Dead Star Dockyards

The Skwiven, the Courier, suddenly and inexplicably went ballistic at Donovan's touch, racing around the bridge erratically at a rapid pace, squeals emanating from its mouth.

This behavior evoked a look of surprise and concern from all aboard the bridge. Various 'What is he doing?' and 'What is it this time?'-s could be heard from those present, clearly this was not normal behavior.

"Did I do something wrong?" Don didn't know if he had touched he shouldn't have, this sort of situation wasn't covered in Diana's briefing.

"I don't know. I've never seen a Skwiven act this way before. He doesn't seem particularly mad about it either." The Scholar, the man who knew the most about Skwiven behavior aboard the Oberlux, had never seen a mature Skwiven act in this way. "As a general rule they maintain an air of calm as they grow older, even when they are panicked. Perhaps it has something to do with how he described you as 'bright'?"

"When did it say that?" Donovan was gasping for air on the floor, so he obviously didn't hear it.

"Don't worry about that. For now I'd like to know what it was you did to him. That might have been what set him off."

"Not much. I just, you know, patted his head? Scratched him behind the ears a bit?"

Diana just about grabbed him by the ear, resorting to yanking him harshly by the arm before aggressively whispering to him. 'WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU ABOUT ETIQUETTE?'

Donovan, very aware of Diana's words courtesy of the biting pain in the location she was grabbing him, marveled at how she could speak loudly in a quiet voice.

'What did I do wrong?'

'Treating one of our BENEFACTORS like some animal or pet? Did you even pass your sentient species training?'

'It wasn't?'

'OF COURSE NOT! Were you even paying attention to our conversation!?'

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please just let go of my arm. It feels like its gonna pop.' She let go of his arm, only to put her hands on the sides of his head and force him to look directly into her eyes.

'From now on, if you don't know for sure whether or not something is proper, do nothing. Am I understood?' Donovan didn't take her to be the most aggressive person, but looks could be deceiving.

'Yes ma'am.'

'Thank you. Pay attention from now on, okay?' Momentarily pulling him closer, Diana placed a light kiss on his nose before letting go of him and turning away. A small impulsive moment leading to a wave of regret and embarrassment.

Everybody on the bridge was watching, and a small wave of whistles and jeers assaulted her ears. She didn't even know why she did it, Don just seemed so pathetic in the moment.

"Get back to work everyone. Their personal dealings are none of our business."

"""Yes Captain."""

They returned their attention to their stations, still sneaking glances at their passengers from time to time. None of this helped to extinguished the fires of embarrassment raging in Diana's cheeks.

Donovan, clueless, was more curious as to why there was such a lack of discipline than he was ashamed of the peck on the nose. It really didn't register for him what that was.

"We still have some work to do, so please sit down and watch the show. How long will this take Scholar?"

"It shouldn't take more than an hour. As you can see, it is in the Verdant stage."

Both Donovan and Diana turned their attention to the orb shining brightly at the bow of the Oberlux. Where before it was purple, turning to blue, it was now a mix of greens. Certain areas had a bluish tint, others faded towards yellow, but all were unmistakably green. Don noticed that the spikes that were present when he was flying were much less defined now, lumpier and smooth in addition to having blurred edges.

It was like a massive ball of luminescent moss.

The solid line pointing straight towards it was no doubt the deck, with a black rectangular shaped hole most certainly being the Noah, but it seemed kind of far away for how long they walked.

"Why is the sun a different color than before?" While Don was a little worried about a potential breach of etiquette and the scolding that would likely follow, he felt his curiosity was justified given the situation. "Actually, why is it a color other than white to begin with? Also, isn't it kind of large for how far away we are?"

"You mean your star right?" The Scholar was back by one of the recessed pits, so the Captain was entertaining them. "While I don't know why your star was white, it probably has something to do with Split. More accurately the lack of such. According to our knowledge of the universe, stars do not appear white. Most of them are red, maybe 99 out of every hundred, and are unsuitable for sustaining life as they do not produce enough Split. Orange stars ar-"

"Wait. Hold on. If Split is needed to maintain life then what why was it killing me?"

