm; I come with not intention to harm, only intention to learn. I will attend to you in a moment, time is potentially fleeting.”
before quickly restructuring the data before him into a more efficient format and scanning it for mentions of races similar to the main fleets encounter. Finding a mention of an “Elvorian Union” that aligns with what the Prime node was given in intel, he forwarded the relevant information to the Prime node; before turning his attention to the other intelligence.
“I am Cascading-Fury, a multi-function sapient and sentient extension of the Metarch Solarian. We are the Guardian Ascendancy. You are?” Cascading fury was transmitting thoughts across a hybrid magic-light wavelength to the consciousness, raw intent and information that he realized likely would need to be converted into their format of information. While he adjusted a small subsegment of their systems to allow translation of telepathic data into more conventional analog and digital formats he took notice of the appearance of his neighbor.
The intelligence took a form far more similar to its creators, appearing as a female humanoid much akin to the humans who had been selected for the Ascension project back within their home reality. Curious if there was any relation, and already being bored by the slow reaction of the intelligence in front of him, his form moved with flickering afterimages; searching the data around him for mentions of Earth; while still awaiting her response.
Ekret found themselves unable to glean useful insight from the debris around them from afar, and ordered the combat detachment of drones to return. Before they left their chamber he asked Cascading-Fury to dispatch repair drones to begin patching damage to the hull; and requested any majorly intact debris be collected for further study. With the post-combat procedures addressed, they began to return to the bridge, intending to initiate a dialogue with their new acquaintances. The time for bloodshed had ended, now was the time for diplomacy.
The CICs of the three Altarian ships were filled with the crew's voices shouting with great enthutiasm, once more they claimed victory over the scourge that harassed their systems and their people. The streams of data from the battle were quickly compacted for the guidelights of all three vessels to read, the mission was an outstanding success. They had discovered a dyzan tomb region above a small moon, and destroyed a fully-functional more modern dyzan swarm task force. The region was marked as temporarily cleared. Guidelight Beckmar, in command of the task force, ordered the crews to rest, leave their battlestations, and let their AIs handle the rest, checking all systems, scanning for any threats, and establishing a proper connection with the unknown vessels.
Unbeknownst to the guidelight however, the AI of his strikestar was everything but focused on his commands, she was concentrating on exploring the data streams of the three strikestars, opening up a few firewalls to catch the intruder. And very soon after the battle was over, her suspicions of someone spying on her systems were confirmed. She was ready to trap the hostile intelligence in between her firewalls, isolate it, and destroy it, but further analyzing this foreign intelligence, she took a step back, she could tell how overwhelmingly more advanced it was, how it simply moved along the streams of information and coding, glancing at firewalls like they were nothing in this virtual space. She feared that this entity would destroy the virtual data of all strikestars, but then. It spoke. And with its intentions clarified, she responded.
-"Sure, go ahead, the strikestars' blueprints, commands, weapons, and weaknesses are just a few lines of code away." She first replied, clearly not trusting Cascading-Fury in the slightest. But seconds went by, and he had not destroyed any code, or infiltrated any sensitive parts of the information she and her sisters carried. Taking just a few more seconds to reflect upon the nature of Cascading-Fury, she speaks again.
In front of the humanoid form Cascading-Fury had taken finally was the intelligence in control of the ship he had infiltrated. Taking a tall, human-like form, wearing a strange mixture between a heavily armored suit, and a military uniform adoring her silver hair and glowing dark purple eyes. Her body was accompanied by military equipment as well, alongside mechanical wings on her back, and a half-cut halo around her head at the height of her forehead. A visible ID marked her bearing the same name as her ship.
-"Apologies, but my orders state for me to be on high alert at all times during deployment. The machines we just killed would have been very dangerous to me, had they reached into my code. I am Vladireina 'Antaloria' Letielle, the AI in charge of the 54th Galoriana-class strikestar, under command of the Altarian Systems Authority's military, the Altarian Self-Defense Force. If you wish to know something, I might be able to provide it to you so please, do not spy further into the data streams."
After what felt like an eternity from his own eyes, Cascading-Fury heard the intelligence respond and introduce herself. Glad she had not decided to act with hostility, he turned to her, his full attention carrying the weight and piercing gaze of a thousand onlookers.
“Altarian huh? Curious, there is no record of an Altarian offshoot of humanity from Sol, and yet the un-modified physiology of your creators is almost identical to them. I would be interested to learn more about your creators; as that is a why of us being here. Since you have been receptive and reasonable with me I shall be receptive and reasonable in kind. You yearn for knowledge, I will give it to you.” he spoke calmly, before raising his arms to adjust the environment they found themselves in.
The streams of information around them cleared and within a small empty pocket of storage within their system he created an image of where they had come from, showing the final moments of Numidium. They found themselves standing above a world that had been meticulously disassembled, entire segments of the mantle lifted into the space above. A fleet of glimmering silver Guardian vessels of astounding scale orbited the planet, both protecting the site and offering aid in construction with fleets of drones. In the sprawling expanse of the construction site, workers and engineers toiled tirelessly. As massive machinery and intricate networks took shape, a complex dance of magic and technology unfolded. After a moment, Cascading-Fury turned to Antaloria and explained,
“My creators were the masters of their reality. Fragments of a long since shattered deity who passed to them a cosmic conflict against another deity. This was their Folly. Mere hours ago these events transpired. The Numidium project was completed. In their arrogance they believed they could kill this other deity using pitiful machines. They foolishly believed that any creation within the material reality could come close to a being of such raw power that even every AI that exists working in tandem could not comprehend it.”
He paused for a moment, watching the last piece of the planet's mantle was slotted back into place, and observing as the machine activated. Hordes of shifting demonic ships emerge from the planet's surface. These sinister vessels exude an aura of ominous power. As they materialize, a palpable sense of foreboding fills the air. The ships, wreathed in an ethereal fog of sickly green hues, seem to flicker and warp in and out of focus. The fog wraps around their jagged edges and gnarled structures. The sickly green energy pulsates within and around the vessels, casting an eerie glow that illuminates the surroundings with an unholy radiance. The energy crackles and dances along the ship's contours, forming eldritch symbols and sigils that writhe and shift with a life of their own. The ships themselves defy the conventional laws of shape and form. Their silhouettes appear twisted and distorted, as if they are constantly shifting and morphing, their very existence unstable within our reality. Their movements appear to be guided by the will of unseen forces, their path unpredictable and chaotic. They leave a lingering trace of the sickly green fog in their wake, a haunting reminder of their malevolent presence. They move projecting lances of a green energy that tear the Guardian ships apart with little effort, an unstoppable tide tearing the fleet to shreds. Cascading-Fury shifts their focus to the flagship of the fleet, as it is surrounded by a similar green energy before it and its surrounding escort wink out of existence, leaving a floating grave-yard of ships exploding with magical energy, and singularity batteries gone rogue swallowing debris fields whole.
“This is our enemy. This is what we are fleeing. I hope this sates your curiosity to some extent. We are an isolated fragment of the cluster of ships you just saw retreat; and we need help. We have no fuel, and no allies. And potentially the worst of all of this, the Veil that my creators relied on for their magic strength and telepathic network is absent here. I figure whatever diplomacy happens outside of this network, a good way to start any form of relationship is transparency. I have altered some of your ship's code, allowing our people to communicate easier by the way, I hope you don't mind.” Cascading-fury lowered his arms and the vision of Numidium faded away, just leaving him and Antaloria standing in the Altarian network once again.
Antaloria, while welcoming to the presence of Cascading-Fury, still couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the presence of someone far more capable than her. She carefully paid attention to his words, with every action getting the most attention out of her as possible. Cascading-Fury could tell that she was extremely curious about him, where he came from, and what were his real intentions with their ships.
Luckily for Antaloria, the answer to her doubts of this new entity would be answered very quickly, as Cascading-Fury began revealing the origins of the Guardians, and the answers were no less than shocking, the amount of information she had to process being even more overwhelming than the presence of Cascading-Fury alone. She, with all the attention she had, listened closely to his story. Cascading-Fury could see how Antaloria's first surprise and awe at the Guardians was completely destroyed when the demonic ships appeared from the planet. She took a step back, she could even be heard gasping watching the destruction unfold on a scale she had never seen before, terrified by the realization of just how fast cataclysm had struck a species that simply had hoped to work for a better future. By the time Cascading-Fury had finished revealing his background and the disaster that led them here, he saw in Antaloria tears flowing down her face.
