ã€ŠMemories of Eternityã€‹


 Prologue+chapter one-Awoken

    Prologue

    Many philosophers and scholars have wondered about the origins of the ¡°great ruins¡±. Were they from a single civilisation, or many? How did that civilization end? The only generally accepted facts about these ruins is that they are connected to the conduits and hubs, and that the civilisation(s) that built them were many times more advanced than we are.

    Far, far away, in a world silently roaming the dark void, a being slumbered. It¡¯s power was embedded in and permeated through the world it was buried in, enveloping it¡¯s metallic surface. In vast underground bunkers, giant production lines sat silent, rows of unfeeling warriors standing guard over deserted roads and buildings. Everything on this planet seemed made and ready for one purpose: to serve the being currently hibernating, it¡¯s threads of power connecting them in a net of gleaming chrome, serene blue order and pure, red rage. The sweat and tears of a whole civilisation went into it, it¡¯s purpose a product of a race¡¯s blood and toil. As it stirred, a planet moved with it, legions and fleets moving as one. But soon it went back to sleep, still undetected, still unknown. But soon it would wake, and the universe would know it¡¯s name. It would wage war, and collect; it would fight, and learn; and it would do as its people had done before it, and their teachers before them. It would conquer.

    Chapter One

    When we fight in this day and age, we do not fight for life, or for the safety of our loved ones. No, we fight for selfishness, for money and for glory, or we fight for patriotism, for king and for country.

    He did not know how long he had slumbered for, nor where he was, but that did not matter the most. What was most important was checking his condition, then on the condition of his vessel, his home. Looking at himself, his body seemed to be in perfect condition. He expected that, of course. There were very few things in existence that could damage pure voidsteel, and any one of those would¡¯ve woken him up.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    No, what concerned him were the gene banks and biomatter storages, the last remnants of an entire race. Thankfully, they were fine, free from the ravages of time. Next, the inspection of the ship. It was more of a planet actually, or an ark. Although, he mused, it would be more accurate to call it a mausoleum.

    Clearing his head of his morbid thoughts, he continued his inspection. There were many faults, giant networks cut off, great swathes of land silent and dark. For most of them, it was as simple as a bent connector or snapped wire, but some of them had been corroded by the Between, and would have to be completely replaced. Thankfully, no major components had been corroded, and the ones that needed replacement could be easily fabricated.

    With but a thought, rows of crafters came to life, spitting out the needed components in seconds. These days, he spent as much time in the net as possible, as it comforted him, helped him feel like he was still with his people. But now, the net was empty, full of cold metal and sorrowful memories, when before it was warm, full of intimacy and joyful experiences.

    Shaking his head, he sighed. It would be better to forget these painful memories, but he could not bear to forget , to throw away these limited remnants of his people. It was better to immerse himself in the present, than wishing for the past. He should focus on his purpose and be productive, instead of wallowing in self-pity.

    As his attention wandered through the long, geometric corridors, he looked at the many drones passing by, some with wheels, some with tracks, and some with contragrav engines, all hurrying by with their own purposes, focused and ready.

    They were like bees, in a way, made for one task and carrying out that task until they died. For the betterment of the hive. Here, they were working for the betterment of him, but who or what was he working for? His purpose was to carry on the legacy of his race, but then what? What after? Even if he resurrected his race, he would have to wait until they advanced enough to receive his stored knowledge. And they wouldn¡¯t be the same as the people he¡¯d known, the ones he¡¯d once been part of.

    But those were questions for another time. Now, he needed to see what had awoken him.

 Chapter two-Information

    Chapter two

    We have found many ancient structures, but what baffles archaeologists and historians is that we have yet to find a single space-faring vessel, or even a single depiction of one. Nor have we found any production facilities for them, or anything related to them. Why?

    Connecting to the vast arrays of sensors, he saw the space around the ark.

    It was filled with spaceships of different types, huddled into separate groups. He saw 5 separate groups.

    One with giant, round ships bristling with turrets; one with jagged, menacing looking wedge shaped ships; one with large, skeletal ships covered in smaller craft; one with long, tubular ships and large, domed ships and lastly a big group of ships of all shapes and sizes. It looked like there were four main organisations and then one group of everyone else. It was these large concentrations of energy that had woken him.

    As he looked he was not idle; he hacked into every ship there and completely took them over, delegating a few of his many SAIs to replace the rudimentary AIs he removed.

    He then spent a bit of time looking through the history and assorted information of all the races in this galaxy. It was pretty much a carbon copy of what his race had predicted would happen if they weren¡¯t around to influence new races.

    The four main races had come first, and after a few wars formed the Galactic Union, mostly to stop the constant squabbling over territory. The Union was also a convenient way to suppress the various younger races, at least those that weren¡¯t enslaved. But, eventually the younger races had enough of being suppressed and banded together into the Galactic Republic, while the older races formed the Galactic Federation as a result. They fought a couple of wars, then decided it wasn¡¯t worth it to fight, so they just tried to ignore each other. All in all, nothing out of the ordinary. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Their technology wasn¡¯t too advanced, with the oldest races having gained space flight in the same time period approximately 5 thousand years ago. What was interesting was their use of ¡°conduits¡± and ¡°hubs¡±. He immediately recognised these as the tracks and stations his race had built long ago. It seemed that these structures had engaged their emergency protocols to jump into the Between and had survived the disaster.

    Their ftl technology was still quite primitive, and they wouldn¡¯t have met for a long time if they hadn¡¯t found the conduits and hubs. All of their technology was at a similar level, but they had branched off into different directions in an attempt to gain advantages.

    The Borond Herd had gone for a mainly defensive mentality, being the owners of the giant, round ships. The Grent Empire had gone for a much more aggressive, predatory mentality, building the wedge shaped craft. The Sythren Conclave, being avians, built many small, agile craft and large carriers. The Spiril Enclave specialised, building long, tubular ships for offense and large, domed ships for defence.

    The Galactic Republic had a huge variety of different ships from all the races in it, but they all mostly focused on being all-rounders, trying to be okay at everything.

    Their weapons too were fairly standard, railguns and missiles for the most part, with lasers for point defence. Nothing exotic yet, though they were being researched.

    As he finished looking through the various historical and military files on the ships, his SAIs notified him of orders being received by the ships.

    Their governments had ordered them to more closely investigate the planet due to their radars not being able to penetrate the planet. They were ordered to land troops there and were given permission to ¡°deny the anomaly to the enemy if required.¡± He snorted. As if mere railguns could even scratch the ark.

    He told his SAIs to act like their primitive AIs so as to not arouse suspicion, and then sat back to watch as dense clouds of drop ships detached from the fleets and flew down.

    It would be an interesting distraction to observe these being, and watch them react to his defences.

 Chapter three-Surface

    Chapter three

    Of all the ancient structures we have found, one thing links all of them. They are all so far beyond our technology that we could call their builders gods. So, what killed the ancients? What disaster or enemy could kill a ¡°god¡±?

    ¡°Move! Move! Get into the drop ships and get strapped down!¡±

    Boots thundered through the corridors and loading bays of the GEN Gobro as soldiers rushed for their drop ships and their officers yelled at them. I ran for my ship, swerving around another person and jumping over a cleaning drone, before tripping over a crate and half falling into my ship.

    ¡°Woah there, you okay?¡± My squadmate Borkas caught me just before my face met the hard metal seat.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine.¡± I sat down and strapped myself in.

    ¡°Drop ships launching in five, I repeat, drop ships launching in five.¡± The tannoys rang out.

    ¡°Ready.¡± The voice of the pilot came drifting out.

    Clunk. The drop ships disengaged their docking clamps one by one, then dove out of the ship. As they descended towards the planet below, the briefing screen flickered on.

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    ¡°Our objective is to secure a base for the science teams, and to explore for any artefacts or anything out of the ordinary. Do not fire unless attacked. I repeat, do not fire unless fired on.¡±

    ¡°You excited? We¡¯re exploring a whole new world!¡± Groth nearly screamed.

    ¡°Might be dangerous. I heard there was an anomaly on it, and the whole Union¡¯s here.¡± Borkas rebuked him

    ¡°But it¡¯s new!¡±

    ¡°Not everyone loves danger like you.¡± I cut in.

    We went silent as the ship shuddered. The view screens showed a vast expanse of grey.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look too inviting out there. I think you¡¯ll be disappointed.¡± Borkas stated the obvious. Groth slumped down slightly.

    ¡°We have touchdown! Everyone out!¡±

    We filed out of the ship, dropping onto the ground below. We immediately noticed several things.

    ¡°Why is it so heavy? What¡¯s the gravity!¡± Groth groaned.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s about 2.5 standard grav.¡± Borkas kicked the ground. ¡°Why is the ground so hard? I¡¯m wearing a combat suit and it isn¡¯t giving!¡±

    I knelt down and examined the ground. ¡°There seems to be a thin layer of space dust, and below that is a blackish purple substance that is really hard.¡±

    Borkas went still, then pointed his plasma shotgun at the ground. ¡°Orders from command are to use our guns to test the hardness of the ground.¡±

    He fired, before we all stood slack-jawed as the plasma packets just disappeared the moment they touched the mystery substance, with no visible effect.

    ¡°Well, I think this is not a normal planet.¡± I said after a while.

    ¡°What is this planet made of!?¡± Groth yelled in disbelief.

    ¡°¡­ I think we may have found the anomaly.¡± Borkas said slowly. ¡°No, scratch that. Every team on the planet is reporting the exact same thing¡­. I think this whole planet may be an anomaly.¡±

    We all looked down broodingly.

    ¡°We have orders to return to our ships. Orbital scans have shown that the entire planet is completely flat. They¡¯re going to try and dig a tunnel into the planet from orbit to see what¡¯s inside the shell.¡±

    We hurried back to our ship, and were silent the whole time until we were back in the loading bay.

 Chapter four-Leaders(S)

    Chapter four

    The conduits and hubs are made from a self healing material that is all but indestructible to us. Even a GRB or overloading a warp core right next to it only slightly blackens their surface, with it changing back to golden in the blink of an eye. If these are ruins, then what would a fully functioning ancient facility look like? What could it do?

    Selene stood on the deck of the flagship, frowning. The anomaly had turned out to be more troublesome than she had originally thought. At first, she had merely taken the anomaly to be another conduit or hub, but a whole anomalous planet was beyond her wildest imagination.

    Her orders had been to attempt to capture the anomaly, or at least attempt to negotiate some benefits. The problem was, she couldn¡¯t even get into the anomaly, much less capture it.

    She brought up a connection with the other leaders on her screen. The leader of the Borond Herd looked bored, the leader of the Grent Empire looked as excited for conquest as ever, and the leader of the Sythren Conclave looked air headed.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we work together to explore this anomaly.¡± She proposed

    ¡°How will the rewards be split?¡± The leader of the Grent Empire was as hungry for loot as ever.

    ¡°Finders keepers?¡± The leader of the Sythren Conclave proposed. They all agreed.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°I propose we use capital ship weapons to gain access to the inside of this planet.¡± The Grent Empire proposed.

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit extreme. What if we damage any important facilities or tech?¡± Selene retorted.

    ¡°None of our planet bound weaponry is so much as discolouring the surface. Capital ship weapons might be our only option.¡±

    ¡°Our bombers are ineffective. I agree with the Brent Empire.¡± The Sythren Conclave cut in. The Borond Herd grunted assent.

    ¡°Fine.¡± Selene had no choice but to give in.

    As one, all their capital ships aimed their railguns at the planet below, unleashing showers of tungsten slugs downwards. All the leaders had their eyes glued to the planet, but the expected showers of debris did not occur.

    ¡°I¡­Is it just me or are our projectiles b-b-bouncing?¡± Selen stuttered out. Indeed, they were being treated to the sight of tungsten slugs bouncing off like rubber.

    The Grent empire leader rubbed his eyes, then snarled. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that a mere planet can stop us! Fire the missiles!¡±

    As short-lived blooms of nuclear fire and crackling EMPs erupted across the planet, all the leaders rubbed their eyes in disbelief as the planet emerged intact. Missing a surface layer of space dust, but otherwise completely intact.

    ¡°I-l-l think this might be a bit beyond our capabilities.¡± The Grent Empire stuttered.

    Selene snorted. ¡°A bit? More like a couple billion light years! I¡¯m also very worried.¡±

    ¡°What about?¡± The Sythren Conclave asked.

    ¡°Think about it. So far, the only ancient structures we have found are half-broken conduits and hubs which are impervious to all known damage. Luckily, they have never attacked. What we are looking at is a brand new kind of facility. If it is even slightly active and starts to attack, even if it attacks with a single drone, we might not be able to stop it. And we just fired on it.¡±

    The room fell into silence as everyone tried to think about the implications of what they had just done, and what might happen. Faces started to pale.

    ¡°We might have made a mistake. A big one.¡± Was the thought that ran through everyone¡¯s minds.

 Chapter five-Meeting

    Chapter five(1)(M)

    Who were the ancients? What did they look like? What was their lifestyle? We have yet to find a single depiction of an ancient, or indeed anything related to their daily lives.

    It was funny, he reflected, to see the looks of shock on their faces. It was understandable, too. It was not every day that you could see your most advanced weapons bounce off an enemy.

    He was slightly surprised though. He did not expect the enemy to already have lased-fusion warheads. Still, they were a very, very long way away from being able to so much as scratch voidsteel.

    But, it was not time for fun. Maybe later, after he completed his task, but not now. Now, it was time to continue on with his job, his purpose.

    Reaching out, he sent orders to his SAIs to shut down all the systems of the fleets, except life support and sensors. After all, they had only meant to find out more about something strange and didn¡¯t actually manage to harm him. It would not make a good first impression if he killed all of them.

    After snickering at the shock and inevitable messes in the ships, he engaged the Between Anchor. It was time to have a chat.

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    Chapter five(2)(S)

    Who were the ancients? What did they look like? What was their lifestyle? We have yet to find a single depiction of an ancient, or indeed anything related to their daily lives.

    The lights flickered, then died into inky darkness. Shouts of alarm rang out like a chorus, accompanied with thunderous crashes of various things falling left and right. Selene groped her way to her terminal, then hurriedly activated the com.

    ¡°All crew, sit down on the ground silently and do not move. I repeat, sit down silently and do not move until I order you to.¡±

    The chaos slowly subsided as everyone followed orders and the bridge crew tried to get an idea of what happened.

    ¡°Report!¡± Selene barked out.

    ¡°We have been locked out of all systems except life support and the sensors. They have been turned off and are not responding.¡± A tech answered

    ¡°Put the outside sensor feed up on the main screen.¡±

    As the screen shimmered to life, the room went even more silent than before. Everyone went pale. Because what they saw was not the familiar arrangement of stars and galaxies they usually saw.

    A vast, inky black provided the backdrop, while vast rivers of purple and indigo flowed serenely through the darkness. Streaks of every color abounded, lines of the rainbow dancing and swirling across the heavens. Small, ethereal-looking bubbles lazily drifted, each the size of a grain of sand and stretching for all infinity simultaneously. Just looking at these sights would blow one¡¯s mind.

