Sunset Exploration Command Log 23
"I've got good news and I've got bad news and I've got more bad news. What do you want to hear first?"
Admiral Derik James looked at the leader of the survey team and weighed the three options for a moment. Which one he heard first might set the tone for this whole debacle in development. That he already considered it a debacle also weighed into the decision.
"Let's wade right in - bad news and more bad news."
"Yes sir..."
Information started to pop up on the various screens and holospheres that dominated the virtual meeting chamber on the Tigeress. The warship was currently orbitting a gas giant in the outer solar system while the subjects of the meeting duked it out a few orbits inward. Numbers streamed by and were mostly ignored as it was just a representation of the data being deposited in long term memory by cybernetic implants.
"The bad news is that the locals have doubled their holdings in the past six months. Since they launched their first short range cruise missile about a year ago they have since successfully mounted a warhead and used it to terrorize hundreds of villages and even a couple allied groups into joining their camp. We snuck a rat into a missile before it was used to intimidate one of these alliances by destroying their presumed capital. Take a look..."
An image of the inside of a primitive liquid fueled rocket appeared in a holosphere from the viewpoint of one of the omnipresent IntelRats. The admiral watched as it moved through the device until it poked it's little furry head out a hole near the rear nozzle. Still watching he asked the team leader to continue with the bad news.
"The other bad news is that they don't seem to be slowing down their advancements. In a way it's good news though - they are pushing technological advancement faster than their industry can expand to support it. Much like the technological advancements of the late Soviet Union they can make fancy toys but they don't have the means to mass produce them. However this is more bad news as we have spotted what looks like a heavy water production plant under construction."
"And the good news?"
"Their growth isn't sustainable based on our gathered data as far as their numbers go. If every sentient on the planet is eventually put under their sway they will have less than twenty million sentients. The only worry is whether they realize there are other sentients out there and whether they will try to expand to control them as well. Information on other sentients is out there but the only location it knows is the location of Sol and that only because of the image of the copper plate contained in the Voyager probe.
We think this might spur them to develop inter-stellar travel for purposes of conquest but they will need to stop fighting and start growing again. Again, based on our estimates from orbital imagery we think about 1/10th of the population was killed in the current warfare. Our primary concern is a lack of information about their reproductive cycle. If they have a reproductive cycle."
Gloved hands picked up shards of rock and tossed them roughly into the hopper of a mechanical monstrousity that slowly lumbered it's way across the most recent battlefield. A primitive village on the very edge of the new civilization's sphere of influence had fought back with spears and clubs but this had done little good. They had been absorbed into the empire now and that involved cleanup operations. Vegetable mass was picked up and tossed into another hopper - this was usually shattered and torn apart by the heavy rounds they were forced to use to kill each other.
The plant mass would go to feed new bodies. All that was important was the sentient cores that still lived though in a hibernation of sorts. In a way the battles and the shattered crystal matrix's were good for the empire and not simply a waste of dwindling resources. Each fragment of a matrix would regrow into a new, nearly blank, whole given time. Already vast caverns filled with the minerals they needed to grow had been hollowed out in the center of the empire and these crystal shards would be seeded there.
Bodies would be needed but those would come later, if they came at all. Already the information experts had begun to order construction of false matrixs like the one they had retrieved their information from. These simple soldiers who wandered the battlefield could not know it but they were gathering the remains of one of the last generations who might yet have the traditional vegetable body.
"What in the hell is that?"
Captain Xantheris sat up in his command chair and took a closer look at the object that was now projected into the center of the command deck. The ship - or as it liked to be called, Milli - was looking at the same thing and already had an answer.
"It's a ship imbedded in an asteroid Captain. The ship is five hundred twelve point nine two meters long with a beam of... Perhaps your question would better be phrased as 'Why in the hell is that?' with the addendum of 'ship in that asteroid?'"
"I liked the first version better Captain," said Lt. Custard. Several crew members rolled their eyes at this, and since Lt. Brown-nose couldn't see his face the captain did too. This earned him a look from his XO who didn't see a problem with an over-eager crewmember trying to please a superior officer. In her quarters. After the shift was over. In leath... Anyway...
"Does anyone have an answer to the new question?" The captain's question sent the crewmembers back to their stations and the data that was rapidly flashing by as the sensor arrays on the Venture D-class ship worked the target over like a three hundred pound prize fighter on a punching bag. An expert and experienced crew coupled with a sentient starship quickly returned an answer.
"Nope." "No idea." "Clueless." "Not enough data to form a substancial analysis." This last was not from the ship, but from the lieutenant who hadn't caught on that his only promotion would be from backup to primary bunkmate for a leather fetishist. "Now if we were not looking at that thing from all the way across the solar system I might be able to tell you a little bit more about it Cap'n. My resolution is good, but I still can't read the newspaper the angel dancing on the pin is reading. Permission to move closer?"
"Alright - let's move closer then. Nice and... Whoa!"
Milli, who created and put plans into action far faster than the meaty captain, had already initiated a micro-hop to what she considered a safe distance (optimum firing range) and they were now close enough to really put the sensors to good use.
"Hmm... Right away I can tell you that the mass of that asteroid has decreased by a tiny but measurable percentage in the time it took the sensor data from out there to get here and back and the time it took the sensor data from here to get there and back. And the ship increased in mass by a certain amount. Not the same amount so I'm assuming they are using the asteroid's mass as a power source as well."
"They?"
"Yes captain. As the lieutenant was just about to chime in with there appears to be both external hatches of some kind as well as sufficient difference between volume and mass to indicate interior compartments."
The lieutenant's jaw dropped and he looked over at the captain just long enough to miss a digital face of a young girl appearing on his console and sticking her tongue out at him. She also changed the default music in his room to 80's porn classics but that was the work of but a moment.
"Err - what she said Captain. Sir."
"Very good Lieutenant. Looks like we have several options on our hands - let's get all the data we can in fifteen minutes then have a quick meeting to decide how to proceed." The captain turned to his own console and started working - his specialty was propulsion engineering - before the lieutenant could put in another word. Still the young brown-noser did notice the XO looking lustily at him and running her tongue around her lips. He sighed inwardly but smiled back as his fingers tapped in the commands to make an appointment for a soon to be needed physical. He has heard that getting a promotion through the XO was rough - very rough.
Practice.
----
The sound of artillery shells bursting overhead and shrapnel ripping into the forest was like the sound of a huge sheet being ripped straight down the middle. Though if it had been real sheets the linen section of the local super-center would have been issuing rainchecks after the first ten minutes. Orbital insertion had allowed the marine division to land within ten kilometers of the capital safely but the geo's - marine slang for the silicon/vegetable sentients that inhabited the world - had spotted them and artillery fire had started shortly after. At first it had been in pulses as they had come within range of the outer batteries but now they were close enough that it was a constant barrage.