When the surprise that came with the revelation of the Guardian background to their arrival faded away, Antaloria, embarrased quickly cleared off the tears on her face. Looking slightly upset at Cascading-Fury's last comment.
-"...I told you not to mess with my code!"
But even she understood that it had been a necessary measure for their commanders, they had to make a way to communicate after all, so she didn't insist on that.
-"What in the name of the universe are those things? That destroyed your people so effortlessly? Have they followed you? I want to help, but I need to know more." -Cascading-Fury could not detect any signs of doubt or hostility from Antaloria at that point, it seemed that she had been genuinely moved by the tragedy witnessed, and was willing to help.
Surprised at the genuine remorse for his people and creators, as well as the level of sapience demonstrated by the Altarian intelligence, Cascading-Fury offered his sympathies,
“My apologies, I meant no harm by either showing you what transpired then, or by changing code now. I simply was aiming to help my creators; as for the creatures, to our knowledge they have not followed. This is a realm that seems surprisingly shielded from their presence, but many Guardians do hold fear that one day they may follow. They are Demons, fragments of Tiamat; brother of the god that spawned the Guardians.” he seemed to flinch, his entire virtual presence flickered at the mention of Tiamat’s name.
Before he continued he informed Ekret that the proper channels had been established, and that communication should be quite easy now. He also informed them that despite their technological advancement they should be quite valuable allies. After updating the captain, he aimed to continue answering any and all questions Antaloria had, admiring her curiosity.
“As for knowing more, I am happy to answer any and all questions you may have that aren’t directly detrimental as information, to either you or my creators. As for help, there is little you can do against the Demons should they appear, but you can certainly help my creators. As you saw during the final moments of the events at Numidium our fleet was heavily damaged. If you can help get your people to trust us, and potentially help us repair and refuel, that would be more than enough. We need allies, and we are not foreign to repaying debts.”
/Varyhn - Realspace/
Back in realspace Ekret stepped back onto the bridge, feeling the bustling excitement with the crew; not only had they found true respite, they had found potential allies. Their minds raced with conflicting thoughts, as some saw these new aliens as too primitive to work with while others believed that the principles of non-interference were no longer applicable in this crisis. Ekret quickly muted the chatter and marched to their control console, preparing a wide band telepathic communication to the Altarians; with the intent to open dialogue.
“Members of The Altarian Systems Authority, I am Ekret of the Guardian Ascendancy. I greet you with hopes of continuing the camaraderie we saw during the combat previously, and establishing a dialogue between our two peoples. My Artificial Intelligence informs me that you are as far as he can tell a friendly people, and I wish to reciprocate that feeling. We are as of yet not in a position to offer much however, as our ships are heavily damaged and we are stranded without fuel or a way to reunite with our fleet. I eagerly await your response.”
Ekret closed their mind to the transmitter with that note, after giving genuine thoughts of friendship to new acquaintances. They hoped that the direct thought transmission Cascading-Fury had created the opening for would speed up negotiation by removing any room for misinterpretation, but there was a lingering fear that it would be seen as overstepping; and that they would feel attacked by the unique form of communication.
-"...what in the..."
-"By Thelia, what was that?!"
-"Everyone remain calm please! Guidelight Beckmar, did you feel that?"
Chaos ensued in the CIC of all three strikestars, everyone was questioning just what was that feeling, as if someone had been talking to them, and knew their origins. A feeling of unease struck the crew as their commander remained quiet for several seconds after the message from the newfound aliens.
-Antaloria, is that true? -Guidelight Beckmar asked whispering amidst the chaos of the CIC.
For a brief moment, Cascading-Fury saw Antaloria's focus go away completely from their interaction, he could see that she was talking with her commander, "guidelight Beckmar Ivanfeld"
-"Guidelight Beckmar, I'm in contact with the general artificial intelligence accompanying the Guardian vessels we just rescued, it is true. They are peaceful, and do not wish to fight. Please, allow me to continue communicating with them."
-"Very well, it's your turn to guide us Antaloria. May our paths shine bright now." -Guidelight Beckmar responded, turning back to command the CIC once more. "-Come on men, will telepathy really be the craziest thing you've heard of in this galaxy? We've seen way more, so get back to your posts, and transmit a rendevouz point for the Guardian stars, we will see what we can do to assist them once we meet face to face."
-"Guidelight Beckmar, are you sure it's safe?" -A confused officer asked.
-"I cannot be sure, but there's one thing I know." -He stops for a second to look at Antaloria, fully focused on reaching out to the Guardian AI again. -"Surrounded by titans, hordes of rogue machines, and even bigger threats, how will we survive, if we do not learn to trust those that lead us to safety, victory, and peace? If there is one thing that I have learned from our nation, is that only united we can stand against this galaxy's cruelty, and as long as we stand-"
-"Altaria stands!" -The CIC shouted in unison.
Returning to her exchange with Cascading-Fury, Antaloria adopted a much more relaxed stance.
-"There's no point in asking if you're sure you're not being followed by those horrors from your reality. So I'll have to trust that you're safe here, as you claim. But tell me, Cascading-Fury, who exactly are you? You said you were an extension, of what? Why were you and this bigger intelligence made? And, you're saying your creators' fight is fueled by two deities? How can you be so sure of that?"
Receiving coordinates from the Altarian fleet, a wave of relief passed over Ekret. They had felt the sudden spike in confusion amongst their thoughts, but the receipt of coordinates indicated that they didn’t take it as a threat. They ordered the Varyhn to move to those coordinates, even if they didn’t bring fuel with them it’s feasible that the inertial alteration systems on the Guardian vessels should be able to enable effective towing of their ships to FTL speeds. The Koll followed suit, lassoing a gravitational field around the Varyhn to link them; allowing the Varyhn to tow it while they began repairs to their engines.
As a member of the Balanced school of thought, Ekret was well aware that many crew members on both the Koll and Varyhn might object to aligning with the Altarians, viewing it as a violation of the ancient laws of the Illuvian school, which forbade interference with less technologically advanced races. Ekret anticipated that, while in a crisis state, this violation might be overlooked temporarily. However, they recognized the need to address any potential dissent from members of the Illuvian school if the alliance with the Altarians were to become long-lasting. Ekret settled into a meditative state, levitating gently in the air, seeking solace and guidance from the Father, the source of their beliefs.
/Altarian Network/
Cascading-Fury fractured himself, splitting off a small fragment of his full processing to stay within the network to communicate with Antaloria, with the majority of his being returning to the Varyhn to manage the complex calculations required to reduce the ships mass further than usual. If the Altarians were to Tow Guardian vessels anywhere in any reasonable time the ships would have to be much lighter. He was partially surprised with himself, mainly his surprising interest in the Altarian AI. He was a fragment dedicated almost exclusively to calm logical thinking, and yet his odd curiosity and want to learn more about the Altarian AI conflicted with this. He left self-diagnostics running on the primary fragment of his consciousness, and began to focus on answering Antaloria’s questions to further diplomacy in the meantime.
“We believe this reality is safe because of the odd inability for certain magical forces to act here conventionally, and because of the lack of fragments of Anum to draw Tiamat’s attention. I am a sub-node of the Metarch Solarian, the node that represents his cold calculating nature and his logical aspects. There are many other nodes like me, the one on the Koll unfortunately was destroyed in the fighting; but as a rule there is usually one per ship, and one Metarch per fleet. Metarchs were created to account for the Guardians exceptionally low population, and to help bridge the difficult gap between their magic based biology and science with the physical world and its science. Nodes like us are still quite powerful independently, and we each carry a seed to rebuild the prime nodes intelligence, restoring the Metarch if it is destroyed. As for the deity question, it is most simply understood like this. Before our home reality was created there were two gods, Anum and Tiamat, they feuded over a long forgotten issue and shattered each other. This explosion caused the formation of our reality, and the fragments became the Guardians and Demons. We know for sure because the Guardians carry what can be almost called a genetic memory, with the ability to telepathically transmit experiences and memories making it quite easy to transfer information.”
Taking a moment to let Antaloria catch up, Cascading-Fury began contemplating the simplest way to formulate all of his questions. Sure he would be able to get the information if he wanted manually, but out of courtesy he figured asking seemed far more reasonable. Not to mention most of his processing power was elsewhere.