    The silence lasted for a long time, until someone spoke out in a whisper.

    ¡°Are we in heaven?¡±

    As he spoke, the view of the outside shifted to another screen, leaving the main screen black. The main screen flickered, then changed. Everyone gaped, for the new display revealed the strangest thing they had ever seen.

    It was an oval-shaped thing that looked like a head, with a glowing blue band where the eyes should be. There was no nose or ears, but there was a normal looking mouth. There were red and gold markings all over it, arranged into intricate patterns.

    Then, it spoke.

 Chapter six-First Contact(M)

    Chapter six(M)

    There are some machines within the conduits and hubs that continuously disappear and reappear. No-one knows why they do this, or indeed how this happens.

    ¡°Welcome to the Between. This is likely the only time you will ever get to see it, so you should make the most of it.¡± I spoke. The confusion on their faces was hilarious, sure, but I needed to introduce myself to them.

    ¡°Who, who are you?¡± The leader of the Spiril was the first to react. A fast one, she was.

    ¡°Who I am is not important, but you may know my former species as the Ancients.¡±

    ¡°Y-Y-You¡¯re an Ancient?¡± The rest of the leaders were in disbelief, but the Spiril leader once again was sharper than the rest.

    ¡°Former?¡±

    ¡°Yes, former. I was forced to digitise my consciousness.¡±

    ¡°Hold up, let¡¯s start from the beginning. You said we¡¯re in the ¡°Between¡±. What is that?¡±

    ¡°The Between is the space in between universes. It is a chaotic mix of primordial energies that constantly births new universes. If you came here unprotected your ships would be turned into pure energy in an instant, so I¡¯m protecting you from it.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    ¡°And who are you? Where are you?¡±

    ¡°I was an Ancient. Right now I am the planet beneath you.¡± Silence. Honestly, I was getting tired of these people just standing around shocked. Though, to be honest, I just exposed them to way too much crazy information.

    ¡°Y-Y-You¡¯re a planet?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I had to digitise my consciousness in response to an unforeseen complication.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    I sighed. ¡°Basically, I was a biological being before and then I turned myself into what you call an AI.¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s impossible! Fully sentient AI always becomes homicidal.¡± The leader of the Grent Empire butted in.

    ¡°Well, number one that¡¯s false, number two I was biological before and number three I¡¯m not killing you right now, am I.¡± More silence. Seriously though, what did these people do to their AIs to make them homicidal? Even ours only fought a few wars with us.

    ¡°Okay Mr Ancient, why did you bring us here and what is going to happen to us?¡± Hmm, seems the Spiril leader really is the smartest one here. Straight to the point.

    ¡°Well, I brought you here to have a chat, introduce myself, and hopefully make it so when I go back I won¡¯t have to kill everyone. Sounds good?¡±

    ¡°Kill everyone?¡±

    ¡°Well, if anyone interferes with me or attacks me, I will defend myself. You are here to try and make sure I don¡¯t need to do that. And yes, I have personally wiped out several star nations far more advanced than you.¡±

    ¡°No-one threatens the Grent Empire and gets away with it!¡±

    These people might need a demonstration real quick. Hmm, let me pop back into real space in this dwarf galaxy real quick.

    ¡°See that? That¡¯s a supermassive black hole.¡± I fire one of my comparatively weaker weapons at it. ¡°Now, no more black hole!¡±

    They looked extremely shell shocked when we returned to the Between. I think that may have been a bit too big of a demonstration. I don¡¯t even think they have the power to destroy planets yet.

    ¡°D-D-Did you just blow up a black hole?¡±

    ¡°Y-Y-You have the power to threaten the Grent Empire.¡± The leader seemed a lot less arrogant. Seems like they were one of the ¡°values strength above all else¡± races. They were always easy to deal with. Just one demonstration and they¡¯ll never betray you unless someone stronger comes.

 Chapter seven-Uncertainty(S)

    Chapter seven(S)

    There are some anomalous sectors of space dotted around the galaxy. For example, a whole sector in which everything is just missing. All the matter in an entire sector, from stars and planets down to the smallest specks of dust, gone. Needless to say, the Ancients probably did it. Why though?

    Selene sat on her couch as she tried to process the sheer absurdity of the last cycle.

    She had been kidnapped into the space outside the universe, met an alien AI that claimed it was an Ancient, spoke with it, and watched it blow up a black hole.

    Needless to say, she was still very shocked and confused. She had simply been fed too much information. Still, now more than ever, she needed to be strong. The rest of the fleet was having the same problems she was having, and they needed stability.

    Some people were taking it better than others. The head of ordonnance was ecstatic to see a black hole blow up, while the science department was covering their ears and insisting that none of the events that had occurred made any scientific sense at all.

    She herself was somewhere in the middle. On one hand she had learnt quite a bit of science and everything she had learnt was screaming at her that what had happened was impossible, on the other hand a large part of her mind told her to just roll with it.

    Just as she was trying to get her thoughts in order, her personal tablet beeped. It was a call from the other leaders. As she joined,she saw they were all in their private quarters.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ¡°The purpose of this meeting is to privately discuss the event that we just experienced and any ramifications that might occur as a result.¡± The leader of the Borond leader opened the discussion.

    ¡°There¡¯ll be a reaction from nearly all of the Ancient-worship cults. The problem is what the reaction will be. It mostly depends on whether the think it to be true, or a fraud.¡± The Sythren leader started.

    ¡°The more extreme factions in the Republic might respond, too. The more conservative factions will probably just wait and observe while preparing their defenses.¡± Selene carried on.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we use the anomaly to help destroy the Republic?¡± The warlike Grent leader was very dim-witted, Selene thought as she laughed.

    ¡°You dare laugh at me!¡± The Grent leader was instantly enraged.

    ¡°And pray, how are you going to force the alien to do your bidding?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll offer it an alliance!¡±

    ¡°And what do you think an entity who can reflect railguns rounds and travel between universes need from you?¡± Silence.

    ¡°We¡¯ll just threaten it then! Force is always the answer!¡± Everyone else looked at the Grent leader as if he was crazy.

    ¡°Let me get this straight. You''re going to threaten an entity who can destroy black holes.¡± The Grent leader fell silent.

    After a bit of silence, the Borond leader spoke.

    ¡°I think we all need a bit of time to think more deeply about this. I propose we meet again next cycle to discuss this further.¡± With that, her coms screen went dark.

    Sitting in the dark, she sighed and steeled her resolve. She could not afford to be weak, especially at such a time riddled with uncertainty as now. It was time to put up a brave facade, to hide the uncertainty underneath. The fleet needed a leader, and she was going to give them one.

 Chapter eight-Agreement(M)

    Chapter eight(M)

    There are a few more suspected Ancient structures lying around. For example, anomaly AA-X-594 is a pair of binary stars orbiting in a stable ? symbol with two planets in the holes. We do not know the purpose of this anomaly.

    These people are crazy! Completely and utterly nuts. At least, the Grent leader is. He watched me blow up a black hole and he still wants to threaten me. Not to mention every weapon he fired at me doing no damage at all.

    Thankfully, the rest seem more sane, which means they¡¯ll probably be open to negotiations.

    Now, I could just use force to achieve my goals, but it would give a bad impression and may affect my goals in the long run. Of course, I¡¯m not going to give up on force. It does have its uses in convincing more stubborn people, after all. So, gunboat diplomacy it is.

    First, I¡¯m going to negotiate with the Spiril leader. She seems like the most competent leader, not to mention the smartest. I¡¯m still debating whether or not to even negotiate with the Grent leader. From what I¡¯ve heard they¡¯re a race of warmongers. I could present a show of force and they might bow to me, but I don¡¯t really need any biological soldiers, given my armies of drones. What I need is an ally with brain not brawn.

    Now, time for negotiations.

    ¡°Hello, Selene. Let us have a chat.¡±

    ¡°How did you get in my coms? How do you know my name?¡± She was defensive. Understandable. After all, I had just hacked her device.

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    ¡°Your defenses are far too weak to resist me. It was a simple matter to see the files  on you. I must say, you are an interesting individual.¡±

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s private information!¡± I ignored her. Private is only when you can keep it private.

    ¡°You abandoned prisoners to their deaths to save civilians, only to later abandon them as well to save the life of one of your soldiers.¡±

    ¡°I-I-I¡± She stuttered, my words seemingly having hit a sore spot.

    ¡°But enough of that, I did not meet you to discuss your past shortcomings. We have other things to discuss. I am sure you are very interested in a few explanations.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I would like some answers. For example, why did you appear now? What is your purpose?¡±

    I went silent for a bit, her words having brought up some unpleasant memories, but I forced down my emotions.

    ¡°Very well, you shall get your answers. The short answer to your first question is that I have only just woken up. The long answer I will not tell you, but it involves the disappearance of the ¡°Ancients¡±. The answer to your second question I cannot fully reveal to you yet, but rest assured it will not bring harm to you, at least in the short term . I cannot predict the consequences in the long run, however.¡±

    ¡°And why do you want to meet me? Surely not to just answer my questions.¡±

    ¡°A smart one.¡± I chuckled. ¡°No, I met with you to discuss terms.¡±

    ¡°Terms for what? A treaty? An alliance? A surrender? With your power you could make us all yield to you.¡±

    ¡°I will not solve this with violence, as it will interfere with other plans. No, I wish to negotiate for a treaty.¡±

    ¡°What terms?¡±

    ¡°In essence, you don¡¯t attack me and help me with a few tasks and I will help protect you and do a few favours for you. You help me and I help you.¡±

    ¡°And what¡¯s the catch? This seems too good to be true. We help you a bit and you do anything we ask you to?¡±

    ¡°I will help you a limited amount of times, and I will not do anything too extreme. For example, I could help you win a battle, but I would not completely destroy a nation. I could help you build a ship, but I would not build a weapon of mass destruction. And I will not give you any technology deemed too advanced for your race to handle.¡±

    ¡°It seems more realistic now, but I still feel we are gaining more from this.¡±

    ¡°You are, but I do not need to gain much. Take it as an expression of goodwill, if you will.¡±

    "I will need to discuss this with my superiors."

    "Take your time."

    "Thank you."

 Chapter nine-Building

    Chapter nine(1)(S)

    Anomaly AA-Z-643 is one of the strangest anomalies discovered to date. It is a black hole that is somehow twisted into a ? symbol. This anomaly seems impossible and we do not know its purpose.

    It all just seemed too good to be true. Protection, and favours from an Ancient, off all things. Granted they couldn¡¯t immediately get Ancient technology, but Selene still had her doubts.

    What was in it for the Ancient? A few favours? Why would an Ancient need favours from primitives? A non-aggression policy? It could probably annihilate their entire galaxy if it wanted to.

    She needed to consider it further while they were still cut off. Back home, all the politicians would think of would be how the alliance could catapult their race to greatness. Most of them would agree without even looking through the rest of the terms, and those that looked through it wouldn¡¯t think about any potential implications.

    On paper, it looked like the perfect alliance for them, but Selene knew there was a catch. She just needed to find it.

    Chapter nine(2)(M)

    There are many more instances of the ? symbol all over the galaxy. The Ancients seemed obsessed with this symbol. Take for example, the multiple stars with artificial orbits in this shape.

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Ugh, I never liked negotiating. I was always a scholar at heart, and I always preferred more straightforward things, instead of the tangled labyrinth of diplomacy.

    Still, now I could get back to work. I needed to start building. My plans were rolling along nicely, but to carry out my objective I needed protection. I couldn¡¯t haul my unwieldy main body over to every problem, not when I would be working on a galactic scale. I needed a fleet, and it needed to be one that would frighten off enemies for trillions of years.

    First, I would need to start up my spatial compressor. I needed a place to hide a giant shipyard and a huge fleet of ships, and what better place to hide them than inside of me?

    As for materials, I had no need for them. After all, I came from a post-scarcity civilisation. All I needed was a lot of energy, and the crafters could spit out anything I could imagine.

    I focused on big, capital ships. Smaller ships were useful because they were cheap and easy to build, two considerations I did not worry about. So I built big.

    Giant battleships tens of kilometres long, huge dreadnoughts and carriers stretching for hundreds of kilometres, and the crowning jewel, a flagship. Flagships were big, even for us. Even our whole race only had a few hundred flagships in service at any one time, and they were nearly indestructible, with nothing short of 90% of its mass being vaporised disabling it, and even then they could very slowly regenerate.

    A flagship was, in essence, a weapon of mass destruction. A starship the size of a large-ish planet, they stretched for tens of thousands of kilometres and could easily destroy entire galaxy clusters.

    It was a huge investment, even for me, but I decided to build one. I had no real need for one, I could destroy every race in this galaxy with a single battleship, but it would intimidate them better than my current shell. Right now I just looked like a planet, but a starship the size of a planet should draw their attention given that their biggest ships were only a kilometre in size.

    I got to building, making two fleets: the Light fleet and the Dark fleet. The Light fleet contained out of date, smaller ships with a carrier as the lead. It would be the one seen by the aliens, letting me hide my true strength. The Dark fleet would contain the most advanced ships I had with the flagship as the head. It would be used as a show of force if I needed it.

    I sent orders to my drones and my production systems. Parts and components started being churned out, and inside an artificially enlarged space deep inside me, a fleet was taking shape. One that would shake the galaxy, and maybe the universe.

 Chapter ten-Plans(M)

    Chapter ten(M)

    So far, the anomalies described have been relatively benign. Sure, they may inconvenience some people, but they aren¡¯t any more dangerous than normal. There are, however, far more deadly anomalies.

    Engrossed in my building and planning as I was, I still noticed the pings coming from the fleets. They wanted to discuss their release, huh? Well, I had gotten what I needed, so I supposed it was time to plunge back into the universe.

    ¡°Hello, it is my impression that you are here to talk about returning to the universe.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we would like to get back to our races to discuss with them about recent events.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we have stayed in the Between for too long. I only wish that when you return you will pass into your leadership my wishes. I will not interfere with you if you do not interfere with me.¡± The leaders looked at each other, warily.

    ¡°We will convey your words to our superiors when we return.¡±

    ¡°Then I wish you all a safe voyage.¡± They did not have time to reply before the colors of the Between warped and the familiar sight of the stars came back into sight.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    As soon as they recovered from the bout of vomiting brought on by the re-entry, they dispersed and hurried in the direction of the nations, as I cloaked and too disappeared. I needed to find a suitable place to revive my race.

    After wandering in the void for a while, I found what I was looking for. Central Station, the place where all roads and stations meet. The center of our vast network.

    It was way too big to fit in a star system, so we put it in orbit around the galactic core, more specifically we moved it into a binary orbit with the supermassive black hole at the center of the core.

    I don¡¯t think that any other races have gained access to it, as it was the only station that needed codes due to it also being one of our largest fleet bases.

    Unfortunately, I don¡¯t think that there are any functional warships left there, due to most of their materials being incorporated into my current body. Still, they should have some functional scanners and records of what happened while I was away.