Despite the constant shelling the marines moving forward at a brisk pace and soon were engaging their first opponents. Supported by the heavier UHCV's the combat androids and powered armor units moved forward to flank and destroy enemy resistance as it cropped up. A lull in the artillery barrage alerted the marines to a new threat as aircraft launched from the city hit them in a large wave. These were top of the line craft for the geo's - roughly equal to a WWII jet aircraft - and they blazed away with cannon and machine gun fire.
For the most part it did nothing. Jacketted rounds glanced off the armor of the advancing units or simply flattened if it hit a flat surface. Gyros and mass kept the smaller units upright and the UHCV's could only be knocked backwards on their grav's. Here and there a heavy cannon or ground burst artillery shell took out a smaller android or battlesuit but the marines were still right on schedule.
----
The real thing.
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"So will we have to fight them?"
The president sat back in his chair staring at the ceiling. He wasn't worried about losing - he was worried about the cost of winning. With everything unmanned these days there were no letters to write and no bodies for the evening news. But there was a budget to consider and whether or not other projects would have to be delayed.
"Hard to say. Their numbers are increasing faster than expected but their technological progress has slowed to a 1960's level. We think they might try a moon shot pretty soon and zero div has been talking about grabbing the craft in orbit to get our hands on some of their cutting edge stuff but that's besides the point. They are still expanding though that has slowed as well."
"Yes - your report says that their infrastructure problems have caught up to them. But how long before they get that in place and can start looking outward again? And what's the solution if we do fight them? Wipe them from orbit? Come in and install a pro-Sunset state? We don't even know if they can be a republic physiologically. Could be a hive mind or something."
"That's kind of an ethical debate isn't it? Planetary lockdown is doable but we would be leaving the problem there for someone else - and if we wipe them all out we would be violating our own principles of respect for sentient life. After all not all of them are gonna be bad - are they?"
"It's a good question - too bad they don't have TV."
One of the admirals who had been laying on the couch playing with a globe of the world in question stood up and began to toss the globe between his hands like a basketball. Given that he - it - was a trilat and had three arms this was almost a blur of activity as the ball shot from hand to hand.
"Well Jon, maybe we should pull a little gray men. We have some around you know..."
"Little gray men? As in?"
"Flying saucers, short guys with large black eyes. Cattle mutilations and disappearances. ArAreBeens..."
Branches creaked and snappled in the darkeness as the soldier slowly walked forward, rifle at the ready. It was a simple weapon - bolt action, magazine fed - but it served the same purpose as a baseball bat or a half-brick in a sock. Nerves steady for the moment he pushed forward again brushing aside a cluster of hanging vines before stepping over a large protruding root. His partially vegetable nature gave him a somewhat instinctive link to the forest but whatever it was that lurked at the edge of his vision had no such attachment and this scared him. Even fire was part of the forest but this...
Suddenly silvery light washed over the forest like a wave of water and he saw, for a moment, them. The silverly light was behind them and it obscured all details in shadow but he could make out spindly arms and legs and a bulbulous head. Fear raced through his body and the leaves on his hands and feet shook like he was in the center of an unseen storm. More appeared from behind trees though his vision was rapidly tunnelling to focus only on the one in front of him. The one that was walking forward and holding some kind of object.
The woods were as silent as a crypt for a moment as the thing brought the object up level with it's chest. Silvery light began to eminate from one end and there was a sharp crack. Time stood still for a moment and the soldier felt a jolting pain in his body. Realization dawned and he looked down at the rifle where smoke was still slowly drifting from the barrel. Looking up he watched as the thing picked itself up off the ground and again raised the object in it's hand to chest level.
"Bugger that hurt - you are definately going on the probe-u-lator you vicious bastard..."
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Report #557-8883-2285-333
Subject: Operation Longhorn
Commanding Officer: Adm Chestyr Thom
Reporting Officer: Lt Cmdr Wil
Admiral Thom,
Operation Longhorn is proceeding well and with all due haste. Abductions of lifeforms from the planet designated GEC3005-7 have begun and in large part due to the expertise of the contracted ArAreBeen companies have been a complete success. It does seem they are experts in such matters - something that would concern me if this wasn't suddenly our objective as well. In line with what they call 'Best Practices' they have been moving the sentients captured to a secure facility in the Ares system while non-sentients are either kept for cataloging purposes or humanely kills before being mutilated in some fashion and re-deposited on the planet.
Sightings of the ArAreBeens have been carefully scripted to maintain a cohesive 'Look and Feel' - another one of their own terms - and similar events now seem to elicit a large scale response from the sentients. The ArAreBeens assure us that this will assist in their efforts as they can use a false event to disguise a genuine abduction or cover an aborted operation.
There are two things that you need to address specifically before the next phase of operations Admiral. One is the method of payment. While they are willing to take slush fund di-coins they have expressed interest in perhaps keeping some of the abducties for a long period of study. They assure me they would be kept in suspended animation so they would appear to not have aged at all. One told me that they like to do this because 'It's funny' but I'm unsure as to their real motives for this.
The other issue is one brought up by the 0 Div operatives that have been working with the ArAreBeens directly. They are suggesting that an operation be mounted to either kidnap the leadership of the sentients or perhaps 'make contact' for manipulation efforts in the future. If this seems reasonable they have indicated plans are already on record for this under the operation codenames 'Star' and 'Enquirer'.
Regards,
Lt Cmdr Wil
----
"Mr. Odenhal, after reviewing the documents presented by both your defense unit and those presented by the government I find you guilty of the charge of grand theft. Because I like to be thorough and because of the rarity of these types of crimes I had the case forwarded to the appeals court for review - they as well found you guilty. Ah, the wonders of fact checking sub-AI's. Fortunately for you this trial took a whole fifteen minutes so I only have to charge you for that as well as the time it took the government to prepare it's case.
Now for the nasty bit. You have been convicted of stealing goods equal to five hundred and fifty three thousand di-coins in value. In keeping with our legal traditions you now owe the company you stole those goods from three times that amount. How do you wish to pay?"
Mr. Odenhal looked down at his hands for a moment - it had been pretty stupid of him to think he could just walk off with that dog - and looked up at the judge.
"Do you accept SunsetExpress your honor?"
"Fellow sentients and gathered near-sentients, I'd like to introduce to you the latest warship to join the Sunset Defense Force!"
"This is the Cohort IV-Class Heavy Cruiser - the next generation warship that will keep our nation secure in the coming years. Some of you might recognize the name and you are correct. The Cohort series was the first of the original SDF warship lines and this reincarnation is the fourth in that honored series. Much like the original Cohort series vessels it is designed to fill a multitude of roles in the fleet - light carrier, front line combat, diplomatic, and light exploration."
More images of the new craft including some 'action' shots came up on the holo-sphere. Shots were exchanged at point-blank range with an exotic and menacing looking alien craft before the starship engaged it's space-warp drives and shot off in a blaze of light.