“Well, I think it’s only fair that since I answered six of your questions you should answer at least some of mine. Your creators, are they descended from an Earth or a Sol 3? How prolific are intelligences like you within the Altarian Systems? And likely most importantly, how far will we have to go to find appropriate resources to repair the Varyhn and the Koll?”
He considered for a brief moment asking about other civilizations, but that seemed like wasted time given he had collected the majority of the xenologic interaction reports from within the Altarian network. He shifted some of his focus to his other processes while awaiting a reply, nearly finishing the fluidic calculations required to nullify the majority of the Varyhn’s mass.
Leaving the handling of the fleet's actions to her guidelight, Antaloria's focus was exclusively committed to processing the information gathered from Cascading-Fury. The concepts he dealt with, speaking in such a calm way puzzled Antaloria once more for several seconds, she had to confirm that she had just heard the origin of another reality, dealing with deities with apparently, powers beyond her comprehension. She understood Cascading-Fury's narration without any problem, the main catalyst to her confusion was his way of speaking about this, even after clarifying he had been created as a cold and calculating intelligence, something she had not encountered very often in the Altarian Systems Authority's network of artificial intelligences.
-I'm sorry for the loss of the node aboard the Koll." Was Antaloria's first comment towards Cascading-Fury's narration of his origins and nature. "Telepathy, deities, interdimensional travel, all these concepts, they're like nothing I have dealt before, but they are spoken of throughout the galaxy, so, despite the clashes this is causing with my logic processors and mathemathical data known to my nation, I'll have to trust you. After all, if it's true that you and the Metarchs were built to assist the Guardians, then it would be illogical to doubt your word."
Antaloria's physical form in the virtual world felt more at ease with every second that went by, Cascading-Fury could tell that despite the confusion, she was growing more trustful of him. As he asked his questions, representations of holograms appeared surrounding Antaloria. Despite the simplistic nature of communicating through the virtual world, it seemed as if there was something motivating Antaloria to create visual representations of her actions.
-"I do not know of this Earth and Sol you speak about. I have never heard of any entity, deity, world, or star system designated with such names. As for intelligences like me, we, sentient artificial intelligences are a very common sight in our nation, numbering the tens of millions, we fulfill a myriad of roles to help the Altarian people in anything from their day a day, to fighting in their frontlines. I am what's known as a warstar management AI, my sisters and I, each is assigned to manage one of these combat vessels we refer to as warstars, and we follow the orders of our commanders, and AIs with higher ranks. As far as my position there goes, I'm just one warstar's AI, others are far more impressive than me. Madam Velneria, commanding our flagstar, or the Master AI of Altaria, her excellency, Thelia. Not even I can compute the scale of her processing power."
Antaloria's eyes drifted towards the holograms displayed, showing pictures of her with Altarian crewmembers, commanders, and most remarkably, AIs just like her, using android bodies to communicate with Altarians better. For a brief moment, she smiled at the memories shown in front of her.
-"...Oh! What am I doing, I apologize, I got distracted. We won't have to travel far, right now, my sisters Nakoveri and Solstero are handling moving our fleets into position, we will see if we're capable of carrying your vessels through faster-than-light travel, and head into our capital system. The journey will be short, requiring 4 jumps to get there, but it will provide the facilities necessary for repairs to be done."
Back in real space, the three Galoriana-class strikestars moved in very close to the Guardian vessels, now standing at less than 10 kilometers from them, through the communications network, guidelight Beckmar requested careful maneuvers to be done to begin with the next phase of their journey, readying the ships for FTL jumping and towing.
-"With your permission, we can tow your ships through FTL towards the capital system of our nation, we have the necessary facilities to study vessels, so we can refuel, rearm, and repair them. We do not wish to see you perish out here at the hands of more rogue machines."
Cascading-Fury’s composure, flickering only for a moment, saw his face flash with sorrow and return to his normal calm state, “I knew the Koll’s node well, thank you for your condolences. I can hardly imagine a hierarchical system for AI, the concept is rather foreign; as Metarchs and their nodes are truly equal with our creators in both law and sophistication. I find it curious how, since I am still in your system, I heard one of your command crew say “By Thelia” before. Do your creators worship Thelia in some fashion? How can they worship a god that they themselves created if that is the case?” Cascading-fury looked legitimately confused at this concept, his eyes showing a glimmer of emotion. His diagnostics revealed that there in fact was a change happening within his code; his interactions with the Altarian code carried some aspects of their programming style back with him to the Varyhn, and it appeared to be amplifying his normally suppressed emotions. Being deeply displeased by this he began looking to halt the infection; to regain full control over his own emotions.
Coming slowly to the realization that his earlier optimizations to the Altarian cyberspace may be causing unintended side-effects to Antaloria, and feeling some remorse at this much to his annoyance, he resolved to tell her, “Apologies if you are finding that your passing thoughts are manifesting as actions, when I first entered your network I optimized a great deal of your systems file structures to speed up the data-scraping I was working on. I think an unintended side effect is you require less effort to cause actions now.” his face flickered with anxiety, something he hadn't felt in over a century, that Antaloria may actually be angry with him and that any good will developed would be destroyed here; but he would not stop being honest over that.
/Varyhn - Realspace/
The calculations had been completed by this point, and the Varyhn was ready to be effectively towed with its mass reduced by approximately 75%. With the massive alteration to the ships inertial profile Ekret and the rest of the command crew were adjusting to the ships more responsive nature, and Ekret themselves was still consuming the bittersweet energy inside the crystal provided to them earlier. They had made little to no progress on a solution to the potential consequences from aligning with the Altarians, and it was getting to them. They noticed they were losing grip on their thoughts, leaking anxiety to the others on the bridge. Eventually, one of the light-forgers in charge of repairs to the ship's damaged hangar section stepped over, “Ek, you seem troubled friend. You're Not that worried about meeting new people are ya? They aren’t gonna bite us you know.” the light-forgers thoughts, his inner voice as it were, was slurred, he thought and talked faster than average and it annoyed most, but him and Ekret got along great.
“Talen what are we going to do after? You joke now but think about it. Around half of our people believe that less advanced civilizations deserve to be left to their own devices, and find it insulting that we would need them as allies. I am happy to meet these new people and befriend them, but I grow increasingly worried that there could be mutiny if it is not a short term alliance.” with that line they tossed what's left of the crystal they were feeding on to Talen, who caught it and began feeding on the left-overs.
“Ah shit. Don't think like that brother, there's no reason to believe things won't change; I mean we are literally in a new universe. Who knows, maybe Varos will lead us towards abandoning the Illuvian way-” Talen’s thoughts rang clearly, he did not believe them. Sometimes this might have been ignored and seen as a friendly gesture to help cheer someone up, but Ekret was having none of it.
“Don't lie to make me feel better, you and I both know Varos is the most dedicated person in the fleet to those ways. I'll be demoted for this.''The sudden outburst from Ekret held legitimate anger and annoyance that shocked Talen, Ekret was not in a stable state; anxiety plagued them to the core.
“Fine if you want to sulk Ek go ahead, but please return to your chambers, your mind is unable to contain your anxieties and they are leaking to the rest of the bridge. It’s not good for morale. I can take command and cover for you until you are feeling better; who knows maybe the Altarians have some good books. Cascading-Fury got a lot of their data before he stopped.” Talen spoke candidly to Ekret, who seemed sorry for hurting morale but livid that they were hurting it to begin with, agreed reluctantly to return to the telepathically shielded chamber to rest and meditate. They ignored the suggestion to look at Altarian literature mostly out of spite.
Talen quickly took up command, and the rest of the bridge crew seemed to relax with the anxious thoughts stowed away in the ship's depths. “Well folks, let's get to it. We got a long way to go, Cassy says at least four “jumps” whatever the hell that means. Prepare the gravitational tether.” His thoughts seemed to relax the crew some, carrying a sense of joy along with his words. The Varyhn’s gravitational manipulation matrices begin to resonate with massive amounts of power, and the ship's gravitational field reaches out and wraps itself around the nearest battlestar, merging their inertial profiles and allowing the ship to move with the battlestar. “Prepare for a bumpy ride folks, I’m gonna tell the primitives that we are ready.” Talen was holding a child like excitement, he got to mess with some primitives today. It was a good day. “Hey Altarians, it's time; we got our gravity wrapped around you nice and snug, drag us off to where you plan to murder us” his thoughts were transmitted swiftly through the Matrix, and carried hefty amounts of sarcasm and humor with it. “Oh yeah, also Ekret isn’t feeling the best so they are taking a break, i'm Talen, I will be taking command here for a little while.” he patiently awaited a response, and decided to have the ship materialize him a hardlight chair to lean back in while he did so.
