Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 17, 2017 13:39:11 GMT
Junior Fleetmaster Kard sat in the command chair on the bridge of his ship, the Candela, looking at the displays at his station console. Activity had been observed in an area by long range observation near the Union's jump route. This could mean only one thing: a civilization was there that they had not met.
He and his team were tasked with exploring and surveying systems for other civilizations as well as for material harvesting. And since this fell under the first of those two things, his work was cut out for him.
He spoke aloud "Alex", and a disembodied responded from the bridge's speakers "Yes, sir?"
"Set a course for the system that we have been detecting activity in recently. All vessels are to come into the system with shields at 100 percent, but keep weapons cold."
Alex relayed the instructions to the other vessel's commanding officers and AIs.
"Reality drive active" and the force jumped towards the system.
An instant later, 10 AU distant from the star, the five vessels reverted back to realspace, with shields raised.
In high orbit above the single habitable planet in the system sits a large starbase, barely smaller than the average capital ship of its nation's fleet. The starbase has a single central disk, with an outer ring encircling it, along with four outer pylons evenly spaced around the outer ring's perimeter, all of which appear to be of a burnished silver metal. Aboard the starbase, in the control room, screens are aglow with scanner images of the ships.
A man in a decorated white tunic rises from his seat and goes to the main screen of the circular room, asking, "Report?" The man in the control console before him begins speaking; "We don't know where they came from, our gravitational sensors didn't pick up anything incoming in FTL travel. The ships are of unknown design, but our scans do show that their weapons are disarmed." The man says to his commander. "Open a channel, let's see what they want..." The commander says, returning to his chair as the cameras focus in on him and the technicians begin attempting to gain signal lock.
The five Nuclean vessels took stock of the system, performing numerous active and passive scans. A few moments passed, after which they opened a channel "Greetings! I am Junior Fleetmaster Kard of the Nuclean Ecumene. We come in peace"
The commander looks up at the screen and gives a smile. "I am Commander Kiran of the TDF, the Trinova Defense Force. I am in command of our colonies on the planet below, one of many such worlds under the rule of the Trinovan Empire. It's been a while since we met an alien race who didn't want to automatically kill us all, so your peaceful nature is quite a relief" The commander says.
"Yes well unlike some of our neighbors in our home universe, we don't like to conquer and destroy everyone we meet." Kard replied with a smile. "
"Haha, I could make you an ally on that statement alone... but perhaps you'd like to meet in person and discuss more of our individual cultures and such before thinking of such things?" The commander asks
"That would be perfect." Kard replied "Perhaps you would like to come aboard my vessel to talk?"
The men aboard the Trinovan starbase all look at him, anticipating his reaction. The commander thinks for a moment before speaking. "Position your ship directly beneath our starbase, and await my arrival." He says
"Very well." Kard replied. One of the destroyers broke off from the other vessels, activated its reality drive, and disappeared. Almost instantly it appeared below the starbase, and dropped its shields. Meanwhile, Kard moved down to the docking bay to await the Commander's arrival.
The lead console man aboard the starbase looks at the screen in shock. "Sir... they seem to have teleportation technology of some kind..." He says. The commander behind him clamps on a pair of smooth white bracers, as well as latching a thin metallic vest over top of his tunic and putting on an accompanying belt and headset. "All the more reason to ally with them. And don't look so shocked that they can teleport, soldier..." The commander says, standing atop a circular plate on the floor, "...so can we." The commander is engulfed in a verticle beam of light coming up from the floor and vanishes from view.
Below the starbase, a white beam of light appears shining from the starbase down into the Nuclean destroyer, and appears as a verticle shaft of light in front of Kard. The Trinovan commander appears as the light fades.
Kard was wearing the standard Nuclean powerarmor. On his chest were 3 gold stars, denoting his rank. He approached the new arrival. "Welcome aboard the Candela, Commander Kiran"
The walls of the hanger bay were composed of the same material as his armor, and was a highly polished silver
Commander Kiran looks around, touching a button aside his headset and taking a quick scan of the internal structure of the vessel. "Very impressive I must say... not many races have armor and hulls this polished." he says
"Our metal is naturally shiny such as this. We appreciate beauty, even in our warships." Kard replied. "Please follow me to the conference room"
"In this we are also similar," The commander says as he motions for Kard to lead the way
Kard led the way out of the hanger and through some hallways, eventually coming to a medium sized square room. As they entered, the outlines of a simple circular table and two chairs began to glow, and then solidified into furniture. Kard motioned to one of the chairs, "Please"
Kiran takes a seat, giving a look of recognition to the technology exemplified before him
Kard took notice of his expression "I hope we did not startle you with the matterconverter."