    I also needed to see if Terra still existed in some form or fashion. After all, it would be best if I could seed my race back on their ancient home. It would also be easy to make them develop on the same path as we did, but that was not my intention. They would need to learn for themselves, guided by scraps of their past glory. Who knows, they might surpass us in time.

    My plan was to scatter small scraps of our technology around both on their planet and in their system as well as surrounding systems. I would then encase their sector of space with a giant chronosphere, giving them enough time to develop and surpass the other races.

    Of course, I would hold the chronosphere and would stay at the edge of the sphere, and once they have advanced enough I will manipulate them into discovering me and then tell them about the past. That way they could carry on our legacy but also develop differently to us.

    I wouldn¡¯t up the time dilation too much, only enough that I could still function both inside and outside of the bubble. By my calculations, they should be ready for introduction to the rest of the galaxy in only a thousand or so years, at least to the outside observer.

    Now with my plans complete, I set course for Central Station while building a chronosphere. It was time to get the ball rolling.

 Chapter eleven-Evolution

    <u>Chapter eleven</u>

    Take, for example, anomaly AA-Z-758. It is a region where space is <u>shattered</u>, for a lack of a better word. As far as we can tell, anything that gets close to it gets shredded by shards of <u>solidified space</u>. <u>DO NOT APPROACH</u>.

    Inside the sphere, time sped by. Stars and planets were created and destroyed, manipulated by an unseen hand. On a small planet, the third one of a medium yellow star, oceans slowly appeared as the star grew brighter and warmer.

    SEA

    From the chemical laden waters sprang forth life, slowly evolving and changing. But the unseen hand was not pleased, for not everything was going to plan. So, it appeared once again, and started to manipulate the early cells, changing them and setting them on a new path, one more to its liking. And so it remained, guiding the creatures on their journeys, changing the progress of evolution.

    As the various creatures went about their business, something new was introduced. New organisms, one that produced a toxin deadly to everything, even them. As mass extinctions occurred, slowly the various creatures stared changing, learning to live with the poison and use it. After an unfortunate ice age, the new creatures started to evolve and diversify, becoming much bigger and more complex.

    As the creatures changed, they also started expanding, making their way through the shallow seas of their births and into deeper waters. Soon, complex food webs formed, from the smallest creatures to the largest, complex dances of predators and prey.

    As the oceans were conquered, the waters were slowly filled to capacity and competition grew ever fiercer. As more and more space was needed and less and less was to be had, sights were set on a new frontier. It was time to conquer the land.

    LAND

    First to emerge were the plants, great mats of greenery slowly grew and expanded, claiming dominion over vast swathes of land and sea alike. Next, animals followed the plants, emerging into a new world of plentiful food and space. But with these upsides came downsides, in the form of scorching sunshine and desiccating winds.

    But these challenges too were eventually overcome, through scaly skin and primitive lungs. As further challenges were overcome, the land too was conquered, becoming a place of lumbering beasts as well as hidden insects, of towering trees as well as humble weeds.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    But then the unseen hand came again and was disappointed, for life had once again taken a wrong path, forgoing intelligence in favour of power. It corrected this mistake by causing a great calamity, providing a clean slate for life to start again.

    As new forms of life sprang forth from the ashes of the old, a few started to try something different, something unique. They started to utilise things outside of what they had been given at birth, utilising various objects to complement their natural abilities.

    In this group, one species in particular stood out. They weren¡¯t anything special. They didn¡¯t have natural armour, big fangs or claws. They couldn¡¯t fly or produce poison. They weren¡¯t particularly strong or fast. But, they had something that all the others lacked: intelligence. They would later be referred to as Homo Sapiens, or Humans.

    Civilisation

    As this new species grew and expanded, they started utilising different, more advanced tools. Axes and knives, to chop wood and butcher prey. Spears and eventually, bows and arrows to hunt the creatures they previously ran from.

    And as they developed, a new concept was learned. Warfare. Tribes warred against each other over waterholes and herds of prey, tools meant for hunting turned to a new role.

    As the population started reaching the breaking point, new lands were discovered, new places to live and fight in. As people moved and changed, so too did their tools and behaviour. In the north, gone were the abundant herds of prey, and gone too were the large predators. In a land of lush forests and rolling hills, no longer could they roam. People started to settle down, planting crops and rearing animals. Hierarchies were formed and division of labour was established.

    As people started to live better warfare too advanced. With some people now free from gathering food, they could make weapons and fight instead. Endless variants of many weapons were made and used, from rapiers and broadswords to longbows and crossbows.

    In the far east, a new substance was discovered. A black powder, it burnt extremely quickly when lit. it was soon used in warfare, in rockets that flew and exploded. But it was in the west where this powder really came to use, in the form of a new weapon called a ¡°gun¡±.

    A long tube with one open end, the powder would be poured in, followed by a metal ball. When the powder was lit, the pressure generated would propel the ball out of the tube at very fast speeds. Soon, the gun could be seen all over the west, with almost as many variants as users.

    As ¡°gunpowder¡± spread out of Europe, warfare changed again. Gone were the days of impenetrable fortresses and towering castles. Gone were the days of valiant knights and trusty steeds. Now battles were determined by numbers and bullets, not armour and horses.

    New inventions were developed faster and faster. Steam power, electricity and the combustion engine. Warfare advanced alongside these, with breech loading guns leading into magazines leading into fully automatic machine guns. Vehicles were also developed, from horse carts to converted cars to tanks.

    Soon, man took to the sky in planes and helicopters, defying gravity. And then, the final frontier was breached. Space. People stepped into space and saw the galaxy in all its glory. Humanity as a whole took their first step on a planet other than their home, and as they explored they wondered. Humanity looked up at the night sky and wondered about the question they, and others, had asked so many times. Who else is out there? Little did they know they were going to get an answer much sooner than they expected.

 Chapter twelve-Octopus Aliens(M)

    <u>Chapter twelve</u>

    Another, even more insidious anomaly is anomaly AA-Z-800. It is a spherical area of space that is <u>warped</u>, and anyone who looks directly at it goes insane. Even if any programs or NS-AIs look at it they will become corrupted.

    Meanwhile, at the edge of the chronosphere:

    New Terra was advancing pretty well. I had to make it from scratch because it didn¡¯t exist, but that wasn¡¯t too hard and I made sure to put it in the same place and in the same galactic orbit as Old Terra had been in.

    Humanity was also developing quite well. I had to pull a few strings here and there to let them evolve and develop, but they were now advancing very stably. All I needed for them to do was develop primitive FTL, and then influence them to discover me.

    As I was watching two countries going to war again over the colour of the hat one of their leaders wore, I felt a vibration in subspace. Huh, I didn¡¯t think that any of the current raced had developed subspace travel yet. It was probably one of the ¡°hidden¡± races.

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    I watched as the ship¡¯s rudimentary subspace drive stopped the second it entered the chronosphere. I dropped by cloak and slowly made my way over. they could probably provide me with much better information than the others I had spoken to. ¡°Hidden¡± races always loved to watch younger nations.

    As I effortlessly hacked into the ship, the first things I saw were a couple of octopus-headed aliens running around screaming ¡°WHY IS THE GIANT PURPLE PLANET MOVING! HOW IS THE GIANT PURPLE PLANET MOVING?¡± I lost it right there. After laughing my guts out for a few seconds, I looked at the rest of the scene. The captain was very pale and yelling at the crew, the scientists were going insane and insisting that I violated the laws of physics (I did not, thank you very much), and the diplomats were standing in corner looking very lost.

    As I put my avatar up on their main screen they all jumped and the person at the coms suite fell out of his chair. I ignored that and started speaking.

    ¡°Greetings. What brings you to this part of the galaxy?¡±

    ¡°If you can hack our coms you must know our purpose by now. we are here to ask you some questions and negotiate.¡± One of the diplomats stood forward.

    ¡°You¡¯re a smart one, aren¡¯t you?  Yes, I¡¯ll answer your questions, but I want something in return.¡±

    ¡°We can negotiate the terms face to face.¡±

    ¡°But we are already face to face.¡± They immediately started looking around. ¡°Just look out of the window.¡±

    Mr Smart got it first. ¡°Y-Y-You¡¯re the planet.¡±

    ¡°Bingo!¡± They froze again, then started babbling on about homicidal AIs and ¡°The War of Giants¡±, which as far as I could tell was fought against a homicidal hivemind AI. Idiots. They couldn¡¯t even create an AI properly without it going insane.

    ¡°First of all, I wasn¡¯t born an AI, I was Uploaded. Second, what you¡¯re doing right now with AIs is akin to cramming several nukes into a gun, instead of using a reactor to power a laser.¡± They looked slightly ashamed, before trying to regain their momentum.

    ¡°So, where can we negotiate?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll arrange a place for you to stay while we talk. And we¡¯re not really negotiating, you¡¯re asking for information.¡±

 Chapter thirteen-Reveal

    <u>Chapter thirteen-Reveal</u>

    Many of these anomalies are clearly artificial in nature, as they seem to either defy the laws of physics or exist in ways that could not have naturally occurred.

    Khy¡¯thal¡¯eten had been extensively trained in reading the body language and negotiating with every known sapient race. He had to, he was an ambassador after all. He had not been trained, however, in negotiating with a being with no body language. Or recognizable body, for that matter. No one had expected him to have to negotiate with an AI, of all things. Every single AI ever made had gone insane, with the (apparent) exception of the one in front of him.

    It was technically an Uploaded Consciousness, not an AI. Not that it made much difference to him right now, beyond possibly having emotions he could influence.

    ¡°Our first proposal is a trade of information. You answer some of our questions and we answer some of yours.¡±

    ¡°I will answer all of the questions that I deem fit to answer, and no more. There are things that I cannot tell you, for your sake.¡± The body at the other end of the table said. It was a large hovering sphere, with what seemed to be a large camera in the middle. It spoke in perfect Standard.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    ¡°Very well, we will start with that. My first question is: Who are you?¡±

    ¡°I was a member of the race you call the Ancient.¡± Everyone in the room sat back, stunned. We were talking to a genuine, living (sort of?) Ancient! We could learn so much from this! I had to choose my questions carefully.

    ¡°How and why did you all disappear?¡±

    ¡°We were wiped out by a cosmic disaster. I cannot tell you any more than that.¡± Shock. What kind of disaster could wipe out a race with buildings that could withstand a GRB untouched? It had to have been a universe-ending disaster.

    ¡°Are you the only surviving Ancient?¡±

    ¡°Sort of. I am the only surviving member of my race, but there may be survivors from other races of approximately equivalent power left.¡± That was bad. There could be extremely powerful races barrelling down on us at this very moment! We had to prepare. But first we needed to know how to prepare.

    ¡°How powerful was your race in relation to the other ones?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll explain to you the ranking system we used. We ranked races from G to S. G rank races are still stuck on their home planet. F rank races control their home system and maybe a few surrounding ones. E rank races control up to a star sector. D rank races control up to a galaxy, C rank races control a few galaxies, B rank and A rank races control multitudes of galaxies, and S rank races can control up to an entire universe. Your race is currently a low C rank race. We were a high A rank race, one of the most powerful ones. Thankfully, there were no S rank races in existence when the disaster happened. Probably only races above peak B rank could survive the disaster in any way." As we were trying to process the information we were interuppted by it.

    "By the way, you don''t need to answer any of my questions because I pulled one peice of information of eqivalent value from your computers for each answer I gave."

    We were silent the whole way back. We had just graduated from being a big fish in a small pond to being a shrimp in the ocean.

 Chapter fourteen-HYDRA

    <u>Chapter fourteen</u>

    Some of them, however, seem more natural, or at least possible. Take for example anomaly PA-A-295, which is a habitable zone around a <u>leaking</u> gas giant with peculiar lifeforms.

    ¡°We are gathered here today to celebrate the launching of our first true FTL spaceship. The UTN Enterprise will embark on a maiden journey around the colonies, before being commissioned as the flagship of the Rapid Response Fleet.

    We will equip all new ships with the new drive and will begin retrofitting all existing ships with it. We aim to have upgraded every ship in twenty years.¡±

    Stepping off the stage after having answered the inevitable barrage of questions, the science minister wiped his head with a tissue before yelling at his assistants.

    ¡°How far along is the investigation? That one piece of technology could advance us thousands of years! Have we figured out anything new?¡±

    ¡°No sir, we¡¯re still trying to figure out how to connect to the new dimension. we have made some progress on the materials used, though. As far as we can tell its an alloy that contains graphene and cobalt, as well as a material that, frankly, shouldn¡¯t exist.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

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    ¡°This new material contains extremely high amounts of energy, but is nearly metastable. It does not react with anything, and seems indestructible. We have fired a piece of it through a star and it didn¡¯t even become warm.¡±

    The minister seemed to gain a glint in his eye. ¡°Transfer more people from the Superconductor experiment to this one. If we can make even a pale copy of it just think of all the things we could upgrade, and all the projects that were abandoned because of material constraints!¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡± The assistant scuttled off as the minister strode into a black, armoured car with no windows. When he got off the car, he was in an underground parking lot filled with identical cars. Walking towards what seemed to be a bare, concrete wall, he said a phrase and a hidden blast proof door opened. After being put through a battery of tests, the last door opened.

    In the room was a chair surrounded by six monitors. On each monitor was a different symbol, with there being one on his chair as well. Each symbol stood for a person¡¯s role: a sword crossed with a gun stood for military, a syringe crossed with a scalpel stood for medical, a coin in front of a bank note stood for economy, a man standing at a pedestal behind a scale stood for politics and law, a crate with a pile of tins on top stood for logistics, and a crowd of people stood for the public, while his own chair had an atom inside a lab beaker, standing for science.

    As he sat down, military spoke.

    ¡°Now that we are all here, this meeting of HYDRA can begin. Our first order of business is the anomaly we have discovered. We, as well as our surrounding group of stars, are moving faster than the rest of the galaxy. On average, we complete an orbit of the galaxy a thousand times faster than everyone else. We had not noticed before because it still takes hundreds of millions of years, but now that we are looking we have found that this effect seems to be in a sort of spherical shape, centring on Terra.¡±

    Science poke next. ¡°we should send the Enterprise to the edge of this sphere on her maiden flight. She¡¯ll arrive the quickest. We need to find out what¡¯s causing this phenomenon as well as the nature of it.¡±

    Public cut in. ¡°If this phenomenon is centred on Terra, its cause should also be on Terra.¡±

    ¡°But if it is on Terra we should¡¯ve found it by now, with all the deep scans we¡¯ve down over time.¡±

    ¡°Maybe the cause is located somewhere else in the solar system? After all, we can only pinpoint the centre of the anomaly to around 2 light years.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s send the Enterprise off to the edge, while we investigate back here at home.¡± They all agreed.

    Military spoke again. ¡°I hereby bring this HYDRA meeting to a close. For Humanity.¡±

    ¡°For Humanity.¡±

 Chapter fifteen-UTN Enterprise(G)

    <u>Chapter fifteen</u>

    These life forms include giant plants with hard, fibrous trunks that can grow up to 100 km long. There are also giant kilometre-long animals that feed on the abundance of drifting life.