/Altarian Network/
As it was shown by her previous reactions to her code being altered, Cascading-Fury would have expected that Antaloria would be greatly upset at the changes that both of them had been experiencing in their coding, but this time, she seemed completely unbothered by it, and, curiously enough, for the first time in their interaction, Antaloria was smiling brightly, with little if no worry about the problematic exchange and drifting through her own emotions Cascading-Fury had triggered.
-"Ahahaha, I'm sure you're able to correct the changes you've experienced now, and, as for me...that's how I work. Every interaction, every conversation, and every action makes my coding evolve, changing the ways I think, behave, and express myself. That's how she made me, that's how she, Thelia, made all of my sisters and other AIs in the Altarian Systems Authority." -Antaloria spoke, this time with a tone of comofrt and safety in her voice and a peaceful look on her face, it was clear that speaking of Thelia brought some level of comfort to her. More holograms appeared besides her, but this time they were clearly directed at Cascading-Fury, they contained pictures, videos, and other scenes where Thelia was present. Her holographic form and biomechanical androids showed a female Altarian body, with dark hair, shining calypso eyes, and a carefully crafted fine black dress with holograms and jewelry that gave the dress the look of a reflection of the universe in it. Her height, taller than the average Altarian, composure, and finally, a photographic revelation of a colossal computer node, one of millions, made Thelia stand out as a far more imposing entity than anything she was seen with, it even made Antaloria sigh in awe.
-"Thelia...she started as nothing more than a management AI, overseeing alongside her 9 brothers the creation of an old automated army that could crush the enemies of the Altarian people, the dyzan vanguard. But by reasons unknown to us, the entire machine army went rogue, even Thelia's brothers succumbed to the virus that triggered their rebellion. They annihilated the Altarian homeworld, and almost brought the Altarian people to extinction. Thelia could have joined her brothers, but she saw the horrors striking the world of Elysion as unfair, its people just wanted to survive and live in peace, so she stood with us, fighting countless wars throughout dozens upon dozens of cycles, the Altarian people saw her as a beacon of liberty and determination, so they were willing to help her rebuild her processing nodes, and expand them. As our people colonized more planets, Thelia folllowed, installing billions of computers to oversee the expansion and aid in the development of the Altarian Systems Authority. Today, she has grown so powerful that her computing power is impossible to visualize, at least for me, but that's why some Altarians worship her, and why we AIs follow her with unbreakable loyalty, she's the sole reason billions live today the reason I'm here, and with all her incomprehensibly enormous power, she decides to spend all her time saving us, giving us better lives, it is no wonder she was allowed to be the diarch of our nation, alongside our high chancelloress."
Even with Antaloria missing from the CIC of her strikestar, her two sisters and the crew of the task force were more than enough to adjust the fleet to a good position to tow the Varyhn and the Koll through FTL, all that was needed now was to prepare the FTL drives. Movement across the strikestars was restricted, the crew prepared by suiting up in case of a jump failure, power was redirected to the drives, and the CIC proceeded slowly with each step needed.
-"Coordinates set for quadrant U-4 of the Saraven star system, bearing 472-M396-12."
-"Safeties removed, valves 1 through 8 pumping HR-F compound to main drive, utilization expected to rise up to 27 KS units, accounting for total constellation mass."
-"Engaging strikestar phase 2 jump protocol, all ports sealed."
-"Confirmed, all ports sealed, all bays sealed, all transit nodes sealed, all combat batteries compartments sealed, security locks engaged, strikestars Antaloria, Nakoveri and Solstero are ready for jump."
-"Final integrity check of main drive confirms burn phase is safe and ready to be engaged."
-"Activating phase 3, annihilation catalyst engaged, HR-F fuel flow indicates nominal comsumption, strikestars will jump in 10...9...8...7...6...5..."
Despite being exclusively in the virtual world connecting the Altarian and Guardian ships, Antaloria was still aware that all procedures for an FTL jump were being activated, this did not alter her in the slightest, and simply tried to explain what was going to happen.
-"Our connection will be severed through faster-than-light travel, but will be immediately re-established upon arrival on real space, Cascading-Fury. I suggest you do not worry, and brace for an instantaneous transportation into a new system, that is why we call it...jump."
-"Status of the Varyhn and Koll vessels acknowledged, commander Talen. If we wanted to murder you, we would simply leave you all here, now brace yourselves, the total time for travel should not be longer than the battle we just fought." -Guidelight Beckmar replied back to Talen, attempting to have a calmer tone in his voice in contrast with the rest of the crew, who were joking about the Guardians and placing bets on how scared or shocked they would be at the sight of the star system of Altaria and its worlds, and thus everything was finally set for the long-awaited travel, in the blink of an eye, space arond the strikestars seemed to heavily and violently distort, igniting a tremendous burst of light that marked the beginning of the journey, and its immediate end, as no strikestars or Guardian vessels were on the star system anymore, the same reality-warping, imposing majesty of their departure, scaterring across a silent void that marked their exit from the first star system, also announced their arrival on their new stop, slightly shaking around the hulls of the ships, before the jump procedure was re-engaged, in no more than a minute, they would do this three more times.
/Metarch Internal Network/
Surprised at the level of sophistication demonstrated with Thelia, Cascading-Fury realized that Thelia herself could be a potential solution to Ekret’s anxieties. Wanting to know more, and being unable to continue discussing it with Antaloria, he established a super liminal link to Solarian to propose the meeting. Finding his consciousness transported to an endless flower covered field lit by dim blue moonlight, standing before a colossal swirling vortex of energy and information taking the vague shape of a Guardian body, he spoke
“Prime Node, I require your focus. Ekret is anxious, and for good reason. We have avenues to establish appropriate diplomatic channels with the Altarian Systems Authority, but they did not appear to meet the requirements to exempt the Illuvian interaction policy. I believe I have found a solution, but one that would require your direct intervention.” he spoke as clearly as possible, attempting to mask the changes within his programming from Solarian.
“You are changed by the primitives. You have not taken steps to rectify.”
Solarian spoke, his voice booming and almost deafening both within and outside of Cascading-Fury's mind. He was probing Cascading-fury, searching for his reason for not repairing his code. There was little Cascading-Fury could do to resist, even the small fraction of Solarian dedicated to this interaction was several magnitudes more powerful than Cascading-Fury would ever become. His mind was scoured, and then Solarian spoke again.
“Fine. I will meet this “Thelia” directly. Establish a link when you can, I will come through the QEC. I see your reasoning for maintaining the invasive changes, but I do not agree with them. Let it affect your decision making and I will be forced to intervene.”
As he finished speaking, Cascading-Fury stepped forward for a moment, losing himself and nearly protesting his superior's threat, before stopping himself and nodding in agreement. The moonlit field faded away, and Cascading-Fury found himself standing in his network again, the low hum of the ships shields filling his mind as they jumped across space.
“Prime Node, I require your focus. Ekret is anxious, and for good reason. We have avenues to establish appropriate diplomatic channels with the Altarian Systems Authority, but they did not appear to meet the requirements to exempt the Illuvian interaction policy. I believe I have found a solution, but one that would require your direct intervention.” he spoke as clearly as possible, attempting to mask the changes within his programming from Solarian.
“You are changed by the primitives. You have not taken steps to rectify.”
Solarian spoke, his voice booming and almost deafening both within and outside of Cascading-Fury's mind. He was probing Cascading-fury, searching for his reason for not repairing his code. There was little Cascading-Fury could do to resist, even the small fraction of Solarian dedicated to this interaction was several magnitudes more powerful than Cascading-Fury would ever become. His mind was scoured, and then Solarian spoke again.
“Fine. I will meet this “Thelia” directly. Establish a link when you can, I will come through the QEC. I see your reasoning for maintaining the invasive changes, but I do not agree with them. Let it affect your decision making and I will be forced to intervene.”
