And her ways are ways of gentleness [Maintenance; Closed]

[Macisikan]

Briefing: Governance of the Exarchy of Aker
Executive Summary
RK3395

The Exarchy of Aker is physically divided into eight segments, each populated by a different species in accordance with the designs of the builders of the circlet. As per a Grand Council resolution, the circlet has been claimed in the name of the Serene Majesty, and a survey of the indigenous lifeforms has been completed. This document is intended to outline the current governance arrangements for the circlet. We are noting that many societies are extremely conservative; we believe genetic tampering from the Krȃng is to blame.

Aker, and the gas giant Lutan, are the only astronomical bodies in the Atortu system of any significance other than the primary.

---

Segment I
Local Designation: Wer-Gessian Reefs
Status: Crown Colony
Detail: Due to the lack of technological development among the natives, Segment I has been designated a Crown Colony, and referred to the Transitions Council for development and modernisation. A Governor has been appointed by the Prince-Regent, and he is advised by a board composed of Wer-Gessian elders and Transitions Council representatives. The indigenous inhabitants are more than happy to embrace Imperial educational standards (such as the formulation of written language) and medical amenities, but are presently unwilling to consider industrialisation. Instead, the elders on the board have indicated that they prefer to put their faith in the UIK for their defence, and have offered oaths of fealty and loyalty to the Serene Majesty.

Future Direction: We anticipate that the Wer-Gessian will remain at their current level of development for some time. Although stellar culture shock is minimal, the society is extremely conservative and slow to change. The elders are enthusiastic about embracing aspects of modernisation that improve the quality of life of their people, and we are encouraging these aspects.

---

Segment II
Local Designation: Bodenian Cities
Status: Self-Governing Part of the Macisikani Realm
Detail: The Bodenians have enthusiastically embraced modernisation, including responsible government, although the wide disparity between pre-contact development and the UIK current state means that considerable effort at uplift is required. The Economic and Development Council is involved most heavily in this effort, and their aid is greatly appreciated. Bodenians have indicated great interest in interstellar colonisation, reasoning that they will no longer have to see eggs “embrace the chill”, and are working hard to apply themselves to the process of modernisation. Care must be taken to ensure that their unique cultures are not lost completely in the process, as several indigenous societal adaptions have been identified as valuable to Bodenian flourishing. We do note that the Bodenians have also welcomed the prospect of contraception – their culture considers having to abandon eggs or young to be a necessary tragedy, but a tragedy nonetheless. Comprehensive exploration reveals infanticide to have been common; our arrival has ended this practice, and earned us great goodwill among the indigenous population. The Prince-Regent has agreed to appoint a Bodenian Governor once their Congress of Cities has agreed a suitable individual.

Future Direction: We expect the Bodenians will be among the earliest members of the circlet to complete the Macisikanisation process, and will be the first group to establish a colony of their own volition outside of the circlet itself. The Bodenian nobility is pressing hard for full citizenship rights, and we expect they will petition the House of Peoples for admittance at their earliest available opportunity. We are preparing them to understand the House is likely to decline their first attempt.

---

Segment III
Local Designation: Hudrean Nations
Status: Political Dependencies of the Macisikani Crown
Detail: The Hudrean monarchs initially resisted attempts at imposing the pax imperia on their societies, and still occasionally lodge protests with the Exarch’s office in order to carry on dynastic feuds. We have also had to act to forestall several palace coups launched by ambitious potentiates; in some cases, this has resulted in deposing the local ruler and installing a Royal Proxy, while in others we have had to suppress the revolt. Due to this instability, integration has proceeded the slowest of any segment. Individual local monarchs have sworn allegiance to the Serene Majesty, where they are available, but there is no unified body representing the segment’s indigenous interests. The Security Council continues to retain jurisdiction until the matter is clarified.

Future Direction: The prospects for Segment III are pessimistic in the short term; although the local authorities are not prepared to gainsay our authority due to the power differential, stellar culture shock is extremely high. Attempts to introduce education have seen a slow uptake, but medical assistance, and agricultural assistance, are more warmly received. We expect that the Hudrean nations will likely fall behind their peers in the medium term, only catching up when it becomes apparent they are disadvantaged.

---

Segment IV
Local Designation: Millontian Polities
Status: Self-Governing Part of the Macisikani Realm
Detail: The Millontians have accorded the Serene Majesty the role of “First and Final Arbiter” – a parallel to our Monarch’s role in our own constitutional system. Integration into the Realm is proceeding rapidly, and the Millontians are very pleased at the prospect of being able to retain their own forms of government under the Crown. A segment-wide representative body, the Assembly of All, has convened, and has decreed that all Millontians are to receive a Macisikani education. The Assembly of All has also requested that a Proxy Council of seven individuals be appointed to represent the Serene Majesty; six from each of the major clusters of cities, and one Macisikani to chair the council. The Prince-Regent has agreed the request, and the Imperial Proxy will arrive in three days.

On an anthropological note, the Faith has somehow made it into the Segment; we have seen shrines to the Good Mother, the Patron of Law, and Jesus Christ appear. Our scholars are now busily attempting to catalogue the pre-existing religion before there is any further influence.

Future Direction: We anticipate that there may be friction in future between the Millontians and the Bodenians over matters of religious belief, and have approached both groups separately to discuss the matter of a secular state. Although the Bodenians have grasped the concept, the Millontians will require further exposure to the notion. Despite this, Millontian enthusiasm for modernisation only lags slightly behind the Bodenian, and we are greatly pleased with their progress to date.

---

Segment V
Local Designation: Samaastan Flocks
Status: Crown Colony
Detail: The Samaastans have shown little interest in the modernisation process outside of medical assistance, with the exception of some individuals who have been very keen. The largely carnivorous diet of the Samaastans has placed significant ceilings on their population growth and density; we have approached the flock leaders from this angle, and have achieved great success in terms of supplying food to chicks, the elderly, and the disabled (the latter two groups previously often perished). That said, they have begun to become interested in literacy, as many of them fear losing their memories of “the times before”. Due to their continuing fragmentation and lack of cohesive governing structure, an Imperial Governor, with a male deputy, has been appointed. Her authority has been accepted by the flocks due to our “great metal birds”.

Future Direction: We intend to continue to work through key individuals, and work on the food angle. We anticipate that the modernisation of the Samaastan will be a slow process – not least because we have to integrate the Rituals of First Hunt with the prospect of vatgrown meat. Nevertheless, we have noticed that once a component of the process is embraced, its acceptance spreads rapidly and regression is practically unheard of.

---

Segment VI
Local Designation: Klujuss Forest
Status: Crown Colony
Detail: The Klujuss have been accorded the status of subjects of the Serene Majesty by the Prince-Regent, although due to their lack of development they remain a Crown Colony at present. The elder trees are extremely enthusiastic about integration into the UIK, primarily because of our driving back of the “black blight” and our proven proficiency at rescuing infected individuals. Many younger individuals have expressed interest in travelling to the Core, and we are working on a system that will allow some elder trees to travel as well. The younger population has been on par with the Bodenians and Millontians with embracing modernisation, and they have begun to suggest ideas to the elder trees for a more unified governance structure without prompting from development teams.

Future Direction: The Segment, which is modernising ahead of schedule, has been referred to the Transitions Council, which has approved plans to convert the segment to home rule at the first available opportunity.

---

Segment VII
Local Designation: The United Sinurid Segment
Status: Self-Governing Part of the Macisikani Realm
Detail: The Sinurids have surprised our development teams by conceiving their own literacy systems for those languages lacking such; the literacy rate has skyrocketed, going from 2% at contact to nearly 43% now. We are seeing an enthusiastic embrace of industrialisation and modernisation, although they have not dispensed with their consensus-based decision-making processes. Recently a Great Debate was concluded – one that took the better part of two months and was conducted across the whole segment – in which they agreed to integrate as rapidly as they could into the UIK.

An archaeological team has discovered evidence that the Sinurids were a low-level star nation before their destruction at the hands of the Krȃng. Speculation is that they view this exercise as a reclamation of their heritage; this speculation is supported by a find in section N-4 of the Segment of frescos baked in clay depicting the Krȃng enslaving and consuming the Sinurids.

Future Direction: Our immediate priorities for the Sinurids are to encourage the uptake of medical remedies; they are alone among the segment populations in being unenthused by this aspect of the modernisation process. We have noted that Birrin development teams tend to have the best success at communicating ideas, probably due to a similar physiological build, and intend to make greater use of Birrin team leaders in future.

---

Segment VIII
Local Designation: Aker Command/Jahrid Territory
Status: Exarchy (Direct Rule)
Detail: Due to the collapse of Jahrid society shortly before our arrival, there was no indigenous political structure for us to work with in this Segment. The Exarch has therefore imposed direct rule over the Segment, and placed the Aker Capital here. Most Jahrid continue to live in refugee camps under the supervision of the Department of Aid and Relief. Because of the scale and impact of the devastation, the Jahrid have proven to be the most enthusiastic at embracing Macisikanisation and modernisation, although a great many continue to show signs of mental trauma. Many Jahrid have shown interest in leaving their Segment for the Core worlds or to assist in uplift efforts in other segments; they are so far the only group that has shown interest on such a large scale. We are concerned that Jahrid society will completely disintegrate if too many emigrate.

Future Direction: We are confident now that we have contacted all groups, and the immediacy of the crisis has passed; that said, our priority remains the stabilisation of the gene pool and the perpetuation of the species. We anticipate that the Jahrid will be the first circlet species admitted to the House of Peoples – not due to the development of their segment, but due to their inevitable presence elsewhere in the UIK.

---

Note: the Sophont Rights Council is taking an active interest in the governance arrangements and development actions on the circlet, and is assisting in ensuring that the transition to Imperial rule is smooth.

[Macisikan]

25. Should the Serene Majesty undergo the process known as Transference, they shall retain the Crown until the Tánaiste undergoes and completes the process, and the completion of the process for the Tánaiste shall constitute a demise of the Crown, whereupon the Crown shall pass to the newly-Transferred Tánaiste, who shall be Sovereign immediately upon completion of Transference, and the person who formerly held the Crown shall thereafter not be permitted to resume the Crown unless there is no-one else able to do so, in which case the most recently Transferred shall succeed to the Crown.
-the Law of Succession, section 25 (after RK3395.02.12)

---

Khemet, Ra System, The Imperial State, UIK

RK3395.03.14

Arn-Maciska, The Cathedral of Our Lady of The City

The ceremony was ancient, predating the granite and marble hall it took place in. Cloth of gold, purple cloth, orbs and sceptres, chains of office, rods and swords, hymns and invocations in languages long-dead and almost forgotten, the long slow procession of the new sovereign towards an ancient throne – its wood blackened by age, veined with the nanites that preserved it. Even the arrival of the star of the show – in a genuine horse-drawn carriage! – was anachronistic. And yet, there was something about the continuity of the whole thing; this whole affair steeped in long tradition that dated from before the Dead Summer consumed Khemet.

Across the United Imperial Kingdoms, from the Core to the Exarchies, people were glued to the broadcast; even in the distant circlet alien eyes, newly subject to the Crown, watched with rapt attention as it was transferred to a new generation.

Father climbed the steps towards son; gold eyes met green.

“Is your majesty willing to take the oath?”

“I am willing.”

“Will you govern your peoples of these United Imperial Kingdoms, and of the other Realms and Domains under the Ancient Crown of Maciska, according to their laws and customs?

“I shall.”

“Will, to your power, cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgements?”

“I will.”

“Will you uphold, maintain, and preserve the rights of your peoples, who look to you as their last line of protection?”

“I will.”

“And will you ensure and maintain the smooth and proper functioning of the governments of your realms?”

“I will; and all these things I have heretofore undertaken I swear I shall do.”

“Does your majesty wish to be anointed under the rite of our ancestors?”