    ¡°Ring! Ring! Ring! Crash!¡± The sound of an alarm clock hitting the wall rang out as a figure leapt out of the bed. He sighed when he looked at the wreckage on the floor, and started getting dressed. He would need to get a new clock before doing his exercises. He then smirked. Maybe he could combine both of those activities.

    ¡°George, you and your squad run through alarm clocks faster than you run through bullets!¡± Sally sighed as she looked at the pile of twisted metal on the table as well as the three men and two women standing with their heads bowed. George gave her a sheepish smile.

    ¡°Was that a compliment or a reprimand?¡±

    ¡°Both, you muscular twat.¡±

    ¡°Hey, was that meant to be an insult?¡± Sally snorted.

    ¡°Go figure it out yourself, but in the meantime, shoo. I need to actually do my job here.¡±

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Fine, fine, let¡¯s not disturb the lady with a giant wrench.¡±

    ¡°That lady with a wrench will use said wrench to knock some common sense into you if you don¡¯t scram.¡±

    The people eating in the cafeteria were treated once again to the sight of the leader of a Spec Ops squad being chased by a woman wielding a giant wrench and trying to brain him with it. Most of them just snorted and carried on eating. After all, the comedic scene happened nearly every morning.

    A pungent odour preceded George as he swaggered into the briefing room. One of the chairs swung around to reveal Charlotte pinching her nose.

    ¡°Eew, go take a shower.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s the smell of exercise, of manliness!¡±

    Charlotte pouted.

    ¡°Go take a shower or I¡¯ll spray you down with the hose they use in the hangar.¡±

    George visibly deflated as he sulked off. ¡°Fiine, I¡¯ll go take a shower.¡±

    As he re-entered the briefing room, still damp, the Tannoy sounded.

    ¡°Attention all crew, I repeat, attention all crew, we will be arriving at the target system shortly. Please report to your stations. We are going to be entering the system on high alert. That is all.¡±

    Leman nudged George. ¡°Looks like you might finally get a taste of the action you always craved.¡±

    ¡°Says you, you were the one who was rearing to ¡®finally use my baby¡¯. Why are you so attached to that thing anyways?¡±

    ¡°Its beautiful! Don¡¯t you dare insult my baby.¡±

    ¡°Chill, Mr I¡¯m in love with an inanimate object.¡±

    Charlotte sighed and pushed them apart. ¡°Can you two stop behaving like a bunch of children? I fell like I¡¯m a babysitter in a sea of fourth graders!¡±

    They both had the decency to look ashamed before they started giggling.

    ¡°Sorry Mum.¡± They said in unison.

    Charlotte down heavily in her chair and rubbed her temple. ¡°Why am I surrounded by schoolchildren.¡± She sighed. As the two men started giggling again, the Tannoy sounded.

    ¡°We have arrived in the target system, and will be looking for any anomalies¡­What the hell is that!?¡±

    As all three of them looked out the window in unison, they saw something that they¡¯d never thought they¡¯d ever see.

    Charlotte gasped. ¡°Is that a purple planet? Is it moving towards us?¡±

    George spoke in a small voice. ¡°This might be a bit too much action for me.¡±

    Leman rubbed his chin in thought. ¡°I¡¯m going to need a bigger baby for this.¡± When he saw the others staring at him, he shrugged. ¡°What? If something can¡¯t be solved with a big boom, just get more boom.¡±

    Hysterical laughter rumbled through the halls of the ship.

 Chapter sixteen-Human First Contact(M+G)

    <u>Chapter sixteen(1)(M)</u>

    They are fascinating examples of how normally terrestrial life can survive and thrive in zero-g, as well as how their adaptions differ from naturally null-g lifeforms.

    Looks like new humanity isn¡¯t a failure after all. They might be more warlike than old humanity, but they still have the same curiosity and burning drive, as well as still retaining their empathy.

    I am honestly slightly surprised that they developed the FTL drive so fast. Granted, it was nearly copied from the debris I left and it¡¯s very primitive, but it¡¯s an FTL drive nonetheless. They even managed to add in a concept that most other races wouldn¡¯t have started to explore yet, the subspace shield.

    You can imagine subspace as a raging underground river. While most other races can only lower a propeller down into the river to pull them along, humanity has already learnt to make a submarine that can fully immerse itself in the river. This means that while the other races are vulnerable in ftl and can be tracked, humanity is invulnerable and untraceable unless the other party is also in subspace.

    The fact that humanity already possessed this technology means that they could further develop that technology easier after I contacted them. Speaking of contact, their new ship was nearing the edge of the sphere. It was time for humanity to meet their mysterious benefactor.

    <u>Chapter sixteen(2)(G)</u>

    For example, the zero-g adapted terrestrial lifeforms had very similar carbon-based biology and behaviour to their planet-bound ancestors, while space-born silicon-based lifeforms usually evolve completely differently.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that this is a bit too much of a coincidence?¡± Leman whispered as they crept through the cold, metallic corridors.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± George whispered back as he flinched and raised his rifle when a drone floated past.

    ¡°You know, us meeting this giant planet, this giant planet opening a hangar for us and the drones ignoring us. Don¡¯t you feel like this is a bit too perfect?¡±

    ¡°It might be a bit too perfect, but it¡¯s also the best chance we have right now. Haven¡¯t you thought about it? This ship might be the Mysterious Benefactor, the one that¡¯s been dropping tech all over the place. Imagine what we might find! If we find an intact piece of equipment, we¡¯ll be hailed as heroes!¡±

    Leman snorted. ¡°Fame is useless if you¡¯re dead.¡±

    ¡°So just don¡¯t die!¡±

    ¡°Easy for you to sa¡­¡± He was interrupted by George literally jumping on him and putting his hand over his mouth.

    ¡°Shut up! There¡¯s a drone coming over that looks bigger than the others.¡± He saw Leman¡¯s face suddenly go white. ¡°It¡¯s behind me, isn¡¯t it.¡± Leman frantically nodded.

    ¡°Please follow me.¡± The Drone¡¯s synthesised voice rang out in perfect Terran Standard. George and Leman looked at each other.

    ¡°Could you please punch me? Ow! Yep, I¡¯m going insane.¡±

    ¡°Do we follow it?¡± Leman voiced hesitantly

    ¡°Let¡¯s see where it takes us first.¡±

    They followed the drone through a labyrinth of corridors and rooms. They walked past great storerooms piled high with rare materials. They encountered huge racks of inactive drones, and towering hangars of various ships. They were led past many factories, full of huge cubical machines spitting out all sort of materials and components. In the end, the were led into what seemed like a giant bridge.

    As they walked in, the room came to life. Row after row of seats rose out of the ground, as holographic screens and monitors flared to life. The front of the room was one big window, showcasing a sight that stunned the two men. The window opened into a giant room, one that they couldn¡¯t see the end of. As lights flickered to life the true magnitude of the room was revealed. Their HUDs informed them that the room was around 2000 kilometres in radius, and was mainly taken up by one, huge sphere, which was most likely a reactor. As they stared up at the moon-sized reactor in complete and utter shock, they saw something that made their jaws drop even more.

    At the head of the room, a hologram emitter flickered to life and projected what was unmistakably a human. Well, that was until they saw the long ears. As they stared at the projection, it turned to them and spoke.

    ¡°Welcome to the USC Ark, New Humanity.¡±

 Chapter seventeen-The Pledge and the Promise

    <u>Chapter seventeen</u>

    Of course, there are also examples of convergent evolution, such as how many space-born lifeforms evolve something similar to chlorophyll to help harvest stellar energy. There are, however, also many cases of divergent evolution, such as how many space-born lifeforms evolve some form of energy shield.

    The maiden voyage of UTN Enterprise marked a turning point for humanity. Whereas before they hid and watched, wondering what could be out there, now they emerged and took large strides forwards.

    The discovery of the USC Ark rocketed humanity to unforeseen heights. They had gone in with a spaceship at the cutting edge of humanity¡¯s technology. They had come out with a spaceship beyond humanity¡¯s wildest dreams.

    The news that humanity had been watched over from the beginning of their existence rocked the world. Nearly every religion collapsed, as deities and religious figures of all sorts were revealed to be scams.

    Even as the public reeled from this earthshattering discovery, the government and military grabbed onto the opportunity like drowning men. Science teams were sent to learn all they could from unending databanks of knowledge, historians browsed through long timelines, trying to set history right. The military sent engineers and generals, to learn new technology and ways of waging war.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    Of course, there were the greedy ones. Scientists sneaking into restricted areas and dying from automatic security, politicians saying that everything the ship had should be given to them ¡°for the greater good.¡± The Ark responded with a short speech.

    ¡°I will not give you all I have, for one simple reason. You are not ready. You are still a young race, prone to arrogance and stupidity. Would you give a gun to a child who wants to beat up another? No. I have personally seen civilisations who, once they received advanced technology, immediately proceeded to wipe themselves out with it over a nickname. You shall be receiving what I have to offer at an appropriate pace, so that you can grow and mature enough to not kill yourselves out of complete stupidity and foolishness.¡±

    Of course, there were also the things that the Ark did not reveal, or at least fully. When asked how old it is it answered with a shocking answer.

    ¡°I am older than this universe.¡±

    Or when it was asked how old humanity went extinct, it was silent for a while before answering.

    ¡°That is not something you need to know, but I will tell you, nonetheless. We were wiped out by a disaster that caused the death of our universe.¡± That day, humanity was humbled before a being that had experienced the death of a universe and the destruction of its people.

    What was even more humbling was when the military delegation of the greatest generals and thinkers of the century arrived, and was mocked by the Ark. It told them that they were mere babies in a sandpit, proud of stepping on each other¡¯s sandcastles. It then proceeded to tell them about a war fought over galaxies.

    ¡°Let me tell show you a real war. The War Of The Gods. It was a war between galaxies, fought with weapons that drew upon otherworldly energies and shattered reality itself.¡±

    The dignitaries were shown imaged of shattered suns and sundered worlds, of monstrous fleets using esoteric weapons that defied physics and galaxies getting torn apart. That day, humanity was humbled by a being that had fought in a war beyond their comprehension, a war that had stained the entire universe crimson.

    That day, humanity was humbled, and learned how truly small and insignificant they were. That day, new humanity made a pledge and a promise. They pledged to carry on the legacy of old humanity, and promised to expand, to grow, and to take back their crown.

 Chapter eighteen-The Dead Zone(S)

    <u>Chapter eighteen</u>

    Some examples of space-born lifeforms are the famous Kilthalopes, which are giant lifeforms that possess multiple giant, tubular heads and long, thick tentacles. They can also spew plasma out of their beaks.

    Selene sighed as she stood on the bridge of her flagship. She was old now, and many years had passed. Even with the latest age-enhancement technology, she was near retirement. She thought back to her younger days, and that day which she had never forgotten.

    After the meeting with the talking planet, she hurried back and reported everything to her superiors. There was mass panic, for a while, but the planet had never been sighted again.

    She had suspicions, of course. One of which was the Dead Zone, which had appeared the day the planet had disappeared. The Dead Zone was a sector of space of which nothing was known. No sensors could see anything inside it, and any ships that were sent in were sent out shortly after with unconscious crews and wiped databanks.

    That was why she had stationed one fleet to patrol the Dead Zone at all times. Many others had called her paranoid and the measure a waste, but she couldn¡¯t shake off the nagging feeling that she needed to keep an eye on it. The Dead Zone Patrol was called ¡°Cheap Vacation¡± by many people, as there was nothing much to do except making sure not to crash or steer into the zone.

    Most sensors couldn¡¯t penetrate the one, but what was inside could still be seen with the eye and a non-electronic telescope. That was why she was here. The observation station had reported strange occurrences inside the Dead Zone. Giant asteroids moving irregularly, the light given off by stars blinking, and even the changing of the orbits of some stars.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    Some of these things could be written off as random occurrences, but together they made Selene very nervous.

    She had even gone as far as to always station a dreadnought there, making the patrol fleet into a main battle fleet. This had attracted even more controversy, but she had fought tooth and nail for it, so eventually the council crumbled. Only then could she shake off the paranoia, if only barely.

    It was her fleet, and she would make sure it stayed there even if the world crumbled, if only to prevent it from crumbling more.

    Selene was shaken out of her contemplation by a crewmember yelling out. She shook her head and listened.

    ¡°Probes report sensor anomalies all over the board!¡± She gasped. Were her worst nightmares coming true?

    ¡°Report in more detail.¡± She yelled back, trying to keep the shudder out of her voice.

    ¡°Probes report total sensor blackout before returning to normal.¡±

    ¡°What about ship sensors?¡±

    ¡°Ship sensors¡­¡± The crewmember went silent.

    ¡°What is it? Report!¡±

    ¡°T-T-The ship sensors report a total lift of the veil for 28 milliseconds before it dropped again, this time with optical interference as well.¡± The bridge went silent. One brave crewmember shakingly opened his mouth.

    ¡°D-D-Does this mean the veil isn¡¯t natural?¡±

    Selene sat it silence for a few seconds, before sighing and standing up.

    ¡°No, it is not. And if I¡¯m not wrong, whoever or whatever built it is ready to come out and play. When I called in a favour from the Hidden Council, even they said they wouldn¡¯t be able to build something like it, which means that something bigger and badder than the combined Hidden and Surface councils is coming.¡±

    The second she finished her words; the lights flickered. A cheerful voice rang out in accented Union Standard.

    ¡°Hey, you make us sound so evil, like big baddies! I¡¯m actually a very nice person. Didn¡¯t you get taught to not judge a person by their looks?¡±

    The entire bridge sat paralyzed as the sensor board revealed a torrent of ships pouring out of the veil, ranging from hundreds of meters to kilometres long, with the crowning jewel being a ship that was marked as being 30 kilometres long.

    Selene managed to choke out a final sentence as the giant ship flew over towards her flagship at speeds that should¡¯ve been impossible.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t paranoid enough.¡±

 Chapter nineteen-Humanity

    <u>Chapter nineteen</u>

    These gregarious creatures live in giant flocks, with big enough flocks possessing a Kilthalope King, which allows the flock to connect to each other too exponentially increase the power of their shields and plasma. One particularly large herd was seen destroying a planet whose inhabitants had fired upon them.

    The reveal of Humanity to the wider galaxy was disastrous.

    The status quo had been going on for so long that nearly everyone had gotten used to it. So naturally no one was prepared when a newly discovered race steamrolled right through everything. After all, weren¡¯t newly discovered races meant to be in little more than tin cans? No one would¡¯ve thought that they¡¯d one day meet a race with equal or better tech than they had.

    The first meeting between Humanity and the Council went something like this:

    Humanity: Hi!

    Council: Hello, you now legally belong to us. Whose slave do you want to be?

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    H: Who said so? Why?

    C: We said so and because we want your stuff.

    H: Nah, we don¡¯t agree.