Commander Kiran looks up with a smile. "Your technology is very similar to our own, at least that which we're beginning to recover and reverse engineer from our ancient ancestors." He says, more amazed than startled.
"I see, we noticed that you seem to have beaming technology, similar in style to our teleportation systems." Kard replied "None of the civilizations we have met utilize any sort of teleportation system."
Kiran maintains his smile as he speaks. "The Empire I serve is the child of an even greater one, an ancient people long extinct who were said to have mastered reality itself... our great Emperor is among the last of their race."
"Most interesting." Kard replied. "Where we come from, there are some of what we call superbeings, our Fuur, or Emperor as you would call him, is one of them, as are his lieutenants."
Commander Kiran shows an expression of interest. "This being you speak of, is he immortal?"
"More or less, he could be killed by one of sufficient power, but no normal weapon would work. He has lived for the millions of years our civilization has existed."
"Our emperor takes form as one of my race, but he is something called a Transcendent Immortal... a race of beings that no one truly knows the origins of, but none can dispute their power. Even he doesn't remember how long he's lived, but he is over 10,000 years old at least." Kiran says
Kiran laughs before speaking again, "...and he still looks like a teenager, at that."
"Indeed, our Fuur looks rather young, in fact most all of the superbeings do." he smiled and laughed a little "However there is no disputing his knowledge and wisdom."
"What is he capable of, this Fuur?"
"His powers encompass control over normal matter as well as energy" Kard replied "Compared to many he could be considered a god, although he refuses to be acknowledged as such." he paused "What is your Emperor capable of?"
Kiran thinks for a minute, trying to recall the difference between fact and legend regarding his Emperor... "He has the powers of telepathy and telekinesis, as well as the fact that if a Transcendent Immortal is killed, his soul will transcend reality and be reborn in a pocket dimension known as the Base World. Recently, after the series of highly destructive battles preceding our reformation, our Emperor was touched by Sa'Shanai Himself... that is, our God... and changed into something else, a more evolved and ascended form of Transcendent Immortal, affording him telekinetic control over energy now as well as matter, and allowing him to conjure solid apparitions of matter out of the energy of the universe."
"Indeed, he seems quite capable." Kard remarked. "Would your empire be interested in making an alliance or trade agreement with the Ecumene?"
"Given everything we've discussed here, our two nations seem very similar... and I do believe an alliance would suit us both well, seeing as not everyone in this galaxy is as agreeable as we." Kiran says
"Indeed, and it is always a pleasure to make new friends." Kard replied with a smile "Do you require a written document?"
Kiran pulls a small tube out from his metallic vest and sets it on the table, the tube unrolling like a scroll to reveal a metallic sheet surface. The commander presses a button on the side of his headset and a small laser on the side of the scroll appears and begins etching words into the metallic surface. "Have you yet encountered the Eos Consortium?" Kiran asks while the laser etches
"Yes, as a matter of fact we have encountered them" Kard replied "Why do you ask?"
Kiran leans back in his chair. "They are one of the few races in this galaxy that we are in open war with of our own accord instead of merely fighting them to aid an ally... they assaulted one of our worlds and wiped out an entire fleet of our starships in minutes, merely because we would not submit to any god but Sa'Shanai."
"Ah. And you would like assistance against them?" inquired Kard with a hint of a smile
Kiran holds his hands up in a guesture of 'perhaps'. "This reformation has strengthened Trinova... and our war with the Eos is a rather personal struggle, a religious one... they insulted our God and attacked us for having faith in him. But their weapons are strong, and their ships are durable..."
Kiran has a look of unease as he recalls his briefing, "I personally found it disturbing, the ease with which their wave blasts could shred our vessels..."
Kard's face took on a more serious expression "That is most disturbing, but surely you had the advantage of energy shielding, which they lack?"
"Our ships do have advanced energy shielding, which protected those of the fleet in question long enough for them to bring the Eos assault to its knees before succumbing. But their weapons are incredibly powerful, massive waves of kinetic energy if I recall correctly..."