"Donovan, that was rude."

"Maybe, but that was a HUUUGE divergence from what I know to be true. I would like an answer to it before we go further. I feel I have a right to know why I was in a coma for, what, a week?"

"Trust I took no offense to it, madam. I understand that, unlike you, he has not had the time or opportunity to learn about the situation beyond the veil. The Doctor made it very clear that he would come to us completely blind, not even aware that he would be one of the two designated survivors."

"That may be true, but politeness is still a necessity for diplomacy."

"At the moment it is our duty to be diplomatic, lady Diana, not yours. You are confused, lost, and unaware of just how complex the world beyond your system is. In the limited time I have with you I am expected to bring you up to a level of understanding that will make help you to be diplomatic in the future. I ask you do not take that as an insult."

The Captain's expression had hardened.

"I expect you to ask whatever questions you have, even if you may find them offensive in nature. Having that knowledge about what is and is not a contentious issue will help you in the future. Having an understanding of what has changed will help you learn to grow in this new world. Having an experience, surface level though it may be, with one of our more complex fields will give you the opportunity to hold conversations with people, perhaps drawing them to your side.

Please understand that while we may be the arbiters of neutrality, we understand that we have a duty to new members of the community to bring them to a competitive level, fully understanding we may even give them an advantage in the process, so that they are not immediately snuffed out in the fires of constant conflict. We understand, I more than most, that we will have to be especially partial towards you owing to my mistake.

Make use of us and our knowledge. If there is something that I do not know or understand fully myself there are a great many experts on this ship that I can call upon to explain in my stead. Am I understood?"

To this Diana could only meekly nod her head.

"With that said, I will answer your more pressing question first." The Captain felt he was finished with his lecture. "I do not understand the specifics, but you may think of it as something along the lines of a tolerance for a poison. Your people have lived below what is considered the minimum for life to flourish. When you were thrust into even the most minute amount of Split it was like you were drowning. Your body ate itself up. Do you find that to be an adequate explanation?"

"I'm still mushy on the whole Split deal, but I think I get it."

The Captain nodded. "Good. As I was saying, red stars, plentiful, not powerful enough to let life sustain itself for any extended period of time. There is obviously more to it than that, but this is just the basic concept. Orange stars are capable of life, but not to a great degree. Yellow stars, often called Gilded Stars, are where the ecosystems of planets begin to flourish, often featuring their own native organisms.

These stars are somewhat rare, but nowhere near as rare as the green stars, the Verdant Stars. In a cluster of a million, perhaps only one or two will be the type of green you see before you. Major wars are often fought to control these stars.

Beyond this there is a class of star, no, two classes now, that are stronger. Before coming into contact with your star, the strongest star I was aware of was colored blue, the Azure Dot. They are rare to the point where I have only ever seen two, and I was called to fight both of them."

"Fight them? Like you are doing now?" Don had many questions, the number bloating as he got answers, but only one could be answered at a time.

"Indeed. Although rare, stars have the chance to become 'hostile'. This usually has a higher chance of occurring in more powerful stars, but the relative abundance of the lower quality ones means that their rate of occurrence is relatively the same. Azure Dots, to my knowledge, will always be hostile. They send those beams out in large numbers in the general direction of living beings. Many times in the past stars have turned rogue with habitable planets in orbit, resulting a tremendous loss of life.

When that happens, it is up to a ship like this one to end the threat."

"So... will you be killing our Sun?" Diana was the next to ask a question.

"I know it might be difficult to accept, but unfortunately we have to. In order to return through the veil, certain conditions have to be met. I understand that you might have cultural connections to it, but it is something that we have to do."

Diana seemed a little saddened by this fact, but ultimately understood. It was trying to kill them after all.

"You keep talking about this veil, what is it?"

"Veyal? Are you referring to the veil?" His accent was heavy when he tried to repeat the word in English.

"Uh, the thing we need to pass through." Diana elaborated, realizing that the Captain did not recognize the word as it was spoken in english.