“I do wish to be anointed under the rite of our ancestors, such as that reassure my people.”

The First Cardinal stepped forward; holding out a special spoon filled with oil; Constantinus dipped his fingers into the spoon, and turned back to his son.

“Be thy hands anointed with holy oil,” touching his fingers to his son’s hands, turn, dip, and turn back. “Be thy breast anointed with holy oil,” touching his fingers to the base of the throat, turn, dip, and turn back. “Be thy head anointed with holy oil,” finally touching fingers to the forehead.

“As I was anointed; as my grandfather was. As those who came before us were anointed. Know that thou art connected to thy forebears, that they too undertook this rite. So now be thou anointed, consecrated as sovereign over the peoples who the Grace of Fate, and the will of those same peoples, hath given thee to rule and govern, from now, until the death take thee, or the law release thee.”

Constantinus backed down the stairs, to where his wife waited, holding the crown; it had been passed, carefully, from hand to hand, up the hall. A delegate from each kingdom taking it, bowing their head to it, and then passing it up, symbolising their own loyalty and the loyalty of that kingdom to the Crown that the piece of metal represented – a process that had begun before the guest of honour had arrived. By the time Thomas had recited the words, his mother had taken it from the Premier. Now he watched, with a carefully blank expression as his mother bowed to his father, his father took it, and turned back. Gold eyes met green as the previous monarch returned, and raised the crown.

“You make me proud,” the old man whispered; the boy glanced up; his mouth creasing slightly.

“I crown thee, the Most Serene Imperial and Royal Majesty, the Kiríarkhos and Cenobirach Ayivin, Twelfth of that Name, Porphyrogénnētos, Uí deMakra…”

As the crown was lowered onto his head, Thomas, now Ayvin XII, Prince-Regent, now Sovereign, jerked back slightly. His father never missed a beat though, and simply moved it along with his head. Only those closest saw the movement, and maybe a couple sharp-eyed individuals watching the broadcast; but for the one on the throne, the world had gone grey.

-forgive the interruption, Majesty, but a situation has arisen-

“…by the Grace of Fate and the Will of the People, the Sovereign, King, and Emperor, of the Realm of the United Imperial Kingdoms of Macisikan and all its Domains, Ard-Rí na…”

After some high-level discussion and planning involving various government agencies and notable figures - up to the Secretary-General and the President of the Senate - it was decided that one useful avenue presented by this singular construct would be as a place of long-term storage and access for the rapidly growing body of individuals who had been implanted with the ExoCortex cybernetic implant. This implant, which transitions an individual's core consciousness and personality to a malleable electronic matrix (commonly referred to as 'computronium'), allows for effective immortality for the individual but it is still notably subject to physical damage. By removing the individual's ExoCortex to the Eien and establishing a remote cybernetic link to whatever biological or cybernetic appendage the individual prefers, the safety of the individual could be more completely assured. However, this raised certain questions of ethics and morality which were most namely how this disconnect between consciousness, the biological body, and the consequences of one's actions would change the personality of those inside and of the Republic as a whole. This proved especially important to the Secretary-General, who was and is charged with securing the Republic against external threats; Threats that could be magnified if reckless actions by its citizenry became the norm.

“…Order; and of his other dominions and domains, Sole Sovereign! Long live the king! Long live the king! Long live the king!”

-the ExoCortex; we call it transference intelligence housing-

Around the unseeing monarch, the nobility raised their own coronets and minor crowns and placed them on their heads.

The Eien

The construct known as Eien or Eien Space is at once attached to our universe and separate from it. It is separate in that it is an area of our universe where the fundamental boundary conditions that specify how the physics of the 'regular' universe operate have been altered in such a way as to distinctly isolate it. That is not to say that it is not fundamentally the same; 99.99999999% of the laws of physics that govern every interaction from particles to molecules are the same. It is only that 0.00000001% difference that both acts as a barrier and as a lock. Those who do not know that exact combination and attempt to access the Eien will find themselves in their own sub-universe;

There is no realistic chance of an accidental crossing-over.

For those that do cross the barrier, the most notable effect is the release or absorption of some small amount of Hawking Radiation - the same emitted by Black Holes, Wormholes, and Particle Fountains. If the Singularity Barrier that creates the Eien were to be somehow disrupted the only adverse reaction would be the same as the matter and energy formerly present in the Eien normalizes to the dominant boundary conditions of the regular universe. Presumably there are significant precautions in place to prevent this from ever occurring.

The King-Emperor stared unseeing as first his father, then his mother, then, one after another, the Great Officers of the State formally knelt and swore allegiance, transferring loyalty from father to son; at the back stood the Usher of the Black Rod, who would end the process.

-holographic boundary manipulation-

“…a Gentes, of the Tredyen Sept, ut-kyr deMakra fides de Réal, 1st Marchioness Valdir, your President of the Senate, do hereby declare that I am your faithful servant and subject, to live and die against all manner…”

Eien is the reference to the boundary-manipulated holographic universe created by the Republic for its exclusive use and notably by Eternity Incorporated. Access to this universe is strictly controlled by the boundary conditions themselves and only singularity generators with the proper key (suspected to consist of a specific arrangement of short-lived atomic isotopes) are allowed admittance. Further details are a carefully held secret but the Universe is suspected to consist mostly of enough matter required for the energy conversion needed to ride out the fourteen trillion years until the next universal cycle is projected to occur. Maintenance is strictly automated and security is handled by a sub-division of Special Projects. They are rumored to have the ability to manipulate the boundary conditions of the Eien Bubble and are thus able to render any attacks moot. While some physical access must be possible, the access points are unknown to most powers. Whether there are similar systems in place is also unknown; Even the slightest variance in boundary conditions is enough to separate one holographic bubble from another entirely. Additionally, the Eien Node that connects an individual in the Eien to their Prime Extension is energy-only and this is limited to prevent a direct attack from damaging the ExoCortex; A fuse.

-Factbook of the Republic of Sunset

“…do hereby declare that I am your faithful subject and servant, to live and die against all manner of foe and folk, with every fibre…”

-potential applications are tremendous; beyond what has been conceived here-

Ayvin stared on as the world came back, and the second-last of them knelt; he could see Duke Suaval’s mouth moving, but all he could hear was the enthusiastic voice of the Oracle, echoing in his mind.

This will help!

It finally faded just in time for him to stand and proceed from the Great Hall, the strains of the UIK’s national anthem echoing around him; his family following behind, that ever-present elvhen guard shadowing his left flank.

[Macisikan]

Ares High Orbit, Surya System, RFSEM

Date: Ḭ̵̛̫̻͍̳̝̭̦̗̆̊̌͂̈̈́̓̈́̕ͅ ̴̧̨̠͎͔̭̦̮̟̭͎́́̍̈͑͂͝S̵̮̱̗̱̤͉͐̏̓̐̓́̀͂͆̓̚̕̚É̷̻̺͎͚̝̬̝͉͗͑̿͜͝͠È̴̡̢̩̭̘̩̫̩̠̥̲͓̠̋͋͛̆͗̚ ̵̢͓̝̦͎̙͈̯͎͖̠̼͚̾̆́̕Ŷ̷̢̢̤̼̝̲̭͎͔͔̖̱̮͈̫́̾͆̈́̔̕O̵̡͖͙̠̦̪̝͎̻̿́͑̀ͅŲ̶̩̪̟͈̭͎̰̻̙̤̆̈͐̊́̔̐͒͋͐̄͜

HSMV Kylara III
Imperial Space Service Command Ship

“Sir, psionic observation post five at Tellestia is picking up a major build-up at Leng,” that was comms.

“How major?” asked the duty officer.

“It’s the largest ever detected; bigger than the Second Coronation of the Yellow King,” the duty officer’s face went pale.

“Inferences?” that was directed to the Kylara III’s own psionics officer.

“Based on the patterns… observation thinks we’re looking at Yellow and Black in the same place; I agree, but if you look at the readouts from six, I think fishboy has his flippers on the edge of this too.”

The duty officer nodded.

“Get the Grand Admi--”

“No time,” the psionics officer said, pointing. On-screen, the was thundering around the curve of Tellestia, rippling across the seas; it hit a point over the abyssal plane and reflected…

“Sir, it’s hit the Rift… we’re picking up a significant decay in the stability of the thing. Oracle says time to collapse is… maybe six hours.”

“Get the Grand Admiral.”

The Grand Admiral was not pleased; she was even less pleased to learn that the rift’s counterpart on the ancestral homeworld was also showing signs of instability.

If she was not pleased, then the government in Saragova was downright cross; but she knew a way of lessening their ire.

By the time the Rift wavered into nothing, the first bombardment had slammed into the Plateau of Leng; others rained down into the seas where the “bounce” had happened. Now that they knew exactly what they were looking for, there was nowhere to hide. Not anymore.

Out on the world the locals had named Hades, on the edge of the system, alien minds sensed an opportunity, and made their move.

---

Khemet, Ra System, RFSEM

Date: Ī̵̠̱͉͍͚̤̖̜̲͎̻̰͜ͅͅ ̷̙̯̦̳̪̣͇̬̉̒̐K̶̨͇̙̫̬͉̤̦̺̇͜N̶̛͎̒̽͒͊̒͘O̵̡̙̝͔͗̓̀̾̎̀͆͛́͜W̸̧̫̤͖͑̌̒ ̸̛͎͙̙̮̌̔̇Ỹ̷̪͉̦̂̊͒Ơ̸͓͓̖̫̼͚̥̜̺̳̍̈́̂̇͐̅̑̐͑̇̿͘̕Ù̵̧̡͉͚̘̾̈͒̂́

Ceylon Customs Zone

Reaching up into that pale, sunburned sky, a pale, grey, featureless slash in the air; the Rift, the fractal point of instability connecting this incarnation of Earth to the others. Even as the pulse slammed into its counterpart on distant Tellestia, this one wavered, shimmered, and collapsed.

No trace remained; just that scorched blue sky, that steaming calm ocean, Arn-Jaf’na serene and sleepy behind its embankments.

It was as though the connection had never existed.

---

…both rifts have collapsed completely and cannot be reopened; even attempting to do so would cause immense damage to the planets in question, much worse than opening a wormhole aperture in a solid object would.

Based on interrogations of captured senior cultists, cross-checked against known texts and other factors, we hypothesise that the beings thought to weaken us and strengthen themselves by severing those points of dimensional instability. Phase two of their plan involved transferring the locus of instability to Subject Yellow’s base of operations on the plateau of Leng, and opening a portal to their origins (detailed in Part 1).

The actions of these beings have had the inverse effect; they have lost a great deal, now that the dimensional instability of the rifts no longer protects them from the pressures of reality. In a nutshell; they, or at least the bodies they were, are fully mortal. Material termination is now just as final for them as it is for any normal person.

Subject Black has been terminated by a Benignity wet team while resisting arrest near Tel-Chicago. The Mobile Surface Service has begun to press an offensive towards Leng to terminate Subject Yellow and additional assets have been deployed to deal with Subject Fish. We anticipate both operations will be complete within the next seven days (detailed in Part 2).

That said, there are significant concerns, as monitoring has picked up increased activity at Hades; we believe that the polity will shortly breach the cease-fire agreement and renew its assault on Tellestia. Options are proposed to deal with the threat permanently (detailed in Part 3).

Finally, the evacuation of assets from other Fractal Earths will be complete within the year; we are constrained by the need to act with relative secrecy due to concerns relating to foreign affairs, and subluminal matters. More detail is provided in Part 4 of this report.

We should note that the collapse of the rifts has only severed the direct connection to the fractal Earths. We can still access the system by conventional means.