"And the durability of their ships lies not in their armor, but in their size. Our crews found it difficult to identify and strike at key systems within the Eos ships for their sheer mass," Kiran continues
"Ah I see. Well you will be pleased to know then that we are in fact going to go forward with an offensive against Eos soon anyway, since they have threatened us and are already fighting one of our allies." Kard said
A smile creeps across Kiran's face at Kard's words. "Trinova I know would be eager to join your offensive, a baptism by fire for our new star fleet vessels... and a chance to prove that those who insult the name of Sa'Shanai never stand against his servants for long..."
"Excellent. We shall send word to you when we are ready."
Kiran smiles, then hears a beep and looks down, the scroll having finished being enscribed. He reaches down and picks up the metallic document, about the size of a regular piece of paper. "A simple document stating that our two nations are now allied and we are free to exchange information, trade resources, and aid each other wherever possible." Kiran says, handing Kard the document saying the same in highly polished language, Kiran's name auto-signed to the document and only requiring a second signature on the second line before being complete. Kiran takes out a Trinovan enscriber pen and hands it as well.
Kard took the pen and read over the document carefully, then signed. When he finished, he scanned the document with his suit for a record. "It is an honor to make an alliance with the Trinovian Empire"
Kiran takes the document with a smile, rolling it back up. "After it's finallized by our high council we'll send you a copy. In my culture we shake hands as a sign of agreement," He says, offering Kard a hand.
"Very well" replied Kard, taking his hand and shaking firmly.
Commander Kiran puts the signed document in his vest and stands. "So, will that conclude our meeting for the moment?"
Kard stood, "I believe so. It has been a pleasure meeting you Commander Kiran. May our two civilizations flourish together"
Commander Kiran salutes him, "Indeed"
The commander presses a button on the side of his headset, "Ready for transport."
Kard led Kiran back down to the hanger bay so that he could beam back up
The vertical shaft of light appears in the hangar bay again, landing on the floor in front of them both. Kiran steps into the beam and turns back to Kard, putting a closes right fist over his the left side of his chest, saying, "For light and life!" A moment later the commander vanishes.
After Kard finished watching Kiran leave, he moved back to the bridge. The destroyer jumped back to the other vessels, and together they synchronized, before disappearing
On board the Trinovan starbase, Commander Kiran scans in the alliance document and sends it to the high council of New Azirah in the heart of the Trinovan territory for approval, along with a report of the Nucleans and their culture, technology and general attitude, which he knows will merit good reviews from his superiors. "Congradulations, men, you have partaken in an historic event in the life of Trinova." He says.
He and his team were tasked with exploring and surveying systems for other civilizations as well as for material harvesting. And since this fell under the first of those two things, his work was cut out for him.
He spoke aloud "Alex", and a disembodied responded from the bridge's speakers "Yes, sir?"
"Set a course for the system that we have been detecting activity in recently. All vessels are to come into the system with shields at 100 percent, but keep weapons cold."
Alex relayed the instructions to the other vessel's commanding officers and AIs.
"Reality drive active" and the force jumped towards the system.
An instant later, 10 AU distant from the star, the five vessels reverted back to realspace, with shields raised.
In high orbit above the single habitable planet in the system sits a large starbase, barely smaller than the average capital ship of its nation's fleet. The starbase has a single central disk, with an outer ring encircling it, along with four outer pylons evenly spaced around the outer ring's perimeter, all of which appear to be of a burnished silver metal. Aboard the starbase, in the control room, screens are aglow with scanner images of the ships.
A man in a decorated white tunic rises from his seat and goes to the main screen of the circular room, asking, "Report?" The man in the control console before him begins speaking; "We don't know where they came from, our gravitational sensors didn't pick up anything incoming in FTL travel. The ships are of unknown design, but our scans do show that their weapons are disarmed." The man says to his commander. "Open a channel, let's see what they want..." The commander says, returning to his chair as the cameras focus in on him and the technicians begin attempting to gain signal lock.
The five Nuclean vessels took stock of the system, performing numerous active and passive scans. A few moments passed, after which they opened a channel "Greetings! I am Junior Fleetmaster Kard of the Nuclean Ecumene. We come in peace"
The commander looks up at the screen and gives a smile. "I am Commander Kiran of the TDF, the Trinova Defense Force. I am in command of our colonies on the planet below, one of many such worlds under the rule of the Trinovan Empire. It's been a while since we met an alien race who didn't want to automatically kill us all, so your peaceful nature is quite a relief" The commander says.