"So that is how it sounds to you. I had hoped to delay revealing this to you assuming you would be traumatized from the loss, but given my interactions with you, brief though they may be, I feel you are in the proper mental state to handle it. To put it briefly, and I feel you may have picked up pieces of this, but your universe is not entirely real. It is a fabrication of sorts, an experiment of the Great Csillacra. I know not what it was looking for, but a tremendous dearth of Split was the focus.

The space inside the veil technically does not exist, however it can become realized. Do not ask me how that works, only the Great Csillacra knows. What I do know is that it acts as a means to control the level of Split in the region being examined. It is a very strong barrier designed to make outside interference impossible, but when certain conditions are met the veil will weaken. When this happens, special permissions are granted for people to enter, but in order to exit the veil must be weakened further.

These change depending on circumstance, but for the most part they have something to do with interacting with the inhabitants of that iteration."

"So what are the conditions this time around?"

"I was informed that it was the elimination of threats towards the designated survivors. As far as we can tell, the only threat that remains is the star."

"But aren't you also a threat?"

"Donovan!?!?!"

"While it is true, we do pose a threat, the conditions only apply to things originating in the veil. Seeing as we come from beyond, we are not included in that number. While I know you cannot necessarily trust this statement, I will reiterate. We mean you no harm. We are more interested in your success than your failure. We have no reason to harm you." The Captain disregarded Diana's interjection, recognizing that Donovan was acting in the interests of survival. "Do you have any other questions?"

Diana still wanted to hit Don. "What help can we expect from you?"

"To be completely honest, I do not know what extent we can safely assist you to. I know that new species are given a host nation that will protect them for a time before either letting them roam free or welcoming into their fold, but I can tell that is not what you want."

"How so?"

"Ambitious is probably not the most accurate way to describe you, but it fits closely. Desperate, perhaps for the moment, but that desperation will only last until you establish yourselves. I know from the Doctor your kind are good at war, perhaps among the best if the stories I am told are truth, however you lack the manpower.

Your culture and way of thinking will not tolerate nor be tolerated by the vast majority of parties.

I believe there may be one or two whom you can be friendly with, but they are isolationist on principle. Getting them to agree to support you may prove difficult."

"I don't think we need them to support us, they just need to protect us."

"The difficulty remains. Despite being one of the more powerful and politically stable regimes, diplomacy is very difficult with them. Trade is practically non-existent, and very rarely will they be proactive in their relations with others, those rare occasions being to assist in a catastrophe as dictated by their religion.

However, given how few in number you are and how self sufficient you will likely be, I believe it may be possible to persuade them to allow you to live close to their borders, if within them proves to be impossible. Given their relative power, prosperity, and control of their populace, neither pirate raids nor skirmishes are common in such areas."

"Is there anything that can be done beyond that?"

"That is where the uncertainty arises. Your situation is unprecedented to my knowledge, so the exact options available to you are beyond my knowledge. I do believe it would be possible for me to sponsor your enrollment into the Sanctum's Academy as I possess the required funding to pay for the expenses, and I believe you have a more than decent chance at acquiring some form of title or prestige through achievements both academic and practical."

""An academy?"" While Diana seemed intrigued, Donovan was less than impressed. He was sick of schooling, even if it was on a different planet.

"Akkadmi?"

"The place of learning you mentioned." Diana was quickly becoming the one in charge of clarifying. Some of the words that he did not know the meaning to seemed odd considering how many he did understand, but Diana was willing to bet that he didn't actually understand what they were saying. It was far more likely he was only guessing based on the topic of conversation.

"Yes, the Sanctum's Academy. I believe your attendance will be of great assistance to your future. Accolades are more important than I can reasonably describe in our society, and attending the Academy is the only way I can see you attaining them to any significant degree if you wish to remain independent. This will also give you the chance to make connections."

"I see..."

"I say we go." Donovan was quick to accept the offer.

"We need to think about this Donovan."

"What is there to think about? We'll probably be safer there than anywhere else, and we will have the opportunity to find allies."

