The Isiyi Event [FT/FT-B only]

[Old Sarthal]

Sarthal III
11:34 AM, local time.
Scyta Prykal
Ascitator Cynei

"Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Initiate main power source."

An entire power plant, ten miles away, had been dedicated to providing power for the device that would now be tested for the first time. The metal sphere at the center of the test chamber, surrounded by wires and sensors, began to emit a soft glow. The hopes of a species rested on the potential of this one device.

"Power levels at one hundred and ten percent, Ascitator."

"Begin phase shift."

The device now began to pulsate and flicker, one moment here, another there, then in another dimension of which we know nothing. The one hundred milligram iridium cylinder at its center was now at over ten thousand kelvin, only the intense pressure of the warp field preventing it from evaporating into a superheated plasma.

"Discharge muon capacitors on my mark."

"Any time now, Ascitator."

"Mark."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

*A few minutes later*

The last thing she remembered was a great purple flash and an incredibly loud bang. Cynei gathered herself up from the control room floor and turned to one of the Servitors employed by the lab.

"What did we clock that at?"

"Faster than light, Ascitator."

What a human would have loosely defined as a smile crept across Cynei's insectoid features.

"Gather the Council. This shall be a great new era in the history of the People."

[Pavlostani]

Third of Seven sat around bored. Suddenly, a phase jump in the area startled him. "One!" He shouted. 1 of 7 walked up to the console. "Well, isn't that interesting. Unknown signature. Hey, Six, set course for Sarthal III. I think we've discovered a new species." He said.

[Old Sarthal]

Sarthal III
2:37 PM, local time.
Atina Prykal, Council chambers.
Ascitator Cynei

"Praetors of the council, at 1134 hours Scytia time, we were able to accelerate approximately one kilogram of matter to the speed of almost 100c. Post-analysis revealed that the amount of power generated would have been sufficient to accelerate a twenty thousand kilogram ship to the same speed for a sustained period of time, possibly even years. With the larger reactor on such a ship, we may be able to achieve speeds in excess of one thousand c."

Cynei paused for a moment to take a breath.

"With this technology, we could not only colonize the Sarthal system, but even other stars, and perhaps one day the entire galaxy."

"Ascitator, isn't faster than light travel supposed to be impossible?"

"Well, Praetor Kyze, you see, the key is that relative to itself, the accelerated object is not exceeding the speed of light. Most of the energy used in the drive is to rip a sort of tunnel in spacetime, within which the accelerated object can 'coast' at relativistic speeds. The tunnel shortens the distance between the two points so that-"

"Please, save the technobabble for the official report. How soon can we mass produce this?"

"With Code Five mobilization?"

"Whatever you have to do."

"Three months."

[Pavlostani]

The Sphere raced through the dimensions or warp space. One paced anxiously on his feet. Could they get there before those damned Ineseans? A new species. The Politburo would be interested to hear this. He designated this unknown race Species 1027. "Six, increase our speed to transwarp." One said. "Transwarp?! Are you crazy?" Six asked. All Collective vessels have engines that allow them to travel at Warp factor 10, what some call Infinite Velocity, although this was far from true. Unfortunately, transwarp usually caused irreparable damage to the ship, sometimes destroying it altogether. The Collective did have knowledge to create conduits that would stabilize transwarp space, but there were no nearby conduits, and none that led to the Sarthal system. "We have to get there before the Ineseans." One said determinedly. The Sphere catapulted forward as Six reluctantly pressed the button and entered the code. The drones could feel the increase in speed. Consoles began exploding. A plate on the exterior of the sphere sparked and flew off. "We have to stop!" Five of Seven screamed. "These are the Premier's orders!" One shouted. Then, the warp core sparked in Engineering, and they forced a stop to begin repairs. "We're three light-years away from Sarthal." Two reported. "Normal warp drive can take it from here." One said. "Not until we fix the core." Four said. "Let's get to work then." One sighed.

Back in Unicomplex-001, Premier Pavel groaned. He'd hoped for the Unimatrix-004 ship to make first contact. "The main Unimatrix-004 armada is near Multicomplex-003, is it not?" He asked the Minister of Defense. "Indeed." The Minister said. "And, what is our closest conduit to Sarthal?" Pavel asked. "The Voran system. It is a major trading hub for us. It is approximately sixty light-years away from Sarthal." The Minister informed Pavel. "Divert Unimatrix-004 to Voran, and put it within distance of Sarthal. We want to impress them, do we not?"

[The canardian republic]

-ALPHA SECTOR---

"Sir!" a young science officer shouted "I'm picking up strange subspace readings emminating from the planet . . . Sarthall III." Captain Za'kesh rose from his throne of a captains chair and with an elegant power characteristic of the ca'tesh, strode to the science officer and asked "how badly was the planet damaged by the rift?" he inquired "It wasn't sir." "WHAT?" the captain said in an astonished tone. "it did not damage the planet" how in gods name did hat happen? Za'kesh thought to himself, he then said "could it be a subspace drive? like the ineseans?" "it is possible although the signature is much less pronounced then anything they would use." the officer stated a new race perhaps? "set course for Sarthall III immediately, we have first contact to make" he said in a jovial way for their sake i hope we get there before a more hostile race does.