"I can't go too far into technical details but I can tell you that this craft calls upon a huge number of Sunset industries simply in order to be created. Thus it's not only the warship that will keep us safe but also yet another part of our booming economy.
But perhaps you are wondering - how can I see it up close? Right now there is only one way to see this ship in any way other than your final moments! Are you adventurous, patriotic, intellegent, and physically fit? Join the SDF today! If you are good enough you can serve on an SDF starship - perhaps even this one! It's the only way - join the SDF today!"
----
Katrina Silaco sat at her station, fingers moving over the console in front of her, as she mentally entered commands and send out orders to other systems. She was still 18 - or at least her metal and plastic body looked that way - but she was far older now. Her mother had promoted her to her own old position as head of Special Projects after Katrina's stint in the SDF had ended. Now her mother was a full time advisor to the President as well as the Senator from Senate District 87 - a district that included Refuge and a number of other classified and semi-secret facilities and worlds scattered around.
As always Erika was always there if she needed her but Katrina had evolved beyond the need for communicating every nano-second with her. She still called of course but now her mother was focusing on her work and on her new brother. If she had been flesh and blood Katrina was sure that kid would need counselling in a decade or two but with a near-sentient AI patches could work wonders.
Katrina completed the project she was working on - ordering the Cohort IV's that would be manned through a number of civilian contractors and ordering the VLMTE array to begin production on the unmanned versions - and turned to look over her tiny kingdom that was Refuge. It had certainly changed in the years since she had taken over. Plants - alien species from worlds the GEC would possibly never see - now hug over balconies and decorated terraces. Among the hundreds of thousands of people walked alien species that would probably never touch the soil of Mars or Ares.
Katrina had changed the way Refuge operated to make life a little more interesting for the inhabitants. Scout ships of the same alien designs that were used for the defense fleet were dispatched to random stars for a survey. If the system was uninhabited by a space-faring civilization and far enough from other systems that the massive energy signature that was Refuge wouldn't be noticed they jumped in and did a complete survey.
This gave the children of the designers and engineers who had come to Refuge something to do besides maintain their world. Sure there had been the occasional problem but it had all worked out thus far and the world within a world was now a thriving and diverse colony. In fact it was almost time for another jump and a new system to explore. The resource crews were just finishing their recovery of an asteroid for reaction mass and she would hold a vote shortly since there were three possible systems to explore.
She herself was leaning towards the third system. It was a rare system where two forms of sentients had evolved on two seperate worlds and one set of sentients had advanced to the point where they were engaging in the slow conquest of the other world via chemical spaceships and interplanetary stragetic nuclear attacks. Refuge could step in and have some fun using the defense fleet and it's marines as well as experimental models that were just fighting it out i the labs right now.
Turning back to the console she leaned down and watched the progress of the recovery crews as they moved huge chunks of asteroid into the docking tunnel that ran through the center of Refuge. Any time now guys...
The layers of the vaults under Anuke had been peeled back slowly like an onion under the hands of a rough chef. Layer upon layer of defenders, traps, false passages, and areas that were simply beyond classification had been gradually exposed to the marine division assigned to probe it's secrets. Many in their ranks had commented that it was like a video game with each level getting harder and harder. Some thought it was a test, but a test for what? There was no answer yet but they had finally reached what many were convinced was the core of the whole complex.
Titanic doors now barred their progress and each was somehow different. Some were simply blown open while others had to be dismantled or bypassed. Even this was dangerous however as some doors exploded when tampered with and others were defended by treacherous emplacements that only showed themselves once a number of troops were gathered. The risks were minimized but marines still disappeared or were attacked in seemingly secured areas. These attacks only increased as they breached more and more of the doors and most speculated this was because some controlling intelligence was becoming desperate.
There was some worry that when the final door fell and the last chamber was revealed that a self-destruct would be activated. Plans were made to pull all of the troops out and have the final door be breached by a team of UHCV's and combat androids so that there would be no risk to sentient life. How whatever - if indeed there was anything - was beyond the door would react was simply something they couldn't worry about.
----
"Dear, take a look at this piece... Isn't it marvelous?"
"Why - it's fantastic..."
The couple stood examining the scuplture for a bit. Both were clearly wealthy - designer outfits, designer bodies, and a designer pet following them obediently around the art gallery. They were looking for a new bathroom today and the one they were standing in looked like it would be their choice. This was the latest trend in art: Whole Room Sculpture. This gallery was the most trendy of the 'washroom art' galleries and it was filled with the finest examples of lavatories on the planet.
"Mmm - I just love this wood... Tell me, what kind is it?"
The artist, a retired SDF Officer who had used his connections to secure supplies of exotic materials, stepped forward. His own clothing was just as fabulous as those of the couple though he wouldn't dare admit he only had a half-dozen such outfits.
"This would be Hon'ko Wood. I can't tell you where it's from but this would be the only art piece made of it that is known to exist."
The couple continued to look at the various fixtures, sculptures, and mosiacs that decorated the room for another hour before deciding to purchase it. The finally price was negotiated - it was considered in bad taste to set a price before someone decided to buy it. With the sale concluded the couple left and the artist began packing up the room for shipment half-way around the world.
----
"Ooh and Johnsyn takes both barrels to the face! Tear up those tickets folks cause our number one pick just ate it!"
The crowd roared and betting tickets with the name of the poor gladiator who had just had his head blown off fluttered into the wind. Despite this upset the action continued fast and furious. Contestants armed with anything from strange gun-halberd combinations to generic handguns raced from cover to cover lobbing grenades, rocks, and even the occasional throwing knife back and forth. Before the body of Johnsyn could even start to cool the gladiator who had killed him had fallen to one of a pair of grenades chucked by a gladiator named 'EvylOne'. The crowd roared it's approval for a moment before the other grenade landed in the cheap seats and exploded.
Dismembered bodies flew over the railing into the arena but few seemed to care. Some even cheered louder as blood and entrails splashed across them. One fan, driven to bloodlust, grabbed a dismembered arm and jumped into the arena where he began flailing away with it. Camera's pivotted to catch this and the crowd burst into laughter as one of the gladiators ignored a blow to pick him up by the shirt collar and riddle his body with bullets before throwing him into a gladiator who was trying to sneak up on him with a knife. A quick burst of gunfire punched ragged holes in both of the fallen men and a buzzer went off. Standing tall the gladiator found himself alone in the arena as the crowd roared it's approval.
"I'm Buzz RT here in the locker room with tonight's number one pick - Johnsyn. Johnsyn, you caught a couple shots quick that put you out of this one. What happened?"
"It just wasn't my night Buzz. I was expecting ICWiener to come out with his usual paired MP5's and that double-barrelled shotgun caught me offguard. The first round missed me but he reloaded quick and caught me as I was coming around that obstacle."
