Song of the Void

”Considering the fact that travel within a galaxy is already challenging enough, one can only imagine the difficulties in moving between galaxies. The distances involved are hard to fathom for most people. Even if you took the fastest ship currently available and flew a straight route towards your destination, it would still take more than the lifetime of a crew to arrive at the other galaxy. And that’s assuming the ship encounters no difficulties on the way, which is rather unlikely. Flying such straight routes in phase space is also all but impossible. There’s a good reason why any attempts at intergalactic travel projects have withered and died before they even got off the ground. To the knowledge of everyone involved, the only race that has ever achieved viable intergalactic travel is the one known as the Progenitors, or Dhar as I now know to call them. Their subordinate races also moved between galaxies, but only using the Dhar’s method of transportation. That’s not to say there haven’t been others. We just don’t know about any.”

- High Ambassador of the Mrrroww

--------

“So what happens now? I’ve spent enough time with you to know you’re not the type to give up easily.” Moonshadow asked as the reality of the situation became settled in.

“There are some ways we can approach this. Our people did develop certain ways to locate void entities over long distances, but I can’t access those methods in this galaxy. I’m also not sure how well they work after all this time. Another option is to visit the homeworld of the idiots who cooked up this idea of capturing and imprisoning the void creatures. In all likelihood, they are no longer around, but there is a chance we might find something among the ruins. Not a great chance, but a chance nonetheless. They might have become less careful with the information once my people disappeared, but I doubt it was ever widely disseminated. It would be almost a miracle to find what we are looking for. Or we could travel to remote galaxies blindly and look for the signs. That is a rather desperate option, but…” Selendil shrugged. Even a desperate plan was better than no plan.

“All of those plans involve leaving this galaxy behind.” Moonshadow noted. She couldn’t deny that she was excited at the prospect.

“I doubt we will find the information we seek in this galaxy. That said, I’m not sure we are quite ready to leave just yet.” Selendil contemplated.

“I’m guessing you’re not referring to the political situation, which is rather explosive at the moment.” Moonshadow ventured a safe guess.

“Yeah, no. I can see why you would be though.” Selendil used one of her tails to idly rub her thigh in contemplation. “Well, seeing as we’re likely to leave soon and our curtain of secrecy is starting to wear a little thin anyway, I’m not totally against slight meddling just so my crew members will have some peace of mind once we leave. I’m not going to wage your wars for you though. And like I said, we have a few things we need to deal with before we can leave.”

“Which are?” Moonshadow prodded. She was actually almost jumping with glee inside once she heard Selendil was not averse to some meddling.

“The ship isn’t quite ready to travel. We got the materials for some support beacons when we did our little prospecting run, and we got the second auxiliary core going, but many of the systems are not yet in perfect working condition. Besides, I would really prefer it if we managed to get the primary core working somehow. Warping a ship long distances can be a heavy power drain, unlike when we move just people around. We can drop off some of the support beacons we create in important locations so that we can return when necessary, but it’s going to take a long time to reach our destination if the ship is limited to just warping to nearby galaxies. Most of the weapons and the main defense system need the main power core as well, and most of the weapons also need some repairs. The support beacons are doing the best they can, but I think I’ll need to personally tinker with some of them. Just because this galaxy doesn’t have many things capable of endangering my ship, the same might not hold true for other galaxies.” Selendil explained.

“I’m fairly sure you already mentioned that getting the main power core online would not be so simple.” Moonshadow pointed out. The issue had come up before.

“It’s not. I’ll need very specialized materials, or at least the facilities to create them to make it happen. I do have a facility in mind that might at least get us started. The problem is that it’s located near the galactic core and it might be destroyed due to time and environmental hazards. Warping there is a bit risky.” Selendil confirmed. Even though she might personally survive an encounter with a black hole, the crew wouldn’t.

“Well, obviously. There’s a supermassive black hole there, not to mention smaller ones, exploding stars, gravitic anomalies and an accretion disk formed from all kinds of dangerous junk I’d really rather not approach.” Moonshadow pointed out the obvious. The center of the galaxy was a rather strict no-go zone for ships.

“It’s also the place where you can find all sort of interesting materials and energies. Super-dense materials are just the most obvious example. Interesting things can be created with the forces involved. Imagine super-dense materials treated with the gravity, spatial, and temporal effects of a supermassive black hole. Phase space also behaves differently in the area, and many of the more exotic materials can only be found near the center of a galaxy.” Selendil explained. There was a reason why some of the most important facilities of the Dhar were located near the core.

“Nox, can you bring out a map of the galaxy?” Moonshadow requested. The AI complied and a map of the galaxy suddenly appeared as a hologram between them. “Now where exactly is this facility?”

Selendil focused for a moment while checking where the surviving beacon near the core of the galaxy was located. Once she had a lock on the beacon, a small glowing dot appeared on the map near the center. “That’s where the beacon is at least. The fact that the beacon is still around suggests that the facility might be as well, but it’s not exactly a guarantee.”

“Huh.” Moonshadow made a small sound and looked at the map more carefully. The shining dot wasn’t that far from Haven and the Mrrroww space. “Nox, I assume you’ve already dug up the rough borders of the various races?”