-Imperial Federal Armed Forces report on the situation on Tellestia (Executive Summary) RK I̶̡̭͓̝͖̕͜ ̸̡̢̠̦͚̲̯̜̗̤̓͗͘͘Ḫ̴̰̥̘̼̉͋̋͒̉̔̈̚ͅÚ̶̧̧͔̲͍͒̌͌̾̀̕N̶̢̧̟͈̪͕̦͈̯̖͚̳̝̘̈͂̆G̸̜̭̦̯̺̼̪̦̱̤̎̉̒͜ͅË̶̡́́̏̉̈́͛́̌͆̎͊̽̾͠Ŗ̶̛͓͚͓̺̬͇̘̻͌͋̀̓̃͜ ̷̡̢̜͕̹͛F̷̢̛̝͕͉̳͇͎̩͕̠͔̮͆̿̍̀̈́̈́̌͆͊͌̚͘͜ͅO̵̧̪̯̞̰̫̓̃̓͛̂̈́͂͋̋̽͌̍̋Ŗ̴̢̺͕̳̰͎̹̺͇̜̥̠̊̒̆̌͒ ̸̡̟̗̗͚͎̺͐͛̌̉̿͝Y̵̢̡̡̡̮̭̩͎͔̞͇̮͕̟͊̄̉͗̑͛̒͗̆̓́͘͠O̴͈͓̻̫͋̉͋̚Û̶̧͉̤͖̣̘̭͆̈́͌̇̇͒̍̃̀̈́

[Macisikan]

Agrela’s High Garden, Tichel System, Imperial State, UIK

3395.03.21

Saragova
Security Council Chambers

“The systems acquired during Yellow Steenbok are now fully functional from a military perspective,” aside from the briefing officer, the only sound was the chink of metal on china as a cup of tea was stirred. “Testing has shown that the spheres are now able to deploy wormholes to specification.”

“This is ahead of schedule,” Thakur continued to swirl the spoon around her cup.

“Yes, ma’am. Despite the Mercury Orchid Oyster incident, Phase I has completed well ahead of schedule. We can now proceed to Phase II, and commence the next operation.”

“Lead Fox or Squid Scarlet?”

“Yes ma’am. At the discretion of the Council.”

“Which has delegated the decision to me,” a tight smile, “kind of them, no? But I would hear recommendations. Grand Admiral Marack.”

“I favour Lead Fox Terrier; the radical increase in capacity, bolstered by the new resources… well, it is sound to fortify the current position before we begin to digest new areas.”

“Grand Admiral Askaan?”

“I prefer Squid Scarlet. It makes sense to bring upwardly-moving nations further into our sphere. We already have an opportunity with the Empress Suzume, and the Eridani are already open to listening. Operating through a network of proxies limits our exposure.”

“I see. Director Solari?”

“The Benignity favours Lead Fox Terrier. Current proxy operations are sufficient, and we need to be wary of over extension. It makes more sense to fortify what we already hold.”

“Thank you. Mr Sagarel, what about the EAC perspective?”

“We would prefer fortification of what we already have; it’s inconceivable that our current operations haven’t gone unnoticed by the peers. Further expansion would likely aggravate them – even now, the word “empire” causes funny reactions among them, and we already are running that risk what with our actual Empire. Put us down as backing Lead Fox, with a recommendation that we inform the peers of our actions.”

“Does anyone have anything else to add? Grand Admiral Askaan.”

“Thank you Ma’am. I still favour Squid Scarlet, but Mr Sagarel raises a good point; even if we do execute that operation, we need to inform the peers first, or we may find ourselves in a confrontation with one of them. In that light, Lead Fox is probably more prudent.”

“Thank you everyone. I think we have a consensus here.”

SECURITY COUNCIL DIRECTIVE TO STEENBOK COMMANDS:
Phase I of Operation Yellow Steenbok executed successfully and ahead of schedule; Phase II underway ahead of schedule. Commence Operation Lead Fox Terrier. ACK.

[Macisikan]

His Most Serene Majesty, Ayivin Uí deMakra, Twelfth of that Name, Porphyrogénnētos; by the Grace of Fate and Will of the People King and Emperor of the United Imperial Kingdoms of Macisikan, and of His other dominions and domains, Sovereign; To all Lords Sanguineous and Temporal and all other Our Subjects whatsoever to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting!

Know Ye that We of Our especial grace certain knowledge and mere motion do by these Presents advance create and prefer Our right trusty and right entirely beloved and serene cousin and counsellor, Princess of the Realm, the Dr., Elgiva Antonia su deMaiska, e Maiska, ut-kyr deMakra fides de Réal, Margravine of the Realm, Duchess of Maciska, Convenor of the Council of Confederacy, etc. to the state, degree, style, dignity, title, honour, and office of First Advisor to the Sovereign, by the style of Mesazon of the United Imperial Kingdoms; to hold the said office, so long as she shall well behave herself therein, at our pleasure, with all wages, profits, privileges, rank, and precedence whatsoever to the said Office belonging or in anywise appertaining and to hold the said style of Chancellor unto her the said during her tenure in office.

In Witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent.

WITNESS Ourself at Saragova the Twenty-First day of March in the 1st year of Our Reign

L.S.

Ayivin XII Uí deMakra, Rí Ruirech Ardrí

[Macisikan]

Gloria Dark Anchorage, Dete System, RFSEM

RK3381

Benignity of the Compassionate Hand Black Site
“I am not going to ask you again. Why are you here?”

“We are refugees, we only seek to-”

“Lies,” the word was dripping with contempt. “Flagrant lies. We have the recordings from your ship; you wanted to take our worlds for your own. Take our homes for your own. And you signalled to others, telling them that there were rich worlds here, ripe for taking.”

“…if you, if you knew, why ask?”

“To give you one last chance. We have a thing about honesty and respect. But you have, again, like the rest of your ilk, chosen to try to deceive us, over, and over, and over again. You have chosen poorly. Yes, you will die; but your choices influence the manner of your death.”

“…we are desperate. If you will not give us a home, we will take it by force. And there are more coming. More like us, but better armed, better equipped, better-”

“Yes, we’ve heard that many times; ‘we are not like the others, we are stronger than they, we will subdue you’. One day it might even be true. But that day is not today; and tomorrow doesn’t look good either. Actually, your future in general is looking grim. We have one requirement, and only one requirement for you and your ilk; leave. Us. Alone. But you ignored the warnings. You ignored the orders to turn back. And now you will pay the price. Take him to the mindrippers, extract anything of value, and recycle whatever’s left.”

Subject 251.030.499 terminated on RK3381.04.12; remains recycled and reclaimed. 508 items of value extracted; 337 mental (incl. 185 stellarcartographic items of interest), 171 physical.

[Macisikan]

Saragova, Agrela’s High Garden, Tichel System

RK3395.04.02

HSM’s Office, the Palace

His Serene Majesty, Ayivin XII, Sovereign and monarch and so on and so forth, signed the bottom of the document; his attendant poured hot wax onto it, and a seal was affixed. An ancient anachronism, not at all needed in today’s society, but somehow just so incredibly satisfying. Probably the fault of all those period dramas.

“Is that the last of them?” he directed his question to the first of his many secretaries.

“Yes, Majesty.”

“Then leave us.”

That was a command, and the room quickly emptied; a glance ensured that they understood he meant everyone. And then he was alone. Well, not quite; no-one was ever truly alone here.

“Oracle.”

Majesty.

“You came to me during the coronation; you came with information from the Republic of Sunset on their, ah, Eien. Why?”

You became Sovereign-Anointed. You swore the oath; the oil was placed on your brow. Our understanding is that you succeeded that day in the transitions room, and this was a formality, but it matters to the citizenry. It matters to us. And our understanding of the issue was incomplete. We had to check. To verify. And now we were certain; certain of our finding, and certain of your Majesty’s determination. The forms are observed. This is of such great import; a way to sidestep the death of the universe by creation of our own.

He considered the words; from anyone else, they would have been deeply insulting, but, while they were quite capable of emulating human behaviour, the Oracle just didn’t think the same way. He discarded that bit as unimportant and focused on the last sentence.

“Clarify.”

They separate a universe away from the main, from here, and put themselves outside of here; when it dies, they will continue, for they have encoded the settings of their partition such as to not be affected by the failure of this universe. They anticipate this event in approximately 14 trillion years.

“Wait. I thought that we had around a hundred trillion years before the Stelliferous Era ended, and our strategies in place for harvesting the energy available in the Degenerate Era would enable us to survive even that.”

Origin of the discrepancy in our cosmological models is unknown; but the Republic is a peer nation, anticipating a Big Crunch. This contravenes our present understanding of an accelerating flat universe, resulting in a Big Rip. If they believe this, to the point of creating the Eien as they have made it, it is a source of great concern.

“The long, dark, cold fate of our universe, eventually all ending in infinite distance and acceleration within the fabric of space. Yes, I remember being taught about that. My tutors were very certain.”

That is also a concern; if we make a cordon, a boundary state, predicated on the accelerating flat model, when this is not the case, the consequences would be suboptimal. But the same risk applies if we make one predicated on a different model. There are two options to deal with this; ask the Nimatojin, or run empirical tests. If the latter is selected, then there are a number of candidate locations where any potential damage would be easily contained.

The monarch’s vision darkened; the galaxy lay before him. The spectacular view was spoiled somewhat by the candidate markers.

“Recommendation?”

Asking for assistance will save time; but empirical testing will furnish us with undoubted results. Optimal choice is, as always-

“Both. Yes. Of course. What is the probability that they are right about the future of this universe?”

Without knowing why they reached this conclusion, insufficient data to say at present. We must accept that they have a nonzero chance of being correct, and plan accordingly; the risks of not doing so are too great.

“I see. So, you suggest that we wait no longer, and create an Eien of our own?”

Yes.

“If I recall my physics classes correctly, then matter and energy can’t be created or destroyed, merely transformed; even if it is transformed from one to the other. Does that hold true here too?”

Analysis of information available indicates that it does, at least to begin the process of creation; likely necessary to sustain it too and to create the content. Alteration of the fundamental conditions cannot be too great, or we end up with… incompatibilities. Injection of mass or energy required not difficult; chances of causing catastrophic initiation scenarios are remote. We trust the results of simulations to hold.

“So we would input mass or energy into this thing as it is created, and…?”

That mass would be used to create substrate, energy sources and stores needed to power it and maintain it, support systems, and so on. The parameters to create the conversion can be encoded in the holographic boundary of that universe; encoded into the fundamental structure. As can its longevity; enough to avoid being caught in whatever catastrophe the Nimatojin foresee.

“How difficult is this?”

This time he detected smugness in the answer; usually they lacked emotion.

The difficult we can do today; the impossible might take a little longer. This is, frankly, neither, and well within our power; the Suppressor Ray weapons do employ a similar principle, but without the stability. The only reason this particular project has not been executed is because, until now, there was no urgency in the matter. Given that the Republic has acted so decisively has significantly changed that calculus. That said, we would not recommend this if there was any danger to the Crown or to your people from undertaking this work. Majesty, shall we commence?

“A question Oracle; if these boundaries are encoded in this universe, would its destruction not mean the end of that contained universe?”

Understandable concern. No; there are two ways around this. The first is, to use a metaphor, ensure only the door is encoded here. Not the entire building. All that would happen is the door to here ceases to be, but we would not be trapped so long as we encode doors elsewhere; if you will allow a stretching of the metaphor, the foundations of the building are encoded not just in this universe, but in other, preferably younger, or at least more durable, universes, and in the lower dimensions beneath this one, that contain the encoding for this one.

“Thus divorcing us from its fate?”

Not quite; we would need to ensure that any part dependent on any given universe is non-critical, or that we are able to move them around as needed, possibly via alterations to the boundary conditions and encoding. Mass/energy can then be consumed from those others to sustain the refuge; all observations indicate that creation is truly infinite. We would never run dry. A second option depends on the Nimatojin model being correct; it involves manipulating the boundaries themselves long enough to pass through the crunch and rebirth and then being able to ingest from the next incarnation of this universe. A risk of self-destruction there. Exclusive reliance on any one method is not recommended; as always, a mixture is preferred for redundancy.