"Thanks Johnsyn. Now let's go to tonight's VirtArena winner - EvilAss...."
"War Banner? That sounds like a big target name."
"Well that's kinda the point. War Banner's will be basically all shields and armor with a big electronic emissions suite. That and totally unmanned though no one will know it. A smart opponent who is trying to knock our command and control will go for them until they realize they aren't doing jack to CnC and by then it should be too late."
"So what's the new fleet rundown?"
"Cohort's are gonna be the front line warships, then War Banners around a to-be-named class. Emperor or Ceasar - though the first is pretty similar to the Supreme Emperor and the second is kinda odd-sounding. Then we will have some Cataphract fast cruisers for fast strikes and raiding. There is some talk of creating a Catapult or Ballista class bombardment ship kinda like the Hand of God class in use by the Shogunate. But that might just be talk."
It had been an odd day already and Admiral McMarinn had a sense that it was about to get even more odd. The door - or was it a sphincter? - flapped open in front of him as he slowly walked the semi-ovular passage that led from the air lock where he had boarded the ship to what he presumed was a command bridge. Thick chitinous plates lined the floor in a regular pattern that was small enough to allow good traction for his size twelves and larger plates seemed to both brace and line the passage to the sides and overhead in an interlocking pattern. Some sections of the walls were nearly transparent and beyond them McMarinn could see what looked like veins pumping various different colored fluids both slowly and rapidly.
----
The target - as far as system survelliance was concerned it was only that - had appeared at the edge of the system nearly two months ago and had been at first classified as a long duration comet. As it had gotten closer and sensor resolution had improved it had been reclassified as derelict wreckage. Given that the sensors in question had a classified range and resolution it was decided that the ship, if it was a ship, would be allowed to enter civilian sensor ranges before a ship was dispatched to intercept it. Given the small size and apparently lack of activity this was considered a reasonable risk.
----
The chamber was small. A human crew would have been two or three people but the crew was clearly not human or present. In fact there seemed to be no crew stations at all though there were a pair of narrow 'chairs' on both sides of the command deck. In the center of the deck was a singular ridge and there were no obvious external viewscreens or crew interfaces. There were three people in the room already though - two marines stood on either side of the door and a technician was examining various features.
What drew McMarinn's eye was the ridge that ran through the center of the room and pointed directly towards the doorway. This seemed to be moving though if it was it was so subtle as to be inobvious. One of the marines, a combat cyborg, was directly facing it and as McMarinn looked over to it it nodded in the direction of the ridge in confirmation.
"Commander Hallison..."
The technician looked up from his work and pulled himself upright as he noticed the Admiral standing there.
"Ah - Admiral. Nice to meet you. Captain Tailor thought you might want to see this."
"See what?"
"Well..."
----
Protocals for contact with anomalous debris had been in place for a long time - centuries of exploration had seen to that. The recovery cruiser closed to sensor range and began to scan the debris as it slowly moved closer. Once within precision targetting range the ship stopped and tried to contact the target debris with known communications methods. Normally debris didn't respond but this bit of presumed space garbage did. The response came in the form of radio waves along various frequencies that followed a simple pattern. A challenge-response routine initiated and the two systems began to negotiate a common language for communication.
It was rapidly apparent that the system on the opposing craft was just as sophisticated as a language was quickly established. The first coherent message from the opposing craft was simple and yet meaninful: I come in peace.
----
'Admiral McMarinn, welcome...'
In a single smooth action the ridge that ran down the center of the chamber split open along the edges and a sinuous form stretched up. Armored plates rippled along a ridged spine that split into four slender arms and a slender smooth featured head. A single arm extended and pointed to one of the chairs which expanded as the thing gestured to a more appropriate human size.
'Please - have a seat. I'm sure you are longing for an explanation.'
Prolog
"Each unit is linked to two other units to form an octagon. These octagons can either be linked to a central unit for stacking as would be used in an orbital station or placed on the ground on their own for use as a lunar base. Now initially we would like to place a number of these octagons in Lunar craters and then cover them with a mylar 'blanket' and then layers of lunar soil to protect against solar radiation. The external connections you can see here would be connected to solar panel arrays. On a station they would be secured directly to the side but they can also be linked via umbilical cables and secured directly on the surface."
The presenter paused and the men and women gathered around the table looked around at each other before looking to one man who sat quietly at the end of the long table. He had been leafing through the folder of materials provided at the beginning of the proposal meeting but now he closed it and tapped it on the table to straighten the contents.
"It's a fantastic idea. If we had the money and the American people had any interest in such forward thinking endeavors I'd bump this to the top of the list but the fact is they don't. We'll get in touch if things change but I don't think they will."
Epilog
Massive streamers of dust rose from the surface of the moon Perseus around Ares as a gravity drive equipped tug manuvered another section of the pre-fabricated city into place on the surface. Each section was huge - nearly a kilometer on the long side - and there were one hundred twenty eight in the massive ring that would form the new corporate owned city of Harryson Meadows. The city would dominate the dark side of the moon though it would share it with several other mega-cities that dominated the whole planetoid. The designed was descended from the first structures built by Sunset citizens on the surface of Mars - no thanks to the shortsighted nature of the American people at the beginning of the 21st century.
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"An explination? I hope it's a very thorough one or I'm going to have a lot of questions at the end."
The being - there was no other term for it - settled into what could be described as a sitting position and folded it's arms across it's sinuous lower torso.
'I will attempt to be thorough but you will still have many questions at the end. Perhaps I should start with where I came from and what I am. Then we can move on to why I am here and what I intend to do.'
"Ok. Please begin."
'I am a biological spaceship created by a secret organization within your own government two centuries ago. This portion of my form was genetically modificed from a baseline human and...'
"Excuse me!? I already have a really important question!"
Admiral McMarinn had a shocked expression on his face but was doing his best to pull himself back together. Shock was already starting to be replaced by disbelief in his mind but the being continued without seemingly noticing his interuption.
'Implanted in an amagamation of minerals where I began to slowly absorb and grow into the current form over the next century. When this organization was about to be revealed to the world I was moved to a nearby system to continue my growth. This was a mistake as while the organization - which still seems to exist - was not revealed the resources they had devoted to my creation has crippled them and they were not allowed to resupply this extra-solar outpost.'
----
"Professor, if you were to make a prediction about the future evolution of humanity what would it be?"
"From a biological perspective the answer is simple. Withered arms and legs, an enlarged cranium, increased mental processing capacity, a reduction in the effectiveness of normal senses... But not in all cases. I predict a diverence of humanity into two or three specialized branches that seemly depends on the tendencies of their nation of origin. High technology societies where much of life is conducted, like this lecture, in virtual reality will tend towards the first branch. The second branch will result from the ultra-warlike nations that focus on physical strength and agility to power their war machines. Super-soldiers will become the model for the general population and this cultural trend will lead to this being bred into their being."