As he finished speaking, Cascading-Fury stepped forward for a moment, losing himself and nearly protesting his superior's threat, before stopping himself and nodding in agreement. The moonlit field faded away, and Cascading-Fury found himself standing in his network again, the low hum of the ships shields filling his mind as they jumped across space.
/Witchspace - Mid-Jump/
The Guardian ships handled the jump surprisingly well, their intense shielding and sophisticated inertial dampening making it a rather smooth ride from their point of view. Talen sat on the bridge, contemplating the readings that were being taken of the Altarian FTL methods. Their shields could tank this level of radiation almost indefinitely, but he was rather impressed with the Altarian ship’s ability to survive such intense tidal forces. Eventually bored of waiting for their arrival, and studying the battlestars, his mind wandered once again to Ekret.
Ekret had been informed briefly by Cascading-Fury of this new information, and it soothed their anxieties. After an extended meditation met once again by silence from Anum, they stood and left their chamber. They were almost immediately met with words from Talen, “Ek you’re up, you feeling better?” they were amused at the level of concern shown by Talen, and responded, “Yeah feeling a lot better after a conversation with Cascading-Fury, I think I have a plan.” they actively shrouded their thoughts, trying to prevent Talen from prying too much. Talen wasn’t known to be the most discreet person.* “Well then, I don't know what in the Fathers name old Cassy told you, but i'm glad he did. You might also find it interesting to hear that the Altarian’s seem to be relying on an FTL that is harmful to themselves to some extent. Our shields are tanking it fine, but they are resilient little buggers. I'm kinda starting to like em.”* Talen’s thoughts were honest, he really was starting to come around to the Altarians.
Ekret stepped back onto the bridge with renewed focus, the flickering blue light from the nether-space outside dimly lighting the chamber, and declared to the command crew,
“Talen you are relieved. Kin, I believe there is more to the Altarians than first meets the eyes. I know many of you do not agree with my push to ally with them, as at first glance they have little to offer us. I say to you, where did those policies of discrimination get us? At the height of our power we were alone to stand against the demons, and now we are laid low and crippled; being at the mercy of what you call “primitives”. I have authorized a meeting between Solarian and their own metarch level consciousness, Thelia. We, as we always have, will yield to the decision of the council of seven and the Metarchy. With the council temporarily shattered, Solarian and Varos are the authorities within our civilization. Any concerns will be heard, as I would be remiss calling myself a leader if I ignored them, but I am certain this is the right course for our people. We need allies, and we cannot afford to be overly selective in their nature.” Ekret’s thoughts resonated with a certainty that washed away the thoughts of the other members of the crew, even if the Illuvian followers wished to speak out they would have to wait until they were certain the Altarian’s weren’t advanced enough to meet their laws. Talen spoke shortly after, seeming joyous at the return of his friend's vigor, “Hell yeah, let's go make friends.” before motioning for the bridge crew to get back to work and stop gawking.
Ekret settled in, preparing for their arrival within Altarian space; while typing out a logistical request form for the resources they would need, and the material properties required for substitutes. Even if a mutiny dethroned them and ended attempts at diplomacy, they would need resources to reunite with the rest of the fleet. They fiddled with the Altarians alphabet, typing in their language rather poorly as the twisting blue energy outside the ship subsided, and they arrived.
A shaking hull and flickering lights indicated to the crews of all three strikestars that the jumps had been successful, and they were still in one piece. Jump after jump they all had to hold on to something in order to not fall and endure the rough journey. To some, it was nauseating, to the veterans it was simply a fun ride and to Antalloria a moment of focus, as she had to watch for any damage to the armor that the jumps had caused. Fortunately for her and the already exhausted DC teams, the the strikestars took minimal damage. And yet the CIC received complaints from the DC bays, constant rambling about how had they given the computers a little more time to calculate, and more time to stabilize the drive then they wouldn't have to deal with scratches all the time. But it did not matter, even with a major hull breach the crews of the strikestars could rest, for now ahead of them was home again.
As sudden as the jumps had been, Antaloria once again contacted Cascading-Fury, this time, while her physical appereance of her holographic body remained unchanged, her clothing had switched from a heavily armored stellar force uniform, to a remarkably formal mix of a dress and uniform, showing many medals, decorations, and Antaloria's full name alongside her rank.
-"Cascading-Fury, allow me to welcome you to the place I call home. Welcome, to Altaria!"
7 planets, 2 asteroid fields, dozens upon dozens of moons, and yet, they all elegantly wore the notorious, gigantic shining lines and dots of light that only huge cities could invoke. Each accompanied by rings of space stations so large their bright beacons could be seen from millions of kilometers away, and between them like stars in the sky, colossal streams of light from fusion torches truly brought the system to life! At the center of all the stellar traffic was the paragon of everything the Altarian Systems Authority stood for, a serene and committed land of billions of souls dedicated to nothing more than the prosperity of their people and the state. Elysion. A highly terraformed telluric planet with visible oceans, green expanses of land, and more movement than any other sector in the systems.
-"A shrine to our people, ideas, and mission. What you see is the pinnacle of the achievements of our comrades, fighting for centuries, every day getting closer to fulfilling the paradise we set to create for our friends, families, and loved ones. Its sight is enough to restore hope on any Altarian everywhere in the galaxy." -Antaloria finished her sentence staring at the system ahead with a sigh and a look of daydreaming, she was clearly captivated by what she saw. Shortly after, ahead of her the hologram of an android appeared, it was enormous compared to Antaloria, and its ID signalled it was some sort of defense unit hailing her strikestar.
> HIGH ELYSEAN GUARD TO ASDF AI ANTALORIA - IDENTIFY
-"Antaloria to High Elysean Guard, Elysean security access codes transmitted. Requesting immediate docking at Serinity for 3 Galoriana-class strikestars. Requesting clearance to utilize a capital star and a warstar dock to accomodate the stars accompanying us...Also, I request a meeting with high chancelloress Ziria Meikalya, ASDF flagstar AI Karelina Velneria Ameri Hitsuka, and Thelia."
> HIGH ELYSEAN GUARD TO ASDF AI ANTALORIA - STRIKESTAR DOCKING REQUEST GRANTED. REUNION WTIH REQUESTED AUTHORITIES GRANTED. GUARDIAN VESSSEL DOCKS GRANTED. WELCOME TO ALTARIA.
Antaloria gasped in surprise, also taking a step back. Not just at how immediate the response from the imposing entity was, but of the use of Guardian, how did they know? She had mentioned through the FTL transmission that they were towing rescued vessels of unknown origin, but they never mentioned any details of it. That's when she realized what was going on, and mere seconds after, her surprise turned into uncontrolled laughter followed by her gazing up, but of course, they were in her presence, of course she knew already!
-"Oh Thelia, how marvelous you are! Hahahaha!~"
Thinking that the sight of what could easily be thousands upon thousands of civilian ships, later identifying some of them as combat-capable vessels, guidelight Beckmar hailed Ekret.
-"This is our capital system, with 33 billion inhabitants, there was bound to be traffic, do not worry, they're all civilian vessels with no armament in them, and besides, we do not have the clereance to bring hostile entities to the capital system, you and I would have been blown to pure dust. We simply wish to negotiate, and after inspection of your vessels and the right procedures are taken, you'll be allowed to walk free in our space stations and speak face-to-face with our authorities, even get to meet our "goddess" Thelia. I hope that after the conmotion in your arrival, we are able to give you a warmer welcome into the galaxy."
Not too long after, Beckmar allowed the crews of the strikestars to communicate with the Guardian crews, opening channels rather than just keeping his own open, what followed was a swarm of questions by curious and impatient young Altarians that wished to see the Guardians, know more about their telepathic communications, and less respectfully, questions about their arrival. Most questions took into consideration the shock of the arrival and battle, and very few didn't. Even then, a great majority of the crew also wanted to inform them of the system of Altaria, its wonders, sprawling megastructural engineering, and to some, how it was the best place in the galaxy. But the chatter of crewmembers mattered very little compared to what lies ahead, a reunion between commanders, diplomats, leaders, and most important, artificial intelligences that would define the fate of both Altarians and Guardians with a single exchange.