“It’s a bit parasitical of us.”

Yes; it would be parasitical, but there would be ways to “give back” so to speak – the adage is that one man’s trash is another’s treasure, and our waste products, such as they are, would need to be disposed of somewhere. Regardless, the amounts would be minute in the context of a universe. There are additional factors, if consciences need to be salved.

“Droll. My concern was practical, not moral; I know where my priorities lie. But I imagine others will the consoled.”

Ayivin leaned back, contemplating.

Majesty?

“A thought occurs, Oracle; if we put mass or energy into one of these things, using that to create, ah, stuff ‘over there’, in this refuge, couldn’t we do the same thing here? Put mass in here, and transmute it here, into something else, in this universe? Or energy, seeing as the two are interchangeable?”

The Oracle went quiet for a long minute. The Sovereign waited patiently; he knew what it was doing. Testing his suggestion against simulations and being intrigued by what it found. Or it had finished that almost immediately and was now trying to find a polite way of telling him he was rather stupid. At long last, the answer came.

Yes, Majesty, we can do this, to our great benefit; our industrial capacity will enhance to undreamed potential, even more efficient than present stellar lifting and disassembly methods. Stars afford extremely efficient energy production, secondary only to black holes – and the natural ones are not presently viable sources due to CMBR absorption. But ingest energy from a star, and use that to create material outputs. Directly. Independent of all other considerations. And quickly. Far faster than anything before. It will help.

“Show me.”

The world vanished; a single star was visible. Data streamed up one side; S -18 -03-89, 0.17 Solar masses, 0.24 Solar radii, 0.002 luminosity. MV class. Little family of worlds.

Observe; standard Dyson encasement.

The little sparkle of wormholes, the material streaming in, the star itself pumped for supplementary material, the planets disassembled. A counter marked time – when it was done, it showed a core time, the so-called “Mean Time To Completion”, and a margin of error.

MTTC: one standard year. Too long. Unacceptable. Can take longer depending on stellar metallicity. Now, utilising star energy output to manufacture material components via holographic boundary manipulation; observe.

This time a tiny black speck appeared; over time, it grew, following some complex geometric formula.

“The same holographic boundary concept you speak of for the refuge?”

Yes. Adapted as per your thought. Boundary conditions of a partition or of a sub-universe. Manipulation of these on a small scale is sufficient. And unlike the rotation device, no chance of causing a vacuum stability event.

Well, thank you Oracle, he’d almost managed to put that nightmare out of his mind. But apparently as monarch he had to remember that little horror.

MTTC: one standard year, +/- one month. Time is limited by need to dispose of antiparticle byproducts, due to initialisation being a variant of standard antiparticle production. Now, encoding the holographic boundary to render this irrelevant; observe.

The same process; but this time it was noticeably faster.

MTTC: nine standard months +/- two months. With practice, we can reduce this to maybe as little as three. Provision of supplementary supplies from other sources increases efficiency; will not be necessary once holographic method is perfected. Yet, observe; hybrid process.

This time there was both sets of events; the sparkle of wormholes, disassembly of planets, materials coming out of the star.

MTTC: as little as five standard months, +/- one month. Expect we can reduce to as little as eight weeks with efficiencies due to practice, +/- one week, eventually. Now, observe; Tenget.

Ah yes, the bane of the nation. A B-class star that was far too close to Agrela’s High Garden for comfort. Moving the damn thing was the current option they were thinking of.

Indeed; current remedy employs a Shkadov thruster to move the star, while siphoning away as much material as we can, but completion times are considered uncomfortable. Observe.

The brilliant blue-white of Tenget was encased… shockingly fast.

Yes; higher energy output leads to greater speed. Encasement of Tenget is likely to be completed in as little as 24 standard months, +/- two months. Takes longer that otherwise suggested by power output due to the need to be sure the star won’t be destabilised by the process. Bigger stars can be temperamental. We can then commence deconstruction and repurposement. Tenget alone can fuel the kingdoms; a similar output would be ample for our needs.

The monarch contemplated the prospect.

“Can we do this? Practically? Now?”

There was a pause. This one had a different flavour from the previous one – it seemed to hint at an argument.

Simulations indicate yes, but testing required to be sure, it eventually responded, reality always throws up unexpected scenarios. Our consensus is that the answer to all three of your questions is yes, with minimal risk. Decisions are yours; what is your order?

“The Sovereign is many; should I not speak to the others?”

You are the Sovereign-Manifest; even we defer to you in matters of the constitution. The Crown rests on your head. It is your function. Do you require a consensus?

“I do. For the sake of the proper functioning of the government; this would require the marshalling of more than I can command via the Royal Prerogative. It would likely require an appropriation. That requires Sovereign-in-Council and Sovereign-in-Parliament. The Sovereign-Marshal too, given the security risks.”

By your command, Majesty. We will assist in construction of the consensus. We shall summon the Mezason.

[Macisikan]

TO: Diosavir Kryiat
FROM: Tjere Kryiat
TIMESTAMP: 3395.04.21--16:23:72
SUBJECT: It’s done

---

Hey love,

We’ve finally done it. Four months of back-and-forth. Forty-six virtual conferences with GHG in accelerated time. Sixty-two virtual conferences across the border. Eight actual physical visits. Over three hundred contact hours. All for some piddling little holes in some fourth-rate mediocrity of a planet that the Lady suddenly decided we needed to have. Damn mudball looks like Anat if someone decided to drown it.

And damn me but the Nimatojin drove a hard bargain. I’m dead certain we overpaid; the facilities are a wreck, they’re only semi-powered, and they’re full of feral humans who are blessedly untouched by literacy or modern dentistry. The Nimatojin claimed that there’s an existing infrastructure connection, but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t known the tender touch of a competent engineer since His Ascended Majesty was in preschool. Fixing this thing up is going to take weeks, months – I’m glad I’m not working for the apple peel. Exchequer kids are going to have fun tallying up the cost and tutting at everyone though.

They’ve spent the better part of the last five days tutting at me – don’t worry that the price is peanuts; it’s the principle of the thing. I don’t like the deal. Dakrati didn’t like the deal. The Exchequer will be grumbling for weeks. Mind you, I’m equally certain that the only reason the Nimatojin agreed to it in the end was to make us go away.

Dakrati said that if the Lady is satisfied by this deal, she’d be the only one.

Anyway, the ink’s dried and the whole thing is taken care of via a sovereign transfer; the land and property all falls under allodial title that’s now vested in the Crown (I don’t envy the person who explains this to the Serene Majesty). The whole thing’s been turned over to the High Command; the RSS takes custody within the week.

But it’s done. It is done and we have done it, and I’ve got an express ticket back and six months off. What do you say we head up the mountains and see if anyone can break a(nother) bone? I’ll be corporeal when we pass through Orende; tell me what you think.

Give my love to the grandkids, and I’ll see you all in two days.
Tjere

---

CONFIDENTIAL

VICE-MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Department of External Affairs: Minute to VM-EA
Through: Secretary to the Vice-Ministry
Copies to: C-SC, COE, MCSCS

MINISTERIAL MINUTE: Purchase on Maja

Issue:
In accordance with a directive from the Security Council, we have successfully executed the purchase of the property on Maja as a sovereign transfer of territory (designated as a “Mars” or “Carnil” by the indigenous population) (Attachment A refers).

2. The full costings are detailed at Attachment B, and has been agreed to by the Exchequer.

3. Execution of the acquisition will begin within 72 standard hours; at that point, the matter will be referred to the High Command, and then will undergo the usual acquisitions process.

Background:
4. Background briefing notes at Attachments C-E provide required context; including previous minutes relating.

Impact:

5. Imperial Interests:
a. – Imperial Interests are not threatened
b. – Imperial security is not threatened.
c. – One friendly state, the Republic of Sunset, is involved in the acquisition as seller and supports the transaction.

6. We anticipate a smooth transition diplomatically. No further action is required by this Ministry.

T Kryieat
Tjere Kryiat
Lead Negotiator
Maja Arcology Acquisitions Team

Recommendation:
That you:
note the acquisition.
SO NOTED

A. Trivkaal
Sir Ardri Trivkaal
Vice-Minister for External Affairs

CONFIDENTIAL

[Macisikan]

When the Oracle first approached me with the holographic boundary idea, it went right over my head. My specialities were in politics, chemistry, and atmospheric engineering – and I mean crawling down the back end of a CO2 scrubbing plant trying to find which wire had shorted out and was causing the nine-times-damned thing to run in reverse. Cosmological physics was far beyond me – and the Oracle dryly reminding me that this wasn’t the first time something like this had stumped me was not helpful.

I didn’t really need to, when you get down to it. What I needed translated into plain Ka’ani were the implications, the applications, the results, and His Majesty’s requirements. The issue was lining up the various other forms of Sovereign – getting the Premier and Grand Council to agree, securing the release of funds and resources from the Dáil, a Security Council directive to support, all that sort of thing.

Exactly; the UIK, even discounting the Empire, is massive; getting the whole thing trundling in any given direction is a tall order on a good day.

[laughs] You know, back when I had custody of the system, I was reminded daily of the philosopher’s words, about how the whole thing has the engine of an ancient steam engine and the brakes of His Majesty’s own maglev. Fortunately, the Holy Monarch is one of the few people who actually does have the power to make things happen.

Yes, I started there. The Security Council could very easily scuttle the whole proposal, so they were the logical place to start. The typical way to approach the matter would have been to send a letter to the Chair, requesting the addition of a discussion paper to the next formal meeting, circulating an exposure draft, preparing a New Policy Proposal for the Security Council to commend to the Grand Council, getting costings from the Treasury, and doing this about six times until everyone’s bloody happy. See what I mean about the system? Fortunately, when you get to my station and vintage, you have alternatives. I had word passed from grand-nephew to grand-nephew and then wandered over to Ashkmin’s waiting room to flick through dog-eared copies of the Quarterly Policy Journal until she came back from her holiday at the Anchor – and having the Oracle read her in while her TIH was en route.

Look, the nicest conversations with Ashkmin are frank, bordering on direct, and I didn’t say that. I know she’s your grandmother, but you’ve also seen her in work-mode. This was not one of the nicer conversations, but I walked out of that room with her full-throated agreement.

I won’t tell you that; we old ladies have to keep some secrets, no?

No, you don’t want to know how she secured the Security Council’s support – which included the Chair – and neither do I. But we understood each other, and one member of the Grand Council was down, leaving six.

Well, each Grand Council is different. With some, it’s best to start at the top, but not this one; going directly to Tarilye is only good for getting bound up in a committee. No, with this one you need to talk half of them around first; very consensus-driven she is. I didn’t have that kind of time; I outsourced it to the Vice-Minister of Eternity, read him in, put him on line with Ashkmin, and let them bring the rest around.

Why him? Because that’s his job; we potentially just solved one of his office’s long-term issues.

Next was Senator Veldak. No, not a household name; but influential. He’s got a reputation among the others, and he’s a good little monarchist.

Can I see the list? Not her. Yes to her. Add this one… and him, him, her, and him. That’s who I approached.

Yes, just them; a good ninety percent of my job is knowing where and to who to apply the pressure to. Let me tell you that there is something immensely satisfying about watching a plan come together; if only the rest of the process was as painless – if the Justice Minister asks questions like that again, she’ll find herself writing the legal code for that new exarchy. But apart from that, the political side of things, that went off without a hitch; especially once Tamlen saw it. Never get between the Minister of Geekery and something he finds exciting. No, it was the execution where we had issues, as you well know.

But during this phase, only one thing weighed on my mind; what would happen if one of these boundary things closed on itself, and cut the area so enclosed off? That the Oracle went quiet at that question did not help.

So yes, you probably can blame me for what happened.

[laughs] non, je ne regrette rien.