Professor Ambrose finished scribbling the important points on the board and put down his marker.
"I can tell you right now that this is not as much a fantastic prediction as an informed conjecture. My own studies of random samplings of the Sunset population has show that the individual is descreasing in size though their head is increasing in size. Limbs are shortening and fingers are becoming less flexible. Granted the tendancy for males to favor large breasted women seems to have continued and if this does not change the average female breast will soon dominate their body mass by percentage."
The war had started again in a tremendous volley of long range ballistic missiles that reached around the small green sphere like grasping tentacles to descend on hundreds of villages and towns. Water had once seperated two continents and divided an empire from the unconquered frontier but now it was divided no more. Long range transports and massive gunships supported by flocks of smaller fighters roared over the churning blue waters and began to descend on their targets one by one. Coastal villages that were home to simple tribesmen suddenly became beachheads where spear fought machinegun in a futile battle. Even as the massive transports touched down with a splash to deploy their cargo of soldiers and engineers others continued on to new objectives.
It was as complete a route as any general could hope for. Casualties were few and most of their opponents simply emerged shaken from their villages to be led away in long lines. More slaves for the empire, more slaves to encourage the outward growth that would allow them to reach up and see if the beings that their scientist-priests said were out there were out there. If they were they too would be absorbed into the empire.
----
War in space is not the beautiful thing of motion pictures. There is no epic fleet battle with both sides delivering broadsides and shuddering under the pounding blows delievered by their foe. In space war is total and quickly fought and it is rare that a wounded ship simply limps away. Neither must fleet fight fleet though the admirals would have it differently. This is no skirmish between two ships over a resource rich outpost - this is a war of domination, simple and sudden.
----
He had to be prepared for the possiblity that they knew he was coming. Intelligence gathered on the target system - a billion lives was now a 'target' - was voluminous. Given the effort expended to gather the data as well as the time it had taken there was every chance that they, despite every precaution, had learned about this plan. Were they preparing a counterstrike? A trap? Thoughts like this had weighed heavily on his mind as his fleet had entered the last weeks of preparation. Plans were in place for the forseeable but it was always the unknown that could bite you from behind.
Even as the last few seconds ticked away he sat there and ran through everything in his head. Had they covered this option? Could they possibly boost some defen...
The mighty forces involved in a tessaract jump interupted his thoughts and brought him back to the reality at hand. The fleet had moved in an instant from a long accelerating solar orbit to hundreds of different positions in the target star system. The first strikes were already taking place with a speed that would dazzle anything but an AI or a direct-linked mind and as he sunk rapidly into the tactical network he realized he had missed the big show.
Tens of thousands of tons of iridium sliced through steel, aluminum, and numerous alloys like they were so much paper as the super-heavy ramship hit the orbital shipyard edge on. It had come out of it's jump barely a thousand kilometers away and had hit the operations center before any alarm could have been sounded. Now as it plunged through girder, support, ship, and workers alike it began to lose metal in long streamers as the friction of it's passing rapidly vaporized the iridium nosecone. This too was part of the plan and as the first spar punched through into the interior the robotic juggernaught detonated in a cataclysmic explosion that left the few remains of the shipyard pinwheeling away in all directions.
There were no orders given - there was no time to give them as the cruiser flashed past the mining installations and long range sensor stations that dotted this section of the outer solar system. Yet as it passed certain pre-set points orders were followed and torpedos flashed from their tubes to continue forward and away in long sweeping chains. Deep in the bowels of the ship more ordinance swirled into launch positions and the ship twisted slightly to prepare for the next target. Behind it the glowing remains of it's passage could be seen as pulverized asteroid bases spiralled away and vapor clouds began to drift apart.
These events had been repeated a hundred times around the system with both admirable success and regretable casualties before the next phase swung into action. Above the planet's southern hemisphere the bulk of the fleet suddenly appeared and just as suddenly tremendous crimson lances began to sweep orbital space of defense satillites, weapon platforms, and stray patrol ships even as thousands of torpedos plunged through the atmosphere in glittering strands. Detonations rocked cities and countryside alike as the ground defenses that were supposed to protect against invasion were ripped apart. Most had just started to charge their batteries but a few screamed defiance and fired blindly before they were consumed in fire.
The orbital bombardment continued as ships switched from their ruined targets to secondary opportunity targets. Pirate warships on the ground, transportation hubs, and anything that drew large amounts of power from the electrical grid were targetted and destroyed. Despite the suddeness of the strike opposition was already rallying and on the far side of the planet a ragtag fleet of pirate corsairs was gathering.
----
'One of the paradoxs of the ultimate free society is that there will be individuals and groups in this society that will seek to forceably restrict the freedom of others. This cannot be prevented or else the society is not truely free. The Sunset government has sought to prevent this through many measures but these too must be examined in the light of a free society. By being physically unavaliable is there not a risk that the President might seek to control our society through his control of the military? And is this not a restriction on our freedom to meet with our elected representatives? How do we balance freedom and safety? Is one secondary to the other? In the first half of the American republic years it was observed that the president was replacable but as the second half continued the president began to accumulate more and more power and thus importance.
Are we in the first half or the second half of our own society? Is our own government becoming less responsible to the people through their increasing isolation? Or is this the inevitable result of the larger responsibility placed on officials who administrate a government that watches over the freedoms of six billion individuals?' ~Political Scholar, Circa 2986
Centuries had passed and the land to the south had laid stagnant but now activity had resumed. Ships of at least a neutral registry had landed and there was some activity near the great landed hulls. Being as it was neither an enemy nor an ally there was some discussion as to what, exactly, to do. There was also the question of Platonic. Well, what had been Platonic. An entire nation of socialists had been absorbed without barely a whisper. How well would they react to the erection of static defenses along their border? Of course, who said they had to know about it?
The first potential problem was solved easily enough - robotic 'survey vehicles' plodded along the border completing a variety of scientific surveys including the removal of some thick core sampled. The holes were filled and plugged - couldn't have anyone stepping in them, now could you? At the bottom of each was a standard HOBD generator powered by one of KarmaCorp's wonderful little black boxes. Next came the problem of an entire utopian socialist nation.
They decided to leave it alone. It simply became the State of Platonic and the normal fees for border crossings eliminated. Given that it was a convenient place for all those college kids who thought socialism was the greatest thing ever and that Sunset was the perfect place for all those college kids who wanted to get ahead in life the exchange worked reasonably well.
Now what would they do about Delgados? Or properly the Triumvirate Protectorate Territory of Delgados? Apparently there was some mad queen in a sky palace still floating around over there...
