Song of the Void

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”Huh.” Nox made a rather odd sound.

"Huh, what?" Moonshadow asked.

“Well, I don’t think the person you talked to phrased her order to their AI correctly.” Nox stated.

“What do you mean? I thought you said you got the files on history and general knowledge. Or at least what counts as general knowledge.” Moonshadow narrowed her eyes. She had known it had been too easy.

“Well, that’s what I mean when I said that the Lightbringer person might have phrased it badly. Their AI gave us ALL of their history and general information files. As in, even those files that you don’t really want to be handing out to strangers.” The AI explained with clear surprise in her voice.

"…she did strike me as someone who isn't too particular about such things," Xiaoli commented carefully. "She sounded like a jaded admiral sick of all the bullshit."

“This is all good for us, isn’t it?” Selendil cut to the heart of the matter.

“Certainly, yes. Though as with all histories and similar information, there’s always the problem of how reliable the information is. Still, this makes things easier. Uh, incidentally, we didn’t get schematics of course, but we did get a short explanation on that jump thing of theirs. They call it hyper-jumping. Apparently we were right in that the most important limiter is the availability of power, but theoretically they can instantly travel over any distance that they have enough power for. In practice that means at least several dozen jumps to cross a galaxy, but the travel is instant for all intents and purposes. We were also right in that the larger ship can take smaller ships along, though the smaller ships can use their own engines to add to the distance traveled.” Nox’s voice sounded as if she was reading off a report, which was actually exactly what she was doing.

“Wait. Wouldn’t that mean that they could even travel between galaxies if they had enough ships gathered?” Nochehuatl asked sharply.

“Not exactly. So, the way it seems to work is that while the smaller ships add to the distance, every ship that needs a jump window opened for them also reduces the distance, and they hit diminishing returns pretty quick. Theoretically they could travel to another galaxy by chaining jumps, and apparently there have been projects to make that a reality, but it would still take a long time. There’s also no way to know if they arrived safely, as they can’t communicate with the ships that leave this galaxy. Unlike the way the Dhar did it with warping, they don’t have an instant way to return once they’ve arrived in another galaxy.” Nox explained. All the information was based on the report, so she wasn’t entirely sure if it was reliable, but it was good enough for their purposes for now.

“So they have the advantage of not needing beacons, but the downside of having to make the entire trip every time they want to cross a particular distance, while the Dhar only had to make the trip once.” Amaterasu summarized.

"Essentially, yes. Though here's an interesting idea. What would their drive be able to accomplish if connected with one of our power cores?" Nox suggested.

“We might want to consider the possibilities.” Selendil agreed. “Provided they’re willing to be accommodating. Speaking of, we have more pressing matters to deal with. Any indication of whether they’ve had extra-galactic visitors or not?”

“That’s hard to say. The history files suggest that many of the currently important races were guided by some old and powerful race of beings. They’ve very imaginatively named that race the Ancients. And no, you’re not allowed to laugh Xiaoli, you called Dhar the Progenitors. These Ancients uplifted many races and helped them develop, but just disappeared at some point. At least these files have no explanation on what happened to them. Apparently they were some god-like beings that radiated power though.” Nox trawled through enormous amounts of data to get some answers.

"That sounds familiar," Amaterasu muttered and gave a pointed look towards Selendil.

“As easy as that assumption would be to make, I don’t think they’re talking about the Dhar.” Nox cut that idea down. “These files have no real descriptions of the Ancients, but the timelines don’t add up. These Ancients were last seen some twenty thousand years ago. So either these people have some really wonky calendars, or we have another old race on our hands.”

“A client race the Dhar left behind?” Lilly suggested.

“A distinct possibility, but I think that raises another question. What happened to them?” Selendil asked.

“It doesn’t say.” Nox said simply.

“What about the current races of the CAS? How many are we talking about?” Moonshadow asked.