"Yes well unlike some of our neighbors in our home universe, we don't like to conquer and destroy everyone we meet." Kard replied with a smile. "
"Haha, I could make you an ally on that statement alone... but perhaps you'd like to meet in person and discuss more of our individual cultures and such before thinking of such things?" The commander asks
"That would be perfect." Kard replied "Perhaps you would like to come aboard my vessel to talk?"
The men aboard the Trinovan starbase all look at him, anticipating his reaction. The commander thinks for a moment before speaking. "Position your ship directly beneath our starbase, and await my arrival." He says
"Very well." Kard replied. One of the destroyers broke off from the other vessels, activated its reality drive, and disappeared. Almost instantly it appeared below the starbase, and dropped its shields. Meanwhile, Kard moved down to the docking bay to await the Commander's arrival.
The lead console man aboard the starbase looks at the screen in shock. "Sir... they seem to have teleportation technology of some kind..." He says. The commander behind him clamps on a pair of smooth white bracers, as well as latching a thin metallic vest over top of his tunic and putting on an accompanying belt and headset. "All the more reason to ally with them. And don't look so shocked that they can teleport, soldier..." The commander says, standing atop a circular plate on the floor, "...so can we." The commander is engulfed in a verticle beam of light coming up from the floor and vanishes from view.
Below the starbase, a white beam of light appears shining from the starbase down into the Nuclean destroyer, and appears as a verticle shaft of light in front of Kard. The Trinovan commander appears as the light fades.
Kard was wearing the standard Nuclean powerarmor. On his chest were 3 gold stars, denoting his rank. He approached the new arrival. "Welcome aboard the Candela, Commander Kiran"
The walls of the hanger bay were composed of the same material as his armor, and was a highly polished silver
Commander Kiran looks around, touching a button aside his headset and taking a quick scan of the internal structure of the vessel. "Very impressive I must say... not many races have armor and hulls this polished." he says
"Our metal is naturally shiny such as this. We appreciate beauty, even in our warships." Kard replied. "Please follow me to the conference room"
"In this we are also similar," The commander says as he motions for Kard to lead the way
Kard led the way out of the hanger and through some hallways, eventually coming to a medium sized square room. As they entered, the outlines of a simple circular table and two chairs began to glow, and then solidified into furniture. Kard motioned to one of the chairs, "Please"
Kiran takes a seat, giving a look of recognition to the technology exemplified before him
Kard took notice of his expression "I hope we did not startle you with the matterconverter."
Commander Kiran looks up with a smile. "Your technology is very similar to our own, at least that which we're beginning to recover and reverse engineer from our ancient ancestors." He says, more amazed than startled.
"I see, we noticed that you seem to have beaming technology, similar in style to our teleportation systems." Kard replied "None of the civilizations we have met utilize any sort of teleportation system."
Kiran maintains his smile as he speaks. "The Empire I serve is the child of an even greater one, an ancient people long extinct who were said to have mastered reality itself... our great Emperor is among the last of their race."
"Most interesting." Kard replied. "Where we come from, there are some of what we call superbeings, our Fuur, or Emperor as you would call him, is one of them, as are his lieutenants."
Commander Kiran shows an expression of interest. "This being you speak of, is he immortal?"
"More or less, he could be killed by one of sufficient power, but no normal weapon would work. He has lived for the millions of years our civilization has existed."
"Our emperor takes form as one of my race, but he is something called a Transcendent Immortal... a race of beings that no one truly knows the origins of, but none can dispute their power. Even he doesn't remember how long he's lived, but he is over 10,000 years old at least." Kiran says
Kiran laughs before speaking again, "...and he still looks like a teenager, at that."
"Indeed, our Fuur looks rather young, in fact most all of the superbeings do." he smiled and laughed a little "However there is no disputing his knowledge and wisdom."
"What is he capable of, this Fuur?"
"His powers encompass control over normal matter as well as energy" Kard replied "Compared to many he could be considered a god, although he refuses to be acknowledged as such." he paused "What is your Emperor capable of?"
Kiran thinks for a minute, trying to recall the difference between fact and legend regarding his Emperor... "He has the powers of telepathy and telekinesis, as well as the fact that if a Transcendent Immortal is killed, his soul will transcend reality and be reborn in a pocket dimension known as the Base World. Recently, after the series of highly destructive battles preceding our reformation, our Emperor was touched by Sa'Shanai Himself... that is, our God... and changed into something else, a more evolved and ascended form of Transcendent Immortal, affording him telekinetic control over energy now as well as matter, and allowing him to conjure solid apparitions of matter out of the energy of the universe."