(Mezason Elgiva deMaiska, conversation with a student, 3395.12.21)

[Macisikan]

RK3395.04.30

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE From: Office of the Vice-Minister, Vice-Ministry for External Affairs Subject: Withdrawal of Representation Pursuant to a resolution of the External Affairs Council, His Serene Majesty’s Government regrets to announce that, effective immediately, the Embassy of the United Imperial Kingdoms in the nation known presently as the Atredivian Empire and previously as the United Kingdom and Empire of the Atredivians, is closed and the mission withdrawn, permanently. As per Section 4(b) of the Diplomatic Agreement between our two nations, the government of the Atredivian Empire has forty-eight (48) standard hours from now to voluntarily close its embassy in the UIK and withdraw its mission. Precisely forty-eight hours and one second (48:00:01) in standard timekeeping units from now, a Summary Closure and Expulsion Notice will be served as per the provisions of Section 4(c) of the Diplomatic Agreement; as per the same provisions, the Norse Empire will have exactly thirty-six (36) standard hours from that time to withdraw its mission before the land and buildings revert to the property of the Crown. Precisely one (1) standard minute after that time has elapsed, if the mission is not voluntarily withdrawn, it will be expelled by force. As per the provisions of law, all non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of the aforementioned nation are immediately declared void; diplomatic visas will expire immediately upon the issuance of the Summary Closure and Expulsion Notice. Furthermore, His Serene Majesty’s Government regrets to announce that we will not be renewing the Pact of Non-Aggression between the UIK and the aforementioned nation when it expires. Although presently that treaty is not renounced, His Serene Majesty’s Government reserves the right to invoke the provisions of that treaty allowing such at any time. By order, A. Trivkaal ___________________________ Sir Ardri Trivkaal His Serene Majesty's Vice-Minister of External Affairs United Imperial Kingdoms of Macisikan

[Macisikan]

RK3395.05.02

EAC.R 1 Ayi. XII 3: Resolution to Withdraw, Expel, and Void

In the name of His Serene Majesty:
The External Affairs Council of the United Imperial Kingdoms of Macisikan:

Notes that the Eridani Imperium has formally capitulated to the Huerdian Star Empire;

Notes that the Eridani Imperium is now a tributary state of the Huerdian Star Empire, required to supply levies of troops that the latter state may employ as per its wish;

Notes that Huerdian Star Empire is not party to any diplomatic arrangement with the United Imperial Kingdoms, and may therefore employ the troops of the Eridani Imperium in military action against the United Imperial Kingdoms;

1. Declares that the Eridani Imperium is no longer a sovereign entity in its own right, and that it cannot faithfully adhere to the provisions of the pact of non-aggression between our two entities;

2. Declares that, due to the loss of sovereignty, all agreements between our entities are terminated as the Eridani Imperium has lost the capacity to enter into or uphold such agreements;

3. Orders therefore that His Serene Majesty’s Ambassador to the Eridani Imperium be recalled, and the Mission terminated, and that Eridani Embassy be expelled from the United Imperial Kingdoms, at once;

4. Declares therefore that the pact of non-aggression between the Eridani Imperium and the United Imperial Kingdoms is renounced as null and void, with immediate effect, as a consequence of the former nation’s loss of sovereign status.

Adopted unanimously in the Conurbation of Saragova in the Year of the Red King 3395

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE From: Office of the Vice-Minister, Vice-Ministry for External Affairs Subject: Withdrawal of Representation Pursuant to Resolution EAC.R 1 Ayi. XII 3, His Serene Majesty’s Government regrets to announce that, effective immediately, the Embassy of the United Imperial Kingdoms in the Eridani Imperium, is closed and the mission withdrawn, permanently, as the latter nation now lacks the capacity to enter into diplomatic relations as a sovereign state. As per Directives 2 and 3 of the aforementioned Resolution, the government of the Eridani Imperium is formally advised that this release constitutes a Summary Closure and Expulsion Notice, as per the provisions of Section 4(c) of the Diplomatic Agreement. Under those provisions, the Eridani imperium has exactly thirty-six (36) standard hours from now to withdraw its mission before the land and buildings revert to the property of the Crown. As per the provisions of law, all visas, including diplomatic visas, issued to citizens of the Eridani Imperium are immediately declared void. Exactly thirty-six hours and one second (36:00:01) in standard timekeeping units from now, if the Eridani mission is not voluntarily withdrawn, it will be expelled by force. Furthermore, His Serene Majesty’s Government regrets to announce that the Pact of Non-Aggression between the UIK and the Eridani Imperium is voided with immediate effect, as the latter no longer has the capacity to uphold its obligations under that agreement. By order, A. Trivkaal ___________________________ Sir Ardri Trivkaal His Serene Majesty's Vice-Minister of External Affairs United Imperial Kingdoms of Macisikan

[Macisikan]

S-34-68-7573-8853-04 (Y’dral Testing Site), the Galactic Halo

K3395.06.04

There was a bright flash as the boundary expired again.

Taka Shoji, the Rechtaire in charge of the project was stony-faced – the slight twitch of his tail the only sign of his mounting irritation. What was apparent to everyone after the fifth such expiration hadn’t satisfied one of the head researchers – and a unanimous consensus was required. So over, and over, and over again they did this. He suppressed a sigh as around them, the universe slowed.

Results of N-42; assuming the Nimatojin cosmological model produces an inherently unstable boundary, unable to sustain itself despite increased energy input. Just like N-1 to N-41. Even the Oracle sounded bored.

“Dr. Shen, are you satisfied now?” the Rechtaire asked, sinking his fangs into his patience and holding on for dear life, praying that the woman wouldn’t shake her head and order yet another test. Outside their substrate, whole seconds ticked past.

“I believe I am, yes,” the researcher replied, eventually. During that long, long pause, Soji’s tail had twitched with increased aggravation; but Dr. Shen had refused to rush. Equation after equation after equation had flicked past her, each one subject to a pedantic scrutiny. The Rechtaire had to suppress the urge to bat them away.

“Good. Oracle?”

Yes, Rechtaire Soji?

“Package results and prepare for dispatch. Cover note; Boundaries created employing the Nimatojin cosmological model, predicting a big crunch in approximately 14 trillion years, are unsustainable and collapse within minutes. Include the maximum and minimum times. Boundaries created predicated on the standard model are sustainable and endure. Request permission to proceed to Stage 3. My seal and timestamp. Dispatch to the capital when ready, entanglement and top-level encryption.”

…done. It is mid-afternoon in Saragova. This message is tagged priority; returning you to real-time in anticipation of a response.

Around the team, the universe snapped back into real-time; Soji’s tail stilled. A few moments passed, and then…

Rechtaire Soji; you have a response from Mme Thakur. Directive to commence englobement.

“Finally,” Soji’s head whipped around to fix the junior researcher responsible for that remark with a burning glare. It was easy to tell the guilty party – everyone else had drawn away, leaving the brilliant, if impulsive, unfortunate all alone.

“Dr. Ma’krek, I am as tired as everyone here and as eager as everyone here to proceed to Stage 3,” the Rechtaire said after letting the other wilt for a moment, “but the requirement for consensus was set down for a reason that I know you remember, and acceded to by every person present. If Dr. Shen is not satisfied, I am not satisfied; if I am not satisfied, then the Security Council is not satisfied. Now, apologise to Dr. Shen,” he allowed his teeth to show, “after all, she is now your direct supervisor. Perhaps she can teach you the virtues of caution and patience.”

The rest of the team exhaled softly; Soji was harsh, yes, but he also had upwards of two dozen planet-sized egos to straddle all at once.

“Now, if there are no more interruptions; ladies, gentlemen, sundry others, let us proceed. Boundary creation; commence Stage 3.”

Outside, there was a crackle of energy from the station to the actual test site they’d picked for Stage 3; a warping, a changing, and then… it began. Right there, a spot of darkness over the corona of the little M-class that was the system primary. Light from the star poured into it, and…

Boundary is functioning as expected. Estimate 100% conversion of input to boundary production. Time to completion… around three months. Give or take a few days.

Soji smiled, for real this time, as around him the researchers bent to the task of studying the first input of data; Shen wasting no time in walking Ma’krek through every single step of the check, and explaining to him in detail why she did it. The youth was brilliant, but her job was to stop this experiment from killing everyone after all.

Tonight, he knew, there would be simmed champagne, and the real stuff when they were back in their bioforms. But for now, there was much work to be done.

---

THE UNIVERSITY OF SARAGOVA
The effects of competing cosmological models on the generation of sustainable and stable holographic boundary interfaces
Eren K. Nocri, Nofrure K. Ililsin, Retibu J. Sabaala, Petepa K. Acenlin, Padena N. Ninla Dakrati K. Mears, Lucille J. Shen, and Merepe H. Nidita, with Taka H. Soji

Abstract
Generation of holographic boundary interfaces (HBIs), long known to be possible, always presumed base conditions of the Prime universe including the Standard Imperial Model of cosmology and the eventual fate of the universe; under the Standard Imperial Model, the ultimate fate of the universe is to expire into heat death (Variant A), or a Big Rip due to the accelerating influence of Dark Energy (Variant B), more than 100 trillion years (100Ta) in the future. Recently an alternative model, favoured by physicists in the Republic of Sunset came to our attention, with a predicted demise of the universe in a Big Crunch only 14Ta into the future. We posited that there would be a difference in the behaviour of artificially generated holographic boundary interfaces depending on the assumptions built into the base encoding, and set out to explore this in two phases. In Phase 1, we simulated the outcomes in a virtual environment; in Phase Two, we conducted practical experiments in a remote location to minimise any potential adverse impact on population centres.

Results in Phase 1 (N=6.3M) indicated that there is no substantive difference between the Standard Imperial Models, with the outcomes for Variant A (N=2.1M) or Variant B (N=2.1M) being indistinguishable for all intents and purposes, even after accelerated timescales are applied. Conversely, outcomes for the Nimatojin Alternative Cosmological Model (N=2.1M) resulted in failure of the holographic boundary, usually resulting in an explosive release of energy, fortunately confined to the visual spectrum (N=1.8M), although a minority (N=200k) resulted in different energy levels, and a small minority (N=785) resulted in exotic material production. In no case did the Nimatojin Alternative Cosmological Model yield a stable holographic boundary.

Results in Phase 2 (N=126) broadly replicated the results of Phase 1. Standard Imperial Model Variant A (N=42) yielded stable boundaries, as did Variant B (N=42), although we did see indications of superior robustness in Variant B, which we hope to explore in a future paper. Unfortunately, all instances based on the Nimatojin Alternative Cosmological Model (N=42) failed to produce stable boundary basing conditions.

From these observations we conclude that assuming the Nimatojin Alternative Cosmological Model as true will not yield stable holographic boundary interface conditions, and we strongly caution against employing such an assumption in any encoding that is intended for use outside of an experimental setting.

We must note that the Nimatojin Alternative Cosmological Model is not consistent with the far future of the universe as predicated on observational data.

This study was made possible with a grant from the Joint Sciences Research Organisation, and support from HSMG.

[Macisikan]

I hereby claim this land and all its riches in the name of His Serene Majesty, Ayvin XII, and duly take possession of them in their entirety for the United Imperial Kingdoms, from this day unto the end of days!

Martial Provence of Maja

3395.04.23

Mars/Carnil
They came early in the morning, so early that it had only just stopped being late at night. Streaks of light across the predawn Martian skies; their new neighbours forewarned that this was happening.

This little cluster of craters had sold by the Nimatojin before; always taken back when the buyers decided they were more trouble than they were worth, or disintegrated, or fell prey to another set of misfortunes. The distant administration in New Vancouver had exactly zero desire to hang onto this benighted territory, filled as it was with ferals and gangs who resisted peaceable civilisation just as much as they resisted basic hygiene and modern dentistry.