"The current races fall into three primary categories. There are five old races that were personally taught by the last Ancients, called the Primes. There's some confusion about one of the Prime races. It would seem they're counted as a single race, but they have multiple species. A bit like the Mrrroww, but more extreme. Beyond that, we have about a thousand standard races as part of the CAS. They are mostly one or two system races, though some of them have a bit more territory. Then we have a few dozen races in a category of ‘new races’. That means they’ve recently become spacefaring, so they’re sort of provisional members of the CAS. Not full members yet, but on the way so to speak.” Nox summarized the briefest explanation possible.

“So was our guess about their government anywhere close?” Amaterasu asked.

"Somewhat. They have it divided by systems so that the races with more territory have more power. To the surprise of no one, the Primes hold almost half of the votes. The Suzerain is something like the executor of the will of the legislative body, called the Constellation for some odd reason, but the limits on the power of the office are rather stringent. Incidentally, the black ships belong to a collection of races that are standing against the CAS. The files have an official explanation on the start of the conflict, but it’s a clear propaganda piece. To make it a little more interesting, there used to be a sixth Prime race and that sixth race is now leading the side with the black ships.” Nox replied.

“So who’s winning?” Xiaoli asked.

“The CAS is winning for now, but they’re starting to face credible resistance.” Amaterasu was the one to answer, as she had been going through the information as well. “The Five Primes have apparently started to lose interest in the conflict, which I find highly suspect. There’s something else going on, but I have no way to tell what that could be.”

“Well. It seems we’re stuck here for a while so everyone grab a portion of the data that pertains to your interests or expertise and familiarize yourself with it.” Selendil ordered.

‘Master, there’s something that I feel compelled to mention.’ Nox sent her a silent message. ‘It seems like the people of this galaxy have come pretty far when it comes to building artificial bodies for AI…’

‘And you'd like to get access to their expertise for the body we're building for you.' Selendil finished the thought. ‘We'll have to see if the situation allows for it, but I certainly don't oppose the idea. I'm interested in this hyper-jumping technology as well. It would be a nice addition to our ships. If we do get the chance, I'll definitely seek an opportunity for either some trade or some other means of acquiring the data.'

They both knew that the ‘other means’ meant either stealing it or taking it by force. Neither of them was above such methods, especially since the other party wouldn't actually lose anything if they copied the technology. They would try trade first, but if that didn't work…

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“The Lightbringer is hailing us again. Still only audio.” Nox announced after several hours.

“Put her through.” Moonshadow instructed after getting the approval from Selendil. “Lightbringer Yrala.” She greeted the other party.

“Moonshadow. I got into contact with the sector command to confirm your story.” The Lightbringer spoke with little preamble.

“I assume you were able to find out the truth of our claims?” Moonshadow asked just in case.

“They wheedled and tried to shift blame but finally confessed when I demanded a recording of the battle. They dressed the story in a more positive light for them, but it seems your story was correct. That’s the good news.” The Lightbringer had disdain in her voice that was not aimed at them.

“And the bad news?” Moonshadow asked, noticing the implication.

“Well, the bad news is that the sector administrator is a political appointment. She’s also a cunt of a Prime with aspirations towards becoming something greater. She plans on holding you responsible for the destruction of that ship anyway. There was quite a lot of crew on that ship, and their relatives will want justice. It’s much more politically expedient to shift the blame to you than to blame the quote-unquote brave heroes that lost their lives in the horrific and unprovoked attack.” Now the Lightbringer’s disdain had turned into obvious disgust.

“I see. I get the feeling that not everyone is willing to go along with that plan. Where does that leave us? Do note that we are obviously going to resist against any attempts on us.” Moonshadow spoke as if completely unconcerned by the situation.

“Well, the position she holds is strictly speaking a civilian one. The sector command in charge of the military is resisting the order as they know complying will mean more lives lost for an idiotic reason. Here's the problem. She's a Prime of a rather prominent background. That's how she got the job in the first place. Now I don't know how far you got with the files I sent you, so I'm not entirely sure if you realize the implications. Theoretically, every member of CAS is equal to others, but let's just say that some are more equal than others.” Now the disgust in her voice had turned positively acrid.