"Indeed, he seems quite capable." Kard remarked. "Would your empire be interested in making an alliance or trade agreement with the Ecumene?"
"Given everything we've discussed here, our two nations seem very similar... and I do believe an alliance would suit us both well, seeing as not everyone in this galaxy is as agreeable as we." Kiran says
"Indeed, and it is always a pleasure to make new friends." Kard replied with a smile "Do you require a written document?"
Kiran pulls a small tube out from his metallic vest and sets it on the table, the tube unrolling like a scroll to reveal a metallic sheet surface. The commander presses a button on the side of his headset and a small laser on the side of the scroll appears and begins etching words into the metallic surface. "Have you yet encountered the Eos Consortium?" Kiran asks while the laser etches
"Yes, as a matter of fact we have encountered them" Kard replied "Why do you ask?"
Kiran leans back in his chair. "They are one of the few races in this galaxy that we are in open war with of our own accord instead of merely fighting them to aid an ally... they assaulted one of our worlds and wiped out an entire fleet of our starships in minutes, merely because we would not submit to any god but Sa'Shanai."
"Ah. And you would like assistance against them?" inquired Kard with a hint of a smile
Kiran holds his hands up in a guesture of 'perhaps'. "This reformation has strengthened Trinova... and our war with the Eos is a rather personal struggle, a religious one... they insulted our God and attacked us for having faith in him. But their weapons are strong, and their ships are durable..."
Kiran has a look of unease as he recalls his briefing, "I personally found it disturbing, the ease with which their wave blasts could shred our vessels..."
Kard's face took on a more serious expression "That is most disturbing, but surely you had the advantage of energy shielding, which they lack?"
"Our ships do have advanced energy shielding, which protected those of the fleet in question long enough for them to bring the Eos assault to its knees before succumbing. But their weapons are incredibly powerful, massive waves of kinetic energy if I recall correctly..."
"And the durability of their ships lies not in their armor, but in their size. Our crews found it difficult to identify and strike at key systems within the Eos ships for their sheer mass," Kiran continues
"Ah I see. Well you will be pleased to know then that we are in fact going to go forward with an offensive against Eos soon anyway, since they have threatened us and are already fighting one of our allies." Kard said
A smile creeps across Kiran's face at Kard's words. "Trinova I know would be eager to join your offensive, a baptism by fire for our new star fleet vessels... and a chance to prove that those who insult the name of Sa'Shanai never stand against his servants for long..."
"Excellent. We shall send word to you when we are ready."
Kiran smiles, then hears a beep and looks down, the scroll having finished being enscribed. He reaches down and picks up the metallic document, about the size of a regular piece of paper. "A simple document stating that our two nations are now allied and we are free to exchange information, trade resources, and aid each other wherever possible." Kiran says, handing Kard the document saying the same in highly polished language, Kiran's name auto-signed to the document and only requiring a second signature on the second line before being complete. Kiran takes out a Trinovan enscriber pen and hands it as well.
Kard took the pen and read over the document carefully, then signed. When he finished, he scanned the document with his suit for a record. "It is an honor to make an alliance with the Trinovian Empire"
Kiran takes the document with a smile, rolling it back up. "After it's finallized by our high council we'll send you a copy. In my culture we shake hands as a sign of agreement," He says, offering Kard a hand.
"Very well" replied Kard, taking his hand and shaking firmly.
Commander Kiran puts the signed document in his vest and stands. "So, will that conclude our meeting for the moment?"
Kard stood, "I believe so. It has been a pleasure meeting you Commander Kiran. May our two civilizations flourish together"
Commander Kiran salutes him, "Indeed"
The commander presses a button on the side of his headset, "Ready for transport."
Kard led Kiran back down to the hanger bay so that he could beam back up
The vertical shaft of light appears in the hangar bay again, landing on the floor in front of them both. Kiran steps into the beam and turns back to Kard, putting a closes right fist over his the left side of his chest, saying, "For light and life!" A moment later the commander vanishes.
After Kard finished watching Kiran leave, he moved back to the bridge. The destroyer jumped back to the other vessels, and together they synchronized, before disappearing
On board the Trinovan starbase, Commander Kiran scans in the alliance document and sends it to the high council of New Azirah in the heart of the Trinovan territory for approval, along with a report of the Nucleans and their culture, technology and general attitude, which he knows will merit good reviews from his superiors. "Congradulations, men, you have partaken in an historic event in the life of Trinova." He says.