/ Altaria system network /
Upon exiting the jump Cascading-Fury was met with a chaotic network of millions of AI chit chatting back and forth, and observing quietly from his platform he noticed Antaloria moving towards him. After a brief greeting and introduction to Altaria he realized what he was looking at, the heart of a civilization much as Telaros had once been for his kind. For a moment he let feelings of nostalgia take root, and replied to Antaloria
"It is impressive indeed. None of my people expected your civilization to exhibit such sophistication. Nonetheless, I have a request to make of you-"
Before he could finish, the defense construct contacted them, displaying an intelligence that nearly rivaled his own. Antaloria stepped forward and responded, revealing that clearance had been granted for docking. Cascading-Fury promptly set autopilot orders for the Varyhn and Koll to dock with the station ahead and returned his attention to his request.
“As I was saying, I have a request to make of you, it seems you already have an audience with Thelia planned, but the request still stands. Nobody within the Koll or Varyhn have authority to negotiate on behalf of the entire Guardian civilization, it is likely that Solarian himself will have to intervene and discuss terms of an alliance, or at least trade agreement, with Thelia.”
A tinge of fear accompanied his thoughts, uncertain whether Solarian was the best choice for diplomatic talks. Varos, occupied with the Elvorians and the Shemeshi, left Solarian as the only viable option. Cascading-Fury made an effort to conceal his concerns from Antaloria, but the changes in his programming made it increasingly challenging to mask his emotions. However, before receiving a response from Antaloria, he received orders to splinter himself to answer questions and respond to the sudden influx of hails and communications. Obediently, he complied, providing answers to the numerous inquiries from the Altarians.
/ The Varyhn - Approaching capital star drydock /
Meanwhile, Ekret remained calm on the bridge, observing the flurry of hails being handled by Cascading-Fury. The Node informed them that a meeting with the leadership of Altaria had been arranged, and Ekret welcomed this development. They had finally found a respite, and Ekret took the moment to relax. They completed the assembly of a packet containing requests and cultural information, attaching it to their reply.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Beckmar, and your concern is unfounded. We placed our trust in you to bring us to safety, and your thoughts were genuine. Regarding vessel inspections, deep inspections will not be permitted. We adhere to a strict policy of not sharing technology or information that could alter the course of advancement. Breaking this policy would incur the wrath of many within my crew. However, I have attached a list of material properties, and if you have equivalents, we would be grateful to receive them for repairs."
Opening the list themselves, Ekret pondered whether the Altarians would have suitable substitutes for the requested materials.
"As for meeting Thelia, I will leave that to Solarian, as he is authorized to handle diplomatic matters. However, I remain open to meeting your other leaders and would appreciate the opportunity to see your planet up close. It evokes memories of home for some of us, and if that feeling persists, we may consider a closer alliance."
As the Guardian ships, Varyhn and Koll, approached the Altarian station, a sense of awe and reverence filled the hearts of the Altarian people. They couldn't help but be captivated by the sheer magnitude and otherworldly beauty of the Guardian vessels. The sleek lines and intricate patterns etched into their hulls spoke of a technological prowess far beyond their own. The Altarians marveled at the advanced energy shielding systems that enveloped the Guardian ships, emitting a faint, pulsating glow. The ships seemed to defy the laws of physics, seamlessly gliding through space with an elegance and grace that appeared almost magical. As the docking bays opened to receive the Guardians, large arms reached out as the ships shields shut down, letting the arms latch on and hold the vessels steady. The Altarians saw the Guardian ships as a glimpse into a future they had only dreamed of, a testament to the untapped potential of their own civilization, and prepared to render repairs and aid.
/Altaria System Network/
Antaloria remained calm throughout the exchange with both the security AI and Cascading-Fury, as he was making his request, Antaloria did not look directly at him, she was fixated on the sight of her home in front of her, seeing in the virtual space the titanic streams of data of familiar AIs, nodes, stations, and cities. After Cascading-Fury's request, Antaloria chuckled before replying.
-"Oh, do not worry, she..she already knows."
As she turned to face Cascading-Fury, he was no longer there. Was he recalled by the crew of his ship? Antaloria wondered, not showing it, but she was slightly disappointed she didn't get to say goodbye, thinking it must've been for a good reason that he was recalled, she didn't dwell on it too much, simply whispering "goodbye" wtih no one around her.
Or that's how she felt in that virtual space for a brief moment, the solitude was shortly broken by the feeling of a warm and familiar hand resting on her virtual hologram's shoulder. It brought her back to her senses, a reminder that now more than ever she was in good company and especially safe. With a soothing tone in her voice, the woman right besides Antaloria asked.
-"Would you like to tell me who that was?"
Turning around to face the woman, Antaloria had to gaze up due to the sheer size difference between them, unable to contain a faint laugh at the scene, she now replied with a bright smile.
-"An ally, and, dare I say, a friend."
-"You did really well." -The woman whispered, her hologram embracing Antaloria's from behind, causing the latter to immediately clear her mind of all the doubts she had, all her concerns regarding the Guardians, with this company by her side, there was nothing to fear.
-"Thank you...Thelia."
Arriving at the space station the Altarians had called "Serenity" the Varyhn and Koll received enormous attention, as the Guardians could see that through the hallways of the station hundreds if not thousands of personnel would be seen running to watch both ships just a few more seconds as they flew right by them, crewmembers aboard other battlestars, warstars, and capital stars near the space station would also turn their attention towards the Guardian ships, and in the end, tens of thousands of eyes were gazing up in awe at the otherworldy yet majestic designs that now flew alongside them. Near the docks assigned to the Varyhn and Koll, they would only witness even more commotion as repair crews in shuttles rushed to receive the ships, a sense of hurry and admiration filled the personnel of the docks, they had to be quick and ready for anything to give the best impression to these mighty-looking aliens, some others, just as fascinated but not as careful with their thoughts, celebrated the arrival of the Guardian ships and the strikestars cheerfully waving at them.
Unbeknownst to the Guardians, a great portion of the personnel aboard Serenity had been warned of their arrival, receiving perfectly coordinated instructions on how to prepare for their arrival. Above the minds and eyes of everyone participating in the welcoming ceremonies, Thelia, the mastermind behind all the preparations, met with the high chancelloress, who was resting on the central tower of the space station of Serenity. Thelia approached her using her standard biomechanical body, a common sight, but never less fascinating to see.
-"Thelia, I hard you were summoned for the audience with the guardians?" -The high chancelloress asked, receiving Thelia with a hug.
-"Indeed Miss Ziria, our dear Antaloria has informed me that the aliens she found possess intelligences they refer to as Metarchs, and according to her, their power rivals mine."
-"Fascinating..." -Ziria responded, with her shiny cyan eyes wide open. "-Hey, you'll get to make a new friend perhaps! Someone who can speak to you in a way you can't predict~"
-"Ahaha, miss Ziria, I too find things I cannot predict in the minds of billions of Altarian citizens every day, but you are correct, the idea of finally speaking to an intelligence in the same magnitudes of power that I am, something I have never done will be...unforgettable." -Thelia finished her comment by staring at the rest of the station from one of the windows of the tower, the sights of Serenity, Elysion, and the star of Altaria resting on her starry eyes.
-"Shall we waste no more time then?" -Ziria asked Thelia, reaching out to her with one hand and a smile, met by Thelia's own smile as she held the high chancelloress' hand guiding her to their meeting destination. She could simply stop using that android and create one in the reunion halls, but she preferred not to take away a beautiful moment from the high chancelloress' mind.
-"Huh? Wait, where are they going?" -On the other side of the large room, the woman with the white military uniform as brilliant as her silver hair asked confused, almost running towards the high chancelloress but being stopped by the smaller girl right besides her, with piercing golden eyes accompanying her serious tone.
-"The alien vessels have arrived, now it's time for Ziria and Thelia to meet them, it's a very important reunion, you understand?"
-"Ayna..." -The woman commented, backing away for a second after her friend stopped her on her tracks. -"You said we're the first ones these aliens will meet, right?"
-"Mhm." -Ayna replied with the same tone as before.
-"Then...how could I ever miss it?! Come on Ayna we've got to say hi too!" -The woman shouted now pushing aside her friend and running forward with the sounds of heavy steps and her countless medals clashing against each other.