“Let me guess. She cried foul up the chain of command, the military appealed it, and the whole thing is stuck in some limbo. In the meantime, her order is not strictly legal, but if some entrepreneuring parties were to succeed in making it a reality, they'd earn the favor of not only her but also some other parties that will be more than happy to not have to deal with the situation anymore.” Moonshadow suggested. That sounded just like the sort of ploys she had run into before.

“Hah! So you have those types wherever it is that you come from as well. Anyway, I’m not going to follow that original order. I heard what you managed to do to the ship you destroyed, as well as about your so-called warning shot. Also, I’m not a complete bastard. However, there might be others that will try. Here’s where the trouble will come in. I am sworn to protect the ships of CAS worlds, even if they are stupid enough to pick a fight with you. I can close my eyes to a certain amount of self-defense on your part, but if you start blowing up ships then I’ll have little choice. So if you do have non-lethal means of defending yourself, I’d much appreciate it.” The Lightbringer made her appeal.

“How long will this take and are we expected to just sit on our hands here while all this happens?” Moonshadow asked.

“Well, you’re theoretically free to leave, though that would leave you outside my protection. You could also try your luck in landing some people on the planet I’m protecting, but that could create some issues so I’d like to ask you to refrain. As for how long this will take, I can’t give you an exact time, but the powers that be can drag their feet for only so long in important matters like this. I’d say a week at maximum, and that’s if they are prepared to throw every excuse they can think of at the issue.” The woman explained.

“Alright. We appreciate the warning and frank explanation. Oh, by the way. I noticed something as you spoke. The administrator isn’t the only Prime of high station assigned to this sector, is she?” Moonshadow asked.

“…what gave it away? For future reference.” The Lightbringer asked. She had used only audio on purpose, as she usually did. She didn’t want others to be reacting to her race and heritage.

“Well, you seemed oddly secure in your own position even when defying another Prime of a supposedly higher rank." Moonshadow explained. "Judging by what we managed to glean from the information so far, an Eriad to be precise.”

Eriads were one of the five Prime races. One of the two oldest in fact. They were known for their honorable conduct and they served as one of the main military backers of the entire CAS. “I knew I should’ve been more precise in the information I sent you.” The woman muttered. “Well, doesn’t matter I suppose. Just be aware that I’m not going to be able to help you even if I wanted to do so.”

“You already are, just by being here.” Moonshadow stated with a small victorious smirk, and she was right. Just the Lightbringer’s presence would keep many at bay. “That said, we would recommend warning any ships about approaching us. We could send you the recording of the battle to spread around if it would help.”

“Yes, that sounds like a decent idea. It won’t work on everyone, but then, there will always be idiots who don’t care about their lives as much as they should. Oh, I should probably ask. You do have some non-lethal ways to handle things, right?” The woman asked hopefully.

Moonshadow looked at the others and got nods from Amaterasu, Xiaoli, and Selendil. “We do. I should mention though, that our leader can get cranky if her patience is pushed too far. And when she gets cranky, entire fleets should become careful.” She teased Selendil a bit.

“Oh! She sounds like my mother. We should get them to meet so they can be cranky together. I’d watch that show.” The Lightbringer laughed before cutting the connection.

“That was clever.” Amaterasu commended Moonshadow.

“What did I miss?” Lilly asked with a sigh.

“The other party wasn’t fazed by the mention of someone being capable of threatening entire fleets by themselves. That means they have psions of that level of strength as well, and they aren’t too rare judging by her response.” Moonshadow explained.

“Not that it came as a huge shock considering the size and development of the CAS. I would’ve been more shocked if they didn’t have powerful Deities.” Amaterasu added. “Still, it’s good to get a confirmation.”

“So what do we do now?” Lilly asked.

"I think it would be wise to just wait. We're not in a rush and if things get too heated, we can always leave then." Moonshadow suggested. "In the long term, it would be beneficial to get this sorted if we want to have any business in this galaxy."

“Let’s go with that plan for now.” Selendil agreed. “Since this is the last galaxy on our list, we’re not in a rush, and this seems like the best place to get at least some benefit from. I need to figure out what to do next if this galaxy turns out to be another bust as well.”