"Yes, but we will also have the potential to make enemies. We might also be wasting our time."

"I don't think so. I might not want to live in a high intensity learning environment anymore, but it is certainly better than just sitting around and doing nothing. You said ARC would be in charge of developing industry and infrastructure, so we need to work to provide resources and information."

"That may be, but we do not yet know the risks associated with it. Lets hear more, sleep on it, and then make a decision. Okay?"

"Sure. I don't think my mind will be changing though. What can we expect from this academy?"

The Captain was unnerved by the speed at which they came to their decisions. Perhaps this was a benefit of having established language, but their capability was definitely a big factor.

"That depends on what track you decide to follow. There are multiple schools, but I would imagine that Donovan would be more suited to the Military school while Diana might be partial to the Ambassadorial or Mercantile paths. There are of course specializations for each of these fields, but you should not worry about those for now."

"I think we should be." Diana refuted the Captain's innocent attempt at not overwhelming them. "We need to know our options, Donovan in particular. Despite our disdain for war, I will not deny we are good at it. I've been told Donovan is one of the best."

"I wouldn't go that far..." Donovan didn't want to seem like a douchebag, "However, I won't deny that I have received the majority of training available in regards to waging war. It would be nice to know if there is an area I am lacking in and should focus on."

"To be truthful, it is also a means to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of other parties." Diana did not want to appear deceitful to their hosts. Certainly she could do so if she wanted, but she deemed it to be against their interests.

"If you insist." The Captain took a moment to calmly give an order to one of the people in the pits before continuing. "There are three sub-schools within the Military academy, Land, Sea, and Space. Of these, Sea is the smallest, while Land and Space tend to have equivalent class sizes. Do you have a preference for any of them?"

"Space. Definitely space. But I am trained in all of those fields. Is there any chance for me to enroll in ALL of them?"

This brash behavior was no longer surprising to the Captain. "There is a way to do so, but it requires an assessment given by the Academy's Upper management and overseen by Grand Elder Larson himself. Besides, you will need to go through one full term before they will even consider some form of expanded course. The most that could probably be excused to take would be the most basic courses in the other two under the guise of opening your options."

"I take it the true intent is to bring us up to a sufficient understanding of how war is conducted."

"Very perceptive Diana. We do not know what rules you follow in war, if you follow any. These basic courses place an emphasis on teaching these codes and the most rudimentary of military maneuvers. We can talk more about the specific classes you will be taking once you have made a decision."

Diana nodded. She was not as intent on taking the initiative as Donovan was, so this arrangement suited her. Donovan was under the assumption that the specifics were not important in the long run, the only objective of importance was to put get into a position where he could learn the capabilities and strategies of any and all potential threats if only so he could work out counters to them.

"As for the Diplomatic and Mercantile paths, there are really no separate paths within them. If that is disappointing to you in any way I apologize, but that is simply the way it is."

"Would there be any chance of me going down both at once?"

"No. As I understand it, the instruction periods for each path will take the majority of the day. However, should Donovan end up going down the path of the Imperator, you will likely be able to finish both of them before his education concludes."

"I see." Diana leaned against the backrest. "It would probably be better to start with the economic track, but diplomatic knowledge would be beneficial in building relationships..."

"I humbly suggest the Mercantile path." The Scholar had come to join them. "I hope you don't mind my eavesdropping on your conversation, but you will benefit more from understanding how our economy works more than how to set up international agreements and knowing how to eat properly."

"I would hope you have some justification for that?" The Captain was not being hostile or accusatory, just ensuring there was no bad advice being given.

"I do. Diana is already proficient to a great degree in the realm of politics and speaking. As I understand that course, the first three terms focus heavily on skills that she has already demonstrated proficiency in."

"So I will be wasting my time, at least initially?"

"Yes. I should be able to teach you all you need to avoid invoking offence or disdain, as well as give you a rough idea of which powers you should and should not provoke. I feel you will benefit in general far more from giving yourself the ability to make money and create more beneficial trade deals."