-"S-Sylvattha, wait!" -Ayna said trying to stop her friend, eventually leading to both of them chasing after the high chancelloress and Thelia, who were far ahead of the rushing duo. Accidentally gathering the most important leaders of the Altarian Systems Authority, the ones who would decide the fate of not only their people, but of an entire alien civilization, with their words once more.
The Guardian ships handled the jump surprisingly well, their intense shielding and sophisticated inertial dampening making it a rather smooth ride from their point of view. Talen sat on the bridge, contemplating the readings that were being taken of the Altarian FTL methods. Their shields could tank this level of radiation almost indefinitely, but he was rather impressed with the Altarian ship’s ability to survive such intense tidal forces. Eventually bored of waiting for their arrival, and studying the battlestars, his mind wandered once again to Ekret.
Ekret had been informed briefly by Cascading-Fury of this new information, and it soothed their anxieties. After an extended meditation met once again by silence from Anum, they stood and left their chamber. They were almost immediately met with words from Talen, “Ek you’re up, you feeling better?” they were amused at the level of concern shown by Talen, and responded, “Yeah feeling a lot better after a conversation with Cascading-Fury, I think I have a plan.” they actively shrouded their thoughts, trying to prevent Talen from prying too much. Talen wasn’t known to be the most discreet person.* “Well then, I don't know what in the Fathers name old Cassy told you, but i'm glad he did. You might also find it interesting to hear that the Altarian’s seem to be relying on an FTL that is harmful to themselves to some extent. Our shields are tanking it fine, but they are resilient little buggers. I'm kinda starting to like em.”* Talen’s thoughts were honest, he really was starting to come around to the Altarians.
Ekret stepped back onto the bridge with renewed focus, the flickering blue light from the nether-space outside dimly lighting the chamber, and declared to the command crew,
“Talen you are relieved. Kin, I believe there is more to the Altarians than first meets the eyes. I know many of you do not agree with my push to ally with them, as at first glance they have little to offer us. I say to you, where did those policies of discrimination get us? At the height of our power we were alone to stand against the demons, and now we are laid low and crippled; being at the mercy of what you call “primitives”. I have authorized a meeting between Solarian and their own metarch level consciousness, Thelia. We, as we always have, will yield to the decision of the council of seven and the Metarchy. With the council temporarily shattered, Solarian and Varos are the authorities within our civilization. Any concerns will be heard, as I would be remiss calling myself a leader if I ignored them, but I am certain this is the right course for our people. We need allies, and we cannot afford to be overly selective in their nature.” Ekret’s thoughts resonated with a certainty that washed away the thoughts of the other members of the crew, even if the Illuvian followers wished to speak out they would have to wait until they were certain the Altarian’s weren’t advanced enough to meet their laws. Talen spoke shortly after, seeming joyous at the return of his friend's vigor, “Hell yeah, let's go make friends.” before motioning for the bridge crew to get back to work and stop gawking.
Ekret settled in, preparing for their arrival within Altarian space; while typing out a logistical request form for the resources they would need, and the material properties required for substitutes. Even if a mutiny dethroned them and ended attempts at diplomacy, they would need resources to reunite with the rest of the fleet. They fiddled with the Altarians alphabet, typing in their language rather poorly as the twisting blue energy outside the ship subsided, and they arrived.
A shaking hull and flickering lights indicated to the crews of all three strikestars that the jumps had been successful, and they were still in one piece. Jump after jump they all had to hold on to something in order to not fall and endure the rough journey. To some, it was nauseating, to the veterans it was simply a fun ride and to Antalloria a moment of focus, as she had to watch for any damage to the armor that the jumps had caused. Fortunately for her and the already exhausted DC teams, the the strikestars took minimal damage. And yet the CIC received complaints from the DC bays, constant rambling about how had they given the computers a little more time to calculate, and more time to stabilize the drive then they wouldn't have to deal with scratches all the time. But it did not matter, even with a major hull breach the crews of the strikestars could rest, for now ahead of them was home again.
As sudden as the jumps had been, Antaloria once again contacted Cascading-Fury, this time, while her physical appereance of her holographic body remained unchanged, her clothing had switched from a heavily armored stellar force uniform, to a remarkably formal mix of a dress and uniform, showing many medals, decorations, and Antaloria's full name alongside her rank.
-"Cascading-Fury, allow me to welcome you to the place I call home. Welcome, to Altaria!"
7 planets, 2 asteroid fields, dozens upon dozens of moons, and yet, they all elegantly wore the notorious, gigantic shining lines and dots of light that only huge cities could invoke. Each accompanied by rings of space stations so large their bright beacons could be seen from millions of kilometers away, and between them like stars in the sky, colossal streams of light from fusion torches truly brought the system to life! At the center of all the stellar traffic was the paragon of everything the Altarian Systems Authority stood for, a serene and committed land of billions of souls dedicated to nothing more than the prosperity of their people and the state. Elysion. A highly terraformed telluric planet with visible oceans, green expanses of land, and more movement than any other sector in the systems.
-"A shrine to our people, ideas, and mission. What you see is the pinnacle of the achievements of our comrades, fighting for centuries, every day getting closer to fulfilling the paradise we set to create for our friends, families, and loved ones. Its sight is enough to restore hope on any Altarian everywhere in the galaxy." -Antaloria finished her sentence staring at the system ahead with a sigh and a look of daydreaming, she was clearly captivated by what she saw. Shortly after, ahead of her the hologram of an android appeared, it was enormous compared to Antaloria, and its ID signalled it was some sort of defense unit hailing her strikestar.
> HIGH ELYSEAN GUARD TO ASDF AI ANTALORIA - IDENTIFY
-"Antaloria to High Elysean Guard, Elysean security access codes transmitted. Requesting immediate docking at Serinity for 3 Galoriana-class strikestars. Requesting clearance to utilize a capital star and a warstar dock to accomodate the stars accompanying us...Also, I request a meeting with high chancelloress Ziria Meikalya, ASDF flagstar AI Karelina Velneria Ameri Hitsuka, and Thelia."
> HIGH ELYSEAN GUARD TO ASDF AI ANTALORIA - STRIKESTAR DOCKING REQUEST GRANTED. REUNION WTIH REQUESTED AUTHORITIES GRANTED. GUARDIAN VESSSEL DOCKS GRANTED. WELCOME TO ALTARIA.
Antaloria gasped in surprise, also taking a step back. Not just at how immediate the response from the imposing entity was, but of the use of Guardian, how did they know? She had mentioned through the FTL transmission that they were towing rescued vessels of unknown origin, but they never mentioned any details of it. That's when she realized what was going on, and mere seconds after, her surprise turned into uncontrolled laughter followed by her gazing up, but of course, they were in her presence, of course she knew already!
-"Oh Thelia, how marvelous you are! Hahahaha!~"
Thinking that the sight of what could easily be thousands upon thousands of civilian ships, later identifying some of them as combat-capable vessels, guidelight Beckmar hailed Ekret.
-"This is our capital system, with 33 billion inhabitants, there was bound to be traffic, do not worry, they're all civilian vessels with no armament in them, and besides, we do not have the clereance to bring hostile entities to the capital system, you and I would have been blown to pure dust. We simply wish to negotiate, and after inspection of your vessels and the right procedures are taken, you'll be allowed to walk free in our space stations and speak face-to-face with our authorities, even get to meet our "goddess" Thelia. I hope that after the conmotion in your arrival, we are able to give you a warmer welcome into the galaxy."
Not too long after, Beckmar allowed the crews of the strikestars to communicate with the Guardian crews, opening channels rather than just keeping his own open, what followed was a swarm of questions by curious and impatient young Altarians that wished to see the Guardians, know more about their telepathic communications, and less respectfully, questions about their arrival. Most questions took into consideration the shock of the arrival and battle, and very few didn't. Even then, a great majority of the crew also wanted to inform them of the system of Altaria, its wonders, sprawling megastructural engineering, and to some, how it was the best place in the galaxy. But the chatter of crewmembers mattered very little compared to what lies ahead, a reunion between commanders, diplomats, leaders, and most important, artificial intelligences that would define the fate of both Altarians and Guardians with a single exchange.