Fortunately the survey robots did not find it odd when they were sent out only a short time later to re-survey the ground in preparation for a new occupant. Said occupant didn't really need to know about the mines they were removing either. Some did find it odd when the government started erecting markers in front of the entrances to the various arcologies that said 'Welcome to New Vancouver, Sunset' or whatever arcology they happened to be though. What else were they going to do with thousands of extra mines?
----
Battle raged in orbit as it had for the last few hours. Warships raced around in an energetic cloud that resembled the high-energy plasma that lanced through space from one ship to another. Both sides used fast, nimble ships and solid hits were rare. In the virtual battlespace where he directed the battle the scene was constantly shifting as the targetting cones of his fleet and the ragtag pirate fleet shrunk, elongated, or dissappeared all together.
He was not in direct control of his own ship - it was his job to identify the linchpin of the enemy fleet and destroy it. If he could find out who was keeping this mob together he could break it as easily as one might snap a twig. Of course there might be someone on the other side trying to do the same...
More ships disappeared and several new ones appeared. These were the ships from out-system that had already savaged their resource gathering and monitoring stations. A quick query and he plotted out snaking courses through the cloud for each as well as points where they would fire what ordinance they had left. What physical ordinance they had at least...
----
Bulkheads groaned, ripped, and crushed as the attacking warship screamed past the tiny pirate corvette. On the few undamaged monitors the cause of the damage was quite clear - a massive gravity well had brushed the ship as it travelled ahead of the onrushing cruiser. The ship was 'falling' both into the well and away from a gravity 'spike' that followed it closely. Twisting back and forth it was winding through the chaos like a spiralling firework. As interesting as this was there was no one on the corvette to comment on it - the crew was a jellied mass splashed against various solid objects.
----
There it was - and there it went. The ship itself was reasonably unremarkable as far as pirate ships went, but he had had the AI do a little backtracking. It had come from a landing pad near a very large mansion - a mansion that seemed to consume an inordinante amount of power from the local grid for such a residence. It had also been heavily visited according to archival footage and this probably meant it was someone very important. Or had been someone very important.
One of the Hades-Class dreadnoughts had jumped in behind it and the results were predictably messy. Some kind of black cloud - he didn't want to know what it did - had enveloped the ship and it had shrunk like a raisin. Now it drifted quietly while the other ships that had been nearby raced away in a dead panic. It had given chase to one and now energy coursed from node to node along it's hull before discharging in a crackling burst that blew the target to splinters.
Things were definately getting up close and nasty now and he was again busy trying to isolate and destroy enemy ships. They were now frenzied - some trying to escape and others trying to take someone with them. Disabled ships moved to ram and many that were only lightly damaged sprinted away. He knew he could not catch them all - and each one that escaped was another frieghter lost or secret uncovered.
----
Every nation has its backwaters. Cities that seem forgotten in time or so run down as to seem to have surrendered to entropy. Algaz Station, on the other hand, would be what the backwater would drain into. There were not enough derogatory terms to do it justice though some had tried writing all of them on the few flat surfaces in the ancient station.
Once it had been a marvel though no one knew when that once was. Theories about where it had come from and who had designed it were everyday gossip to the fourty seven souls who called it home. There was one sentient on the station who knew its history, but it didn't have a soul and was mad as a hatter anyway. But the station was a convenient place to escape to for those with something to hide - a place no one had heard of and fewer cared about.
Which was why Nick Carter, SDFIntel agent and hard-boiled detective novel fan, was there...
"In order to do this calculation we need to know the potential acceleration of the target ship in all possible directions - as well has how fast it can decelerate. We also need to know the drive type as well as output of the target craft - those that use gravity well generators will need additional information like the shear of the gravity well or spike, gravity curve, and similar. Of course we also need the range to the target, our speed, and the accuracy of our weapons. Taking all of this into account targetting a ship at a range of one hundred thousand kilometers and hitting it with a single shot is extremely unlikely."
Lecture on Space Combat ~ Hynry Rosenbaum's 3rd Grade Class
----
Armor and bulkheads compressed, ripped, and burst outward as the suicidal corsair plowed through the forward saucer section of the Dawn-Class dreadnought. It had been enveloped by a small cloud of the remaining pirate vessels and despite it's best efforts it was being nibbled away at by dozens of smaller vessels. Now they sensed a mortal wound and plunged to the attack, eager to finish it off and take some small vengance for the attack on their world. Hands of plasma and more exotic energies reached out to slap away the attackers but there were simply too many of them.
Comminications with the afflicted ship were already sporadic as power was lost, rerouted, and lost again but it had apparently gotten the message about help coming as it ceased firing along it's upper hemisphere. The pirates, seeing another opening, moved to cluster along the spine where they could pound away without risk. More and more of the ship went dark as the hull began to resemble swiss cheese.
The sudden appearance of another ship right above the pirates must have been startling, but most didn't have time to do more than blink. The smallest ships were crushed like insects against the heavy shields of the recovery cruiser while others were 'bounced' off to the sides. One ship, it's crew responding quickly but poorly, shot down away from the oncoming cruiser and through the dorsal torpedo bridge. Fortunately all physical ordinance has been long ago expended but this did not stop the smaller ship from exploding and knocking the dreadnought akilter.
Grappling arms from the recovery cruiser swung down and clamped on to whatever they could find until the two ships were locked tightly together. Shields from the recovery cruiser snapped up around the two leaving the crews of the smaller ships roaring their frustrations as they continued to blaze away at the linked vessels.
----
"There is a huge difference between destroying a pirate fleet and occupying a whole world! We simply do not have the manpower to do it. And what if something else came up? With all of our ground forces deployed on that world we would have little to contribute to any joint effort aside from some farm animals!"
"Then what do you propose we do instead? If we do not secure their world they will simply re-build and go on as before - with a particular grudge against us I might add. And no, we cannot simply wipe them out. Or bomb them back to the stone age."
There was no immediate answer from the floor and a silence spread over the chamber.
"Quarentine?"
"And leave a tenth of the fleet stationed in the system perminently? Ripe for an attack by another power? Don't forget the armada that was forming to come investigate our system - such could easily be reformed. In fact, it's only due to the efforts of our Therian friends that such has not happened."
A lot of the senators in the chamber were starting to get the impression that this military jaunt had been a 'bad idea' and one finally put the question out there.
"So why did we do this?"
"To avoid a similar situation happening to us down the road. It was projected during planning that they would tear themselves apart trying to fend off our attack and leave their infrastructure demolished. That has not, yet, happened."
"Yet? Then why are we having this discussion? Why not wait until they have been conquered before we decide how to deal with the long term."
"If we don't we won't be able to rally what we need in order to prevent the problem from re-occuring long term. Give them twenty years and they will rebuild - and during that time we could be attacked by Ardans or worse. Need I remind you of the briefing on the 'White Nile' situation?"
"Which some of us are hesitant to believe. Only one ship has reported the presence of these 'Harvesters' - how can we know that what they say is tru..."