[Old Sarthal]

Sarthal III
3:11 PM, local time.
Atina Prykal, Council chambers
Ascitator Cynei

Suddenly, one of the lab aides, the SETI liason by the looks of it, came rushing in.

"Praetors! Er, and, uh, hello Cynei, nice to see you."

"What is it, pray tell? We were in the middle of a very important meet-"

"Remember the Qixan satellites?"

"They were supposed to detect extrasolar comets for observation. What of it?"

"The board just lit up with contacts. A whole fleet of... objects, all with regular velocities and metallic compositions. And get this: they're all perfect spheres."

"Which direction did they originate from?"

"The only thing along their trajectory until the Galactic Core is the Voran system."

"That's sixty light years away, Servitor Diak."

"Exactly."

"Scramble Kaveliren Bes, and inform Consul Tien." Cynei turned to the assembled council.

"As of right now, this is a Code Five situation. We must hope for the best, and prepare for the worst."

[Kistan]

Deep in the reaches of open space...
The starship Agakai sensed a signal. The electroreceptors sent a message that went down the cord that connected to the stasis pods. They opened. Out stepped... a single being. The others were dust by then. It alone had survived the moment when it's people had been lost, at least to its knowledge. It had no visible features in the dark hall it stood in. It was a being of thought and energy. Its survival had forced it to accept a change in its genetics, permanently warping its form. It reached out to the ship, and told it to start cloning the genetic sequence for what once was its race...

And turned on the Wormhole Drive and Antimatter Beams. About tie for the Warlord to return.

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

Fleet of Ixtaccihuatl, 3rd Wing(Exploratory)(Experimental)

Commodore Ararat stared at the tactical interface. The interface has detected a Grade 1 Phase Jump, so similar to Inesean tech that the interface would have registered it as so, if it were not so old. Apparently, a young species had discovered Faster-Than-Light travel. "Where did this originate?" asked Ararat. The interface replied, "The signature was detected in system 12-12-12s, 80 light years from here." "That is dangerously close to Collective territory" said Ararat,"But not in it. Let us not repeat the Gathan incident, send only a Kodiak and 5 corvettes."

The Kodiak and 5 corvettes made the jump into Phase Space, ETA 13 hours.

[Pavlostani]

One of Five, fifth adjunct of Unimatrix-004 was the commander of an E-24 class scout. They had moved ahead as the Unimatrix armada planned to move forward to Sarthal. "There's the sphere. Grab them in the tractor beam and warp to Sarthal." He ordered. The heavily damaged sphere was picked up and the two entered warp space. "Send a long range comunique." He ordered.
We are the Pavlostani Collective. Power down your weapons and submit to examination. The data will further our race, and perhpas yours. Your culture shall adapt to coexist or service us. Resistance is futile.

[Kistan]

The ship had only been sighted so far by a weak, almost space-faring species "Trathix" in a nebula in the 165482859474626496474999475th registered galaxy.
They had been good target practice. Four hundred thousand beings had been cloned so far out of a supportable million. The cold fusion generators were running, and the Agathai was warmed up and ready for action... only 6 more black hole jumps to go before they reached the origin of the Black Hole jump signature at a system the databanks of the Trathix had called Sarthal III. The finders of that level of technology would be a race worthy of the terraforming, cloning, and cybernetics technology... if they would have at least enough intelligence to be worthy of existence. The Being hoped it was so: a billion centuries was far too long to be alone.

[Old Sarthal]

Sarthal III
4:00 PM, local time.
Ni Dai Prykal, underground situation room.
Consul Tien, commander of Kaveliren Bes.

"Consul, we are receiving a communication from the unidentified fleet."

"Play it."

"#$*&Pavlostani Collective. Power down#*&$submit to examination.#$*$&coexist or service us. Resistance is futile."

"That's all we could decode. It's a communication format no one on this planet has ever seen before, in a language no one on this planet speaks."

All six of Tien's eyes stared intently into his desk. Forty years of service had not even remotely prepared him for this.

"Until we have any idea what the hell they're trying to say, we will assume that they do not mean any harm to us. Yet. Inform the legates I want eyes on the sky and planes in the air until further notice."

He clasped his hands.

"Perhaps they have translator technology, seeing as we don't. Send this in as many directions as you can, with the biggest dish you can commandeer."

We do not know who you are, and we are unable to understand your language. If you do not show hostile intent, we will not resist any attempt to land. If you make any attack on this planet or on Athlai personnel, we will fight back, and it will not be pretty.