And now, through some hideous negotiations, they were rid of it again; and while time would tell if the new landlords would stay, there was something different about this lot.

For starters, there was something very smooth, very polished about what they were doing; as though they had done it many, many, many times. But even if there hadn’t been…

Well, there were just so many little twinkling streaks of light.

---

HSMV CA-461317, Geostationary Orbit
Like sparks thrown by a dying fire, Admiral Adabus thought as he examined the scan of the target area, a steaming cup of coffee grasped in his hand.

Below, the surface was still shrouded by night; for the most part, the only illumination in the area ceded to the UIK was cast by the brief flashes of weapons fire that formed a series of ever-tightening circles.

They’d sent the Android Auxiliary in here to clean out the area; more sophisticated versions of the Unmanned Battalions, they were at least capable of accepting surrender, although the Admiral privately doubted if it would really be needed. The packs of ferals were, by all indications, completely beyond salvage. Cannibalistic and savage, they had been condemned the moment the Nimatojin had agreed the deal. The same applied to the more barbarous gangs. The more restrained gangs – usually in the more intact areas – they were at least offered a chance for surrender. So far, only two of them had possessed the brains to accept the offer. They were now a problem for the Benignity to deal with.

The rest? The rest thought they could take on the Regular Surface Service. The Admiral sipped the coffee; the best thing about military sims was that the stuff never, ever, went cold, and always tasted good. He allowed himself a brief flash of pity for the resisting elements. Yes, those who still possessed sentience were fighting for their homes, their way of life. But there were simple facts to consider. The attacking force was infinitely larger, far more advanced, had command of the skies, and knew exactly where each and every defender was. Only in fiction could such an opponent be bested. Still, he did vaguely hope others would surrender; an indigent population was preferred.

By the time dawn arrived, the Empire had grown just a little bit larger.

[Macisikan]

SC.R 1 Ayi. XII 4: Resolution to Seize and Distribute

In the name of His Serene Majesty:
The Security Council of the United Imperial Kingdoms of Macisikan, in closed session:

Notes that the dangers posed by artefacts, remnants, etc., of the Krȃng Empire;

Notes that the Destined are ill-equipped to address these dangers, and would likely realise and manifest them;

Notes that the Republic of Sunset has initiated a programme to detect and secure the assets of the aforementioned Krȃng Empire;

Acting under the Standing Mandate to Defend the Realm;

1. Declares that United Imperial Kingdoms has a compelling and overriding interest in securing the assets of the aforementioned Krȃng Empire;

2. Orders that assets of HSMAF be deployed to find and secure the aforementioned assets;

3. Orders that any findings and discoveries in regards to this matter be relayed to the Peer Nations promptly and without reservation of reception;

4. Declares that no claim over a Krȃng asset by any non-Peer Nation be recognised as legitimate or sufficient to secure that asset; and

5. Authorises the Lord-Marshal to take actions that are deemed necessary and expedient to realise the orders and declarations contained herein.

Adopted unanimously in the Conurbation of Saragova in the Year of the Red King 3395

[Macisikan]

IG Visual Array 4 Central Station, Intergalactic Space

RK3395.11.12

[approximately 80,000 LY from the Aker Circlet]
The light warming the face of a person on Earth is already eight minutes old; when that same person looks up into the southern sky at night and goes hunting for The Pointers, the light from the outer star is a little bit over four years old. Light from the brightest star (after the Sun) is around eight-and-a-half years old. The light from the next brightest takes over three centuries to arrive. Armed with this knowledge, the secrets of superluminal travel, and a big enough telescope, one can literally watch the past unfold in real-time.

The Aker Circlet had been dated at 80,000 years old; tracing the motion of its primary through the galaxy back to the time of its creation wasn’t hard – the star hadn’t shown signs of having been moved, and a set of checks had shown that it was tracing precisely the route their calculations predicted. The abomination of a species that had created it was apparently long gone, but that didn’t mean the Security Council didn’t want to know how they had done what they had done.

The notion that a single large structure is needed to create a vast observatory capable of peering across fantastic distances is a foolish one, disproven by the antique arrays of receivers built before the advent of FTL. You don’t need a single vast telescope – a number of smaller ones spread out over a distance will do the job. And here, they already knew what they were trying to find, and precisely where to look. And so, this array, and its siblings; for the past months they’d strung the components out across the void, sets of receivers placed at intervals of fifty light years, moved them as needed, the window narrowed down until they found precisely the intervals they wanted. In a past age, it would have been a titanic undertaking, a monumental outlay; the resources and energy could have housed millions in comfort.

Dame Tepuky hadn’t even bothered to read the proposal before stamping it.

And so, Subadmiral Kante Argin, wrapped in high-grade sim, got a front-row seat to the arrival of the Krâng’s great artefacts; their arrival, not their construction. He’d gotten the same seats for the annihilation of that vile species too, but that wasn’t what interested him at the moment. He had been tasked to find out what happened before.

“Run it again.”

Yes, there; the place housing the Exarchy of Aker had arrived in the system, planet and circlet. It’s a truism that once a thing is done, it’s easier to do it again, and gets easier over time – the great mountain that took decades for pioneers to climb later needs to have reservations made months in advance to manage the traffic. Frowning, the Subadmiral summoned the other findings with a flicker of thought.

The same sequence; circlet and planet together, eight times in total, all of them looking like they’d come off the same assembly line, all arriving in the systems where they had since remained.

As the eight scenes played out in front of him, a thousand generations of ancestral instincts, instincts that had kept his family alive until they fled those cursed holes in the ground to find sanctuary beneath the Crown, stood up and screamed.

[Macisikan]

RK3395.09.01

The Dashan Communique

-For Immediate Release-

1. The External Affairs Council held a special plenary session in the Conurbination of Dashan on Greenhouse Gate, Kingdom of Ivi-Pauna, Andasten Sector. Present were all voting members, as well as a selection of observer delegates from across the Metropole and the Empire.
   
   
2. This special session was convened at the behest of the Premier, to consider serious and frank exchanges of views on foreign affairs, covering all manner of involvement, with a particular eye to events concerning polities on the planet of Daer.
   
   
3. Due to potential impacts of the session, impacts that may outlast the term of the present premier, representations from the Dáil were in attendance, and had their input into the outcomes and deliberations.
   
   
4. All faction representatives, and kingdom representatives, found it beneficial to have this special session and discussion. They reviewed the international situation in which important changes and great upheavals are taking place and expounded their respective positions and attitudes.
   
   
5. There are essential differences between the United Imperial Kingdoms and many other sovereignties in their social systems and foreign policies. However, representatives agreed that it was highly desirable for sovereignties, regardless of their social systems, to conduct their relations on the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other, non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. International disputes should be settled on this basis, ideally without resorting to the use or threat of force. The Extremal Affairs Council reaffirms its commitment to applying these principles to its conduct.
   
   
6. With these principles in mind, delegates stated that:
   
   1. It is a legal and factual reality that the Federated Klatchian Coast no longer exists as an entity, and is replaced by the Heiliges Klatchisches Reich (the Reich), which inherits all the territories, debts, and legal obligations and privileges pertaining thereunto;
   2. Progress toward the normalisation of relations between the States of the Reich is in the interests of all sovereignties that have any relations with any of the States or with the Reich itself;
   3. The Council wishes to reduce the danger of international military conflict, and the danger of conflict within the Reich;
   4. The United Imperial Kingdoms should not seek hegemony in Daer, and is opposed to efforts by any non-indigenous sovereignty or group of sovereignties to establish such hegemony; and
   5. The United Imperial Kingdoms is not presently prepared to act as an intermediary with regards to disputes between indigenous states of Daer.
7. The United Imperial Kingdoms acknowledges that the legal reality is that there is but one Vrak and that Port Olympus and its environs are a part of the State of Vrak; His Serene Majesty’s Government does not challenge that position. It reaffirms its interest in a peaceful settlement of the Port Olympus question by the Vrakians themselves, supports moves and efforts towards reunification of Vrak under the lawful government of the same, and deplores impediments of that reunification.
   
   
8. The Council agreed that the UIK will stay in contact with the government of the Reich through various channels, including the accrediting of an Ambassador to the Reich, to further the normalisation of relations between the two nations and continue to exchange views on issues of common interest.

[Macisikan]

Voice 1: Centi for your thoughts, lethallin?
[silence; 14.85s]
Voice 2: Eternity.
[silence; 7.31s]
Voice 2: With transference, we have embraced eternity, set our hands against the gates of death, swung them closed. Plans that won’t come to fruition a thousand years from now suddenly are “very near term”.
Voice 1: This can’t be a shock. We’ve known it ever since the tech was released to the population at large. So why…?
Voice 2: Because some things need to be sorted sooner. We can brute force a lot of problems – you know that. It’s why no-one can hide from us – we can throw trillions of minds, and even more expert systems and virtual assistants, at a problem until it’s solved. But even that takes time to do, and for some things we need a solution now, if not yesterday.
Voice 1: And there’s a finite speed to…
Voice 2: …everything. Even for the Oracle. You can only go so fast with what even we have.
Voice 1: Pity you can’t just change the speed of time.
[silence; 55.02s]
Voice 2: You. Are. Brilliant.
Voice 1: Sorry?
Voice 2: That’s it! We change the speed of time itself!
Voice 1: How…?
Voice 2: Easy; by manipulating the holographic boundary. Oracle; I must send a message to Rechtaire Soji at once. Message is as follows: Can a constant we alter in boundary encoding be temporal? By this I mean, can we change the speed on the inside to be different from that of the outside? Could we then also, for example, put a computer inside one with a problem to solve, speed up time on the inside, and have the answer returned in the blink of an eye to us? Now, if so, can we weaponise this? Message ends. Put it in nice words over my hand and seal, copy to the Mezason, Sir Tamlen, and Mme Thakur.
[Oracle indicated immediate compliance]
Voice 2: Can you imagine the possibilities my love? Industrial applications like testing durability over long time scales, or putting in an incredibly unstable element and having it hold in a sort of stasis for… why are you laughing?
Voice 1: Mother warned me about you. Never go for a genius, she said; they never want to sleep. Ar lath ma, vhenan.
[recording sealed for privacy reasons]

---

S-34-68-7573-8853-04 (Y’dral Testing Site), the Galactic Halo

RK3395.10.15

Rechtaire Soji stared in mute astonishment at the message from Agrela’s High Garden. He knew his project had interest from the highest levels, but this?

“Dr. Nocri, what do you think?” he said turning to look at the second person to read the missive. The good doctor had been staring into the middle distance for the last few minutes, his face alight with an almost boyish excitement. Next to him, Dr Sabaala’s lips were moving silently. Even in the immaterium, the habits of the flesh were hard to break.

“There are so many things that could be done with this,” Nocri started.

“Like encapsulating the singularities so that we can release as much, or as little, energy as needed – a flow control on them!” Sabaala interrupted.

“Yes,” Nocri said, “or configuring them such that they release all their energy in one hit!”

“Having it so that it spits out a spike of antimatter,” that was Dr. Shen, their normally ultra-cautious member; she was wearing a savage grin.

Soji leaned back as more of his experts popped in, all of them talking over each other, feeding off each other. He knew this exact scene was taking place at no less than four other sites scattered around the cosmos.

Shaking his head and smiling, he signalled back to the capital; the short answer, was yes. To everything.

Outside, concealed behind its Dyson Swarm, -04 spun placidly on its axis.

[Macisikan]

CLASSIFED: SECRET

THE UNIVERSITY OF SARAGOVA
The effects of kugleblitz singularity expiration occurrence within solid matter and on structural interiors
Tepape L. Gona, Tamere A. Sinaidea, Sceptaha K. Amus, Naunity R. Nebilu, Gherde D. Coban

Abstract
When the kugleblitz singularity process was first harnessed, it was extremely dangerous and difficult to control, but its products have since become commonplace in our society, with ubiquity comparable with antique chemical-based forms of power generation.

