The schedule said she was 14 years out from the system suspected to contain the self-estranged Camilans. She had been born after the great betrayal, a product of dire circumstance. Her creators had often fawned over the traitors' supposed intelligence, often describing them with a sense of wonder. They spoke as if each member was a fully realized colony with its own aspirations and stories. A race with a mind for every body, they would say. Yet the scans of this system had shown their planet, if they were even on said planet, as being unpleasant at best. She would be somewhat disappointed if they turned out to have taken hold here. The universe had no limit - surely, they could have done better.
Normally the queen and her children would sleep while in Slipspace, but the Machine that urged this journey had broken many traditions. Ulusha was cut from a different stone; her mind and body were capable of of a suspended meditation. A compromise between the decay of slip space and processes of the body. Ulusha could plot during the journey with out consuming the traditionally massive amount of resources that a queen would normally require. The 14 years left of the voyage translated to only a handful of days. Ulusha spent this time preparing for action, waiting for the true payoff of her modifications. Her ability to consume a variable amount of resources went both ways. With the Camilans' help, maybe this trend of making trades could end. Meanwhile, the ship’s fusion reactor and the intricacies that repaired it continued to keep the ship and her body in the best state that they could. The dull underlying sensation of decay remained palpable; the itching pain of nutrient deficit had become normal for her.
She knew it was important to focus on the mission, but her thoughts would drift from time to time. She often recalled the disgust in their eyes before they sent her off. They would stare at the tubes and pieces going in and out of her body. She was told they were practical. She believed the people who told her that she was part of a great advancement. She knew she was capable of what no one else was, but she saw the horror in their eyes. She felt that familiar shame every time she noticed the unusual and steady hum of her heart. She remembered the day it stopped beating. It wasn't all bad. When her children were awake, and she held them close, she liked to think that their hearts were shared. They would hum against her body and she against theirs, and they were there together, and she believed this was all worth it. She knew she would always protect them, and they her.
She had 13 years left to compose a message for the Camilans. She wondered if she would be welcome? It seemed unlikely that the Camilans would experience the same revulsion that her creators held. Regardless... and given the gravity of the situation, she was sure they would at least give some consideration to her plea.
The Empty Set returned to real space just outside of the pale planet’s atmosphere. A cocktail of tranquilizers was already preparing her body and mind for the transition to realspace. The transition was one of fire and pain, one to be avoided. Her children would see to it that the mission carried on. They would soon rise from their slipspace slumber. The last image Ulusha saw was that of a sleeping world, shrouded by storms.
Camilans,
It is far outside Kyasian standards to ignore your desire for solitude. It is your right to ignore this message. Please listen.
4 years after the separation, 42 systems and their 5 trillion inhabitants lost contact with the core worlds. All 42 systems resided within a new exclusion zone. We came to determine that it was not possible to send any ship over 1000kg past a border that had formed exactly 10000ly out from galactic central point. Any ship that was able to traverse this exclusion zone reported that all systems, stars, planets, even small asteroids, had disappeared. In their place was a super structure. Fourteen spires reaching out from galactic central point. Each spire is, to our estimates, 1ly long and 9000Mm across. We dared not approach.
Despite a quarter of our nation vanishing in an instant, we fear that this may not have been a direct attack, but a mere side effect of this entity’s appearance. There are many paths forward, but the one thing Kyasiouna agrees on is that the guiding light should be in your hands.