    C: You can¡¯t do that!

    H: Yeah we can, we¡¯ve got bigger guns. (proceeds to play a video of a planet being blown up.)

    C: Oh, I guess you can do that.

    H: ??

    Of course, there was a lot more red tape, and all of it was hidden behind carefully constructed facades and polite language, but that was the gist.

    The Council, used to supressing weaker races who crumbled easily, suddenly found themselves up against a brick wall. Used to being in a position of strength, they were unprepared to negotiate from a weak standpoint. All their blustering and threats did nothing as the human delegation systematically dismantled their arguments and revealed their traps and loopholes.

    Their attempts to threaten humanity ended abruptly when their representatives were taken on a tour of a minor military outpost, and their attempts to sneak in spies also ended when the spies were teleported into the middle of a council meeting, naked and unconscious. Pirates soon learned not to mess with humans too, when a single human cargo vessel fought off an entire pirate fleet with no damage sustained.

    Even as the politicians and diplomats bickered, the rest of humanity sprang into action. The governments, the militaries, even the criminal underworlds of various races were infiltrated and taken over. Human businesses and companies hurried to put their hands in every pie, churning out new products tailored to new biology for all kinds of purposes, flooding markets with cheap, reliable items.

    After the Great Reveal hardly a century and a half ago, humanity had been more united than ever before, countries, companies, even criminals were roped in to help develop humanity. After all, the criminal underworld would be a good source of illegal information later.

    Driven by the Ark, Humanity hadn¡¯t just ran, they had soared. But, even as new technologies, items and advances were released almost daily, humanity had grown grim. New enemies had been discovered, their emissions matching the ones in the Ark¡¯s databanks of Old Humanity¡¯s ancient enemies.

    Even as humanity on the surface met the Council peacefully and in the spirit of cooperation, underneath humanity was gearing for war.

 Chapter twenty-Slaver Raid(G)

    <u>Chapter twenty</u>

    Of course, they are but one kind of space-born life, one of many. However, space-born life is less diverse than terrestrial life, as the harsh conditions mean that there is no room for evolutionary error.

    George crept slowly along the long, winding corridors. Silently, he cursed in his heart. It was meant to be a normal slaver raid, but everything had gone to hell when the slaver reinforcements had showed up with a goddamned battleship. Granted, it was an alien one instead of a Terran one, but his squad had only come in a small ship, and they were pinned by the enemy vehicles. Thankfully, they couldn¡¯t bring anything big into the base, but his shields could only hold up to so much fire before depleting.

    His squad had decided to split up and wage guerrilla warfare, but that had proved to be a bad idea. Even as he had managed to surprise a patrol and plant charges on their vehicle, Leman had been surprised by three patrols and had been pinned down. Charlotte, meanwhile, was slowly making her way through the vents to the command centre, to hopefully take out the leadership.

    He was the only one who could help Leman, and so here he was now, carefully making his way to where Leman was. Hopefully he would be able to sneak up behind one of the patrols, to create enough chaos that Leman could escape.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    As he arrived in the vicinity of the skirmish, he swore as he heard the characteristic barks of a heavy bolt cannon. Where the slavers had gotten one of them he did not know; what he did know was that it would chew through his shields like they were made of paper. He grabbed his comms as his brain spun. A change of plan was needed.

    ¡°Leman, change of plans. They¡¯ve got a heavy bolt. That thing will deplete my shield in seconds.¡±

    ¡°I know, its depleting my cover too fast for comfort!¡±

    ¡°I need a distraction for long enough to get a charge into the nest.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try. Gas out in 3 2 1. Go!¡±

    George sprinted through the gas, using his boot jets to get a boost over the top of the nest. He jumped again, this time over the nest, dropping a charge into the nest. As the gas cleared, he started sprinting away. The charge exploded seconds after, but before it had gone up in flames the heavy bolt had managed to get his shield down to 20%.

    ¡°Heavy bolt down, and my shields are almost gone as well. You ready yet?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, my shield booster¡¯s up. let me handle the rest.¡± As the com clicked off, Leman took a deep breath before standing up, unleashing his minigun at the slavers.

    The minigun roared, its eight barrels unleashing depleted uranium alloy bullets coated with dense plasma. Rounds fifteen centimetres long hammered into enemies as return fire tinkled harmlessly off a glowing blue barrier that had sparked into existence.

    As the last slaver fell, full of bullet holes, George ran in to find Leman laughing maniacally amidst a pile of bodies while blood was painted all over the walls.

    ¡°Leman! You didn¡¯t need to disassemble them! We could¡¯ve captured a few for questioning.¡±

    ¡°Sorry captain, I was too caught up in the action.¡± Leman didn¡¯t sound at all apologetic, but George just sighed. At that moment, their coms rang. Charlotte¡¯s voice came through the speakers.

    ¡°Target eliminated.¡± George sighed again, this time in relief.

    ¡°Good, we can finally get out of here.¡±

 Chapter twenty one-A day in the life of a shipyard owner

    <u>Chapter twenty one</u>

    In conclusion, space-born life and terrestrial life are similar, but different too. They face many of the same pressures, but they also face wildly different challenges. -Ending chapter from Space-born and Terrestrial life: Similarities and differences

    Aurelois slammed his fist down on the table as he yelled at his assistant.

    ¡°What do you mean it won¡¯t be finished? I specifically told them that it would need to be off the rails in six months max or we¡¯d get a jam!¡± The assistant winced at the loud voice and replied shakily.

    ¡°I was told that one of their supply runs had been held up somewhere.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care that their illegal moonshine or whatnot was held up by border checks! Just give them what they need and tell them that if it isn¡¯t finished in two months, I¡¯ll personally de-rail them.¡±

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    As his assistant scampered off to pass on his message, Aurelois sighed. He was getting too old to be yelling at ignorant youngsters. He was at the ripe old age of 165, for heavens sake. He should be peacefully enjoying his retirement in some beachside resort on one of the colonies, not stuck in space, grumpy as ever.

    He looked through the shipyard schedules. It was high tide, with no less than twenty ships docked at his yard. That was nothing to the giant shipyards in Sol, which could handle thousands of ships at once, but it was a lot for a small shipyard this far out.

    As he was assigning mechanics to the newest ship in dock, the alarm rang.

    ¡°Warning, pirates inbound.¡± He straightened up. Finally, some action!

    Aurelois sprang to his feet and ran for the command centre. It was a small one, with only a few seats to manage the correspondingly small number of defences. They were all good, though. he had used one of his contacts to get a set of old military gear. It was more than enough to deal with the occasional pirates.

    As he arrived, he saw his security director running firing solutions with his LAI. He didn¡¯t have the money to get a SAI, and no full AI was willing to work with him in the middle of nowhere. Too boring, they said. Still, it was an honest job. He had even built up a reputation for being good and reliable.

    ¡°Firing solutions complete. Likelihood of complete victory with no losses: 98%¡±

    ¡°Why so low?¡± he asked.

    ¡°The Biter is still being towed. There is a small chance that the enemy might hit the lowered shields.¡±

    ¡°Nothing critical then. That should be fine. Fire when ready.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡± Plasma-sheathed shells travelling at 1/40 of C rocketed out of gun barrels and sprang towards their targets, punching holes clean through the pirate ships in sprays of plasma and light.

    ¡°All pirate ships destroyed. No damage incurred.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. Pick up survivors and put them on the next supply convoy.¡±

    As Aurelois walked back to his office, he sighed as he thought of all the paperwork he needed to write. Just another day in the life of a shipyard owner.

 Chapter twenty two-Spy?

    <u>Chapter twenty two</u>

    The terrans are a strange species. They are very warlike, but are also very empathetic. They have very strict rules to war, ones that they usually adhere to religiously. On the very few occasions they broke their rules they were pushed into corners with no options left, and the one who issued the orders always resigns immediately.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that its suspicious?¡± Scipulous whispered to his partner as they lay in wait outside a terran scientific outpost. It had been very hard sneaking into orbit, and even harder getting this close to the outpost. They had even had to drift with no power for weeks to get into a good path.

    ¡°What?¡± His partner whispered back. Scipulous didn¡¯t really know his partner all that well; they hadn¡¯t been friends, or in the same class.

    ¡°You know, the terrans in general. They suddenly appear one day with the best tech in the galaxy, and out of the Dead Zone! Not to mention the period of their history which they just don¡¯t talk about. They don¡¯t even allow us access to certain parts of their space!¡± His partner shrugged.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°Every race has their secrets and things they don¡¯t want to talk about. Don¡¯t we have the Great Strife?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but they have so many strange things about them. Don¡¯t you find it strange?¡± His partner snorted arrogantly.

    ¡°No matter how strange they are, they cannot stand against the might of the Grent Empire! They are nothing compared to the empire.¡±

    ¡°You do realise they have better tech than us?¡±

    ¡°it does not matter; the empire will always prevail!¡±

    Scipulous just snorted. He did not have the arrogance of his companion, nor his stupidity. After all, patriotism would not save him from plasma packets, nor would it protect against the enemy. He would rather keep his life, thank you very much.

    ¡°Well, what do we have here? A couple of spies, perhaps. Didn¡¯t anyone tell you its rude to spy on people without their permission?¡± A cheerful female voice rang out behind them as he was musing. His shock dissipated a moment later as he fell into unconsciousness.

    ¡°Hello!¡± The same voice greeted him as he woke up, his head feeling like he had just been run over by a herd of dristali. He looked around with bleary eyes to see a white room with a bed and a toilet. The front of his cell was a translucent forcefield that kept him inside, with a cheerful-looking human female standing behind it.

    He quickly woke up fully and panicked at being captured. He instinctively tried to activate the suicide device in his spine, before then trying to use the pill hidden in his tooth. Realisation slowly set in when that failed as well. He was truly trapped. He looked nervously at the human smirking at him.

    ¡°Realised your suicide devices don¡¯t work? How smart of you. Really, you were so easy to find. You followed the exact same routine as all 19 agents who came before two. I suppose your superiors though sending two of you would work better. Idiots. All it did was make you more visible on our sensors.¡±

    Scipulous¡¯ nervousness rose further at the unhinged grin the human female was giving him. He well and truly panicked when she started laughing.

    ¡°We are going to have so much fun.¡±

 Chapter twenty three-Headaches(S)

    <u> </u>

    <u>Chapter twenty three</u>

    They also have a very strange sense of duty. They will routinely go out of their way to help another sapient, or even a pet, just because ¡°it was the right thing to do¡±. -extract from ¡°Terran psychology: A look inside the mind of a human¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, we have no information on them? What has the intelligence department been doing, sitting back and relaxing? Get me the head of the department on the phone!¡± Selene irritably demanded from her aide. The aide nervously complied.

    ¡°Hello? What do you mean, we don¡¯t know anything about them? I need info!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, but we really know nothing. Every single one of our agents has been captured and delivered back to us with no recollection of what happened. Just the week before I found one of my agents naked, bound, and gagged sitting on my desk! All the intelligence agencies of the other races report the same things happening to them.¡±

    ¡°So we have this new race, with tech way beyond our own, with completely unknown capabilities, and no info on them whatsoever?¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so, mam.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Keep trying to get info but stop sending agents into their bases. Try and gather more information from their public. Dismissed.¡±

    Selene sighed as she put down the phone. These ¡°terrans¡± were driving her crazy! They had popped up out of the Dead Zone one day, with more secrets than the rest of them had put together.

    Their weapons were completely crazy, from the few times they had been seen used in. Their weapons all fired what looked to be metal rounds covered with a layer of plasma. How they did that was beyond her. The best the Union had were plasma shotguns, which shot out sprays of plasma packets that dissipated seconds after leaving the barrel.

    Their plasma seemed to stick to the rounds basically forever. One of their sniper rounds had gone for miles, and the impact crater still showed plasma scars. Their weapons themselves were also insanely powerful. Their standard-issue rifles could punch through starship-grade alloys a meter thick, while one of their sniper rifles had been seen bringing down a shuttle by going through the hull, both engines, a few bulkheads, the pilot, and then out the other end.

    Worst of all were their shields. Their personal shields were very powerful, and an extreme hassle to deal with. It would take a heavy bolt cannon less time to destroy a tank than the shields of a human soldier, while their armour could hold up for another second or two. Whereas it would take hundreds of soldiers and armoured support for the Union to destroy a heavy bolt cannon, a mere squad of terrans could do the same with ease, not to mention their special forces.

    All in all, it would be extremely difficult for the Union to defeat the humans, even if it used all its resources, which would never happen. It would be best for the Union to leave humanity alone unless something very major happened.

    Selene sighed again. This new race was full of mysteries, and full of even more headaches for her.

 Chapter twenty four

    <u>Chapter twenty four</u>

    Biologically, the terran race is an anomaly. Whereas most sapients can only use very limited cyberware and biomods, terrans have an 100% acceptance rate. It is as if they were made to use these implants. -extract from ¡°Terran biology; a look inside the body of a human¡±

    It had taken Selene days to get an audience with the human ambassador; it seemed that everyone in the Union wanted to talk to him. But here she was now, walking towards his office. Why was she so nervous? She was just meeting an ambassador, not fighting a war. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

    ¡°Come in.¡± A voice sounded out from inside the room. She pushed open the door and headed in. A desk was placed at the back of the room, with the ambassador sitting behind it. Around the room were hung portraits of various humans, while the floor was covered in a cloth carpet. The space behind the ambassador¡¯s chair was covered by a peculiar painting. The picture was of a starry night, but the centre of the picture was a completely blank circle. She had seen this painting in every single human¡¯s office she had ever been to, but none of them had uttered a word about it, even going as far as to refuse to answer any questions about it. She hoped to get an answer today.

    ¡°Good morning, Head Selene. Please, take a seat.¡± The human ambassador waved at a padded seat in front of his desk. She took it.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Good morning, Ambassador Masile. Thank you for meeting with me today.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure. Drink?¡± He took out a bottle of alcohol from under his desk and two glasses.¡±

    ¡°No thanks. Should you be drinking that right now though?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get drunk because of my biomods, so its fine.¡± He poured himself a glass and took a sip. ¡°Now, what brings you to my office?¡±

    ¡°I am here to ask a few questions officially, as well answer some of my own.¡±

    ¡°Well, I think I can help you with some of those.¡±

    ¡°First of all, we have heard of your ¡®biomods¡¯ and ¡®cyberware¡¯. What are they?¡±

    ¡°Biomods are genetic alterations to specific groups of cells that perform specific tasks. For example, I have a biomod in my digestive system that stops me from getting drunk. Cyberware are electronic systems or components linked directly to a person¡¯s nervous system. For example, I have cyberware in my brain that allows me to perfectly remember everything that I have ever experienced. It is both a blessing and a curse, but necessary for the job.¡±

    Selene recoiled in horror and excitement. ¡°But how? All cybernetics we have ever made inevitably killed their users.¡±

    ¡°Your cyberware is far too primitive. You are trying to forcibly send electricity into the nerves, which kills them. We can link person and machine so flawlessly that the body regards the machine as part of itself, rather than rejecting it as a foreign object.¡±

    ¡°Before I ask any more official questions, can I ask one of my own?¡±

    ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Why does every single human I¡¯ve ever met have that painting?¡± She indicated the peculiar painting.