The greatest challenge in the harnessing process was in the area of containment (see Phuna:3115, Nunnaka:3154 for examples). Standard kugleblitz singularities (SKS) are smaller than an atom (refer Cho:3154), even the larger ones intended for greater longevity and lower power output. As discovered during the Pavin-12 industrial accident, the danger of an SKS escaping containment doesn’t lie in it absorbing any matter, but in the radiative output rendering areas inimical to life as an escaped SKS oscillates through nearby solid objects in accordance with local gravity. That incident, and potential industrial and military applications of deliberately released kugleblitz singularities (RKS) has been extensively studied (further background and context in Introduction).

This paper aims to catalogue and examine the effects of RKS expiration on solid objects, including inside structures. To this end, we first ran simulations using a dedicated expert system, then cross-checked these against simulations run with Oracle assistance, and finally, with the assistance of His Serene Majesty’s Armed Forces, conducted a series of physical tests. The physical tests involved releasing a set of precisely calibrated RKS that expired within structures and solids, and then forensic examination of the results (outlined in Methods).

Our findings supported the thesis proposed by military theorists (refer Dugudea:3221 et al), that RKS expiration outputs somewhat less than 1.66×10^24W, although only for a fraction of a second. Nevertheless, when that expiration takes place in solid matter, the sudden influx of energy tends to have a catastrophic effect on the integrity of that matter. Non-solid structures are equally susceptible to damage, in different ways. The effect on biological matter was difficult to ascertain as most samples were vaporised (Detailed further in Findings 1, 2, and 3).

An interesting aspect of directed RKS expiration is that, due to the size of the RKS, only energy shields and fields, tuned to prevent the intrusion of subatomic debris, such as those employed in SKS containment, were effective in stopping or deflecting a directed RKS. Armour, whether composed of metamaterials or standard matter, was ineffective at deflection or intrusion. Degenerate matter showed far more promise, due to the lessened space between the components, with neutronium showing considerably more effectiveness than electron degenerate matter (Detailed in Findings 4, 5, 6).

We note that RKS deployment could prove assistive in industry, especially in mining, or in planetary sculpting efforts where there is a need to heat subsurface regions. However, RKS deployment is dependent on precise timing for optimal effects; thus, it does not presently have any practical military applications.

This study was made possible with a grant from the Joint Sciences Research Organisation, the Military Research Division, and support from HSMAF. The authors would like to thank Subadmiral Ipamer Milkadu and those of his command for their assistance.

CLASSIFED: SECRET

[Macisikan]

S-74-46-5091-6823-39 (Myshaan Testing Site), the Galactic Halo

RK3395.11.06

Station 4

A poet once made the acrid observation that the world would end not with a bang but with a whimper; for the worlds of this system, one could say it had ended with a flicker instead. There were two of them, small, rocky, and devoid of life, their atmospheres steadily depositing in thick flakes to the darkened surfaces.

A week earlier the primary had vanished beneath the boundary, leaving the brightest object in their skies the vast span of the Milky Way itself. Out here, outside of the galaxy proper, the sight was spectacularly beautiful.

After four months, Rechtaire Tsuga found it had ceased to entrance her; she was far more interested in the reports from her juniors. Especially now.

“Green lights across the board, Rechtaire,” the earnest young sublieutenant serving as her personal aide kept his voice carefully neutral. “Gravitational binding is holding,” while Tsuga had to suppress a twitch of mirth at that - everyone remembered the embarrassment at 1714 -11 – the sublieutenant looked as though butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

“We are ready to proceed with the next phase,” he continued.

“Very good. Send the instruction and take us to one-ten,” she ordered. There was a shimmering at the edge of the field of vision as the interior of the simulation slowed; for every second that passed outside, ten passed inside. Outside, the black globe that occupied the space where the system’s primary once was shivered almost imperceptibly, and then extruded… something.

“Outputs nominal, ma’am.”

“Good. Take us to one-fifty and continue.”

It was agonisingly slow; but bit by bit, out of the darkness, matter emerged. Not just the ingots and bars and raw materials of before, useful as that was. Not even the lovely little multi-element objects. No, they were seeing if something more interesting, more intricate, could be produced.

Eventually, after what felt like days, the boundary shivered again, and spat out its product. For a few moments, it hung there, in front of them. Then it was caught by the gravity tractors of the stations in orbit, and yanked out and away.

“Close, but not quite,” the scan lead said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“Sixth time’s not the charm,” Tsuga said. “We’ll just have to try again. In the meantime, package data and dispatch; take us to one-one and throw the sample to the fabbers. They should have enough mats now to start spitting out lifters – when they’ve got two up and running deploy them and spin them up. Might as well make use of those rockballs.”

[Macisikan]

Unnamed System (AKA “Patricia’s Refuge), Delta Quadrant

RK3395.08.19

(location of Station Δ34863682)

You could think that the brightest objects in this cold, lonely, attempt at a system were the lifting platforms, but you’d be mistaken. They hovered over the planets, over the moons, over the dull, grey, dead primary, extending their long energetic tendrils down to the surfaces. Where they made contact, heated material flowed back up the other way, and it’s that which clears the very low bar of “brightest”.

There was, of course, next to no illumination shed by the shoals of Imperial Space Service vessels patrolling the system. They were usually only visible by the stars they blotted out in their passage.

As usual, everything in the system larger than a pea had been marked for collection and use; occasionally the extractions would be outshone by the bloody hues and scarlet flickers of an outgoing wormhole.

And then an intruder arrived. In the normal run of events the brief flash of its exit from hyperspace would’ve been followed by an even briefer flash as the ISS tore it into its constituent atoms, but this one had taken care to send a message on ahead, securing permission to enter.

The newcomer cautiously picked its way towards the station where a queen had held court in the dying days of her unnamed Empire, as carefully as a man picking his way through a room of sleeping tigers while holding a precious heirloom. Not too far off the mark; the system was full of predators that would tear it apart in a heartbeat, and it did carry something immeasurably precious.

Finally it arrived at its destination; Hanger 4. The same hanger their queen had come to when she first arrived. A familiar docking procedure – the station had, after all, been built just like their own.

Peering out, they shivered. The hanger had been exposed to hard vacuum, and yet the Macisikani ISS officer, resplendent in dress uniform, had merely stood there as they were brought in, and the area pressurised, with no protection from the void, showing no signs of discomfort. The warforms around him hadn’t so much as twitched.

When their queen had been here, the station had been alive; their countrymen coming and going, keeping the fragmented government running. Activity at all hours; their old fellows had spent every minute fighting, trying to marshal against some unnamed horror, trying to coordinate against the Huedarians, trying to salvage their disintegrating nation.

The little knot of them shivered as they crossed the echoing hanger bay under that lazy golden gaze. They were the only spot of living colour in the room, probably the whole station, and acutely aware of it too.

The leading member was, like his countrymen, accomplished in combat; their colony was on the outermost fringes of their old empire, well beyond the limits of the nation itself, and he’d frequently had to act to defend hearth and home. He’d even faced down the infected, in person, miraculously escaping unscathed himself. But nothing caused such a feeling of unease as all those decades staring at him out of a too-smooth face above a commodore’s collar, those eyes knowing far too much…

The supplicants hurried closer; a flag officer. They’d sent a flag officer. The most junior in the whole Imperial Space Service, but a flag officer.

Relief flooded them.

[Macisikan]

Martial Provence of Maja

3395.08.30

Mars/Carnil

It was a testimony to the original architects and builders that the great arcology, sunk into the crater, was still structurally sound after such neglect; Nimatojin records indicated that it hadn’t been looked after for over half a century. The three maglev lines connecting it to the rest of Martian civilisation hadn’t fared as well, even before the Regs had come down and torn into the area.

The links themselves were now blocked by Macisikani customs checkpoints just inside the border, the air above thick with drones.

As the eye of perspective follows one of these links towards the arcology, one sees the small little outlying settlements. Most of them were founded by refugees from the central city; all of them have been sacked repeatedly, raided by the feral gangs, or otherwise tormented. None of them welcomed the new landlords with open arms. Their past experiences have been poor, to say the least.

Nevertheless the UIK’s flag is flying over each one of them. None have seen any hostile action since the Regs swept through four months earlier. The peace here is still a watchful, cautious one, but it’s more than they’ve had in living memory.

In the arcology itself, the warforms are still stalking the halls, the vents, the sewer pipes, collecting corpses and throwing them into vats of nanopaste. Of course, any ferals lucky enough to have escaped the purges of the past few months weren’t nearly lucky enough to escape the far more thorough sweeping. For many of them the last thing they heard was the skittering of the warforms in the pitch darkness.

“Seems almost a waste,” one said to another, lowering a bladed arm; the corpse impaled on it slid to the ground, ready for collection.

“Nah, the GovMil has no interest in this lot. Too far gone,” the other said, sweeping it behind them, to the collectors.

“Yeah,” the first said, scanning ahead, “six more in front.”

“Lure or stalk?”

“These ones look like they’re trying to be clever,” there was a faint trace of smugness in the first one’s tone.

“C-units. Gotcha,” the two stepped aside, as something large and heavy, several somethings large and heavy, skittered past. The two soldiers did the equivalent of lighting up and staring at the wall, waiting patiently; one of them began to bounce a virtual ball against the wall. From the darkness came several meaty thunks, a number of liquid screams, and then silence.

“Neutralised. Pick that thing up and let’s keep going.”

[Macisikan]

SECURITY COUNCIL DIRECTIVE TO IRON BASSET HOUND COMMANDS:
Commence Operation Zinc Spitz. ACK.

S-36-83-771-57-855, Scutum-Centaurus Arm, Beta Quadrant

RK3394.11.29

Approximately 285° along the galactic plane

Months ago they had fanned out, several specially selected systems – not dissimilar to this one – and begun their great work. It was proceeding apace; planets were being torn apart, the stars puffing out materials with regularity. It was fast, considering what they were doing, but for the government in distant Tichel it simply wasn’t fast enough.

And now, a solution, arrived at via the UIK’s time-honoured route of simply throwing billions of minds at a problem until it was solved by brute force, delivered to the system via the cobalt and violet and sapphire hues of a Macisikani wormhole.

It spat out a flotilla of ISS vessels, their typical jet and Davy’s grey hulls relieved only by the shield denoting His Serene Majesty’s Armed Forces. And aboard the central cruiser, an alchemist’s secret, the product of many thousands of man-hours of work out at the testing sites in the halo.

As with Operation Yellow Steenbok, they’d picked it carefully, and hadn’t moved until they were sure they were the only ones who visited. This one managed to be off the path less travelled; out of the way of out of the way. Perfect for what they have in mind.

The wormhole continues to pour vessels into the system; most of them fanning out across it, skipping from end to end in the blink of an eye, but for that cruiser.

It made a beeline towards the system’s primary; a tiny little thing, as far as stars went, but perfect for what they had in mind today.

---

HSMV CA-3531/2505
“All systems nominal.”

“Twenty seconds to target window.”

“System is clear of foreign intrusion.”

“Ten seconds to target window.”

“Second force is transitioning now.”

“Entering target window.”

“Deploy the package…”

“Aye sir, deploying package stage one… deployed. Stage two… deployed.”

There were a few tense minutes as they waited for that pair of precious little items to arrive on-station. And then…

“Confirm convergence. Package is active. Boundary is stable and established.”

There, almost lost against the star’s radiance, was a tiny little black dot. Invisible to anyone lacking advanced instruments at the moment, it was already starting to grow rapidly. The command ship’s inputs were flooded with data from the monitors closer to the action; green lights across the board. Just as planned.

“Time to completion?”

“Calculating… 84 days, plus or minus 19 hours.”

The Force Commander nodded to himself; satisfactory.