"Don't muddy the water. The problem is still what to do about the current situation - not something thousands of lightyears coreward."
A smile spread across the Admiral's face as he watched the transmission that had been sent from the President's Office. A transmission that was presented by the head of Mangalan Intelligence in the Ares system. 'At least someone has been thinking about how to bring this to a successful conclusion. Vicious, but successful...' Considering his words carefully he prepared orders to place communications bouys in the upper atmosphere and pull the fleet back to bombardment range.
----
'In two planetary rotations we will begin surrender negotiations with your leader.'
The message was simple and any questions were answered by simply repeating it. For a planet ruled by a variety of pirate clans it presented a singular problem or opportunity, depending on the temperment of those who saw it. For those who were more interested in their own survival in the face of certain destruction it offered the chance to survive and perhaps find a powerful new friend. For those who preferred to go down fighting it was a chance to rest, repair, and re-arm. For others it was an opportunity to find freedom while their masters were distracted...
Throughout their history the clans that shared this world in a tenous peace had survived by raiding their neighbors and taking slaves in a cycle that ensured only the strongest survived. Now the strong were comparatively weak and many of the slaves now looked at each other with hope in their eyes. Guards were being pulled away to fight the other clans or to prepare to fight the enemy that now held orbital space above them. A sacrificial rush, a shiv in the stomach in passing, or a carelessly swing hoe and on the outskirts of the cities more power blocks were forming.
In orbit anxious eyes watched all of this as more of their own preparations were made. A powerful leader quickly emerging would be a bad thing - better to keep the chaos going and allow them to spend their strength on each other first. Plans were laid to land operators of various kinds on the surface to sabotage the powerful and encourage the weak as well as gather even more information about the various forming power blocks.
Penguin, Martian (Aptenodytes Forsteri):
The martian penguin is a sub-species of the terran Emperor Penguin that resides exclusively in the Vallis Marineris region of terraformed Mars. It is distinguished from it's terrestrial cousins in that the white feathers on the breast and other areas have developed a red coloring due to the high iron content of their diet. Medium to large flocks inhabit every area of the Vallis, but are most abundant in the western portion where solid ice is more common.
The penguins were imported as part of a park creation program initiated with the ex-nation of Platonic. They feed on the fish of the Vallis which are themselves terran in origin and they form part of a specific 'antarctic' food cycle in the Vallis region. Currently the martian penguin is flourishing but this has lead to concerns that it might over-fed and destroy it's own food supply. The government, in its usual manner, has taken a hands-off approach to the situation.
----
The SDF White Nile (Venture-E Class) had been surveying the vast emptyness of space for a decade before it had finally come across... something. Space, by definition, is vast and empty, but this was different. There was essentially nothing in a long tract of space the crew had begun calling the Dark. No systems, no asteroids... Nothing. There were stars - dying stars - and little else.
Then the little ship and it's four hundred souls had stumbled across... it... and had gazed upon the dagger pointing straight at the heart of civilized space. It was not describable nor would a picture do it any justice. One could only have been there to comprehend the scale and enormity of it and for those that were there it had been enough to shake the very foundations of their existance. Crystalline yet fluid it was semi-transparent with vast swift-flowing veins of energy that seemed to pulse rythmically in a pattern that was deceptively soothing.
Between it's vast squid-like mandibles a planet writhed under its hostile caress. The world had been a swirl of reds, greens, and yellows but now under the assault it was quickly breaking up and breaking down. Though there was no physical link between the two there was still physical action taking place. Vast tracts of land were swirling upward as though flowing down an invisible drain and at the end becoming streamers of energy that flowed into It despite the crystal barrier that seemed to surround it.
Watching the process the crew couldn't help but be mesmerized by it. First forests, jungles, and plains and now swamps and rivers and mountains disentigrated before their very eyes. Works that had taken eons wiped out in a moment, reduced to their collective molecules, to go into that... thing. Then it was gone. An energy tendril had been detected moving towards the ship and the AI had initiated a jump based on a solar-flare level threat.
Reports were filed, conferences were initiated, and... little was done. What could be done? 'More information is needed' said the brass though the crew knew that this was more a sign that nothing could be done. They searched the tip of the Dark for more of... them... coming back to the one to find it suddenly dormant. A vast form that occasionally flickered deep in the core - a flickering that warned the crew that it was not dead. Merely... sated... for the time being.
It had been a cold comfort that had not lasted. Survelliance satillites deployed to watch it still showed the vast form floating there serenely but the White Nile had pressed on and found more of them. Not many to be sure - less than a dozen - and these were smaller than the others. Some were found - perhaps truely dead - floating between stars while others were actively consuming the inner worlds of dense planetary systems. Doubtlessly billions if not trillions of sentients had been consumed by these... things... in their passing.
After mapping their path it was clear now that they would, if they held to their current course, plunge straight through the densely inhabited area near Sol. Sol - birthplace of humanity - would be a delicate morsel to be consumed as a side treat when they reached it. How and when were still questions to be answered and risks to be taken. Crew were rotated out, mass was taken aboard, and once again the ship shot into the unknown to find whatever awaited it at the other end of the dagger pointed at civilization's heart.
Erika Silaco, the new President of Sunset, had been standing beside her desk looking out over the southern plains of Ares when Ambassador Penguin had waddled in. The visit had not been arranged but it was not unexpected either and she didn't bother to turn to greet him. Clasping his flippers behind his back in a rough parody of her pose he stood next to her and asked the first question that entered his mind.
"Why?" Penguin looked up at her, beady eyes shining. He had been in another system when the statement had been issued due to ongoing negotiations with the natives.
"Various reasons. The most important reason being that MIDAS II has proven itself to be extremely ineffective and easily manipulated. The incident with Valinon should have been enough to trigger our withdrawl but Jon was stubborn about making it work."
"True enough - but what of the implications of our own pull out? What will our allies think?"
"Let them think. Our larger obligations are the same and lesser treaties remain. If anything this aids them in the long term and makes us less vulnerable to being pulled into a war we shouldn't be fighting."
The penguin sighed and looked out the window. It was late autumn - or the Ares equivalent - and the grass was mostly brown with only tiny blotches of green remaining. Snow would be falling in a few weeks if he was fortunate.
"When will we finalize our withdrawl?"
"Probably a week and not more than a month. Which means we have a couple of security issues to take care of. I'll want you on Mars for the final announcement but you should be ready to leave immediately."
----
Katrina Silaco, Secretary of Special Projects, floated in the inky darkness of space looking over her first major project. From her current position it looked like a vast tiled sphere with a titanic cluster of antenna at each pole. As she moved towards the sphere more details were made clear. Massive airlocks were mounted in the center of some tiles while others were titanic weapon arrays. Taking the whole in her hands she began to carefully pull tiles away and examine them.