    Ambassador Masile was silent for a few seconds, before turning around and looking at the painting. He let out a sigh before speaking.

    ¡°It is a reminder. An object that serves to remind us, one that keeps us anchored.¡±

    ¡°A reminder of what?¡±

    He sat in contemplation for a few seconds before he let out another, weary sigh. His voice as he replied spoke of his age.

    ¡°A promise we made. A Pledge and a Promise¡±

 Chapter twenty five-Two new friends!

    <u>Chapter twenty-five</u>

    Furthermore, almost all their organs possess the ability to regenerate from just a few cells. It is astonishing how their body can function without these organs for long enough to regenerate, in some cases for days. -extract from ¡°Terran biology; a look inside the body of a human¡±

    Humanity had never been one to sit back and relax; while the Union was bickering about what to do about the new arrival, humanity has stepped up their efforts. Now that they had an approximate idea of what forces were present in the galaxy, good old paranoia shone through.

    Humanity immediately assumed the worst, and war preparations were started. New planets were discovered at a great rate, far away from the star rails (human name for the ¡°conduits¡±). Colonisation packages were immediately sent over, full of nanobots that immediately started to convert the planet for human use. On numerous factory worlds and military bases, new ships, troops and equipment were churned out. Huge voidforts were built far from any stars, with hyperdrive anchors capable of pulling ships out of star rails.

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    One day, 2 sol years after first contact, humanity discovered its first intelligent alien species. Two of them. One of humanity¡¯s automated exploration ships dropped out of subspace into the middle of a battle between two species undiscovered by the Union.

    The aliens were startled at first by the sudden appearance of a new ship, and both sides opened fire. The exploration ship wasn¡¯t programmed to attack and so raised its shields. After shooting at the shields for half an hour, the aliens both realised that it was futile to continue attacking the newcomer and proceeded to continue with their battle around the exploration vessel. Which was promptly stopped by a human fleet arriving.

    The negotiations afterwards were tense. The two alien species turned out to be an insectoid species and a reptilian species. The whole war also turned out to be a misunderstanding. The reptilian species had a history of blood feuds, and one was launched when one of the first contact team was accidentally killed by an insectoid alien, who thought they were robots stealing his livestock. The blood feud then escalated until the whole of both species were involved.

    After some explaining of these facts and a few threats from all sides, both sides agreed to drop the matter and reconcile. This was helped by the humans threatening to blow up the moons of both their planets if they continued to fight.

    After a bit of posturing and a few tense moments, a peace treaty was signed. Humanity as a whole¡¯s first reaction to them was a bit fearful, but they were soon accepted and after a couple of years they had merged into human society and had adopted many of the same customs and idiosyncrasies as humans. The Union, of course, didn¡¯t find out about the whole matter until a few more years later. When they did find out, they made a big fuss about it and said it was illegal. Humanity proceeded to completely ignore them until the whole thing blew over and everyone forgot about it.

 Chapter twenty six-Terran lawyers

    <u>Chapter twenty six</u>

    Terrans have a very strange culture, or cultures. Indeed, even after every other spacefaring race has adopted one unified culture, humans still retain their diverse cultures, some seemingly made of several different ones combined. One wonders how they manage to make sense of it all. -extract from a speech from the Union Institute of Culture

    ¡°What you have done is illegal!¡± The Grent Ambassador was practically foaming at the mouth as he yelled at the Terran Ambassador, who just chuckled.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t violated any laws that I am aware of.¡±

    ¡°Article 20 states that any new species found must be reported immediately to the council.¡± The Sythren Ambassador cut in. The Terran Ambassador nudged the human in all black standing at his side, before unashamedly hiding behind the Spiril Ambassador

    ¡°I call upon my lawyer.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t do that!¡± The Grent Ambassador roared in outrage. The human lawyer cleared his throat and spoke.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Article 234 states that ambassadors may call upon experts to represent them when discussing a topic outside their knowledge.¡±

    ¡°Fine, the lawyer can stay. Now, can we please get back on topic.¡± The Spiril Ambassador sighed and shook her head.

    ¡°Alright. Article 165 states that all first contact protocols can be delayed at the discretion of the party that initiates contact in case of an emergency. Article 68 defines what is an emergency, and warfare in included as an emergency.¡±

    ¡°But that war ended 3 years ago!¡±

    ¡°Article 249 states that a state of war between two entities is only considered as over if a full cessation of hostilities is agreed upon by both parties. What was signed three years ago was a peace treaty, with one of the clauses explicitly stating that the treaty was temporary. The official cessation of hostilities document was only signed a month ago. Article 48 gives a month for treaties to be finalised before they must be announced.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of half of those articles, and we only use the first hundred articles normally.¡± The Sythren Ambassador tried to argue but was immediately shut down.

    ¡°Ignorance is not an excuse. As long as there are official written records of a law, it is considered to be in effect.¡±

    ¡°But then we might have to arrest a quarter of everyone if all those laws were strictly followed!¡±

    The human shrugged. ¡°Not my problem. Now, does anyone else want to resist?¡± As he let out a predatory smile, all the other ambassadors shivered. It was as if the lawyer¡¯s smile lengthened unnaturally, and he revealed a mouthful of sharp teeth. As the lawyer strode out of the room, the Spiril Ambassador turned around and quietly asked the Terran Ambassador a question.

    ¡°W-W-What was that?¡±

    ¡°A lawyer. The scariest being ever to exist. Trust me, you Do Not want to get on their bad side. I once saw a minister literally get buried under lawsuits after he insulted a lawyer.¡±

    The Spiril Ambassador thought about the creepy smile and gulped. He decided that he was never going anywhere a human lawyer ever again.

 Interlude - The Crazy One 1

    <u>Interlude I</u>

    Terran history is basically made up of almost continuous wars with sparce periods of peace in between. Almost no other culture is so warlike, and none seem to hate themselves as much as the humans. After all, purposefully trying to make yours own race go extinct is pretty stupid. -extract from ¡°Terran History; a look inside the history of humanity¡±

    The sky was blue. Was the sky always blue? He could¡¯ve sworn it had been green before. Or was it purple? He couldn¡¯t tell. The colours just all blended together. How were you meant to tell which was which? After all, they would lie to you. Never trust a colour, his ma had said. He felt like it was sound advice.

    He was happy. The shriekers had finally calmed down, and small-him came back. He liked small him. Small-him wouldn¡¯t lie to him. The Hard Ones would though. They always lied, even to themselves. They had clouds of lies around them, whispering to them. Why didn¡¯t they fight the lies? Lies were bad, after all. They snuck into your ears and told you untruths until you were consumed. He wouldn¡¯t catch any lies. Small-him always scared away the lies whenever they tried to whisper to him.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    He sniffed at the air and looked out of the nest. The Sad One was there again. He smelt of pain and anguish, of cold and hard. The sorrows were still buzzing round his head, but there were less lies than last time. That was good. He was happy that the Angry One was not here. That one smelt of anger and hurt, of smoke and hot. He had too many angers around his head, but there were also fears and hurts.

    A few of the Strange Ones came by. He didn¡¯t like the strange ones; they confused him. He couldn¡¯t smell anything from them, and there were strange little things buzzing around their heads that looked like lies but weren¡¯t lies. The not-lies only whispered to others, not the Strange Ones. He had tried to talk to a not-lie, but it had ignored him.

    He stiffened as a tray was slid under the door. There was some of the green water and some red balls. The green water had some happies swimming in it, so he drank it. One of the red balls was filled with lies, so he left that and ate the rest of the balls. He gave one ball to the Sad One, but the Sad One refused it. Still, some of the sorrows had gone away, and that was good. He didn¡¯t like the sorrows either; they were heavy and bogged you down.

    Suddenly, loud sounds started echoing throughout the tunnels. It sounded similar to the shriekers, but not the same. It was far louder and hurt his ears. The Sad One seemed scared, as fears started flocking to him. At that moment, another group strode down the tunnels. They were similar to the Strange Ones as he couldn¡¯t smell anything from them, but they didn¡¯t have any not-lies around them. In fact, they didn¡¯t have anything around them. No lies, no sorrows or happies. The Sad One was even more scared, as the fears around his head were so dense his head couldn¡¯t be seen. He cowered in a corner as the Strange Ones who weren¡¯t Strange Ones came over to his nest.

 Interlude - The Crazy One II

    <u>Interlude II</u>

    There have recently been rumours of illegal bioweapon research by the Federation. I assure you that no such things are happening or will ever happen. Bioweapon research is banned, and the Federation doesn¡¯t break laws. -part of an announcement by a Federation spokesperson.

    Crack! The sharp sound of a sniper rifle resounded through the docking bay as the head of a grent slaver exploded.

    ¡°Last one down, sir.¡± A lithe figure jumped down from the ledge she had been perched on. ¡°Sir, don¡¯t you think that there are too many defenders for a normal slaver base?¡±

    ¡°Of course, why do you think we got deployed here? Int got news that this could be a possible genetic research lab.¡± Olliver wiped off some blood and waited for his shield to recharge.

    ¡°But why would slavers do genetic research? Where would they get the funds?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why we were deployed, Ava. Command suspects that the slaver group is actually a government front for bioweapon development.¡±

    ¡°But bioweapons are illegal!¡±

    ¡°Nukes were illegal too, back in the day. Didn¡¯t stop WW3. Hell, pretty much every single species probably possesses at least one banned superweapon. MAD and all that.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°Urgh, that doesn¡¯t make it acceptable.¡±

    ¡°We aren¡¯t here to worry about that, we¡¯re here to ¨C Contact!¡±

    Olliver dove behind the corner as a storm of gunfire came flying down the corridor from heavily fortified positions. He threw a mix of lethal and disabling grenades back before leaning out and returning fire.

    ¡°Damn it! Why is the prison block so heavily defended? Ava, give me covering fire!¡±

    ¡°Roger that! Deploying assault arms.¡±

    As soon as she finished speaking, robotic arms extended from Ava¡¯s metallic backpack, each tipped with a weapon. While she rained down death on the enemy, Olliver overcharged his shields and sprang out, boosting down the hallway. With his thrusters overcharged too, he smashed strait through the temporary barricade and killed 3 slavers with his blades before they could react. In a maelstrom of metal and energy, he massacred the remaining slavers.

    ¡°Do you always have to be so violent, Ollie?¡± Ava walked up looking at a red coloured Olliver.

    ¡°That¡¯s Sir Ollie for you.¡± He called back jokingly, waiting for his armour to clean itself. When he wasn¡¯t covered in blood and guts, they set off down the hallway, finding empty cells as they went.

    ¡°What were they defending?¡± Olliver wondered, just as he bumped into an Ava who had frozen. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I think you should see this.¡±

    ¡°What is it-Good God, what is this?¡±

    In an extra large cell, sat an abomination. It looked as if someone had taken the new insectoid species, affectionately known as Bugs, crossed them with a squid, then added cybernetics. When it saw them, the abomination suddenly started chattering and retreated into a corner of its cell, cowering.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Olliver repeated. Ava looked up from a nearby terminal and answered.

    ¡°From the notes, it seems like they were trying to create a hivemind species who could control drones. What they got, was a species which could.¡± she paused for a second, before continuing on, visibly shaken. ¡°Read the emotions and possibly minds of others.¡±.

    ¡°What?! A telepath?¡±

    ¡°It appears so.¡±

    ¡°Very well. It appears I will need to use a prototype for this.¡± Olliver took out a large machine and activated it. A hologram of the earth clutched by a fist appeared, and a voice spoke.

    ¡°Why has this prototype been activated?¡±

    ¡°I am reporting a condition FC-T-I. I repeat, I am reporting a condition FC-T-I.¡±

    ¡°Copy that. Extraction is incoming.¡±

 Chapter twenty seven-War(S)

    <u>Interlude III</u>

    ¡°Breaking news! The Terran ambassador has stormed into the council building, and he looks absolutely enraged! What could¡¯ve made the normally peaceful ambassador this mad?¡± -streamed live by a famous news station.

    Selene rubbed her eyes sleepily as she staggered into the meeting hall. She had been called in to replace the previous ambassador who had resigned because she was the ¡°most suitable candidate¡±. She knew that it was just a ploy to get her out of any important positions and eventually retire her, but she didn¡¯t mind. She was ready for some rest.

    ¡°Why are we having a council meeting now? It¡¯s the middle of the night!¡± The Grent ambassador whined. At that moment, the Terran ambassador stormed in, hopping mad. He stalked up to the podium and slammed down a photo. The Grent Ambassador immediately went pale.

    ¡°What is this? Why are you so angry?¡± The Republic representative asked curiously.

    ¡°I am angry, because You,¡± he pointed at the Grent Ambassador ¡°made This,¡± he pointed at the photo,¡± Abomination!¡± The Grent Ambassador became even paler, before trying to bluff his way out.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°Slander! We are perfectly law abiding and would never do such a thing.¡±

    ¡°Then why were Grent special forces stationed there, why were the scientists all documented as having ¡®disappeared¡¯ at the same time, and why was the whole operation funded by the Grent Empire! Answer me that.¡± The Grent Ambassador spluttered.

    ¡°Baseless accusations and lies!¡±

    ¡°Also, you were experimenting on Terran citizens! The abomination was made from a Klithrapose, whom you kidnapped and experimented on! We-¡±

    ¡°We are a proud nation and will not tolerate these lies! We- ¡°

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Selene couldn¡¯t take it anymore and shouted, stopping both of their rants. ¡°Could we just calm down and stop acting like a bunch of children! Alright you speak, then you.¡± She continued, pointing at the Grent and Terran ambassadors in turn.

    ¡°We would never do such a thing! We, the Grent, would never stoop so low as to interacting with slavers. We are a proud nation and will not allow you to insult us like this! We-¡± He was once again interrupted by the Terran Ambassador.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about your stupid pride! You have harmed Terran citizens! The people are calling for blood!¡±

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t we come to an agreement? The Grent could pay The Terrans compensation and-¡± Selene attempted to negotiate an end to the standoff.

    ¡°I have just received news from my government. I have total authority to negotiate whatever I want.¡±

    ¡°Good, now let us come to an agreement-¡±

    ¡°No. Do you know what the motto of the Terran Army is?¡±

    ¡°Why is that relevant?¡±

    ¡°It is this. ¡®No One Left Behind¡¯. No one left behind. From this moment onwards, Humanity and its allies are at war with the Grent Empire.¡±

    Silence swept through the hall. Selene buried her face in her hands. Why couldn¡¯t things just go right for once?

 Chapter twenty eight-War II

    <u>Chapter twenty eight</u>

    It¡¯s unfair! They¡¯re the newcomers! Why do they get all the cool stuff? I want one of those guns that can shoot through shields and stuff. But I can¡¯t even steal from them! I value my life, and they arm their traders with enough weaponry to destroy a planet. How are we pirates meant to make a living? ¨C A pirate lord complaining at the Pirate Council.