“I have.” Nox replied, and expecting Moonshadow’s next words, started placing the borders of various empires on the map.

"There's…actually a couple that I wasn't aware of," Moonshadow muttered in slight surprise. Nox had access to the secret information of the various races visiting Haven, so the map was more complete than anything a single race could manage. “I see a potential issue.” Moonshadow stated while pointing at the shining dot that fell just outside the estimated borders of a particular race.

“You think the Shinzen might have found the facility?” Selendil guessed. The beacon was not inside the borders of the Shinzen controlled space, but it wasn’t very far from it either.

“I don’t know. I have no idea what kind of abilities the Shinzen have to navigate close to the galactic core. Nor do I know if they have an interest in the area. But it is a possibility. It would not shock me if they had taken an interest though.” Moonshadow hedged. After the recent encounter with the enigmatic race, she was not going to dismiss any possibility.

“Well, it might actually be a good thing if they have found it. At least they could’ve kept it from being destroyed, even if they couldn’t keep it in good condition.” Selendil countered. Unlike Moonshadow, she didn’t consider the Shinzen to be a threat. Her opinion wasn’t really an underestimation of the Shinzen, as much as it was a recognition of the difference between her and the potential enemy. The recent encounter with them had confirmed that difference. If the Shinzen had the power to fight her, then they had the acting skills of a master when it came to hiding that power. Being mindful of a potential danger and being too careful were not the same thing.

As the two contemplated their options, something occurred to Moonshadow. “Oh right. Something has been bugging me for a while now, and I know at least some of the others share my aggravation. Your words about the ship needing work reminded me. Does the ship have a name? It gets a little frustrating to call it ‘Selendil’s ship’ if I’m being honest. I get that Nox is the AI of the ship, but she’s also your personal AI, so it would feel a bit odd to call the ship Nox as well.”

“Agreed.” The AI confirmed. “While the ship is something like my body most of the time, I am a separate entity from the ship. Even if the ship were to be destroyed, I’d be fine as long as Selendil is around.”

“I see what you mean.” Selendil nodded. The limits of spoken language had bothered her when it came to this issue as well. “Back when all the Dhar were part of the Unity, there was no need for the ships to have a name. It’s a bit of a linguistic hurdle, as ‘speaking’ in the Unity wasn’t actual normal speech. You could convey concepts such as ‘Selendil’s ship’ as just a thought, so you didn’t need a separate name for it.”

“It might be a nice team building exercise to come up with a name together.” Nox gave a surprising suggestion. The AI knew Selendil’s naming sense could be questionable, so this was an attempt to have the others temper her ideas.

“I could live with that.” Selendil agreed with a slight shrug. “I think we might want to wait for Amaterasu to return before we name the ship though. She might be somewhat dissatisfied if she was to be left out.”

--------

“Litterbox 1!” Suggested Lilly emphatically. ‘The Grand Naming Convention’ as it was called by the crew was underway. Every crew member was allowed to give suggestions, and they were all gathered in one of the hangars large enough to fit everyone comfortably.

“Yeah, no.” Amaterasu shot the idea down immediately. She was extremely glad she had returned as quickly as she had, as the naming craze had already risen to a fevered pitch by that time. If she had come a few days later the ship would already have a name that was extremely idiotic. Somehow she had ended up becoming the one to shoot down the worst suggestions. She had already vetoed such marvels as ‘Boaty McBoatface’ and ‘Yarnia’. “Serious suggestions only, please.”

"I was quite serious," Lilly muttered sadly. She had been so excited to finally be part of a proper Mrrroww naming.

“The Eternal Garden.” The leader of the Guardians, Cherryblossom suggested. Everyone actually considered the suggestion for a short moment before completely ignoring it.

“Den of Iniquity!” Xiaoli suggested with a grin.

“Mewling Loins!” Khaemwaset joined the chorus of shouted suggestions, clearly taking up Xiaoli’s challenge.

“Je ne sais quoi.” One of the Handmaidens suggested quietly.

“Isn’t that one of the old languages of the Tetrarchy? What does that even mean?” Huang, their now official fixer, asked in confusion.

“I don’t know what.” The handmaiden replied with a small smile.

“Then why did you suggest it?” Huang asked in confusion, and the smile on the handmaiden’s face froze.

"No, I mean it…you know what, forget it." The handmaiden gave up with a sigh.

“Soul Shattering Multiple Orgasms!” Xiaoli shouted another suggestion as she competed with Khaem for the perviest name idea.

“Naked Orgasmic Heap!” Khaem shot back with gusto and some slight pride.

“Oooh, that was a good one!” Xiaoli gasped with genuine appreciation.

"No, it wasn't. Not as a name for a ship." Amaterasu argued with a commanding tone. “We’re naming a ship not a brothel! Now get your mind out of the gutter!”

“Selendil, do you have any ideas?” Moonshadow tried to get the conversation back on track.

"Pudding," Selendil suggested shamelessly.

“No. I refuse.” Nox declared decisively. This was exactly why the AI had gotten the others involved.