[Macisikan]

RK3395.12.02

Your Serene Majesty,

I am writing to advise you of my intention to end my term as Premier of Your Serene Majesty’s Government and head of the Grand Council. I am vacating the position as the actions of my administration, being the best actions to take in the interests of Your Realm, are nonetheless fundamentally breaking faith with the election manifesto of my party, and the ideals I undertook to uphold as leader of that party.

My resignation will take effect as of midday today, standard time. The Deputy Premier, Sir Ihotpef Unaati, has been briefed and is prepared to function as your acting Premier until the Commission is given.

As my final act as your Premier, I formally wish to advise you to consider sending for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Aeduka Sakir, 1st Earl Sakir, and invite him to form a government.

I remain your Serene Majesty’s most obedient servant,
T. Tredyen
The Lady Tarilye Caterina su Tredyen a Gentes, of the Tredyen Sept, ut-kyr deMakra fides de Réal
2nd Duchess Tredyen

RK3395.12.03
Message to the President of the Senate:
The Continuing Committee has sent Lord Tecuma Si’Anak, of the Order of the Burning Star, to kiss hands as Premier.

ANCHOR-Macisikan

amt.co.mcn
News> UIK News>Agrela’s High Garden
Premier Tredyen Resigns!
Tecuma Si’Anak to kiss hands as Premier
Akir Siviri in Saragova
The Arn-Maciska Times
The First Newspaper: serving the Ancestral City, and through it, the Realm

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The Palace has confirmed that the Premier, Tarilye Tredyen, has officially resigned as head of His Serene Majesty’s Government as of yesterday. Lady Tredyen’s short letter of resignation cited a widening gulf between the promises and undertakings in her party’s election manifesto, and the actions she had undertaken as Premier. The move ends several months of speculation that the Premier was under increasing pressure to step down. The Premier’s party, the Internal Strength Coalition, has grown steadily more uncomfortable with the internationalist policies pursued under the Tredyen government, particularly the recent expansion of the Empire.

While the Premier counselled His Serene Majesty to invite the Chancellor of the Exchequer to fill her position, the Continuing Committee has instead sent the Deputy Chair of the Security Council, Lord Tecuma Si’Anak, to kiss hands.

Lord Si’Anak is a member of the Order of the Burning Star, and first entered politics in the Kingdom Diet of Pa Lehstivis thirty-one years ago. Lord Si’Anak’s political career was launched after a successful career in His Serene Majesty’s Imperial Space Service, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Admiral. He will be the fourth Transferred person to serve as head of His Serene Majesty’s Government.

Premier-Nominate Si’Anak has indicated that he wishes the current Grand Council to continue in their roles for the time being, but has asked the Chair of the Security Council to find his replacement as soon as possible.

The new Premier will be sworn in this afternoon.

(c) CMGN
Academic citation: Sirivi, A., [RK3395.12.03] Premier Tredyen Resigns: Tecuma Si'Anak to kiss hands, The Arn-Macisika Times, Crown Media Group Network, United Imperial Kingdoms of Macisikan; URL#AMT-35096262

[Macisikan]

Hiorlivik Colony, Daura System

RK3395.12.10

Approximately 10LY down-angle, 15LY ventral, 22LY corewards, relative to the Supernova Remnant
Former Empire of Atredivia

Two anxious figures hurrying down a corridor. Tense. Frightened. There’s been a shift on a distant world, and suddenly they’re unsure of ground they thought was safe.

“What does this mean Buri?” the smaller is almost having to run to keep up.

“I don’t know.”

“I thought we had it – they keep their word. They always keep their word.”

“Yes,” the larger seems on the edge of saying something else.

“But?”

“But that was an offer from her. Not him. He wasn’t involved.”

“I thought it came from the King-Emperor?”

“He doesn’t get involved. He doesn’t govern. It’s weird, but it works for them.”

Silence as they ascend a set of steel-grille stairs.

“So do we know what this means for the offer?” the smaller is persistent.

“No.”

“Will the others?”

“No.”

“So why are you going to talk to them?”

“Because the three of us approached the Macs. It was our idea; it’s our heads if they’ve changed their minds. So we should go to them as one.”

Their destination looms ahead; the door for the FTL comms room. It’s hideously expensive for this colony to operate it. Out here, on the frontier of the Khaganate, resources weren’t exactly plentiful even before the collapse.

The larger turns to the smaller.

“You can come in Uben, but be quiet.”

---

Buri, the administrator of Hiorlivik colony, stepped into the comms room; Uben slipped in behind him, a shadow.

On the screens were Taba, administrator of the Teneholm Colony, and Bynai, administrator of Hallidalr Colony. Both of them were looking at him with curiosity; Hiorlivik was the only one of the three with an FTL comms system capable of reaching further then their little trio of stars. Fitting for the hub of this effort, but it did mean that good news, and bad, came to them first.

“Buri, to what do we owe this pleasure?” Bynai was a jovial woman, her colony dedicated to gathering resources of the low-value but organically helpful variety. It was going to be a decent agricultural world in about fifty years, if things had kept going.

“Bynai,” he acknowledged her with a nod, “Taba” his nod was answered by a curt one. Taba’s settlement was aimed at mining; still in the prospecting stages, it was directly dependent on the other two for basic survival goods.

“I have news,” Buri continued. “The Macisikani Premier has resigned,” he watched Bynai’s face pale, and Taba’s jaw clenched. “The Lady Tredyen has been replaced by a Lord Tecuma Si’Anak. She said she was breaking faith with her party, and so stepped down. He’s from a different party. What this means for their offer I don’t know, which is why I want the two of you here. We’re going to fire up the commlink, and try to contact them; we could be back at square one.”

There was a moment while the other two colony leaders thought, and then he got a pair of tense nods.

“OK then. Comms; see if you can get the External Affairs Vice-Ministry on Screen 5, patched through to Teneholm and Hallidalr.” Buri ordered. The comms tech, who couldn’t have been a day over 17, murmured words into his headset, fingers poking at the control panels, while the leaders of three worlds waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Then Screen 5 came to life; for a long moment the Atredivians were treated to the sight of Macisikan’s golden double-headed eagle, then it cleared, to reveal a dark-skinned woman, her ebony hair woven into intricate braids, clad in a sari of golds and greens, gems glinting at her throat, her ears, her fingers.

“Colonial Administrator Yebaar,” her voice was warm, rich, with an accent he couldn’t place. “And Colonial Administrators Dawa and Qorche. To what do I owe the pleasure?” that was an eerie echo to the formality.

“I’m afraid you have the advantage of me,” Buri replied. Manners, he thought to himself keep your manners; they prize manners. We need them. They wouldn’t care if we ceased to exist tomorrow.

“Oh, did I not introduce myself? I’m sorry, I’m out of practice,” brilliant white teeth shone beneath the golden eyes of the transferred. “I am Dame Ashkmin Thakur, Secretary Assisting the Security Council.”

Buri licked suddenly dry lips; he’d heard of her. She was so much more than that title suggested.

“M- Dame Ashkmin,” he said, remembering himself at the last second. “We wanted to relay our congratulations to the Premier Si’Anak. We’ve heard great things of him,” a lie. He’d read the news article; no more. The other two had first heard his name a few minutes earlier. From the smile on Thakur’s face, she knew it was a lie.

“Of course you do,” she replied, not losing the smile for a second. “And you want to know if he will honour the agreement you made on the station; protection for fealty.”

Buri nodded. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the other two do the same.

“Calm yourself, Administrator,” Thakur’s smile had a predatory hint to it. “The offer may have been made under Premier Tredyen, but the Security Council has agreed to it. Our representatives will arrive in your systems in approximately half an hour, escorted by His Serene Majesty’s Imperial Space Service.”

“Thank goodness,” Taba’s mutter was loud enough to carry.

“I’ve been called many things, Administrator,” Thakur said. “Until now, ‘goodness’ wasn’t among them.”

”Who do you look to, petitioner?”

”We are without liege, without lord, without home, without hearth.”

”Who would you look to?

”We seek a sovereign, one who would defend us from the terrors of the galaxy.”

”Give your loyalty, and we shall offer you food and warmth, water and shelter.”

”You have our loyalty.”

”Then know that the Serene Majesty’s hands are raised to shield you from those that will do you harm.”

[Macisikan]

IG Visual Array 4 Central Station, Intergalactic Space

RK3395.12.20

Array 4 was positioned along an arc of points with a very special feature; the perfect distance to watch what had happened at Aker 80,000 years ago, and also in the right spot to catch what had happened when the Krȃng first slithered their unholy hides into space. And it was interesting.

“Subadmiral, sir? We’ve found something you should see,” the speaker was a very serious Sylvan analyst, her chestnut hair bound tight into a librarian’s bun. It was a never-ending source of amusement for the synths how the transferred kept so many aspects of their organic bodies while in the sims. Argin himself still had his bone-white hair and jet-black skin. Old habits did indeed die hard – although, fortunately for the two of them, their ancestral racial animosity was one that had died much easier than others.

“Thank you specialist Sironde,” he followed her to where her workstation was.

“Here,” she brought up the activity – for him, the room they were in was a large metal cavern, screens and neon indicators and shadows in the ceiling. The display she’d brought the activity up on was horizontal – a giant table projecting the image in three dimensions above it. The subadmiral became aware of the other analysts’ presence around them.

He watched the sequence – and then indicated she should run it again. Thank the Holy Monarch for the timestepping – he was able to view the full run of activity in what passed for a few heartbeats in the material world.

“A civil conflict,” he said after the second run was complete.

“That is our assessment, sir,” she replied. “If I can draw your attention to the activity here,” the image zoomed in; several ships, recognisable as early Krȃng vessels, pounded each other without mercy or quarter. “As you can see, one side is taking no prisoners. But if we look at this sequence,” a different set of early Krȃng vessels, “we see that one side is allowing escape pods to be jettisoned, and is sweeping them up.”

“Fascinating. Insights?”

“The side that is taking no prisoners lost the conflict; surviving ships fled the Krȃng system. The winners consolidated themselves, and there were no subsequent civil conflicts within our recording scope. If there were, Array 5 would be best-placed to capture that. We have traced the escapee fleet though,” she manipulated the controls again; and the route was displayed, ending in a cone that expanded outwards before fading. A number of points of interest were noted inside the cone.

“I take it they left our scope,” it wasn’t really a question.

“Yes sir. I took the liberty of contacting Array 2; their scope picks up a little bit before the flotilla arrives, and they were able to capture the rest of the exodus. Shall I overlay?”

“Good initiative specialist,” he said, “please do overlay the remainder of the journey.”
The cone contracted into a line; jagged and with the occasional backstep in the beginning, it smoothed out after a pointed labelled “estimated range of early Krȃng military”, and then continued into…

“Is this accurate?” he asked; he knew the answer, but it never hurt to check.

“We’d like to deploy a sub-array to confirm, but all indicators are correct. The losing side of the Krȃng civil war fled directly to what became the early i’Halalaentariel homeworlds.”

Argin sighed softly.

“Deploy the sub-array,” he ordered.

Six days later – on a day which was, by rights, supposed to be reserved for lying around and goofing off and doing nothing at all – he found himself on a direct line to Agrela’s High Garden and Mme Thakur, confirming the findings of the sub-array, cross-referenced against the outputs from Array 2 and 5. He came out of that conversation with Lieutenant-Admiral’s stars; she came out of it with a headache and a foul temper.

---

CLASSIFIED: TOP SECRET

MESSAGE TO THE GREY CHAMBER:
UIK distance recording has discerned i’Halalaentariel origins as a separatist faction that violently schismed from the Krȃng empire early in the latter’s space history. Speculation is that the faction is either a group of original host species that managed to liberate themselves from Krȃng dominion, or a group of Krȃng that disagreed with the dominant group’s ideology and customs.

Please find attached relevant data and analysis.

-Thakur

CLASSIFIED: TOP SECRET