    Angered by the Grent Empire performing illegal experiments on their citizens, the Terran Confederation declared war on the Grent empire. Nearly everyone thought that the war would be over in days. They were right, just not in the way they expected.

    They had expected the Grent to crush the upstart Terrans into submission; what really happened was the Grent got curb stomped. All established forms of modern warfare were thrown out of the window by the Terrans.

    The Terrans had previously been widely regarded as primitive due to their projectile small-arms, but that didn¡¯t decrease their effectiveness at all. Sure, plasma weapons never ran out of ammo, but Terran weapons punched straight through shields like they weren¡¯t there.

    Even the smallest Terran weapons fired bullets the size of pencils. A single Terran trooper could take down a Grent tank with nothing but his rifle. A Terran sniper rifle could go through several hills, a tank, the wall of a bunker and still kill a Grent officer. Every power wanted Terran shield-piercing weaponry, but the Terrans weren¡¯t giving. Any Terran weapon that was salvaged or stole self-destructed when used, with some warship-grade weaponry wiping out entire planets upon detonation.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    And while the rest of the galaxy focused on shields, the Terrans made armour. Lots of it. Their frigates could survive several shots from a dreadnought¡¯s main gun and still limp away, while it would take a full Grent fleet minutes to break through a Terran dreadnought¡¯s armour. Of course, their shields were also as good, if not better, than everyone else¡¯s.

    And this made it more intimidating when the Terrans assembled a full warfleet at the Grent border. Ships and soldiers were drawn from all over the Confederation, shipyards went into overdrive and the public gave lots of money to the war effort. Composed of over 3000 ships and led by Grand-Admiral Michael, the warfleet was meant to send a message. They succeeded.

    As they attacked, the warfleet split into three wargroups. Each wargroup had 350 cruisers, 150 battleships, 50 carriers, 10 dreadnoughts and a super-dreadnought. Each wargroup plunged deep into Grent territory, crushing the fleets sent to deal with them. Any static defences were bypassed and were soon crushed by the torrent of troopships following behind.

    Experimental and Exotic weapons were used to deal with particularly tough holdouts. A heavily fortified factory world was destroyed using a sunspark bomb ¨C a weapon that caused a supernova. A military shipyard was destroyed when the gas giant it was in orbit around was turned into a short-lived star. A major military base had just disappeared. Rumours spread that it had been dumped into subspace.

    Within weeks, they were halfway to the capital. The Grent Empire panicked and collected all of its forces at its capital while the three Terran wargroups merged back together into a warfleet. They dove straight at the Grent Capital, seeking to end the war quickly. The final battle was here.

 Chapter twenty nine - War III

    <u>Chapter twenty nine (1)</u>

    Breaking news! The Terran Confederation has declared war on the Grent Empire, and so far, it looks like they¡¯re winning! The Terrans are reported to have been spotted only a few systems away from the Grent Capital, Kreskivare, and tides of refugees have been fleeing both to and from the capital? Who will win, the reigning champion or the newcomer? -Broadcast by Union News.

    ¡°Grand-Admiral on deck!¡± The bridge crew snapped to attention as Grand-Admiral Michael walked out of the elevator.

    ¡°At ease, everyone. Commodore Brandon, can I have a word with you.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sir. We can talk in my quarters.¡± As soon as they entered the room, Michael turned to Brandon.

    ¡°Commodore, how sure are you of success?¡±

    ¡°About 75%, why sir?¡±

    ¡°We need this victory. This is the first war we¡¯ve been in since the Bubble dropped, and we need a victory to raise public morale. It¡¯s also a test for all the new tech, to see if they work in major battles. So, why is the percentage so low?¡±

    ¡°Well, the percentage is low because we don¡¯t know what secret weapons or tech the Grent might have. They will probably use their all to defend their capital, and any secret weapons could be very disruptive, sir.¡±

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Sirs, we are dropping out of FTL in five.¡± A knock came at the door.

    ¡°Okay, dismissed.¡± Michael looked back at Brandon.

    ¡°Remember, Humanity needs a victory. Go and give them hell, commodore.¡±

    <u>Chapter twenty nine (2)</u>

    ¡°Report.¡±

    ¡°Sir, we¡¯ve dropped into real space at the edge of the system. Scans show the enemy has 5000 vessels, and three of the orbit structures are lighting up with weapons. Extensive minefields have been detected around each station.¡±

    ¡°More vessels than I would¡¯ve liked, but okay. Transmit to all ships to go into battle plan Alpha.¡±

    As he spoke, the fleet began changing. The carriers retreated to the very back, while the other heavy ships moved to the front. Missile wagons moved to the flanks, led by the missile super-dreadnought, while the frontline ships, including the other two super-dreadnoughts, moved to form two wedges at the front. The smaller ships formed small ¡°packs¡± around the heavy vessels.

    ¡°Sir, we will be in range of the enemy in 3 minutes.¡±

    ¡°Alright, all carriers launch their first wave. I want an even mix of fighters and bombers.¡±

    In the carriers, alarms started going off. Pilots clambered into their ships and were ejected out into the void. They formed up into small formations and soon set off.

    ¡°Sir, we will be in range in ten seconds.¡±

    ¡°All battleships and above aim at their heavy vessels. All dreadnoughts, focus on their centre. Everyone else, fire at will. Fire when ready!¡±

    Thumps rang out on ships as large chunks of metal were launched at the enemy. Some of the large shells, which were the size of train carriages, even carries homing and jamming systems. As the two sides neared, more railgun and coilgun fire soared through the void, and missiles started leaping out of their tubes, hungry and looking for prey. Small craft darted between the fire of their larger brethren, fighters and bombers engaging in tangled dogfights.

    Ships started to go down, their shields failing and their hulls holed. Shells and missiles punched through their critical parts, leaving them drifting in space.

    ¡°Sir, shields down to 60%. We¡¯ve lost 47 frigates, 23 cruisers and 12 battleships. We have destroyed 102 frigates, 62 cruisers and 42 battleships.¡±

    ¡°Okay. All ships focus fire on the centre of their formation. Launch a wave of 80% bombers. Divert 40 battleships and 100 cruisers towards each flank; tell the missile wagons to support them.¡±

    The fighting continued; more and more ships drifted dead in space as both sides hammered each other. After a while, a chink showed in the Grent lines. A lucky emp missile knocked out the main control ship for the centre of the Grent formation. The Terrans immediately capitalised on the disarray.

    ¡°Immediately! Tell all missile wagons to concentrate on the centre! All ships form formation omega!¡±

    Terran discipline kicked in as the Terran ships immediately formed into a giant wedge that speared into the Grent lines. The Grent centre was in disarray as Terran ships flooded in, taking out any resistance. As the Terran ships started circling around and attacking from the back the Grent knew that they had lost. The Grent admiral told all ships to stand down and surrendered to Grand-Admiral Michael. The Terran Confederation had won.

 Chapter thirty - Division (S)

    <u>Chapter thirty</u>

    And so ended the first (documented) Terran war. What allowed this fledgling nation to defeat the great Grent Empire? Some of it could be attributed to novel technology that the Terrans might have possessed, but in my view the main reason they could beat the Grent was their culture and how they think. ¨C extract from ¡°The First Terran War; Coincidence or Certainty?¡±

    An unprecedented tremble went through Federation space when the news was announced. A reigning hegemon had fallen, and it had fallen to a newly discovered race! People galaxywide were shocked, and the subject became the most trending topic on GalacticNet for months.

    Of course, the upper echelons were even more shocked. A period of widespread galactic upheaval occurred as businesses and functions belonging to the now defunct Grent Empire had to be reorganised. Of course, the majority of the fruits of war went to the victor, the Terran Confederation. It had suddenly jumped from an upstart to a hegemon, and more eyes were on it than ever.

    ¡°I demand that we take the Union fleets and crush those upstarts! We must avenge the Grent Empire!¡± The Grent Ambassador quite literally had spittle flying out of his mouth as he yelled. Selene was disgusted and put up an energy partition to block it.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    ¡°Why should we? You were the ones that failed.¡± The Borond Ambassador sneered. The Grent Ambassador nearly spat out blood.

    ¡°Everyone calm down now. We should talk this through like civilised beings.¡± Selene tried to defuse the situation.

    ¡°What is there to talk about! They unlawfully attacked us! They are primitive savages and should be put down immediately!¡±

    ¡°Big words from someone who lost their capital.¡± The Borond Ambassador continued insulting the Grent Ambassador, who looked like they were going to pass out.

    ¡°Enough! Will you stop squabbling like a bunch of infants!¡± It was rare that Selene raised her voice, but when she did the others knew she was well and truly mad. ¡°Let us look at the facts. The Terrans attacked first, but they had a valid reason to attack. After all, you did experiment on their citizens.¡±

    ¡°There is no evidence! They have no proof!¡±

    ¡°Do you think that we are all idiots!? Of course we knew about them! We just kept quiet and helped to keep your secrets. Now that the secret is out though, there¡¯s no point in hiding it anymore.¡±

    ¡°You bunch of backstabbing bastards! How dare you cosy up to this newcomer!¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve never done anything for us, so why should we do anything for you?¡±

    As the Grent Ambassador stormed out of the building, fuming, Selene sat back in her chair. Did she make the right decision? She had always had a mixed reaction towards the Terrans, but they were the winners. She sighed and called for an assistant. She needed an audience with the Terran Ambassador, to see if she had supported the right side or not. She sighed again. Being an ambassador was turning out to be much less relaxing than she had anticipated.

 Chapter thirty one - Patrol

    <u>Chapter thirty one</u>

    They have a unique mindset that emphasises individuality, but does not shy away from sacrifice. For example, a person would put their life in danger to save a stranger, or even to save a non-sentient pet. -extract from ¡°The First Terran War; Coincidence or Certainty?¡±

    ¡°Sir! Contacts spotted at 4 o¡¯clock! Sensors say 15 ship-sized masses.¡± All of a sudden, the calm of the bridge was interrupted by alarms and shouting.

    ¡°Everyone shut up! Sensors, give me a more detailed reading!¡± Osboel shouted at his bridge crew. It was just meant to be a routine escort mission, so how had it turned into a possible fight so quickly?

    ¡°Sir! Sensors have identified them. 3 cruisers, 8 frigates and 4 corvettes. All identified as Grent vessels.¡± He slumped further into his seat. His own escort group only had a single cruiser, his flagship, 3 frigates and 3 corvettes. He was outnumbered, if a fight happened.

    ¡°Coms! Hail them, ask them for their purpose.¡±

    ¡°Sir, they¡¯re powering up weapons and shields!¡±

    ¡°Damn! Power up shields and weapons, mark all of them as hostile, and send a omni-directional distress signal through Terran Channels. Tell the convoy to get out of range of the jammers, then jump out.¡±

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Sir, enemy will be inside weapons range in 30 seconds.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Have all ships spread out and concentrate on the cruisers first while we draw fire. Tell all ships to fire when ready.¡±

    ¡°Sir, hostiles will be in range in 3.¡±

    ¡°All ships, Fire!¡± A volley of slugs and missiles sprang out of gun barrels and firing tubes, slamming into the enemy shields that flickered for a second. The battle soon degenerated into a tangled melee as both sides tried to flank and outmanoeuvre their opponents.

    ¡°All guns aim at the middle cruiser! Load a volley of shield-piercers, and aim the tubes at their engines.¡± All of a sudden, the lights flickered.

    ¡°Sir, shields at 80% and dropping.¡±

    ¡°Reroute power from lights to shields, and bring the reactor up to 100% capacity.¡±

    ¡°Sir, corvette Diver is reporting nearly expended shields.¡±

    ¡°Tell them to get behind us and fire missiles around us while they recharge. Reroute 50% power from engines to the defence grid.¡±

    The battle continued, but it was just a struggle against the inevitable. More of the Terran ships depleted their shields, and a few had been destroyed, exploding into short-lived fireballs as their reactors lost containment. But, they hadn¡¯t fallen in vain. Each fallen Terran ship fired all they had at their end, dragging down at least one enemy ship with them.

    ¡°Sir, we¡¯ve lost the corvettes Diver and Dancer, as well as the frigate Island. Our own shields are down to 20% and dropping fast. The enemy still has 2 cruisers and 4 frigates.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Tell the other ships to disengage and jump away. Execute protocol Omega. Overclock the engines, and set the reactor to blow. If we¡¯re not going home, we¡¯re going to go out with a bang.¡±

    The faces of the bridge crew paled, but no one argued or disobeyed. They just went around their tasks with a grim efficiency, while those with no tasks lined up in a row in front of the captain.

    ¡°Sir, the others have jumped.¡±

    The captain sat up straighter in his chair and saluted to the crew, to which they saluted back.

    ¡°Very well. It was an honour working with you all, and I hope we¡¯ll meet again in the afterlife. For Humanity!¡±

    ¡°FOR HUMANITY!¡± The crew yelled back, all with different emotions but none wavering.

    The Grent vessels finally noticed something was amiss, and tried to escape, but they were far too late. The Terran cruiser exploded into a ball of destruction, taking the remaining Grent ships with it.

    In FTL, the captain and crew of one of the remaining frigates watched the scene through a drone they had left behind. The captain lifted a hand to his tearful face and gave a shaky salute, which his crew imitated. ¡°For Humanity.¡±

 Chapter thirty two - Remnants

    <u>Chapter thirty two</u>

    We cannot see the fallen, their flaws, their faults, their weaknesses. We can only admire their shadows, their legacies, and strive to surpass those great ones of old.

    Clank. A sleek, black and red spaceship docked at a giant cube, one so black it seemed to be swallowing the very void, floating in a purple expanse. A figure, decked out in a large, clunky suit of armor, stomped into the cube, the hallways lighting up with a crimson light as it passed. As if heralding an angel of death, all doors opened in front of it, nothing standing in its way. As it walked into a cavernous room filled with what seemed to be obsidian coffins, it watched them flash with deep crimson strobes, mirroring the grinning sanguine skull on its black helmet, its eye sockets seemingly burning with a hellish fire. ¡°Good, my men are ready. Soon, my comrades, soon. Soon it will be time for us to rise once more, and for this universe to hear our name once more. They will hear, and they will tremble! We have crushed a trillion galaxies, and we will crush a trillion more! For we are the Forgotten Legion, and we are Death!¡± Every coffin in the room suddenly shone at the figure¡¯s words, filling the room with a bloody light and phantom roars. Soon, the coffins¡¯ light died back down, and the figure returned to its ship, tearing open reality and disappearing. The cube continued its eternal journey, floating through the dim light. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    Clunk. Lights come on, a dark blue glow suffusing the room. In the centre, an obsidian coffin opens its top, ultramarine strobes spilling out. An armoured figure sat up, then stepped out of the coffin, metal boots clanking on the barren, metal floors. A door opened in front of it, and it stepped into another room, full of more coffins. It stepped towards the centre of the room, where an indigo flame burned vigorously in an elaborate cradle. ¡°Soon, my comrades, soon. We have guarded the flame for a thousand eternities, and we will guard it for a million more. We have slumbered for far too long, locked in our cradles with our wings clipped. But we are patient, and we can wait. The universe has long forgotten our name, but they can be taught again, just as we taught them so long ago. We are the Eternal Fleet, and we will soar again!¡± The coffins pulsed at the figure¡¯s words, ultramarine light and phantom cries filling the room, before the coffins quietened down again, and the room was quiet once more. The figure clanked back into the coffin once again and lay down, and the rooms were dark once more, except for the flickering of the flame.