Each was in fact it's own independent craft with it's own self-contained systems. They were also connected to the whole - worlds within a world. All of the plates had the same connections in the same place allowing one plate to substitute for another. This would also provide another measure of security - a damaged plate would not compromise the whole and could be removed for repairs.
Each sphere would have a diameter of fifty kilometers when completed though the timeline for completion was non-existant. It was entirely dependant on ourside forces as to when and if the project would get underway - forces that were being investigated by the White Nile. In the meantime she would prepare several different options for saving the people of Sunset and hopefully as many other sentients as she could.
----
At a classified facility in near-solar orbit a new pair of constructs were taking shape. Two of the large Aurora-class wormhole gates were being constructed with some additional systems with the help of a small group of Ravenspire technicians. While they were by no means the oddest species in the system they were one of the most uncommon and there was not a little interest in the foxgirls and their smooth silvery ship among the complex personnel.
"Who does he think he is?!? He's already used up 90% of the manufacturing capacity here for the year!"
The chief engineer shot to his feet and started pacing the command center while his assistant looked on with a somewhat bemused expression.
"Granted this new project is much, much simpler... But he wants fusion! Fusion power plants! We haven't made one of those in... Decades?"
"More than two decades Ralph."
"More than two decades! It's a lot to drop on my plate..."
Ralph got a sudden grin on his face and walked over to his assistant, draping an arm over his shoulders in a fatherly fashion. "My boy - this will be a great opportunity for you..."
Despite his protests Ralph eventually prevailed and the second pair of gates began to come together - but not at the solar facility. Most of the construction was sub-contracted out to over thirty different companies who rushed to put together the docking facilities, power plants, living facilities, and all the other things that would turn a plain metallic hoop into a kilometer-high transit loop.
Ralph's life was significantly easier as well now. Villanova's new orders had mentioned that they would only need 1 new Aurora gate - not 2. He just hadn't mentioned that to his assistant. Since they were sectional - assembled completely then broken up into 8 sections for transport - he would just have the two partial systems assembled into one. As long as his assistant didn't notice he could just sit at the command console and sip mai'tai's.
----
Of all the crews on all the ships in all the Triumvirate fleets the crews of the Nemesis-Class ships had to be the most stir crazy crews in the fleet. At least on long range patrols the crews could expect new sights, regular contact with home (wherever that was) and a regular chance to return home. Nemesis crews could expect... nothing. For long lengths of time. No contact from home, no new sights in the empty vastness between stars, and a duty term of up to a decade.
----
The situation on the ground was chaotic to say the least. During the last twenty four hours three wars had broken out between various power blocks, eight slave revolts had merged into a single revolt that was rolling through the outlying areas, a dozen cities were burning, and it looked like it was going to get worse. He was quite happy.
There had been a few attempts to restore some of the orbital weapon batteries, but this had served to draw fire from the fleet still in orbit. It had also served to cover the insertion of hundreds of different intelligence assets in various forms. Now sleek feline forms stalked the alleyways of cities on missions of sabotage and assassination. The local urban predators soon learned to avoid the cats that fought back with claws and fangs that sliced through skin and bone with equal ease.
Sentient assets were also on the ground helping to keep the chaos moving as well. Slaves found crates of weapons amoung the crops or a slaver barracks wiped out by unknown, seemingly untouchable, beings. There was the occasional fleeting sighting of a pair of black armored forms streaking away over the countryside.
There was the soft sigh of air rushing into the void and the whispered clunk of metal hitting metal through layers of hull material and insulation and the ship was free.
'Free to do what? The Khrrck have done their job - and how guilty do I feel about it? They lost what wasn't theirs and their neighbors are safe. The balance is restored.'
Major Donaldson sat in the command chair of the tiny craft as it summoned the energies needed to perform the tesseract jump to Ares. His thoughts were interupted for a moment as the craft moved from here to there in an instant. A tap at his console and the identifying codes that would keep his little boat intact streamed to a monitoring station. It was answered by a quick confirmation as well as a piggy-backed video link.
Donaldson took a quick look at the ID and shot up in his seat. Sometimes the best laid plans have the most obvious flaw and he was just now realizing it. Billions transferred around for covert projects, condensed into one account, transfered some more... But he had, in all the rush to accomplish his mission, forgotten the mission he had been sent to accomplish.
"Major Donaldson - it's good to see you back." Admiral Chestyr Thom, his superior and commander of the Exploration Group responsible for the geo's sector of space, was now looking at him with a blank expression that didn't match his greeting.
"Thank you Admiral."
"I had expected a progress report on the SEC-9843a situation but apparently you have decided to make it in person."
"Yes sir. Once I reach orbit I should have the whole thing prepared. A day, day and a half maybe? Just to make sure it's complete."
"Make that a day Major - we have been quite anxious to hear the results."
The link snapped off and Donaldson closed his eyes and reclined in the seat.
'He knows - how does he know? It doesn't matter I suppose...'
It could be just paranoia or it could be real but Donaldson didn't want to risk the wrong type of reception once he reached orbit. But they didn't want him dead or a cruiser could have just come over and blown him to atoms. This was a good start - a little leeway.
First he needed a plan. His trip in-system would take him past Menhit - a conventient place for an accident and to hide out. The gas giant was one of the few places in the system where there was little to no government presence. He started a sensor sweep of the space around the planet and started fiddling with the safety overrides on the ship while he waited for it to come back.
The camoflaged sensor station nestled in the back would be his salvation. Thom would undoubtably have the area searched once his ship exploded - ramming an asteroid at high speeds could do that - but the sensor station would let him shoot away unnoticed. Then he would contact the people he had dealt with in the Crown to make his illegal transfers. He couldn't trust them, but they might think he had more money for them and that was enough.
Ejecting a camoflaged sensor array from a ship travelling at a significant fraction of the speed of light on a ballistic path sounds just about as hard as it was. It was even harder when the flight was one way - the small courier slammed into an asteroid a moment later.
Donaldson sat back and closed his eyes. He was alive, for now, and shooting towards the Crown on a course that would bring him through the asteroid field in a week.
He hoped.
His preparations had been simple. The passive sensor array was to activate a location beacon when his impromptu craft reached the area and he should - should - then emerge from chemical stasis. If he missed... There was a good chance he would drop into the sun, or maybe circle around in a decade or so.
----
The first attempt at an answering transmission had triggered an invasion of the originating location by what appeared to be three different nearby factions. Even now the area was still burning as factions allied, betrayed, assassinated, and fought in the streets. This had only been the first attempt - dozens of others had been made and had either been ignored because they were from an embattled group or just because he had been watching something else.
So far they hadn't caught on to the fact that the idea wasn't to talk to the leadership of the most powerful faction, but to make sure that the most powerful faction quickly came under the attack of several others seeking the position. Who he would ultimately talk to was still up in the air. The slave revolts were a good option, or perhaps a business coalition if such a thing existed.