[Kistan]

The Being sent a mental message to a random third of the population of Sarthal III:
Young Ones. Do not panic. your ascension is at hand. I will be with you shortly. the dull will be culled, the intellegent elevated to a position of dominion over the universe's laws.
As the telepathic message was flung toward the planet, the Being detected a threat, an old foe, that would assimilate the young ones. The Pantheon of the Chosen, a multitude of races melded into a horrible race of machines and organics combined into what they called 'gods'. The Being started to panic, then regained control. How could they have survived, too? Action would have to be taken. But it could wait.

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

On board the Akkan Battle-cruiser Solus Invictus, the Comms officer prepared a message for the new species. They had derived that since the species used a subspace method 96% similar to Phase Jumps, they had a understanding of Binary Code. So, a message was sent using the ansimble to the planet.

We are the Inesean Confederation. We mean you no harm. We have observed your use of a Grade 1 Phase Drive and would like your species achievement of Faster Than Light travel. We will arrive at your planet in 6 hours.

[Kistan]

The Being was heartbroken.
Everything it had known was gone. Its race, world, fleets, enemies, and allies were all gone.

It could not weep.

[Pavlostani]

One felt a malevolent presence nearby, an ancient fear. "The High Holy Being..." He muttered. The Unimatrix Primary detected the wave of fear and suppressed it.
We have no hostile intent to you. We wish to observe and document. However, less benign species may have detected your FTL engines. Be on guard for Inesean marauders.

[Kistan]

The Being detected another ship nearby.
One, do not panic. I am Arados. My race is all but extinct. I have come to uplift the knowledge of these people.
With the message, The Being sent over his memories as a token of good will.

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

OOC: Kistan are you FT-B?

[Old Sarthal]

Sarthal III
4:03 PM, local time.
Ni Dai Prykal, underground situation room.
Consul Tien, commander of Kaveliren Bes.

"We're receiving messages from multiple sources now, Consul."

"Are any of them intelligible?"

"One in binary, another untranslatable one from the spheres, and... one in my head."

"I heard that too. Let's just go on the working assumption neither of us is crazy. Now translate the binary."

*machines whirring*

We are the Inesean Confederation. We mean you no harm. We have observed your use of a Grade 1 Phase Drive and would like your species achievement of Faster Than Light travel. We will arrive at your planet in 6 hours.

"Alright good, someone to talk to. Send the following reply, in the same code."

We are the Athlai Republik. We would not like to be harmed. Do you have any association with a fleet of sphere-shaped vessels that is now in our system?

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

The Kodiak intercepted the Athlai reply. it was projected on the mainscreen
We are the Athlai Republik. We would not like to be harmed. Do you have any association with a fleet of sphere-shaped vessels that is now in our system?

"They understand Binary! And the Collective has arrived......."

We shall not harm you. We wish to trade technology to you, in exchange for resources. However, I must warn you that the fleet in system are called the Pavlostani Collective. They assimilate or destroy all. They will call us terrorists or brigands. Ignore this.

[Pavlostani]

One of Five was tormented with visions. "The pain..." He moaned. Drones were not programmed to feel pain. "His race was... eliminated." He whispered. Four and Five whispered to themselves quietly. "He's one of the last... he wishes to save the Sarthal race from assimilation. Save..." He muttered confused. One of One Hundred, Primary adjunct of Unimatrix-004 sent a broadcast to the scout ship. "Until this Arados being finishes his transmission, Two of Five, Fifth Adjunct of Unimatrix-004 shall take command of E-24-01923." Two stepped up to "The Chair" and ordered "Take One to medical quarters." Five supported One as he brought him down. "We're entering the Sarthal system now." The scout carrying the sphere dropped out of warp above Sarthal III. "Sir. Inesean ships are inbound." Three said. "Two to Five." Two said into his communicator. "Open a channel to the Ineseans and let them know that we don't want to fight."
To Species 241 (Inesea): I am Two of Five, the closest Unimatrix commander. Lower your weapons. Let's not repeat the Gathan Incident. We shall deactivate our weapons too.

[Kistan]

Seeing that One was unable to convince his crew, The Being attempted to contact the other crew of the ship. However, they were an insectoid race, mostly unable to accept telepathy. Some still were able to take the connection.

[Kistan]

OOC: Kistan are you FT-B?

Um... what is that?

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

OOC: FT-B is Future Technology Roleplaying Group Bravo, for whom which you need to be a memeber to post here.

A link to apply is here http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=198718

[Kistan]

The starship Agakai plunged through the black hole, emerging an hour from the next one. Four jumps to go.
Aboard the massive seven mile vessel, The Being, once Arados, young scion of the Marshal of the Tyillic species, was being torn asunder by his conflicting states of mind. His trauma could not be eased by the ship's AI, whom had gained a personality of its own over the centuries.

[Old Sarthal]

We shall not harm you. We wish to trade technology to you, in exchange for resources. However, I must warn you that the fleet in system are called the Pavlostani Collective. They assimilate or destroy all. They will call us terrorists or brigands. Ignore this.

We have not been able to decode their communications. Are you capable of landing a diplomatic delegation?