“What about you Nox?” Amaterasu asked with a pained expression.

“Nocturnal Opportunity for Xenophilia?” Nox suggested after a moment of silence.

“NICE!” Khaemwaset and Xiaoli both shouted with approval and respect. Even Lilly nodded with slight recognition at the wordplay.

“I give up.” Amaterasu covered her face in despair. Even the AI was getting in on the silly suggestions.

“How about Requiem?” Moonshadow suddenly suggested in a quiet voice. “I think it could be appropriate. Selendil has mentioned the Great Song, and the ship and her survival are something akin to the last song for a dying people. It’s not the most cheery of names but it would be a way to honor the dead.” Her suggestion made everyone go quiet.

"Excuse me," Selendil said, breaking the silence as she vanished. She had teleported outside the ship to look at the stars. Moonshadow's suggestion had touched on her grief and she needed some time to gather herself and think in peace.

"Uh-oh," Lilly stated as Selendil vanished. “That’s not good.”

“It was a good suggestion though. Very appropriate. I’m not sure it would be a good idea to go with it until she can get further in the grieving process though.” Amaterasu added.

“Hmm.” Moonshadow made a non-committal sound. She had made the suggestion on purpose, with the intention to prod Selendil. She wanted to help the Dhar Keeper to deal with her grief, and sometimes it took more direct methods to make progress. She knew that Selendil wanted to stay busy to keep such emotions at bay, and that would not be healthy in the long run. Now was the perfect opportunity to do some heavy emotional lifting so that it wouldn’t come to haunt them later.

“I guess this discussion is shelved until further notice. Try to come up with some proper name suggestions in the meantime.” Amaterasu once again took control of the situation and dispersed everyone. She did notice Moonshadow sticking around. They didn’t get much opportunity to exchange information before the naming started.

“So how did it go?” Moonshadow asked.

“I’d say it went pretty well. We had been preparing for a big attack against the Tetrarchy for a while now, and their sudden attack against the Cybrans has provided us with a good opportunity. The wheels are now in motion and the first shots will likely be fired within a couple of weeks.” Amaterasu explained. Thanks to the preparations already being in place, it didn’t take a large amount of time and effort to launch an offensive.

Moonshadow nodded as if expecting those words. “I may have some information that may impact your future decisions.”

Amaterasu gave a small sigh. “I knew it. Selendil did something again. What is it this time?”

"Well, she did, but it's not just her this time." Moonshadow said with a grin. She then proceeded to explain the events during the attack and the meeting with the Tetrarch. For a good measure, she also mentioned the issue with Miyo and her fiancée.

"Huh." Amaterasu made a slightly confused sound as the worked through all the implications. "So our attack might be much more effective than even our most hopeful predictions. I should've known something like this would happen. I think I might be able to arrange something with that military Tetrarch if we can get some negotiations going. I think we might find some common ground. Good thing we didn't get members of the Tetrarchy on the ship though. I don't mind the presence of Cybrans, but the presence of Humans would inevitably bring conflict. Xiaoli must be happy about this development."

"Well, it does help the Cybran situation as well. And once you launch your attack, the Cybrans can stabilize. I'm actually slightly surprised she's still here. We somewhat expected her to go back once the hostilities with the Tetrarchy started. Selendil even mentioned it as something of a test, which she seems to have passed." Moonshadow said, her words implying that the matter might not be that simple.

Amaterasu also noticed what she was referring to. “I don’t think it’s that simple. It’s a good sign, sure, but not as conclusive as that. I’m sure she has already noticed that she might be able to do more good for the Cybrans just by being on this ship. I mean look at what a single visit from Selendil to the Tetrarchy accomplished. If she can affect Selendil’s actions and decision even slightly, then it will be worth it to stick around. Not to mention all the personal growth she can achieve with Selendil’s teachings.”

“That’s a very cynical view.” Moonshadow pointed out.

“I’m not saying that’s the only reason she’s sticking around, but I’m sure she has considered these things. I’m a realist. No offense, but none of the other races have the kind of reverence towards the Dhar as the Illum, including yours. We would help Selendil even if we gained nothing from it. Even if it would hurt us. Can you say the same?” Amaterasu looked sharply at Moonshadow.

Moonshadow had a hard to read expression when she replied. “I think you’re confusing personal feelings with that of an entire race. You might hold that conviction, but do all the Illum? On the other hand, I will openly admit that the Mrrroww do not have the feeling of reverence you talk about, but what does it matter what our race thinks? Our race is not on this ship. I am. Lilly and some of my subordinates are. The only thing that matters is what we think.”

“And what do you think?” Amaterasu asked instead of arguing. She knew the faith of the Illum was hard for the others to understand. Their growth into the very Illum they now were was thanks to the Dhar and the artifacts they left behind. They owed their very existence to Selendil’s people.

“I haven’t made up my mind yet. I think it’s important to be able to change your thinking based on the situation. I will keep an open mind.” Moonshadow replied. She didn’t mind the difference in approach. She thought it was good to have various viewpoints on the ship. Even if they would sometimes be in conflict, hopefully, something better would rise from that conflict. Time would tell though.