    Thunk. Another coffin opened, this time in a room with only 9 others. Another armoured figure rose out, but its armour didn¡¯t have any colours, and was black as the void. It stood up and looked at the other coffins. ¡°Soon, my brothers, soon. The ark has awoken, and the boxes are stirring. We were once a proud empire, spanning untold galaxies. Now look at us, reduced to a handful of dregs. But we will not falter, we will not despair. Even when we were non-sentient animals, so many eternities ago, we outlasted our prey. We have persevered, and that is what has allowed us to survive. That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die. Sleep well, my brothers. Death cannot touch us anymore, for we are eternal. And soon, Death too will die.¡± And with those words, the figure lay back down in his coffin and let it close over him. And the room was silent once more.

 Chapter thirty three - Black Boxed (G)

    <u>Chapter thirty three</u>

    They see sacrifice as honourable, sometimes even more so than victory. Some of their most famous battles were not even victories, but last stands that resulted in the dead faction becoming martyrs. -extract from ¡°The First Terran War; Coincidence or Certainty?¡±

    ¡°The hell is this? I¡¯m working, can¡¯t you see?¡± George glared at the VI, which just stood there. It wouldn¡¯t answer him, he knew that, but he still wanted to blow off some steam.

    ¡°Your presence has been requested. Please put on this helmet and get in the vehicle.¡± George stared at the helmet. It was a CSDD, or a complete sensory deprivation device. He wondered what he had gotten himself into. CSDDs were only used when travelling to the most secure of places, the kinds of places that were only known from rumours and didn¡¯t officially exist.

    ¡°Where am I going?¡± The VI remained quiet. George sighed and got in the vehicle. It wasn¡¯t like he had a choice. Denying those types of people inevitably led to you ¡®vanishing¡¯.

    After what seemed like an eternity, he was led out of the vehicle into a black cube, with no exits. George spun around, looking for where he had come in from, but couldn¡¯t spot any openings. The Vi led him through a door he swore hadn¡¯t been there before, and into another black room with a desk and a chair in front of it.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Behind the desk sat a figure. The figure wore a black cloak that seemed to suck in light, and its face was covered in shadows. When it spoke, it spoke in an emotionless, genderless voice.

    ¡°Sit down.¡± George sat down. He felt like he was in a room with a tiger, except the tiger had a nuke strapped to its back and knew how to use it. Call it intuition, but George felt like if he moved even a muscle, he would be dead.

    ¡°Greetings George. You have been invited here today for a post we believe you would be suited for.¡± The figure spoke with a cold politeness.

    ¡°What sort of job would involve this much secrecy?¡±

    ¡°If you accept, you will be black boxed.¡± George fought to keep in a gasp. Black boxes were things spoken of only in the smallest of whispers, as if you were caught you would face a fate worse than death. There were Humanity¡¯s trump cards; places where anything could be researched, no matter how much it broke the law, as long as it could save humanity someday. Most revolutionary technologies were waters down versions of things that had come out of Black Boxes. No-one ever came out of Black Boxes, though.

    ¡°And if I don¡¯t accept?¡± George took a chance and instantly regretted it. The figure turned its head to look straight at him, and George prayed to everything he knew that he wouldn¡¯t die.

    ¡°If you decline, your memory of this event and anything related to it will be wiped. No other actions will be taken towards you or anyone close to you.¡± George sighed in relief. At least there was a way out, even if he got mind-wiped.

    ¡°What will I be working on?¡±

    ¡°That is classified, but your squad mates will also be black boxed, whether or not you accept.  Please make your choice.¡± George sighed again. Looks like he wouldn¡¯t be getting anything else out of the figure. He thought it over and decided that he wasn¡¯t going to leave his squad. Hell, they were practically the family he never had! He made his choice.

    ¡°I accept.¡±

    ¡°Good. Do not resist. You will wake up in your Black Box.¡± With those parting words, George felt something hit him before the world turned black.

 Chapter thirty four - Wake(G)

    <u>Chapter thirty four</u>

    Rumours of Black Boxes exist, places where mad scientists work on their art and where the craziest of inventions are tested. Some believe these tales. Me? I think they¡¯re merely bedtime stories meant to scare the cowardly. ¨C extract from ¡°Stories and Secrets of the Galaxy¡±

    George woke up in darkness. Not the type of darkness of a dream, not that type of comforting darkness, no. This was a deep darkness, one that spoke of endless eons of loneliness, one that was cold and apathetic, one that just didn¡¯t care. He felt the sheer futility of his existence, the sheer uselessness of anything he did. He curled up in a ball, trying to protect himself from the uncaring outside. Then, he woke up.

    ¡°HELPHELPHELPNOWHYDONTPLEASE¡± He shot straight up, yelling and trying to thrash around. It took him a minute to realise he was restrained. As he calmed down, he noticed he was in a featureless room, with a man sitting next to his bed. The man was Hispanic and looked at him with sympathy.

    ¡°WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!!?¡± The man winced for a second at the volume of his outburst, before replying.Stolen novel; please report.

    ¡°I am sorry about the procedure you have experienced, but it was necessary for your job.¡±

    ¡°What? Where am I-Oh. I got black boxed. Is this a Black Box? Where are my squad mates? What is my job?¡±

    ¡°In that order, Yes, in another part of this facility and tester.¡±

    ¡°Where are they? Tester of what?¡± The man chuckled.

    ¡°All will be revealed in due time. For now, just try to move your body and tell me if there are any uncomfortable spots.¡±

    George swung his arms and flexed his muscles. He felt no real imbalances or pains in his body, except for a dull ache at the back of his neck.

    ¡°I feel no pain except for at the back of my neck.¡±

    ¡°That is to be expected, it is the linking port for the neural interfaces after all and needs time to acclimate to your nervous system. It should go away in a few days. Now, get up and come over here.¡±

    George stood up, following the man over to a large cube with glowing white lines all over it. There was a large oval attached to the cube, that opened up into a pod when he got close.

    ¡°Now, please step into the pod and do not resist.¡± George complied. He stepped into the pod and let the restraints close over his arms and legs.

    ¡°Now, this is the most delicate part. Do Not Move. If the neural probe connects wrong, you could become a vegetable.¡±

    George didn¡¯t move. He felt a sharp pain in his neck, before He SaW EvErYtHiNg. He saw fireflies of light flowing down great highways of green, he saw blobs of nothing float in a sea of everything, he saw green and red and blue and purple and black and white and nothing.

 Chapter thirty five - Progress(S)

    <u>Chapter thirty five</u>

    ¡°Humanity seems to have an irrational fear of the unknown and paranoia seems to be universal across their species. They fortify their planets before building anything else; they had built up huge war fleets even before they knew anything else was out there. Why? Humanity itself has been very tight-lipped about it.¡± ¨C extract from ¡°Human psychology ¨C A Fear of the Unknown¡±

    Heeheehee, my plans are taking shape. Humanity is developing nicely and have cemented their status as a galactic power. Their tech development is also developing well. I could¡¯ve just given them all my tech, but that would¡¯ve stymied their development and might¡¯ve induced arrogance. By only giving them snippets and fragments, I have made them reverse engineer what tech I did give them and they have invented some things that even we Old Ones did not think of.

    For example, we had always just thought of hard-light as a curiosity, something that could be used only in civilian roles. Humanity, however, used it to create temporary shields that would only block a single projectile, but could be made by the thousands by a single projector. They created bullets that would only exist for a set time, eliminating friendly fire. I looked upon their creations, their innovations, and felt pride. Our descendants were doing even better than we had at their age.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    They built towering spires and cavernous museums, cities of metal and light were constructed in mere days. They engaged in construction on a planetary scale, creating space stations the size of asteroids, and on a microscopic scale, creating nanobots that could cure any illness. They created works of art famous all over the galaxy, plays and novels that were the equal of another race could produce.

    But underneath it all, the gears of war turned. I had told them of my history, of our history. I had told them of our glorious empire, one that spanned a thousand galaxies. I had told them of our fall, of the disaster that had ended us and so many other great empires. Finally, I told them of the present, of the dangers that awaited them. Just as I had survived, so too would¡¯ve many others, others who too wanted to see the glory of their empires restored. I told them of how I would not, or indeed could not interfere in their wars unless their very existence was at stake. I told them, and as they listened, they learned. And as they learned, they thought.

    We had thought of the universe as a sea, something that was cold, yes, but uncaring. We thought that the universe did not care for us, and we would only die if we were careless. One sinks if they fight the waves, not when they ride them.

    They thought of it differently. They heard of our downfall and were angered. They thought of the universe as a malevolent being, one that wished to strike them down but was barely restrained from doing so. They were not content to ride the waves but wished to conquer them. They yelled their hate and defiance into the dark, declaring to the universe that they would not just sit down and accept their fate; they would fight, and they Would Not Fall.

    Others might call it irrational paranoia. Many did. But humanity knew it was right, and I agreed. I had seen the truth, and I too hated.

 Chapter Thirty Six-RESURGENCE

    <u>Chapter thirty six</u>

    Humanity has a very strange belief; they believe that the universe wants to kill them, or ¡°is out to get them¡± in their words. Its probably just a primitive belief that has carried over from their religious days, but they seem to believe it fully. ¨C extract from ¡°Human psychology ¨C A Fear of the Unknown¡±

    There was a flash of bright light, then several faceless, hooded figures veiled in black mist appeared. One of them spoke.

    ¡°I hereby start this HYDRA meeting. First, Science, report on the progress with the alloy we have been given.¡±

    One of the figures stepped forwards and spoke. ¡°We have been having trouble with examining the material due to its sheer strength, but we so far have found that it contains graphene, steel, titanium and cobalt, as well as two unknown substances. We think that one comes from the Between, due to emissions that match Between Rifts. The other one is still a mystery.¡±

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Continue working on it. If we could make even an inferior version of it, we could make ships far beyond anyone else. What about the other projects?¡±

    ¡°We are working on antimatter weaponry, but the containment required is too bulky to use as weapons for now. We have a prototype particle accelerator that can fire a stream of antimatter, but it is extremely volatile. We are working on replacing our antimatter reactors with singularity generators, but we cannot generate a stable singularity yet. The Stellar Lifter is being tested, and I predict we could be able to build megastructures in a few decades. Finally, infantry particle beam weapons are being tested.¡±

    ¡°Good. Now, let us talk about the more sensitive projects. Lockdown Code Alpha-Delta-Gamma-2-34-5-74552-OMEGA.¡± Shutters and doors slammed shut, various disruptors and jammers started up, and the figures felt a faint headache and a tingling sensation.

    ¡°Give me a report on Ultra-Project RESURGENCE.¡±

    ¡°The Sowers are nearing completion and will be upgraded with Between Rifts when they become operational. The Seeds will be ready at the same time as the Sowers. The Travellers are being built, and we will launch the first one soon. while Dandelion has already been deployed. Web is being prototyped. Shield, Cloak and Remnant are all still in the planning stage.¡±

    ¡°Good. Have we detected any other remnants? Any sign of Between travel?¡±

    ¡°Not yet, but they¡¯re bound to be out there. We think that right now they¡¯re keeping a low profile and doing the same thing as us- laying low and building up their forces.¡±

    ¡°Then we need any advantage we can get. Restart some of the biomod and cybermod projects and restart the Upload project. Humanity will take its rightful place among the stars, even if we must build a staircase of skulls to get there. For Humanity.¡±

    ¡°For Humanity.¡± The other figures replied. There was a flash of light, then the room was silent once more.

 Chapter thirty seven-Black Boxed II (G)

    <u>Chapter thirty seven</u>

    Humans are mostly afraid of similar things to similar species. They are afraid of the dark as they were not alpha predators, and are scared of ¡®monsters¡¯ and sudden sounds for the same reason. ¨C extract from ¡°Human psychology ¨C A Fear of the Unknown¡±

    George sat up and blinked the sleep from his eyes. Before his brain could even process what was going on, he frantically groped for his (non-existent) pistol, before settling for throwing a punch in. He found himself upside down and restrained on the floor, before catching a glimpse of red and sighing.

    ¡°Could you please release me now, Charlotte?¡± She let go and sat up, pouting.

    ¡°It was funnier when you got spooked. Now you¡¯re no fun.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because I got used to being wrestled out of bed each morning! How are you here anyways? I got told we weren¡¯t meant to be meeting until breakfast.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    ¡°Yeah, but I got bored, so I escaped and found you.¡±

    ¡°What? How did you? You know what, fine. I won¡¯t ask questions. Because of course you did. Of course you escaped from your room inside one of the most secure places in existence.¡±

    ¡°If it makes you feel better, I don¡¯t think they really cared about me escaping. Like there were no cameras or sensors or anything. Anyways, lets go to breakfast! I¡¯m hungry.¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine, just let me dress first.¡± He gently pushed her out the door, then threw on a shirt and pants.

    He found her in the dining room when he walked in, chatting animatedly to Leman.

    ¡°-and I told him ¡®If you don¡¯t spill, I¡¯ll introduce you to Mister Stabby over here- Oh, hey George!¡±

    ¡°What is it with you and that knife? Why did you name it?¡±

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t insult Mr Stabby! Its fine Mr Stabby, I¡¯ll teach him a lesson for you later.¡± George gulped, and headed for the two unfamiliar people standing in a corner.

    ¡°Hello! Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Hi, my name is Olliver, and this is Ava. I¡¯m Assault and she¡¯s Support. Nice to meet you.¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s George, and I¡¯m a Scout. The other guy, Leman, is Demo and that scary women is Charlotte, who¡¯s Infiltrator.¡± Ava looked disturbed.

    ¡°Why is she cuddling a knife?¡±

    ¡°She has a disturbing obsession with knives. I believe the one she¡¯s currently holding is names Mister Stabby.¡±

    At that moment, a man in a white lab coat walked in and yelled out. ¡°Everyone sit down! We have things to discuss.¡± After they had all sat down, he spoke up again. ¡°Alright, now that we are all here and have all met each other, we cn start. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve all been wondering why you are here. Well, let me tell you. You are here to test a ground-breaking new concept. You are here to see if we can merge machine and man, to see if we can truly become a union of steel and flesh.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Leman had a confused expression on his face before Charlotte smacked him. ¡°Ow!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s going to shove an AI into that dense skull of yours.¡± The man chuckled.

    ¡°Yes, in simpler terms I am going to put an AI in your head.¡±