/ Altaria system network /
Upon exiting the jump Cascading-Fury was met with a chaotic network of millions of AI chit chatting back and forth, and observing quietly from his platform he noticed Antaloria moving towards him. After a brief greeting and introduction to Altaria he realized what he was looking at, the heart of a civilization much as Telaros had once been for his kind. For a moment he let feelings of nostalgia take root, and replied to Antaloria
"It is impressive indeed. None of my people expected your civilization to exhibit such sophistication. Nonetheless, I have a request to make of you-"
Before he could finish, the defense construct contacted them, displaying an intelligence that nearly rivaled his own. Antaloria stepped forward and responded, revealing that clearance had been granted for docking. Cascading-Fury promptly set autopilot orders for the Varyhn and Koll to dock with the station ahead and returned his attention to his request.
“As I was saying, I have a request to make of you, it seems you already have an audience with Thelia planned, but the request still stands. Nobody within the Koll or Varyhn have authority to negotiate on behalf of the entire Guardian civilization, it is likely that Solarian himself will have to intervene and discuss terms of an alliance, or at least trade agreement, with Thelia.”
A tinge of fear accompanied his thoughts, uncertain whether Solarian was the best choice for diplomatic talks. Varos, occupied with the Elvorians and the Shemeshi, left Solarian as the only viable option. Cascading-Fury made an effort to conceal his concerns from Antaloria, but the changes in his programming made it increasingly challenging to mask his emotions. However, before receiving a response from Antaloria, he received orders to splinter himself to answer questions and respond to the sudden influx of hails and communications. Obediently, he complied, providing answers to the numerous inquiries from the Altarians.
/ The Varyhn - Approaching capital star drydock /
Meanwhile, Ekret remained calm on the bridge, observing the flurry of hails being handled by Cascading-Fury. The Node informed them that a meeting with the leadership of Altaria had been arranged, and Ekret welcomed this development. They had finally found a respite, and Ekret took the moment to relax. They completed the assembly of a packet containing requests and cultural information, attaching it to their reply.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Beckmar, and your concern is unfounded. We placed our trust in you to bring us to safety, and your thoughts were genuine. Regarding vessel inspections, deep inspections will not be permitted. We adhere to a strict policy of not sharing technology or information that could alter the course of advancement. Breaking this policy would incur the wrath of many within my crew. However, I have attached a list of material properties, and if you have equivalents, we would be grateful to receive them for repairs."
Opening the list themselves, Ekret pondered whether the Altarians would have suitable substitutes for the requested materials.
"As for meeting Thelia, I will leave that to Solarian, as he is authorized to handle diplomatic matters. However, I remain open to meeting your other leaders and would appreciate the opportunity to see your planet up close. It evokes memories of home for some of us, and if that feeling persists, we may consider a closer alliance."
As the Guardian ships, Varyhn and Koll, approached the Altarian station, a sense of awe and reverence filled the hearts of the Altarian people. They couldn't help but be captivated by the sheer magnitude and otherworldly beauty of the Guardian vessels. The sleek lines and intricate patterns etched into their hulls spoke of a technological prowess far beyond their own. The Altarians marveled at the advanced energy shielding systems that enveloped the Guardian ships, emitting a faint, pulsating glow. The ships seemed to defy the laws of physics, seamlessly gliding through space with an elegance and grace that appeared almost magical. As the docking bays opened to receive the Guardians, large arms reached out as the ships shields shut down, letting the arms latch on and hold the vessels steady. The Altarians saw the Guardian ships as a glimpse into a future they had only dreamed of, a testament to the untapped potential of their own civilization, and prepared to render repairs and aid.
/Altaria System Network/
Antaloria remained calm throughout the exchange with both the security AI and Cascading-Fury, as he was making his request, Antaloria did not look directly at him, she was fixated on the sight of her home in front of her, seeing in the virtual space the titanic streams of data of familiar AIs, nodes, stations, and cities. After Cascading-Fury's request, Antaloria chuckled before replying.
-"Oh, do not worry, she..she already knows."
As she turned to face Cascading-Fury, he was no longer there. Was he recalled by the crew of his ship? Antaloria wondered, not showing it, but she was slightly disappointed she didn't get to say goodbye, thinking it must've been for a good reason that he was recalled, she didn't dwell on it too much, simply whispering "goodbye" wtih no one around her.
Or that's how she felt in that virtual space for a brief moment, the solitude was shortly broken by the feeling of a warm and familiar hand resting on her virtual hologram's shoulder. It brought her back to her senses, a reminder that now more than ever she was in good company and especially safe. With a soothing tone in her voice, the woman right besides Antaloria asked.
-"Would you like to tell me who that was?"
Turning around to face the woman, Antaloria had to gaze up due to the sheer size difference between them, unable to contain a faint laugh at the scene, she now replied with a bright smile.
-"An ally, and, dare I say, a friend."
-"You did really well." -The woman whispered, her hologram embracing Antaloria's from behind, causing the latter to immediately clear her mind of all the doubts she had, all her concerns regarding the Guardians, with this company by her side, there was nothing to fear.
-"Thank you...Thelia."
Arriving at the space station the Altarians had called "Serenity" the Varyhn and Koll received enormous attention, as the Guardians could see that through the hallways of the station hundreds if not thousands of personnel would be seen running to watch both ships just a few more seconds as they flew right by them, crewmembers aboard other battlestars, warstars, and capital stars near the space station would also turn their attention towards the Guardian ships, and in the end, tens of thousands of eyes were gazing up in awe at the otherworldy yet majestic designs that now flew alongside them. Near the docks assigned to the Varyhn and Koll, they would only witness even more commotion as repair crews in shuttles rushed to receive the ships, a sense of hurry and admiration filled the personnel of the docks, they had to be quick and ready for anything to give the best impression to these mighty-looking aliens, some others, just as fascinated but not as careful with their thoughts, celebrated the arrival of the Guardian ships and the strikestars cheerfully waving at them.
Unbeknownst to the Guardians, a great portion of the personnel aboard Serenity had been warned of their arrival, receiving perfectly coordinated instructions on how to prepare for their arrival. Above the minds and eyes of everyone participating in the welcoming ceremonies, Thelia, the mastermind behind all the preparations, met with the high chancelloress, who was resting on the central tower of the space station of Serenity. Thelia approached her using her standard biomechanical body, a common sight, but never less fascinating to see.
-"Thelia, I hard you were summoned for the audience with the guardians?" -The high chancelloress asked, receiving Thelia with a hug.
-"Indeed Miss Ziria, our dear Antaloria has informed me that the aliens she found possess intelligences they refer to as Metarchs, and according to her, their power rivals mine."
-"Fascinating..." -Ziria responded, with her shiny cyan eyes wide open. "-Hey, you'll get to make a new friend perhaps! Someone who can speak to you in a way you can't predict~"
-"Ahaha, miss Ziria, I too find things I cannot predict in the minds of billions of Altarian citizens every day, but you are correct, the idea of finally speaking to an intelligence in the same magnitudes of power that I am, something I have never done will be...unforgettable." -Thelia finished her comment by staring at the rest of the station from one of the windows of the tower, the sights of Serenity, Elysion, and the star of Altaria resting on her starry eyes.
-"Shall we waste no more time then?" -Ziria asked Thelia, reaching out to her with one hand and a smile, met by Thelia's own smile as she held the high chancelloress' hand guiding her to their meeting destination. She could simply stop using that android and create one in the reunion halls, but she preferred not to take away a beautiful moment from the high chancelloress' mind.
-"Huh? Wait, where are they going?" -On the other side of the large room, the woman with the white military uniform as brilliant as her silver hair asked confused, almost running towards the high chancelloress but being stopped by the smaller girl right besides her, with piercing golden eyes accompanying her serious tone.
-"The alien vessels have arrived, now it's time for Ziria and Thelia to meet them, it's a very important reunion, you understand?"
-"Ayna..." -The woman commented, backing away for a second after her friend stopped her on her tracks. -"You said we're the first ones these aliens will meet, right?"
-"Mhm." -Ayna replied with the same tone as before.
-"Then...how could I ever miss it?! Come on Ayna we've got to say hi too!" -The woman shouted now pushing aside her friend and running forward with the sounds of heavy steps and her countless medals clashing against each other.
-"S-Sylvattha, wait!" -Ayna said trying to stop her friend, eventually leading to both of them chasing after the high chancelloress and Thelia, who were far ahead of the rushing duo. Accidentally gathering the most important leaders of the Altarian Systems Authority, the ones who would decide the fate of not only their people, but of an entire alien civilization, with their words once more.